Greenspeed Recumbent Tricycles
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Greenspeed GTO Tadpole Trike |
Greenspeed GT3 Folding Tadpole Trike |
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Greenspeed Anura Frog |
Greenspeed is
the world’s largest, well-respected manufacturer of tadpole trikes.
Tadpole means two
front wheels. These trikes tend to be more expensive, lower, faster and
more stable at higher speeds than the delta trikes with 2 rear wheels.
Tadpoles steering “feel” is like a sports car. Delta trikes on the other
hand are typically higher, slower, less stable at speed and easier to get
on to/off of.
I’ve ridden a
Greenspeed GTO trike on two 50-mile rides. On the first I was alone and it
was hilly. The other was pretty flat and I had the company of 100 others
on recumbents. Trikes in general and the Greenspeed in particular are
great on hills! Even the biggest hills aren’t intimidating. You don’t have
to worry about your speed dropping so low you can’t keep your balance.
With the 72 gears on the GTO you can climb till the rear wheel spins (I
meant this as a joke but on dirt roads this could happen…) At the start of
the BROL 50 mile ride I had a great time riding around the parking lot
among the 100 bents without having to take my feet of the pedals. And the
Greenspeed can turn very small circles in a parking lot, though the
handlebars interfere with your knees a bit on the tightest. This
interference is not a problem on rides, just tight maneuvers in parking
lots. At the beginning of the ride I raced to the front and stopped to
count all the bents as they rode bye. This put me in last place (it isn’t
a race, it isn’t a race…) I caught up in the next ~20 miles and had a
great time talking to folks on my way by. I should mention that the
fastest dozen or so riders took the high road and climbed 500-600 more
vertical feet than the rest of us. After lunch we were pretty spread-out
riding 25 miles on a pretty much flat road, upwind. I was in roughly 5th
to 10th place and felt I was working harder than the two wheelers around
me.
A few
conclusions:
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Trikes are fun
and easy to get used to but you can go faster for less money with a
two-wheel recumbent.
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Trikes are wider
than bikes but when traffic comes along you can ride on the shoulder (if
there is one) without worrying about traction or being knocked over by
the ridge at the edge of the pavement.
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Trike riders can
watch the scenery better with out worry about falling over or leaving
the road unexpectedly.
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Most trikes put
their riders pretty low for riding in heavy traffic. Flags and mirrors
help but you can’t see over a car, not even a Ferrari!
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A parking brake
is nice and can be easily improvised.
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Trikes are bulky
but will fit through a door (with practice) and can be easy to tie on
the roof of your car, resting stably on the three tires.
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