GREENSPEED
Builder Profile

About Greenspeed:

We offer a wide range of recumbent bicycles, tricycles, and HPVs, which offer greater comfort, safety, and efficiency, than ordinary diamond framed bikes. Our most popular models are our Touring Trikes which, unlike LWB or SWB recumbent bikes, require no balancing skills and no learning period to ride. Just get on, and off you go!

Solo Trikes:

The 2 front, 1 rear wheel layout and low centre of gravity of a Greenspeed trike offers complete stability. It can be easily ridden by people of all ages and abilities. Six solo trike models are available.

Our trikes are world renowned for their centre point steering and excellent handling qualities. Thoroughly tested in the Around Australia Tours through the Outback, they are now exported to Europe and the Americas. We also offer trike models for riders with special needs.


Click here to see this S and S Coupled trike
 


This trike packed in a 32x24x12" case

   General Features of Greenspeed Recumbent Trikes:

Stability:

Unlike the traditional upright tricycles, which require acrobatics to corner safely? at speed, the two front and one rear wheel layout and low centre of gravity of Greenspeed trikes offer complete stability, and greater safety. Thus they can be easily ridden by people of all ages and abilities. The centre point steering means that there is absolutely no kick back in the steering from hitting pot holes in the road, and the wide handle bars give pin point accuracy, even at high speed. It also means that the twin front brakes can be operated independently, without reacting on the steering, allowing braking with either hand when signalling, and the strength of both hands for emergency braking.

Seats:

We use an open weave outdoor furniture material, laced to the frame with an elastic shock cord, so that it provides ventilation and cooling for the back as well as insulation from road shock. The shock cord lacing also allows the seat to mould itself to your shape, and provide compete support for the back, which is totally lacking on ordinary bikes. Thus many people who cannot ride an ordinary bike due to back pain, have found comfort and freedom from pain on our trikes. Our seats are also more reclined than many recumbents. This means you present less of yourself to the wind, making it noticeably easier to ride into the wind. It also means less weight on your backside, enabling you to cover longer distances without the "numb bum" syndrome.

Frames.

Most of our trikes are made from aircraft grade Cro Mo 4130 tubing. This alloy steel has THREE times the strength of ordinary steel, giving a light yet very strong and reliable frame. After welding they are sandblasted to give a key for the powder coat finish, which is applied electrostatically without solvents, and baked to give a harder, thicker, and tougher coating than paint.

Brakes:

We use either drum brakes or disc brakes. Unlike rim brakes, which wear the rims, rely on the condition of the rim, and require frequent adjustment and pad replacement, drum brakes are practically maintenance free. So they work just as well in the wet as the dry, and in over nine years of operation, we have never had to replace any drum brake shoes. Hydraulic disc brakes are used on the Tandem trikes, and are optional on the solo trikes. These brakes exceed the German standards for bicycle brakes by two and a half times. The stopping power with TWO of these brakes on the front of your trike is simply awesome! Plus with the hydraulic operation, without any cable friction, you get much better feel and control over the braking, so that your feel in complete control.

Gears:

Because Greenspeed recumbents trikes are more efficient than ordinary bikes, they can use higher gears, and because they are completely stable, and have no minimum balancing speed, they can use lower gears. So a wider range of gear is required to make the full use of their capabilities. Thus we normally fit THREE separate gear systems - a triple crank and chain ring set, a seven speed rear derailleur, and a three speed hub. This gives 63 combinations with very wide range from 14 inches in bottom gear to 126 in top (GTR). So you have gears low enough to climb a mountain without having to push too hard, and gears high enough to pedal downhill with the wind behind you - a gear for every situation!

Wheels:

Twenty inch BMX type wheels are used all round. With 36 spokes these wheels are much stronger, lighter, and stiffer than 26" Mountain Bike wheels. In fact they are even stronger than a normal size wheel laced with 48 spokes, yet much lighter.

They also allow a lighter, stiffer and stronger frame, as the forces on the frame from the wheels in cornering are lower. Furthermore they allow a lower seat angle without making the frame too long, giving better traction (contract patch closer to seat), and enable the same tyres and tubes to be used all round, giving better handling balance, and the need to carry only one spare.

There is also a excellent selection of 20" tyres available, and we have found that contrary to popular belief, the 20" tyres have a LOWER rolling resistance than 26" tyres of the same construction. We have tested over 50 different tyres from all over the world, and selected the best. The Tioga Comp Pools tyres we use, were found to give the lowest rolling resistance coupled with the best grip, yet they have lasted over 10,000kms on tour. Thus your Greenspeed will roll remarkably easily, grip the road like glue, and go for thousands of kilometres without attention.

The GTC Travel Trike 

Want to take your trike on holidays with you in a suit case? Then this is the trike for you! We started with our most popular GTR touring trike, and then made it so it could pack down for travel. The GTC uses S&S Machine's Bicycle Toque Couplings. These stainless steel CNC machined couplings, with their interlocking tapered teeth, are actually stronger and stiffer than the Cro Mo 4130 tubes of the trike itself. Thus, unlike most folding cycles, the GTC Travel Trike actually handles slightly better that the GTR from which it is derived. It can be packed into one case 32" x 24" x 12", which reduces the cost of air freight to USA or Europe from $700AU to $400AU Or for travel it can be packed into two standard size suit cases 32" x 24" x 9" and 28" x 20" x 8" with plenty of room for clothes and other luggage.

To pack the trike down, the seat is detached by removing the bolt from the front of the seat, and undoing the two small couplings at the rear of the seat. Then the wheels and the crank extension are removed, and the frame splits in two, by undoing the large coupling just behind the handle bars. The handle bars then fold down, and the main "X" of the frame fits in the suitcase with all the steering and brakes still connected. The rear of the frame, and crank extension fit around it, then the three wheels fit on top. This leaves only the seat which will fit into a second smaller case, along with your clothes and other baggage. Thus you can travel by plane with two normal suit cases, and no one will even know your are packing a trike, much less charge you for excess baggage.

Tandem Trikes:

When you want to have a friend (or significant other) along, this is the trike to take. The design features a stretched, triangulated frame with excellent pedalling stiffness while still having a comfortable ride. The standard Greenspeed reclined mesh and shock-corded seats provide semi-suspended comfort and low wind resistance.

Coupled Tandem Trikes

The latest tandem trike development is the use of S&S BTCs, to enable the trike to be taken apart for shipping, transport or storage. Two BTCs allow it to be broken in half to half its length (the most economical option) and five BTCs, with removable seats, enable it to be broken down into quite a small size, as show below:-

  
Once taken apart, it will  fit into the back of a small Dihatsu Charade 3 cylinder hatch back.

Click here to see the Greenspeed tandem that converts to a single

Purchase from:

We sell through retailers but will sell direct in areas where we aren't represented.

Contact Information

GREENSPEED Recumbent Bikes, Trikes, and HPVs
69 Mountain Gate Drive
Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156
Australia

Phone: +61 3 9758 5541
Fax: +61 3 9752 4115
e-mail: ian@greenspeed.com.au


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