Contents:-

1. New X Series Trikes
2. Container Shipments to USA 
3. New Web Site
4. Scorcher Tyre News
5. New Small Frame GT3s
6. New Frame Welders
7. 2005 Dealer Manual
8. Interbike
9. New Greenspeed Email Addresses

Please click any picture for a larger image.

The new X series Sports Trikes are result of riders enjoying the performance of the smaller wheeled GT3/GT5 trikes yet wanting something faster again. We also had good response to our Race Trikes at Interbike, so the X5 trike is virtually a GT5 Folding Trike with the lower angle 30 degree seat of the GTS Sports Trike, and the radical new front end geometry of the SLR race trike. The front wheels are cambered in and the caster is increased, so that the wheels lean into the corner further, as the steering is turned. This has a number of advantages. 1st is it allows the trike to fit through narrower door and gate ways, without the axles sticking out, and without reducing the stability. Then it means that the front wheels will grip better in the corners, due the camber counteracting tyre distortion, plus the trike will roll easier through the corners due to less tyre scrub.

Like the GT5, the X5 has the Shimano 105 cranks, rear derailleur, Dura Ace bar shifters for the 27 gears, and the Gator 4 pot disc brakes. The comfortable, easy rolling 40-349 Scorcher tyres are standard equipment. So this trike is a real joy to ride, being both fast and comfortable, with demand exceeding our expectations. Dealers like this trike so much that they are reluctant to part with their demo models. So the only down side is there may be a wait until we can increase production of this model, to satisfy the demand.

2. Container Shipments to USA

March saw the 1st container load of Aussie built trikes leave the factory for the USA, and it arrived at Greenspeed USA in Illinois early in May. Naturally we selected the most popular models, colours and options for this shipment, based on our 15 years of experience. There were 90 trikes - GTOs, Tandems, GT5s, GTCs, and GTRs, plus many spare parts and accessories. This will cut down the wait for many customers, as USA shops can now order these trikes from Jerome and have them shipped the next day, if the colour and options they want are in stock, rather than wait a week to get one from Oz, or longer if we don't have that particular colour and option combination packed and ready to go. 

Thus customers should now get better service from USA GS dealers than contacting us direct, as the bulk of our stock is now in the USA. For all our USA dealers, just click the dealers tab on the top of our USA web site.

On the 16th of this month, June, the 3rd batch of trikes left Taiwan for the USA. These are the GT5 Folding Trikes with the Shimano 105 equipment, and the Gator 4 pot disc brakes. These should arrive in the USA next month, July. The GT3 trikes will be shipped out in July and should arrive in August.

Some visitors had problems finding their way around our old web site, which had many long pages, requiring you to scroll down to the bottom of pages to find stuff. So Paul has built a completely new web site, with a new look, shorter pages, and easier navigation. Please check it out :-

www.greenspeed.com.au 

Greenspeed

The 1st batch of the 1,000 16" x 1-1/2" Scorchers is now nearly gone, and Jerome has sold out of the ones we shipped to the USA. Customers have been delighted with the better ride and lower rolling resistance than other 349 tyres, so we have now ordered another batch of 1,000 tyres, which will arrive next month, July. A few customers found that the 1st tyres were a little loose on some rims. Extensive research discovered that the tyres had been made exactly to 349 mm bead seat diameter, and that some rims were up to 3 mm undersize, plus most 349 tyres measured 348 mm. So the tyre company has now changed the mould so that all future tyres will measure 348 mm bsd. Testing with new samples shows that one now needs about 100 psi to seat the tyres on the Jalco and the Sims rims, and that on the Sims rims they will stay on even after a blow out, giving additional safety. On the undersize Velocity Aeroheat and Aerohead rims, they seat at low pressure, and centre much easier. The new tyres also sealed better against the rim, when fitted "tubeless" using the slit tubes and Stan's "No Tubes" tyre sealant.

With such a light tyre, I had expected numerous complaints about punctures, but that has not happened, possibly due to the use of tyre sealants. Never the less I was concerned about cuts from broken glass, and got the tyre company to make us some samples with Kevlar belts for puncture resistance. Normally when a tyre has a puncture protection belt, the rolling resistance is higher, and they feel sluggish on the road. So I was surprised to find that the rolling resistance was only slightly higher at 80 and 100 psi, and even LOWER at 60 and 40 psi! These samples needed 6kg of force to drive a 1" nail through the tyre, whereas the Schwalbe Marathons with Kevlar belts, which are known to have good puncture resistance, only required 5 kg. These tyre will be known as the Scorcher TR for Thorn Resistance, and will be available in August.

With the delays with the bead seat problem with the 349 tyre, the development of the 406 has been delayed. Thus we are not expecting the 406 samples until July, and IF the samples test O.K., production in August.

We have now got the small trial batch of 5 GT3 Small Frames from the TW factory, and these will be powder coated, assembled, and tested next month, July. Unfortunately the TW frame factory has long lead time, so the production small frame GT3s and GT5s will not be available until 2006.

We have always used MIG (Machine feed, Inert Gas) welders as they are the fastest, and put the least amount of heat into the tubing, producing slightly stronger welds than the slower TIG (Tungsten electrode, Inert Gas) welding process. However due to the success we have had with the neater looking Taiwanese TIG welded frames, so we have decided to buy new TIG welders, to give us a classier looking weld finish on all the Oz made frames. 

Mick has finally finished the new 2005 Dealer Manual, and it should now be in the hands of all USA Greenspeed dealers. For 2005 the Greenspeed Dealer Manual has been extensively updated and expanded with 60 colour pages.

This year our USA Distributor, Greenspeed USA will man and organise our booths at Interbike. Jerome Hediger and his wife Nancy will be helped by Paul Sims and his wife, Frais. They will have a booth at the Out Door Demos Days, for test rides, and will have booth #3862 in the Sands Expo centre, Las Vegas. Dates are 26 to 30th of September.

This is show is an International dealer show, and has about 1,000 exhibitors. For more info., please see www.interbike.com 

Recumbent Cyclist News, Bent Rider On Line, Velo Vision and A to B magazine normally cover this show, so you can expect reports from them.

In May Telstra disconnected our factory Bigpond internet connection supposedly because of a virus attack, and failed to reconnect it for over a week, despite an endless number of phones, thus many emails got lost. Fortunately the Head Office was unaffected, and we managed to redirect the factory emails to the office, while we terminated the Bigpond account at the factory and changed over to using Internode.

We have now also changed the Head Office over to Internode, so that any Bigpond direct email addresses you have for us should be deleted, as they will no longer work from Friday 1st July. These include:-

gsinfo@bigpond.net.au
gsmick@bigpond.net.au
gsrach@bigpond.net.au
gspaul@bigpond.net.au
greesnhp@bigpond.net.au
greensp@bigpond.net.au

These should be replaced with our Domain Name email addresses to prevent any problems now and in the future:-

Sales & Information                 info@greenspeed.com.au  

Parts Manger, Rachael Sims    rach@greenspeed.com.au 

Accounts, Christine Sims        chris@greenspeed.com.au 

Production Manager, Paul Sims paul@greenspeed.com.au

General Manager, Mick Sims    mick@greenspeed.com.au  

CEO Ian Sims                            ian@greenspeed.com.au