A.S. Engineering S-327 "Sputnik" trike

Robert McKinnon has for a while had a more up-to-date page about the newest model of A.S. Engineering, the S-327M. I have been lately quite busy with other affairs, so updates to my pages have been too far and few. I'll do my best, but I won't try to overlap Robert's great pages.

A.S. Engineering S-327 is a Russian tadpole recumbent trike. The frame is made out of aluminum and most of the transmission and all nuts and bolts out of titanium. The trike is front-wheel driven and front-wheel steered. It has a hydraulic drum brake in each wheel. The rear wheel is suspended.

At the moment the trike is sold only as a frameset. The customer has to gather all the parts and assemble the bike himself. It requires some effort, but at least you get exactly what you want.

The S-327 trike is not especially light. A complete machine weighs around 18 kg. On the other hand, the construction is very sturdy. The quality of work is quite astonishing. Every part is very beautifully machined and the result is an extremely rigid (although a bit heavy) frame.

The price of the frameset including delivery to USA varies between USD 1250-USD 1560, depending on the configuration. Prices in Europe ought to be somewhat lower due to lower cargo costs. In EU 6% customs and local VAT are added to the price.

The manufacturer representative Yuri Karasjov can most easily be contacted by E-mail, ykpro@aha.ru.

The Open Road editor Peter Eland has revised his outstanding report of S-327.

Read also my own notes and opinions about the trike.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in S-327 or this web page. I am mostly interested in the trike as an educated customer. I try to give a fair view of the trike, but I cannot guarantee full objectivity. There are also other high-quality recumbent tricycles available, for example Greenspeed and Trice, a few to mention.

Some pictures

Pictures of the newest model, S-32 Zenit L

These are the first pictures of the newest model of A.S.E., the S-32 Zenit L. Improvements include simplified construction (frame is now welded instead of being put together with those massive casts) and because of that, lowered weight. The new frame is supposed to be whole 2 kg's lighter than the old one, setting the trike among the lightest ones available. All the other main dimensions are still the same. Yum, yum...

The Russians tell there are possibilities for further modifications. The attachment for BOB Trailer is certainly among them.

	This is a picture of a complete frame of the new model. It is set atop a packaging crate meant for the trike (or that is what I suppose).
	A detail of the new frame construction. All joints are now welded and for example the rear derailer attachment bar has been simplified a lot.
	A detail of the right front hub. The cross-beam ends are now curved to get rid of the massive castings. Looks good.
	I'm not quite sure about this one. Probably some kind of a mold for the composite seat, the dark blocks being the honeycomb material for the seat itself (this is just speculation).
	A closeup of a mysterious dark block.

Miscellaneous, older pictures

	The S-327 frameset. The brake levers and the shifters are not included in the distribution.
	The trike all set-up.
	The trike set up with a composite seat made by Mark Salman. Note: Mark Salman no longer is in the recumbent business, so these seats are not available any longer. A.S. Engineering also has their own composite seat available now.
	The sales brochure of the older model, S-325. I don't know the differences between the old and the current model.
	Technical specifications.

Material about S327M, composite seat etc.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to see following documents. Sorry for the inconvenience - the originals were in Microsoft Word format.

• Description of S-327M, a new model of A.S.E. I don't know the exact differences between the original and the M-model.
• A letter written by Yuri Karasjov, the director of A.S. Engineering. The letter states the prices (or at least the general price level) for the trikes.
• "Data sheet" for the new composite seat.
• Order form for products of A.S.E.

Pictures taken by Peter Eland

	Taken by Jason Patient at the end of the 1997 Open Road holiday week in France: I loaded everything up to pedal it the 100m or so from the campsite to the bus...
	Moving house, Feb 97. The last load I carried on the trailer was my ML7 metal lathe, stripped down as far as was easy. I moved it last in case it broke the trailer, but as it turned outit was one of the lighter loads Icarried - maybe 40-50kg. The trailer uses old wheelchair wheels (12") spaced (near as dammit) to run in tehtracks of the front trike wheels. I've since replaced the plastic bread trays with custom-woven wicker baskets.
	My girlfriend Millie towing back the empty trailer during the move: shows the trailer drawbar and hitch a bit better. The rubber part of the hitch was meant to be a temporary measure (it's just stripsof rubber I picked off the road, and it's way too flexible as a hitch) but I never got round to replacing it.
	Norway holiday, Summer 97. Both taken at somewhere near 1000m, somewhere south-west of Odda (inland a bit between Bergen and Stavanger) if I remember correctly. Millie was using my yellow MTB on that trip. I'm carrying most of the heavy stuff - really dense stuff like tools, fuel, stove etc is in the bags strapped beneath the seat (they're actually caving SRT bags). The panniers hold tent, sleeping bags, clothing etc.
	Moving house again: a very heavy load - it's almost solid paper. The blue cover, incidentally, covers the trike normally when it's living outside. Luckily, it fits neatly onto the trailer, too.
	detail of the front area, taken by Jason Patient
	Shows the rear carrier and the mods to the seat.

Pictures of Asko Tikkanen's tricycle

	The frame of S-327 with wheels already assembled.
	Another picture, with some more bits added.
	Asko Tikkanen's trike. The seat is made by Flevobike, but the seat support is a design of his own.
	Volker Appel, a neighbour of Asko, is trying out the trike.
	Another picture of Volker Appel on the trike.
	A touring picture taken at Hamina.
	Another touring picture.

Pictures taken by me

My trike

These are pictures of my trike taken from various angles and distances. Note that the seat and the carrier rack were not made by A.S. Engineering.

Pictures of a welded rear wheel support beam

Below are pictures of improved rear wheel support beam. The new beam also includes possibility to attach a B.O.B. Trailer to the trike. Note that the beam is still unpainted.