Three weeks have now gone by since the delivery of our first Greenspeed GTT Grand Touring tandem trike.  Having owned and operated a Hase Kettwiesel tandem for over three years, there was a degree of anxiousness on my part to see just what this Greenspeed GTT trike could do, not to mention skeptism as to whether there would be a substantial difference in performance between it and our Hase kettwiesel tandem.  With my wife away in Washington, D.C., I asked my friend, Geoff, to take the Greenspeed tandem for a quick three mile round trip ride to Geoff's house.  Even with the front idler chain practically dragging on the ground, there was little doubt that the Greenspeed GTT trike enjoys its reputation for speed, solid workmanship and performance for good reason.

Initial Impressions:

    Upon close inspection, the construction quality and attention to detail of the Greenspeed Grand Touring (GTT) trike is obvious.  Although we have only clocked so far about 150 miles on our demo trike, previous experience with our Hase Kettwiesels enables me to provide very accurate details about the good, bad and indifferent.  First, and probably most surprising, is the fact that physically handling the Greenspeed tandem trike to and from rides and around the storage facility is ironically easy, even easier I hasten to say than with the tandem kettweisel.

    For starters, because the Greenspeed tandem trike is just that, a single frame trike (and not two trikes that form an articulated tandem like the Hase Kettwiesels), moving the trike around in a garage and/or to and from a vehicle for transport to rides is merely a matter of setting the steering straight and picking the relatively light rear wheel up and walking the trike to the desired location.  Rarely do the front wheels wander.  The trike almost always just follows you in a straight line as you walk with it, including 180 degree turns.  Furthermore, the front crank set is sufficiently elevated that it does not come into contact with the ground during these walking maneuvers.  Alternatively, simply moving the Kettwiesels in tandem required two people to move it backwards, or even physically lifting and turning it around in situations too tight to maneuver under pedal power.  When my wife/captain recently piloted us into a predicament that required the trike to be turned 180 degrees, I simply dismounted and picked up the rear wheel and turned her and the entire trike in the direction we needed to travel with no fuss or bother.

Transporting the Greenspeed GTT:

    Purchasing an Extend-A-Truck bracket makes transporting a Greenspeed GTT trike pretty much a snap.  I find that it takes only a few minutes to load the trike into the five-foot pickup bed of a Honda Ridgeline, all in one piece.  Though the Greenspeed GTT trike comes standard with two S&S couplers, using the Extend-A-Truck bracket makes breaking the trike down for transport unneccessary.  As you can probably see from the photo,
the Extend-A-Truck bracket simply inserts into a hitch receiver and either elevates to the level of your cargo bed or roof, depending on which way the bracket is inserted.  Being able to transport a Greenspeed GTT trike as a complete assembled unit saves at least a half hour of time when you arrive at your riding destination.

GTT Performance:

    So, how does this limousine-sized trike actually perform on the road?  Well, the Greenspeed GTT tandem trike is amazingly responsive, except for the fact that it certainly cannot be turned 180 degrees in its own length, because of its somewhat broad beam of thirty-nine inches. (It realistically requires about a seventeen foot turning circle.) With the exception of one narrow sidewalk that challenged even the Kettwiesel tandem's maneuverability, not one of our regular cycling routes has been adversely impacted  In the case of that one sidewalk, we simply ride in the street for about one block to get around the obstructions.  My concern that the minimal distance between the steering arms and ground would play havoc on regular routes with speed bumps is also not as problematic as I had originally envisioned.  The Greenspeed GTT trike did not even bottom out when we rode down a street, which had been torn up for sewer replacement.

    Due to the Greenspeed GTT trikes long wheelbase, forgiving compliant Chromolly 4130 steel frame, and supportive suspended mesh seat, the ride on this trike is not at all harsh.  Though stiff, this tandem trike really does smooth out the bumps nicely without sacrificing performance.

    Many reviews have been written, which talk about the high performance characteristics of Greenspeed trikes.  These reviews often comment that a Greenspeed trike just wants to take off.  We concur.  In terms of flat surface performance, we find that cruising along at thirteen to fifteen miles per hour for sustained periods is no problem.  Cynthia, the captain, comes in at a mere 120 pounds, wet.  She also has partial paralysis in her left leg below the knee, which certainly reduces performance to some extent.  I, the stoker, on the other hand am 225 pounds of leg muscle.  On our Hase Kettwiesel tandem, my wife and I could sustain only around eleven to twelve and one half miles per hour.  On the Greenspeed GTT, we are clocking 14 to 15 miles per hour with no difficulty.

    Hill-climbing performance:  At sixty-five pounds, the Greenspeed GTT is not a feather weight by any stretch of the imagination.  Nevertheless, the Greenspeed GTT trike climbs hills with much greater ease than the Kettwiesels.  Although likely to finish last in a hill climb competition with single seat trikes and bikes, there is little doubt that you will arrive at the bottom of the hill with the pack or, possibly, in front of it.  The Greenspeed GTT trike just wants to go fast.  On that note, and by comparison, when Steve road with his friend Geoff (a sixty-five year young 200 pound, plus, physically active guy), they easily propelled the Greenspeed GTT trike in excess of twenty miles per hour for about three quarters of a mile in an attempt to seek protection from an impending lightning storm.  They found that maintaining fifteen to eighteen miles per hour required little effort for the bulk of that maiden fourteen mile ride.  So, as you can see, the Greenspeed GTT trike is certainly no slouch in the performance department as well.

Potential problems:

    The only potential negative criticism that can be leveled against the Greenspeed GTT trike is that cornering requires both captain and stoker to lean into turns in those situations where the stoker is significantly heavier than the captain.  My regular captain, my wife Cynthia, weighs about 100 pounds less than I do.  Conversely, when Geoff and I, who are roughly equal in weight, rode together, leaning into turns was only necessary on very tight cornering maneuvers at high speed.  This particular handling characteristic did not surprise me since Ian Simms, the owner of Greenspeed Trikes of Australia, had warned me of this issue during our dealership discussions.  So, where the stoker is significantly heavier than the captain, remember one word when turns are ahead - LEAN!!!.

    All in all, we think the Greenspeed GTT trike is a perfect choice for a tandem couple wanting performance, perfection and a hobby that two people can enjoy doing together.  There is no doubt that the initiation fee is steep at about $8,500.00.  However, we sincerely believe tandem couples seeking quality and loads of entertainment in one package will not be disappointed.

    To learn more about the Greenspeed Grand Touring tandem trike, just drop us a line at info@trikeshoppe.com.  We will be happy to answer your questions and even set you up for a demo ride if you are in the area.  Riding a Greenspeed GTT trike is an experience you should not miss.

A word about assembly:

    Our Greenspeed Grand Touring tandem trike arrived from our distributor on May 28, and we assembled it on the next day in slightly over 3.5 hours.  Unassembled from Australia, the Greenspeed GTT is meticulously packed in a carton that measures 62 x 29 x 27.  The only criticism that can be made with the packaging is that the assembly instructions pretty much assume that the person responsible for putting the trike together is competent with tools and has a working knowledge of trike design.  That said, because shifters and brake levers are mounted and cables run, our Greenspeed GTT demo trike went together with very few wrinkles.  The majority of setup time is required for adjusting the trike to each rider's x-seam - lengthening the boom in front, positioning the stoker's crank set, and sizing each of the two chains accordingly.