Not having had the chance to "do a 12," I find myself nevertheless imagining that I know what I will be doing with it when it arrives. I'd sure love it if those of you with Roadster experience would comment on my speculations below.

First and foremost, Traction.

I think traction is the Roadster's raison d'tre. When I carve on a newly asphalted lot near me with my 8, I can carve as strongly, deeply and fast as I want without fear of those gut-grabbing skiddings, and it's a psychological mind set that differs greatly from the one I'm in when I'm carving on other lots with their riskier debris-ridden surfaces. On the "safe" lot, my mind is almost wholly concerned with what I will be attempting to do -- not with what I am attempting to avoid. On this lot, my creativity emerges as an all-time reality, whereas, on iffy surfaces, a great deal of my "eye work" is scanning for the best carving path within the next 10 feet of my travels and this is "brain time usage" that is unavailable for creativity. This is enjoyable in that I get to play "missed me, missed me, nyah nyah nyah" with pebbles, but when I'm "care free" and my mind is filled with creative intent instead of a guarded awareness, then a truer, purely Trikke experience is gained -- wherein you are exploring the physics of gravitation, momentum, and friction and not having to do "guard duty" during it. It is a state of freedom as opposed to a state of "working with the surface's constraints."

So, I see myself getting on the Roadster and WHAM, having no worries about the small stuff. I don't see the Roadster skidding out from under me -- ever.

Of course, this is an exaggeration. I'm sure I can get myself into trouble on the Roadster, because I'll take more risks like carving harder going down steeper slopes faster, but right now, I see me riding the Roadster around here with at least a 400% increase in the area I can comfortable carve upon. I can travel over this presently-unused area with my Trikke 8, but then it's so much more of a calisthenic -- not an adventure -- because the surface is so bad that it is almost entirely a slow grinding through the area, not the effortlessness of long carves on good surface. I could understand wanting to do it for the muscle workout, but for me it's a harsh abuse on my wrists that I avoid for the most part. I see my Roadster's momentum being conserved by a very noticeable degree on rough surfaces, yet I think that on smooth surfaces the rubber will indeed be "stickier" (as someone here mentioned) -- perhaps like my newly asphalted lot -- and that will make for a greater workload for the muscles as this stickiness will have to be overcome. This is not the negative it might interpreted to be; I see it as merely a strength requirement of the machine.

Bottom line: I expect riding on the Roadster to be as if my world is newly paved and debris free.

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Next. Larger footprint = more roll.

With its larger footprint, I'd expect the Roadster tire to spread my weight over, say, a square inch of surface contact instead of what I'd estimate is about 1/4 square inch for the 8's wheel. The "knifing into the ground" that the Trikke 8's wheels are so good at doing whenever you go off-road should be a thing of the past. I see cutting across a lawn at a corner -- maybe 20 feet or more of grass traversed -- with perhaps only a 50% speed loss. On the 8, I can hardly cut across a lawn using only a four foot long path, and my speed almost entirely disappears, AND I only attempt such a crossing if I'm really going fast; otherwise: a complete stop. On the 8, if I try to turn a 90 degree corner on a four foot wide sidewalk, I have to slow down to a crawl and then once around the corner, I'm putting out the energy again to get back up to speed.

With the Roadster, "Stand back, I'm trikking and I ain't stopping!"

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Next. Rubber's flexibility = less repetitive injury

With pebbly surfaces, skidding isn't the only danger. The 8's wheels are not very good shock absorbers. A pea sized pebble can spank your palms smartly --- for the most part, your hands are taking a blow as directly as if you'd slapped them on the ground. With Roadster rubber, I'm expecting about 80% of this to be "amortized" by the give of the rubber. The rubber handles the impact in three steps: 1. some kinetic energy is transformed into heat energy, but also, 2. the rubber makes the energy of the impact spread out over time more. The 8's wheels gives you the pebble-news immediately, but the rubber tire first flexes inwards and lessens the energy that way before the "what remains of the shock wave" is transferred up the handle bar stem to your hands. Then 3. the tires resumes its shape and a secondary wave of energy will have to be dissipated separately. This divides the shock into three intensities that are felt by the rider at different times, and so any given shock is less than "all of the 8's shock at once."

Overall, I think it will be as if the Roadster does indeed have a "suspension."

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Next. Disk brakes = less tire wear

Obviously the 8's wheels are hard and the metal brakes do wear down considerably from rubbing on the wheels. If the 8's braking system were used on the Roadster, it would wear out the tires very fast. Caliper brakes are also problematic as discussed here at this forum. Also, with disk brakes you add a new dynamic to your trikking in that you can slow down more precisely without locking up the wheels, and this will help you perform certain maneuvers.

Disk brakes give you "touch."

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Next. Bigger diameter = more room to fall = higher speeds.

Theoretically, the 12 inch size should give you even longer carves and faster speeds as you fall that extra four inches. The longer you are in free fall, the more gravity gets you closer to terminal velocity. So the question arises, why didn't anyone report that the Roadster was faster? I assume the bearings are equal to or better than the 8's. Well, the stickiness of the tires on nice smooth surfaces may be showing itself, but I wonder if technique is not the actual issue here. My technique during a "speed run" is crucial. Deep carves to start off, and then faster and faster but shallower carves to "top off" the speed. My experiences here are that I need a lot more practice and a lot more stamina to get up to and maintain top speed. I'm talking about that last 2 - 4 MPH. A sloppy technique can get you up to 12 -14 MPH, but that last ooomph can only be given to the Trikke if one adds that final energy with very fast, very precisely timed, very shallow carving, and this takes a lot of practice. So, I'm wondering what Gildo or Jimmy can do, speedwise, on their Roadsters. I'm betting that the rubber takes the speed down a notch but that increased traction gives one the ability to really "dig in hard" at high speeds, and this "traction courage" gives you the space to practice getting that last bit of ooomph out -- when doing the 8 at speed, I NEVER dig in harder.

Bottom line: I don't think the Roadster is all the much faster, but you sure will be able to be a lot faster more often just because you won't be losing momentum.

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Next. Price. $379.00

At that price, we can be pretty sure that most people will HAVE to be highly motivated to buy one when the 8 is selling on eBay for $45.00.

Good news: When you buy a Roadster you are symbolizing that you are taking a big big step up towards fitness and sporting excellence. It's a psychological "hit" that cannot be gainsaid. I know I'll put the time in to "conquer the beast."

I never underestimate the power of a symbol.

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Next. Looks

GAWD that Roadster looks like a bad puppy, a tough little bugger, a Trikke for a pimpdaddy, a professional piece of sporting equipment, and not related in any way to a mere scooter. Pardon me, but my ego just drools when it imagines the looks I'll be getting. On the 8, I'm sure a lot people see it, from the side, as a two wheeled Razor scooter.......a toy. Yeah, that little scooter has entertainment value, but the Roadster steps out of the toy world (helped by hiding the aluminum with paint) and enters a far more serious place. I see this dramatically better visual impact of the Roadster as alluring as the ride itself. I just like looking at the brute.

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Unknowns. Extra weight, stalk angle, footpad angle, extra width, longer wheel base, and handle bar shape = ???.

Certainly the influence of these factors can amount to significance, but I also think that the 8 has explored these parameters to a great degree and that a certain optimal state of the Trikke's form has been approximated. I find myself doubting the Roadster will have some sort of "big deal flaw" from the above factors. I also doubt that the folks at Trikke Tech are all that "up" on these issues, because these would be hard to quantify from an engineering standpoint. I'm betting Gildo has, over the years, again and again and again suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "Of course, it should be done this way instead." I'd be very surprised if the Roadster hasn't had to have such breakthroughs also, but much of the Trikke's "core form" seems to have been worked out empirically rather than by applied theoretics.