Bicycle Technology and Patents

1886 MASA Slingshot?

Well, if its not a MASA Slingshot from 1886, at least its a tadpole trike with similar general appearance.

Bruce Bunch (trikebldr)

July 18, 2011 at 4:23 pm

I would like to suggest a different type name for this trike, and the one shown below.
A tadpole trike is so named because from above, it has the shape of a tadpole, with the widest point about 1/3 of the way back, and tapering to a point at each end. These two trikes don’t fit that shape.
Some might argue that two wheels up front, one in the rear is what makes it a tadpole style trike. How is that like a polywog (tadpole, for all you city boys/girls!)?
It is my suggestion to let these be known as a slingshot style since they start a point in the rear and taper to a wide front end, and look a lot like the old style slingshot dragsters. The MASA Slingshot trike is named for this latter reason.
shaver

July 19, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Slingshot is much more descriptive than tadpole. Velomobiles based on trikes are much more “tadpole” like.