EFNEO or GTRO

Glen Aldridge, our tried and true trike guru from the mystical realm of British Columbia, Canada, has shared an honest evaluation of some trike-related hardware. I’m sure that by the title of this post, you must know what Glen will be discussing below (if you do, you’re one step ahead of me, haha). Seriously, Glen has really jumped into triking in a big way in the last few years, and has become quite the sought-after guru for loads of northerners. He owns and also operates the Mid-Island Trike Adventures business, and is showing folks what a fun time the recumbent trike can be, bringing three-wheeled adventure into otherwise mundane lives! So, without further ado, here is Glen’s detailed article about EFNEO or GTRO (with pics below):

EFNEO or GTRO

by Glen Aldridge

For those that have been waiting for the past few years for this Internal Crank Set to come to market I can finally say, mine is installed. If you are not familiar with this crankset it is similar to a Schlumpf or Patterson Drive with one big exception. It gives the equivalent of a 28-40-50 tooth crankset while the other 2 give you a 28-45. The unit quality seems on par with the Patterson & Schlumpf drive (I have never owned a Schlumpf.) Installation is very straight forward as long as you have the right bicycle tools & you don’t need any special facing of yourBottom Bracket housing to make everything fit. Shifting comes with your choice of a Paddle or Twist Grip Shifter Included in the price, cable attached ready for installation. This is a nice touch & makes installation very easy. I think most trike owners would prefer the twist grip shifter as the paddle shifter will require installing upside down for the correct orientation of your left thumb. As I am already using Paddle shifters with my Alfine 11 the upside orientation didn’t bother me.

Our area is mostly paved roads & hard packed trails with lots of climbs & fast down hills. In other words just about perfect conditions for a trike evaluation, not so good if you are a Mountain Bike Rider & wondering how the hub will work on your bike.

I spent the better part of 5 hours riding with a few stops for water, photo taking & always people want to ask me about the trike. I covered 35 kms. in these conditions with a top speed of 55 kms/hr. About an average ride for me. I have one word to describe the hub – AMAZING! The ratios chosen are perfect! For the climbs I was able to spin without getting too winded & even though I was slow on some of the steeper climbs, about 4 mph (6 kms) the hub never missed a beat. In fact one of the things I found amazing is gear changes are imperceptible. There isn’t any clunk, hesitation or noise as a gear is engaged or dis-engaged. I have been told that Schlumpf drives are noisy while the Efneo is almost silent. I think I get more noise from my Alfine 11 behind me & it is pretty quiet. Another small item that proves convenient with the Alfine, both large Paddle Shifters Down Shift. This saves the confusion of having the right shifter go the opposite way to the one on your left. With the Alfine 11 this proves to be intuitive as they only come with Paddle Shifters.Although I didn’t weigh the hubs the weight seems comparable to The Patterson hub it is replacing.

I’m going to give this new hub 10 Stars & a big thumbs up! Great Job!

PHOTOGRAPHS OF UNIT ON AN HP VELOTECHNIK GEKKO RECUMBENT TRIKE: