Carer Control™
Carer Control™ is an optional accessory for most trikes in the Tomcat range which has huge benefits for children, teenagers, and adults with learning or physical difficulties.
When a rider lacks the cognitive awareness, decision-making skills or physical strength and coordination to safely control the speed, steering or braking of a tricycle, Carer Control™ enables a pedestrian carer to control those essential functions from behind the trike as the rider pedals.
With a carer and Carer Control™ in charge, Tomcat trikes can be used by anyone, anywhere.
Carer Control™ is Tomcat’s original, signature invention. It changed the world of special needs cycling by making it possible for riders with learning difficulties or other disabilities to be safe in potentially dangerous situations such as near traffic or water.
With Carer Control™, the rider pedals the trike in the normal way, but the trike is steered by the carer who moves the control arm to right or left to steer and pulls back on the control handle to brake. Speed can also be controlled by gripping the handle lightly then walking at the desired speed. If the trike accelerates away, either through an incline or an enthusiastic rider, the trike applies its own brakes and slows to the carer’s walking speed. The system is designed with force multiplying geometry to ensure that even the most willful of riders cannot overpower the carer and steer inappropriately. When stopped, a park brake can be applied that prevents the trike from moving unintentionally.
Carer Control™ also incorporates Carer Braking™. With Carer Braking™, the control arm is removed so the rider has full freedom to steer themselves but the carer can attach a strap to the system which, when pulled upon, applies the brake. In this way, the rider can enjoy their independence but the carer always has ultimate control.
Trike transportation is a very valuable feature for any adventurous family so it was important that the Carer Control™ arm was also Quick Release. For most people it only takes about 10 seconds to fully disassemble a carer-controlled trike, ready for the boot of the car and – as with all Tomcat transportable technology – it is entirely tool free.
Tomcat has won many awards for Carer Control™, but like all ground-breaking innovations it has been extensively imitated by other manufacturers including the trade name “Carer Control” itself. Therefore, to be sure you are getting all the versatility, precision, reliability and safety of this life changing product, please remember that the real Carer Control™ is only available from Tomcat or its approved agents and distributors.
Two Piece Frame™
Tomcat’s Two Piece Frame™ mechanism enables most Tomcat Trikes to be taken apart for transport or storage without tools, in just a few seconds.
A Two Piece Frame™ also enables our conventional children’s trikes and our low sitting teenager and adult trikes to be easily and safely transported in the boot of an average family car.
Whether you want a transportable trike for fun days out, a weekend away, or for use instead of a wheelchair, our Two Piece Frame™ makes transportation quick, easy and effortless.
For a trike to be transportable, it must be able to fit easily in the boot of a family car with room to spare for luggage. It must also be possible for any adult to lift it.
To achieve an acceptable weight, we used our CAD design skills to design a frame based on a tetrahedral (pyramid) principle that would be immensely rigid and strong, yet very light weight. A Tomcat Fizz frame for example, weighs from just 2.5kg yet can resist a test load of a quarter tonne without damage. Fully built, such a frame would produce a trike of just 14kg, whilst many of its contemporaries can be 40kg and above.
To ensure it fits a family car, the frame splits near the pedals with the pedals, drive and wheels on the rear half of the frame. The front half of the frame supports the front wheel and handlebars. In this way the two halves can be stacked together in the boot.
There are many additional features that assist to make our trikes compact. For example, the control arm on trikes with Carer Control™ will quick-release from the control hub, while rear mudguards also quick-release.
In addition, most Tomcats can be fitted with Tomcat Pitstop™ wheels – removable drive wheels that release at the press of a button to make even more space.
On our teenage and adult trikes, such as the Bullet and Arrow ranges, the seat is combined with the backrest and often has a swivel feature. These too, can be removed and stacked with the two frames and in this way a trike with a built length of 1.8mtrs, width of 0.8mtrs and height of 1mtr can fit in a family car – in minutes – with room to spare. We think that’s quite impressive.
Another great feature of the Two Piece frame™ is that it enables an entirely new activity for the rider. By locking a trailer bar onto the rear part of the trike in place of the front part, the trike is instantly transformed into a trailer that can be towed behind a bicycle. This means a family can all go cycling together. On average, one in every three trikes we build will be a Trailer Trike™.
Thanks to another Tomcat innovation called Tomcat Connect™, even e-drive Tomcats, or those with rear wheel brakes and multi-speed hubs can have our Two Piece Frame™ feature. The Bullet and Arrow range of trikes for example, have many brake and gear cables, motor controllers, and brake safety cutout wires, interconnecting the controls on the handlebars with the brake, gear and motor devices on the rear frame. With Connect™ and the Two Piece Frame™ mechanism working together, these control functions can still break and reconnect through the frame without intervention by the user. A Tomcat is the only trike in the world with this ability.
Tomcat’s Two Piece Frame™ is a complex mechanism as it has to assemble easily but have no looseness or flex when assembled. It must be easy to operate, yet failsafe and childproof. It must separate and lock two load bearing assemblies, but must do so without the grease that would ruin luggage and carpets and it must not chip or scratch paintwork. Most of all, it must be reliable. Over the years, Tomcat has built over 10,000 trikes with a Two Piece Frame™ without a single failure.
The Tomcat Two Piece Frame™ is one of our trike’s most impactful features as it gives our customers freedom to go where they want to go, when they want. Our expertise was recognised with the Two Piece Frame™ featuring greatly in both our 2013 and 2020 Queens Award for Innovation.
Connect™ – Cycle Control, Interface Technology
Tomcat Connect™ allows you to split your trike into two parts at the touch of a button – making quick, easy work of separating electronics, braking and gear cables.
Tomcat’s Quick Release™ is our original simple and super-fast way to separate trike frames for storage and transport, but when enhanced with our Tomcat Connect™ technology, essential interconnecting cycle controls also disconnect and reconnect automatically.
This means that all the controls which make it difficult to break a trike in two, can remain on the handlebars, just as you’d expect. Before Tomcat Connect™, in order to split a frame into two, gears and braking had to be mounted on a stalk to the side of the seat – but with this ground-breaking technology, all controls can stay on the handlebars, where they belong.
Whichever way Tomcat Connect™ is configured for your trike, the Connect function works easily and automatically, everytime you take apart or reassemble the frame. Once you’ve slotted the frame together, all you need do is select first gear and press the reset button on Tomcat Connect. Taking just seconds each time, Connect ensures that you spend your leisure time cycling, not struggling.
Pitstop™ Driving Wheels
Tomcat’s Pitstop Driving Wheels have just one purpose – to make your life easier. Almost all Tomcat Trikes have a frame that splits in two for transport or storage called Quick Release™. This is an innovative, tool free mechanism that separates your trike in seconds and has been an impressive feature of Tomcat trikes for over twenty years – yet we’ve discovered that for larger trikes, attached wheels can take up a lot of space in the boot of your car or your garage.
With Pitstop™ Removable Driving Wheels, this problem is a thing of the past. Despite the pedal or motorised power going through them, each wheel releases at the press of a button and refits just as quickly.
What makes Tomcat Pitstop™ wheels so special is that they are removable driving wheels. Removable wheels have been a wheelchair feature for many years, but these are free-wheeling wheels. With our trikes, rear wheels are driving wheels – often high speed, often through a differential drive, and always with the transfer power of your pedalling, electric motor power or both. In other words, they take a lot of punishment.
On top of that you also have the stress that road conditions put your trike through, so to achieve all this with a push button release and push button refit, is a great innovation, and a great leap forward in trike transportation and storage, hence its patented status.
If you want to save space in your boot, store your trike on a wall, shrink the carry size and carry weight of your trike parts; make your life a whole lot easier and increase the value of your investment into the bargain, then Tomcat’s Pitstop Wheels™ are a great choice for you.
If you have a multi-geared trike or an electric trike, you might also like to check out our Tomcat Connect™ system for instant splitting and reconnecting of all your trike services, such as brake cables, gear cables, motor controllers, lighting and more. We believe that together, these innovations make Tomcat the most transportable, user friendly trike in the world.
Wireless Braking System
If you find using cycle brakes difficult, or a cyclist you care for wants to be as independent as possible, then Tomcat’s Smart Brake® integrated wireless braking system brings safe braking to your fingertips.
For independent riders, Smart Brake gives you progressive braking with a feather-light pull of the lever – or if you prefer, it can be trigger-operated by just a finger or thumb. However you use Smart Brake it only needs minimal strength and minimal movement to provide reassuringly safe braking.
For Carers, Tomcat’s Wireless Braking System gives you the technology to remotely brake the tricycle in your care – simply by pressing a button on your remote fob. The signal has a range of 15 meters and should the rider travel out of range the brake is automatically applied to ensure their safety. A second button on your remote fob will apply a “Park” brake which will not release till you press the button again.
At the heart of our Wireless Braking is Smart Brake® – the world’s most advanced system, developed in Norway by RollerSafe AS.
Smart Brake® has many practical features such as USB charging and runs for an impressive 4000 operating cycles before recharging is necessary. Once the park brake is applied with the remote fob, the brakes cannot be released without another fob press, also creating a high level of deterrent to casual thieves.
If braking is a problem, Smart Brake is the answer.
Self Centring Steering™
This patented innovation is the hidden gem and standard feature of Tomcat’s low sitting trikes such as the Apprentice Bullet, Silver Bullet, Apprentice Arrow, Silver Arrow, Dragon and Dragonfly but is also an optional feature on certain other trikes in the Tomcat range.
The benefit may not appear immediately obvious – however, once you have ridden a trike with Self Centring Steering™, it is so sure-footed and responsive that a competitive trike will seem crude and unpredictable by comparison.
Most low sitting trikes (similar to recumbent or semi recumbent models) have a steep steering rake that makes the front wheel want to drift off to the left or right. What’s more, the heavier the rider, the worse it gets. Such trikes can be scary to ride as they have a mind all of their own.
Tomcat’s Self Centring Steering™ is specifically designed to counterbalance that drifting effect with a proportional force that brings the steering back to centre and keeps it there, just like a car with power steering.
Self Centring Steering™ is at its very best in high performance machines like the Silver Bullet and Silver Arrow, or tough, multi-user environments like the Dragon or Dragonfly where positive and predictable steering is essential. However Self centring
Steering™ also has its benefits in many pediatric applications where the rider may have a compulsive habit of rocking their body or they enjoy severe or erratic swinging of the handlebars. In these circumstances Self Centring Steering™ allows the rider to steer normally but makes the steering more resistive and less rewarding to swing from side to side. Trikes where this application may be appropriate are the Fizz and Roadhog ranges.
When you ride a Tomcat with Self Centring Steering™ you may never think about it again, but what you will notice is that you are riding a machine that is totally predictable, and does exactly what you want and expect it to do throughout the journey. This gives the rider the confidence to go faster and enjoy the cycling experience far more.
Dual Axle™
The Dual Axle™ is a landmark Tomcat innovation which helped change the special needs cycle industry forever. We invented Dual Axle™ (essentially a switchable axle) to provide a solution to customers who need a fixed drive for normal cycling but need a free-wheel drive on occasions such as after a seizure. Without Dual Axle™, a fixed drive would continue to rotate the pedals whilst the trike is pushed to safety, which is both impractical and uncomfortable for the rider.
The solution was a switch in the axle that disconnected the fixed drive and switched to a conventional freewheel drive in which the trike could be pushed without the legs having to move – a solution which went on to have some far reaching implications.
Once Tomcat understood its potential, we used Dual Axle for customers with many other conditions. It provides a useful service for riders coping with severe and unpredictable epileptic seizures, heart or general health conditions, challenging behaviour issues – and it can be used as a training tool for riders likely to transition between fixed and a conventional freewheel drive.
Yet a few years later, this simple idea sparked possibilities which went far beyond the individual rider, and improved the quality of life of the whole family.
In 2002, we invented the very first Trailer Trike™ – a trike that converts to a trailer in seconds, which can then be towed behind a carer’s bicycle.
By using Dual Axle™ to switch from fixed drive to freewheel, we were able to easily convert Tomcat trikes to trailers, avoiding pedal rotation with its pitfalls of discomfort or injury. This means that a family can be reunited once more, and all go cycling together – rather than the typical situation in which father and siblings cycle ahead whilst the mother follows at walking pace with a child on a trike.
With the innovations of Dual Axle™ and Trailer Trike™, we have changed the lives of thousands of families worldwide – a source of great pride to the Tomcat team.
Telescopic Cranks
The term Telescopic Cranks simply means the pedals on a trike can be moved closer or further away to suit the rider. All low sitting Tomcats in the Bullet and Arrow ranges have extending and retracting cranks – however, for a single owner (particularly adults), this setting will often only need to be done once, so a traditional spanner adjustment is fine.
In some circumstances, however, quick and easy adjustment of the pedals is required for frequent adjustment. This includes multi-user environments such as cycle centres or schools, occasions when a mobility or disability issue is better accommodated by an easy to adjust crank position, or for more compact car transportation.
In these cases Telescopic Cranks easily allow the rider or carer to move the pedals into the perfect position simply by turning a knob.
Although the Telescopic Crank innovation is an option on all of our low-sitting trikes, it is one of the standard features of a “Special Edition” Tomcat.
If Telescopic Cranks are combined with a sliding seat the total adjustment for leg length is an astonishing 35cm, representing a variation in user height of 70cm. This generous range is available in both the Arrow (7 to 14 years) and the Bullet (14 years to adult – up to 190cm) ranges.
This is particularly useful in multi-user environments, especially at times when the rider does not want to be the centre of attention or fuss. All that is needed is to loosen the telescopic lock and then extend or retract the pedals by rotating the adjuster handle to a comfortable pedal position. The chain length automatically adjusts to suit. The system is then relocked before riding off.
The whole process takes just a few seconds and can be done by the rider themselves, a carer, or a cycle centre technician.
Swivel Saddle and Access Step
In 1998, Tomcat Trikes caused a special needs cycling revolution by enabling young people with learning difficulties to cycle in complete safety – yet the next challenge was to find a way to provide universal access.
Many children who could use a Tomcat at home, still could not use their Tomcat at school because lifting the rider onto the trike would breach the school’s manual handling policy. A solution was needed to enable semi-ambulant riders to access cycling as part of their school’s curriculum and physiotherapy regime.
The invention of the Swivel Saddle and Access Step resolved this issue and enabled safe and easy access to tricycles without the need for manual handling.
The swivel seat can be used alone – however, in combination with the access step, it provides completely safe access. To use, position the step over either pedal, providing the rider with a spacious platform to the side of the trike, then turn the swivel saddle to that side.
Using the step handles with a carer on hand to steady, the rider steps onto the access step. Whilst central on the step, they turn with guidance from the carer until they are in line with the swivel saddle. They then sit on the swivel saddle and any support devices can be secured.
The saddle is swivelled to the normal ride position and the rider’s leg helped across the frame and onto the pedal or foot support. The step is then taken away and the other foot secured on the pedal before the rider rides off. In this way, the rider can get on and off the trike in complete safety, without any manual handling by the carer.
Over the years, many thousands of children and adults have used this innovation to access cycling in areas where previously they were excluded.
Trailer Trike™
Always one of Tomcat’s most popular innovations, a Trailer Trike™ is a Tomcat tricycle that converts to a trailer in order to tow it behind a bicycle. The conversion takes less than 30 seconds, requires no tools, and remains fully customised to the rider’s exact needs in both trike and trailer configuration.
Trailer Trike™ was made possible by two previous Tomcat innovations – our Two Piece Frame mechanism that splits for transportation and storage in under five seconds, and Dual Axle™, which switches from fixed drive to freewheel drive. With these two features, a Tomcat trike can become a trailer trike in moments.
For a rider with a disability or mobility issue, a trike and trailer are two very different cycling experiences. When configured as a tricycle, the machine gives the rider an opportunity to develop many important personal skills, such as steering, braking, danger awareness, balance, strength and coordination – not to mention a sense of personal achievement. It gives riders with learning difficulties (particularly children) a way to safely enjoy the world outside their door and engage with their community. Many of these benefits are also true of the trailer configuration, but the biggest value here is how riding takes on a new, family dimension.
As a tricycle – particularly when Carer Controlled, the trike is limited to walking speed or the strength and abilities of the rider, but these restrictions don’t apply when configured as a trailer. Riders love the exhilaration as they speed along with their siblings, parents or carers.
It can often be very difficult to find an activity that the whole family can enjoy together, in safety and without any demands upon the rider – so Trailer Trike™ was created to resolve this.
It is the freedom to be a family that makes the Tomcat Trailer Trike™ so very special.
Bionic Buddy™
Bionic Buddy™ is an e-drive accessory designed for walking speed propulsion of most Tomcat trikes, especially Carer Controlled™ trikes.
Unlike our high speed, pedal assisted trikes where rider pedaling controls motor power and speed, Bionic Buddy™’s powerful motor is throttle controlled by either the rider or pedestrian carer without the need for pedalling. As Bionic Buddy™’s maximum speed is regulated to a brisk walking pace of 3 mph (5 kph), it is fully compliant with UK law and can be used on public pathways.
Bionic Buddy™ has been designed for any person or organisation needing constant or occasional pedal-free, motorised cycling assistance, either as an independent rider, or with Carer Control™.
Initially designed for the very steep streets of Bath, the Bionic Buddy™ is a great solution to any rider or family who wants to broaden their experience and challenge themselves in the knowledge that Bionic Buddy™ will get them home, no matter what unexpected problems come their way.
Do I need a Bionic Buddy™ e-power accessory or a Pedal Assisted trike?
Tomcat produces two battery power solutions for our trikes – Bionic Buddy™ and Pedal Assist. We are the only manufacturer offering e-power on disability trikes in the UK.
The main differences between the two lie in the system’s top speed, your age, whether you need to pedal or not to activate the power, and whether you, or a carer, will be in control of steering and braking.
Bionic Buddy is legal for any age and its top speed is a brisk walking pace of 3mph whilst Pedal Assist offers a much more rapid pace of up to 15.5mph, but can only be used by people 14 years and over.
There are a number of other factors to consider too, so here’s a features chart that may make things clearer.
Tomcat Special Edition™
For trikes in a multi-user environment, the Tomcat Special Edition™ upgrades your chosen model to enable easy access, absolute safety and quick adjustment, perfect for anxious users.
Upgrading to a Special Edition™ adds a unique suite of features to any model in the Bullet or Arrow range. Special Edition™ features a swiveling seat with auto-lock, a 20cm seat slide that works with the user already seated, and easily adjusted telescopic cranks.
With these features, the rider can easily sit without the need to step across the frame. The technician can then turn them to the cycling direction, slide the seat to achieve an ideal reach before adjusting their leg length to a perfect riding geometry. It only takes a few seconds, is entirely spanner free, and more able riders can make these adjustments themselves.
Riders often feel anxious about their safety, or self conscious about their difficulties when setting up requires them to stand whilst adjustments are made, but with the Special Edition™ features, that problem is entirely eliminated. Once seated, the technician or the rider themselves can make all further adjustments in a matter of seconds not minutes, relieving stress and discomfort for the rider and freeing up the technician in a busy environment.
If you serve a lot of clients in a multi user environment, upgrading to a Special Edition™ will give the very best experience to your clients and a less stressful day for your technician.
Tomcat Trike Tidy™
Tomcat Trike Tidy™ is a space saving storage device for your Tomcat Trike. When Trike Tidy™ is secured to a wall – perhaps in your garage or hall – the separate components of your trike, (or Trailer Trike™) can be stored out of harm’s way until they are needed, freeing up valuable floor space and protecting your trike from accidental damage or casual theft.
Trike Tidy™ is an ‘off the floor’ storage system for Two-Piece Tomcat trikes from the Fizz, Roadhog, Handy and Tamara range. Trike Tidy™ is able to store all parts of your trike, including accessories – and also has provision for the trailer bar accessory that converts your trike from a conventional three-wheeled tricycle to a two-wheeled trailer. Whether trike or Trailer Trike™, it can be safely stored on Trike Tidy™.
Trike Tidy™ is also a great way to protect your valuable trike from knocks and scratches if you are storing it in the garage, where space is usually limited and there are many other items getting in the way, such as other bikes, lawnmowers and exercise machines.
No other manufacturer we know of is able to offer a system like Trike Tidy™, where a complete trike with all its accessories can be easily and safely hung on a wall out of harm’s way.
Tomcat has made it possible with our remarkable Two-Piece Frame™ system which lets you take your Tomcat apart in seconds. Each trike will separate into at least two parts that are small and light enough to easily lift to chest height, with no component weighing more than a comfortable 10kg.
Most other special needs trikes either don’t separate at all, would need time and tools to separate them, or they would be just too heavy to lift – even in small pieces. Tomcat trikes have none of these problems because although the design is tough, robust and very stable on the road, it is also very light due to its unique structural design.
If time and space are as precious as your Tomcat, you’ll love Tomcat’s Trike Tidy™. Watch our video and check your stopwatch to see just how quick and easy it can be. Trike Tidy™ makes the best special needs trike in the world, just that little bit better!
Custom Builds
Some customers require a whole new solution. At Tomcat, we never shy away from invention and if the right fit cannot be found in our existing product range, we will start from scratch, and create one.
All our private customers are unique in their needs and therefore we provide personally tailored trikes to everyone. However some customers will need a special solution to a unique problem and for those customers we have our signature custom-building service.
Sometimes the solution will be easy, sometimes difficult, but either way, we only charge our customers for the workshop work we do because the knowledge that comes from innovation is invaluable to us.
Over 23 years, solving those unique problems has resulted in a portfolio of over 50 innovations as well as numerous one-off solutions. Many of these innovations have become industry standards worldwide and have helped us win two Queens Awards for Innovation.
Britain is unusual in not providing special needs or mobility tricycles as part of its healthcare provision though this is commonplace throughout Europe and Scandinavia, where trikes are provided under prescription. Ideal though that might seem, there is a downside in that such prescriptions are capped, and capping has had the historical effect of stifling innovation in those regions.
Historically, Britain has also reflected the European trike market in providing simple, heavy, off the shelf products that were either suitable or not, depending on the rider’s level of independence. Very often, they were not!
However in 1997, one little boy with learning difficulties helped change the lives of thousands of others, when a unique trike was created to help him cycle. This saw the invention of Carer Control™ – a system where the rider cycles and the carer steers and brakes from behind – which meant cycling was suddenly possible for almost every person, young and old, with a learning or physical difficulty. Shortly after, Tomcat was born.
Tomcat’s innovation meant a huge group of the disabled community were now able to access cycling. Demand was high – but so were the challenges for many people hoping to overcome their barriers – so we decided to assess each customer’s needs, then custom build the solution to guarantee no one was ever disappointed.
Overcoming these barriers meant more innovation and it is a matter of public record that Tomcat re-invests 25% of its income in innovation on behalf of its customers, every year From 1997 onwards, that investment has changed lives and changed the industry out of all recognition.
If you would like to know more about how custom building has benefitted cycling, please check out our Innovation pages. You may recognise many innovations from other makers, as the best have become industry standards worldwide but be careful of copies as they are rarely as effective, as well thought through – or, crucially, as safe – as the original.
Finally, you might argue that a policy decision such as providing Custom Builds is not really an innovation, but without it our innovations section would not exist, and the many, many lives it has improved for the better, would not have benefitted – so to us, it has been the most valuable innovation of all.
