Performer Futuro Review on October 24, 2022

George Chen, the owner of Performer Cycles, has always been a cyclist. He fell in love with bike riding as a youth and his passion for the bicycle and riding community has only grown. George had the opportunity to ride a recumbent bike almost thirty years ago and he was shocked at how much more comfortable and faster it was than his current upright two wheel bike. He instantly became a big fan of recumbents. Subsequently, his passion for cycling led him to opening his own bicycle factory almost twenty five years ago. George got his start doing contract work for other companies which is all well and good but if you met him you would see he has so many ideas in his head that building products for other companies is not what he is about.

Soon after opening his factory, George started his own brand called Performer Cycles. George is like Henry Ford; he wanted the best quality control for his products. He chose to do the entire manufacturing process himself in his own factory, where he could control the quality of his bikes and trikes.

When I visited some other factories in Taiwan, it was quite different. You had the guy who only builds frames and they have a relationship with someone who only paints, then there is someone else who does all the assembly. I am not a big fan of this type of manufacturing because there are too many different people involved and it is more difficult to control quality. Comparatively, George can walk into his factory at any time and inspect frame manufacturing, painting, assembly, and packaging within minutes.

Performer’s bestselling product is their recumbent trikes but they are well known for their recumbent bikes as well. They can build bikes and trikes out of carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum and chrome-molly steel. Their carbon trike and carbon tandem are really incredible. The material of choice for most bikes and trikes is aluminum. For most situations aluminum is the best material to work with. I have seen some of the old school lugged chrome molly steel road bikes that George produces. They are works of art. The old school lugged frames with fancy sculpted lugs remind me of the Italian racing bikes from Pinerello, Colnago, and Basso from the early 80’s.

I just did a consultation with a gentleman who was a professional basketball player. He is over 6’-7” tall and simply there is no trike large enough for him on the market. He could actually send his measurement to Performer Cycles and they could produce a one of a kind trike specifically for his size. I cannot think of any other company willing to do that type of customer service.

Frame: The frame on the Performer Futuro is made of aluminum that is TIG welded together in Taichung Taiwan. I would have to say the welds are beautiful and of the highest quality in the
industry. The frame on the Performer Futuro is a non-folding design. Its seat can be removed by the quick release pins, not the easiest seat to remove but still very doable for most people. The Performer Futuro has a maximum rider weight capacity of 242 Lbs. The frame is easily adjustable and can accommodate riders with X-Seams between 36.3″ and 50.7″.

Paint: The Performer Futuro powder coat is extremely well done. The powder coat is sprayed on evenly and consistently. The color and depth to the paint is amazing. It just looks to be a very quality paint job. I did notice the paint did seem to chip a little easier than I thought but overall it is a thumbs up paint job that should last you a long time.

Drive Train: The shifting is superb on the Performer Futuro. Performer chose a premium Microshift drivetrain with ten gears to choose from in the rear and two chain rings in the front for a total of twenty speeds. The Microshift front and rear derailleurs performed flawlessly mated to the Microshift Bar End Shifters. Performer prefers Bar End Shifters and you will see them on all of their trikes. Bar end shifters are my shifter of choice as well. They just make sense for me.

Performer chose a FSA crank set with a 53 tooth large chain ring and a 39 tooth small chain ring. With a 53/39 chain rings and an 11-36 tooth cassette the rear the gear ratio should be broad enough for you to be able to pedal up just about any hill you can find. The Performer Futuro
come with a Samagaga differential, this allows both rear wheels to drive where most delta style trike only have one wheel in the rear drive and the other just freewheels.

Brakes: Performer Cycles likes Tektro Disc Brakes. Tektro is a huge brake manufacture and probably the largest bicycle brake manufacture in the world. Tektro makes a wide variety of brakes. The brakes that Performer Cycle chose for the Futuro, is a simple cable actuated disc. A big advantage to Tektro brakes is that replacement pads are available. Sure, Performer could have used a less expensive brake, but with those cheaper brakes there are no replacement pads that are available after market. I thought the trike stopped fine with the Tektro Disc; nothing unexpected, just good, solid, predictable braking.

Wheels: The wheels are Jalco X320, all 20″ wheels. The rims are a premium quality double wall rim with eyelets at the spoke nipples. The wheels are easily overlooked for what they are which is a more premium wheel set than what most of Performer Cycle competitors are offering.

Seat: Like all the other Performer bikes and trikes, the seat is interchangeable. The most popular seat for trikes is the mesh seat where it is very breathable and well-constructed. However, I do think Performer should come out with an updated version where it is padded and the bottom is a bit larger to fit big American butts. The other seat option is the FRP which is available in a fiberglass version and a carbon fiber version. This seat gives the trike that racy, high performance, feel.

The seat height is 16.9″ (430 mm) and the seat angle can be adjusted from 34.5 Degrees to 40 degrees. I hear people comment about seat height all the time with concerns that they think it is very low which is not the case. I ask them can they get out of their kitchen chair easily enough. The answer is usually yes. Then I tell them their kitchen chain is 17″ which is almost identical to the Performer Futuro seat height. The seat on the Futuro can be adjusted on the main frame tube
forward and backward so you can adjust the seat to handlebar relationship to your liking.

Handling: The Performer Futuro handles very well and is more stable than most Delta style trikes. I thought the trike rode nice and straight the steering was predictable and precise. I
thought the turning circle was very good.

Ride: I think the ride and stability is good on the Performer Futuro, the comfort is far better than most Delta style recumbent trikes. The longer wheel base on the Futuro does help a bit in smoothing out the ride over most Tadpole style trikes.

In conclusion: You may never have heard of Performer Cycles but they have been building quality trikes for a very long time.

Here is how I think the Performer Futuro scored 8 out of 10 points.
Frame quality and ride for a rigid Delta style trike: 7
Paint: 9
Component value: 10
Seat: 5
Handling: 6
Rear fenders: 3
Value for the money: 10
The pricing is very favorable for the Futuro and comparable to the Sun X3 AX  or Hase Trigo.

Pros: Performer trikes are just such an incredible value. Only 42 Lbs.!

Cons: The rear fenders are not up to par, just too wimpy. I did not like the bracket sticking out from the side of the fender either.