Changing the gearing ratio on your Mountain Trike all terrain wheelchair

One of the many question we sometimes get asked is whether the Mountain Trike has gears.  The simple answer is no it doesn’t – the Mountain Trike is setup with a simple and reliable single gear system which provides excellent drive up hills and off road while providing a reasonable speed (usually quicker than walking) on flatter ground. And this is explained on our FAQ on our website.

However, some users find that their Trike is under-geared for their riding needs. So, being the helpful peeps we are here at MT, we can explain how it is possible to change the gearing ratio on your Mountain Trike!

Mountain Trike gearing ratio
fitting larger sprockets to the drivetrain of your Mountain Trike is a simple way to make your gearing harder

It is possible to alter the gear ratio to suit individual riders by fitting larger sprockets to the drivetrain which is a simple way of making the gear harder, but providing faster top speeds. This can suit particularly strong individuals who may live in flatter areas.

The standard ratio is 22 tooth chainring at the drive lever. You can change up to 26 tooth 64 BCD which we find gives a noticeably quicker speed but should still enable hill climbing/good drive on rough terrain. 

We wouldn’t advise going any harder than that or making an adaptor to fit larger chainrings as it would compromise hill climbing ability and possibly cause other issues with putting different loading through the drivetrain.

To fit the 26tooth chainring you would just need to add an extra chain link to lengthen the chain. 

You should be able to purchase these parts from a good bike shop locally who should also be able to help you with the fitting.  Alternatively, you can order the parts from us and we can arrange to fit it too.  Please contact us for more information.

You can download the PDF instructions / how to sheet which explains and shows in detail how to fit the sprocket (See attached instructions).

Mountain Trike Sprocket Change Instructions

This is aimed more at climbing hills, obstacles and difficult terrain rather than out and out speed! On the whole, the vast majority of our customers use the standard setup though as this is great all round gear for most situations.

Hope this helps.