Greenspeed Aero Recumbent trike
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GreenSpeed Aero

Item #: GreenspeedAreo59446
Price: $4,600.00
    The product is in stock Availability: In Stock
    Usually ships In 1-2 Business Days
    In Stock Quantity: 4
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    About This Item

    Phone: 800 561-6670

    EMail: info@industrialbicycles.com

    The Greenspeed Aero was named Trike Of The Year by Bentrider Online

    Aero Introduction

    The GreenSpeed Areo is simply the fastest production trike in the world period.

    Streamlined Aero Dynamics

    At 20 mph, 80% of an ordinary bike rider’s energy goes into pushing the air aside. This is what makes it so much harder to ride into a headwind, than a tailwind. On the Aero you’ll LOVE headwinds! Because when you turn into a headwind on the Aero, you will leave the competition behind, if you haven’t already.Even the cross member on the Aero is streamlined. This is because a streamlined tube has 1/10th the drag of a round tube! The more the seat is reclined, the smaller your frontal area is to the wind and the faster you go. The seat of the Aero is reclined at a low 20 degrees. Wind tunnel testing shows a large gain in speed when using wheel covers. Most bikes and trikes cannot use front wheel covers due to instability in cross winds. The Aero overcomes this and further reduces drag by using 16” front wheels with a 20” rear wheel.

    To further reduce air drag, the Aero uses the joy stick steering that was first used on the GreenSpeed SLR trike. This is linear action steering, allowing the hands and arms to be closer to the body, moving fore and aft, instead of moving sideways, where your arms catch more wind. The cranks are above the seat, so that the feet are within the frontal area for the body, reducing air drag. Our wind tunnel testing has shown that the exposed callipers on disk brakes produce more drag that drum brakes, where the drum is contained within the wheel. So the Aero uses special 90 mm drum brakes which have been reduced in overall width to fit within the wheel slim wheel covers. Finally, there is a new headrest available if needed. It has a single support strut, in line with the neck, instead of the two struts on previous headrests.

    Light Weight

    While weight has less of an effect on performance than aerodynamics, every aspect of the Aero has been examined for weight reduction. This starts with the frame. The frame of the Aero is non-folding, plus the seat frame is an integral part of the main frame so the weight of hinges and other joints and fasteners are eliminated. Plus the frames are mutually re-enforcing, and thus the whole structure can be lighter and more aerodynamic.

    GreenSpeed used 7005 aluminium alloy for the Aero. This has reduced the weight of the frame by over 3 pounds, or 30% over the Cro Mo 4130 prototypes. Although the axle size has been increased from the 12mm of the SLR to 15mm on the Aero to reduce axle flex, the weight of the kingpins has been reduced, as has the front hubs, by totally removing the outer flange. Even the weight of the special GreenSpeed Scorcher tires has been reduced for the Aero. Thus you will notice how quickly the Aero accelerates with the first stroke of the pedals.

    Rolling Resistance

    There is a myth in the cycling world that the larger the wheel, the easier it will roll. This is a carryover from the horse and carriage days, when the larger wheels would sink less into soft ground and a larger steel tired cartwheel would roll easier over a certain size stone. This changed forever with the advent of sealed roads and the pneumatic tire.

    There is also a myth that thinner tires roll faster. In laboratory testing at GreenSpeed, on many different types and sizes of tires, it was discovered that not only did smaller diameter tires roll easier that large ones of the same construction and pressure, but wider tires rolled easier than narrow ones. Plus certain types of tire construction rolled easier than others. This lead to the design and manufacture of the GreenSpeed Scorcher tires, which have been the number one choice of the top Australian racing teams for the last 10 years.

    For the Aero we have taken another look at the design of the Scorchers and managed to further improve the rolling resistance by an extra 15%! When you stop pedalling the Aero and coast, you will be surprised at how easily it rolls.

    Top Gearing

    On a Penny Farthing bicycle, the larger the front driving wheel, the faster it went. This was because there was no gearing and it was direct drive. The ground covered with each wheel revolution was dependent on the size of the wheel, which was dependent on the length of the rider’s legs. Then the Safety came along with the smaller wheels and gearing, so everything changed. However the myth that larger wheels are faster persists to this day.

    This myth is perpetuated by the use of gearing designed for bikes with 26” and 700c wheels which is fitted to many trikes with 20” wheels. This results in gearing which is far too low for speed. Thus instead of the standard 50/39/30 cranksets and 11/32 cassettes fitted to many trikes, the Aero has a 56/42/28 crankset and a 9/28 ten speed cassette. This gives a top gear of 20 x 56/9 = 124 inches, V 20 x 50/11 = 91 inches for a standard 20” wheeled trike, or 26 x 50/11 = 118 inches for a standard trike with 26” rear wheel. The Schlumpf Mountain Drive is a popular alternative to the triple, and with the standard 60t ring and the 9/28 cassette, will give a range from 17 to 133 inches. Thus on the Aero you can be sure you will be faster than a trike with a 26” or 700c rear wheel. Plus the Aero will handle better due to less rear end flex.

    Reviewed by Adulttricyclereview.com

    Greenspeed Aero Review on November 12, 2018

    So right to the most important question, is the Greenspeed Aero the fastest trike on the market? The answer, Yes, definitely and by a fairly big margin when you are comparing all the ultra fast trikes from ICE, HP Velotechnik and Catrike. But how can that be? The rear wheel on the Greenspeed Aero is only 20” and a bigger wheel on other brand trikes will roll farther on each revolution. Also a larger rear wheel will give you a higher amount of gear inches right? That is somewhat true but not in this case, and here is why. Greenspeed studied small wheel vs bigger wheels and here is why Greenspeed prefers the smaller wheels. The 20” wheels are lighter and have less rotating mass; they also spin up to speed faster than a large wheel. The 16” front and 20” rear wheel are more aerodynamic and stronger. The smaller wheels, with the carbon wheel cover, cut down on wind drag significantly over regular spoke wheels. Next, Greenspeed just added three teeth to the large front chain ring to give you the same gear inches as the other trikes so you will not run out of gear inches. At twenty five miles per hour, eighty percent of your effort is fighting wind drag and the Greenspeed Areo cheats the wind better than any other trike brand. First, when you sit on the Greenspeed Aero compared to any of the other trikes, you will instantly see you are lower, and the seat angle is farther back than the other trikes. The lower seat height and more laid back angle makes your frontal area significantly smaller and more aerodynamic. Greenspeed also made the frame tubing areo shaped to cut down on wind drag. Greenspeed uses the Sturmey archer drum brakes which are enclosed inside the wheel coves so there is no wind drag from a disc brake caliper or disc.

    Frame: The frame on the Greenspeed Aero is made from 7005 aluminum, TIG welded together in Taiwan exclusively for Greenspeed. I would have to say the welds are beautiful and of the highest quality in the industry. The frame is constructed out of, shaped aero aluminum tubing.

    Paint: Greenspeed paint jobs are nice and will not disappoint you. The Areo is available in three colors: red, yellow and black. We found the powder coat to be applied evenly with no thin spots or imperfections.

    Drive Train: The shifting is superb on the Aero. Greenspeed chose a premium Shimano 105 drivetrain with ten gears to choose from in the rear and three in the front for a total of thirty. The Shimano 105 front and rear derailleur performed flawlessly mated to the Shimano Dur-Ace Bar End Shifters. Greenspeed prefers Bar End Shifters and you will see them on most Greenspeed trikes. Bar end shifters are my shifter of choice as well, they shifters just make sense for me. I feel they are easier to use than the grip type shifters you see on most other brands of trikes.

    Brakes: The Greenspeed Areo used Sturmey Archer Disc 90mm Drum Brakes. The Sturmey Archer brakes stop well enough and are the best choice for the Areo over disc brakes. The biggest advantage to the Sturmey Archer brakes is that they can be enclosed inside the carbon fiber wheel covers which make them much more aero than disc brakes. The second advantage is there is zero brake rub and they also stop better in the rain than most disc brakes. The Sturmey Archer brakes are simple, reliable and easy to adjust. Greenspeed chose a simple Velcro strap that you wrap around one of the brake levers for your parking brake. I really like this because it is simple and adds no weight to the trike. This also allowed Greenspeed to be able to use a premium brake levers. The Greenspeed Aero is a purest race trike, a parking brake is not a nescient so leaving the parking brake off was the right choice.

    Seat: Greenspeed is famous for their seats. They use shock cords to give a seat some extra give. The seat height is very low on the Areo and the angle lays at 20 degree and is unable to be adjusted. Greenspeed seats were developed with help from a Doctor and I will have to say they just seem to fit people’s back shape very well.

    Ride: The ride was about what I expected. The smaller wheels are stiffer than bigger wheels and hurt the ride quality slightly. Greenspeed has a home run with the Scorcher tires on the Areo. The Scorcher tires might just be the best rolling tires on the market. The tires are suppler that other brands of tires allowing them to roll over imperfections in the road better. The Schorcher tires are a bit wider than other high performance tires which is an advantage as well. Being there is more air volume in the tires, they deform to the road surface easier helping with the roll and adds to a more comfortable ride. So who does the Aero appeal to the most? Well, someone looking to race or just be the fastest person in their trike group.

    Handling: This is where all Greenspeed trikes really shine. The handling is just awesome. With the super low seat you can take the Aero around corners like you are running from the police and always feel in complete control. I rode the Areo hard and turned sharp and it just feels glued to the road. The steering is also different than other trikes. The handlebars move forward and backwards only, they do not pivot from a central part of the frame like the ICE or Hp Velotechnik trikes. The handlebar set up is more aero and the handlebars are closer to your hips making you more aerodynamic.

    In conclusion: I will have to say the Greenspeed Aero is maybe the perfect trike for 2% of the trike buyers on the market. Getting in and out of the trike will be too difficult for most trike buyers. The ride is what you might expect from a rigid trike with small wheels, a bit stiffer than most trikes. This trike is the fastest trike I have ever ridden. I think it is my favorite Greenspeed trike and one of my favorite trikes of all times. If I was going to have two trikes the first would have suspension for that long ride day and the second would be the Greenspeed Aero just because it is just so darn fast and cool looking.

    Pros: Fantastic quality, this trike will make you faster than you are on your current trike.

    Cons: The Aero is low and a lot of people will struggle with getting in and out of this trike. The neck rest is a must have because you are laid back so far.