View our video of this trike.
At only 26lbs, the TerraTrike Edge is the lightest trike from WizWheelz. It's made of carbon fiber and features a really nice component set. After many miles of riding on the Edge I realized that while the Edge rolls fast, and climbs hills well, there is a constant drag on the chain that really bugged me. One of the cool press points about the Edge is that the chain runs through the frame tube. It looks great, but in order to make it happen the chain runs through over five feet of chain tubing and three Delrin idlers. That's a lot of chain drag. I knew that I could get a lot more performance out of this trike, so I started making modifications.
Redesigning the chainline
First priority was to eliminate the resistance on the chain. I used my own Edge to test many different chain routing possibilies. Upon eliminating the chain tubes I could no longer run both chain paths through the frame tube. In order to maximize float and establish the most direct chainline I'm running the power side of the chain through the frame tube and the return side below the frame. In order to route the chain through the frame without the chain tubes some modifications to the idlers had to be made. That's OK though because I wanted to use the TerraCycle idlers anyway.
The performance difference is absolutely amazing. With the new chainline and idlers, the Edge becomes a much faster trike. The final results make up our new High Performance Idler Kit.
Make it roll faster
With the pedaling efficiency dramatically improved I could now focus on squeezing all the performance out of this trike as I could. This trike already rolls well, so there really wasn't much to be done. From my own testing with other trikes I knew the best thing to do for speed would be to get some faster tires. On the front I'm using the Schwalbe Stelvios (1-1/8"), and in the rear I've got a Schwalbe Kojak (1.35").
More gears
With the Edge's low weight, new efficient chainline, and fast rolling tires, the next obstacle to fast triking was the gearing. The stock gearing just isn't high enough if you want to go much faster than 25mph. As covered in my gearing article I needed to make some modifications. This time I decided to do something completely different. In the rear I'm using the Rohloff Speedhub. The Speedhub is a 14-gear transmission with a 520% gear range. Unfortunately, the Speedhub does not give me higher top-end gearing than the stock 9-speed rear end. So I decided to combine it with the Schlumpf High Speed Drive. The standard HSD has a 27T chainring which gives me a virtual 67.5T chainring in overdrive. While it gives me a much better gear range (95-126GI), it's still not high enough. So I decided to kick it up a notch and am now using a custom High Speed Drive with a 38T chainring. It now gives me a virtual 95T chainring and a gear range of 13-177GI. That gives me enough gears to go over 30MPH at 60rpm cadence or a theoretical 70MPH at my average cadence of 90rpm. Umm, yeah, we'll see how that goes.
What's with the seat?
The most obvious upgrade I've made to my Edge is the custom composite seat. This seat is currently being offered only for the Edge due to its special mounts. This seat is great for all out high speed and fast cornering. The bottom of the seat is lower, it sits back more and ultimately makes it easier to lean harder in the turns. The seat is smaller and harder than the stock mesh seat, so on longer rides it starts to hurt a little. For rides up to about 20 miles it's great, and the more I ride with it the more my body adjusts.
Get your own Edge!
This trike is awesome! Going up hills is great with such a light-weight frame. I'm probably not done modifying it (already thinking of the Avid Juicy 7 brakes and the Windwrap XT fairing), but I'm extremely happy with my Edge. If you are interested in the Edge and would like some custom modifications I recommend starting with our TerraTrike Edge Customizer. Take a look at the pictures below to see some closeup shots of my Edge.
It's a mean machine!
Here you can see the stock FSA Gossamer Triple crankset that was on the Edge before I swapped it for the Schlumpf High Speed Drive. I immediately swapped the stock Marathon tires for the Schwalbe Stelvio 1-1/8 Racing Tires. Combined with the Kojak in the back, these tires complement each other perfectly.
Racing Slicks
This is the rear view of my Edge before I added the Schlumpf High Speed Drive. You can clearly see the Schwalbe Kojak tire in the rear. I really love that tire.
Composite Seat
This custom composite seat is currently only available for the Edge. This seat is about two inches lower than the stock mesh seat and can lay back a little farther. These two features lower the center of gravity and make it much easier to take hard fast turns on the Edge without lifting a wheel off the ground. The composite seat is more narrow than the mesh seat which makes it easier to lean into the turn. Because it is harder and narrower than the mesh seat I wouldn't recommend it for very long rides (30+ miles). As you can see, this seat definitely adds to the cool factor of this trike.
Adjustable Handlebar
You can see here the Edges steering system on the left side. The handlebar can be slid in or out to adjust the leverage. Also seen here is the stock Avid BB5 caliper with the Avid Roundagon 160mm rotor. While these brakes are great, I anticipate swapping over to the Avid Juicy 7 hydraulic brakes very soon.
Rohloff Hub
Here's a good shot of the Rohloff Speedhub on the Edge. The Rohloff is a 14-speed transmission with a 520% gear range. Using the standard 16-tooth sprocket on the Rohloff and pairing it with a 53T chainring in the front you'll get about the same gearing as the stock 27-speed configuration. One of the main advantages of any internal hub is the ability to shift while coasting and stopped. Shifting the Speedhub is easy, but not as smooth as the Shimano Nexus 8 when changing gears under load. The efficiency of this hub is amazing though. I feel no difference in pedaling efficiency between the Speedhub and the stock SRAM X.9 setup.
Rohloff Cable Mount
Unlike most internal hubs, the Rohloff Speedhub system has all of the shifting mechanisms inside the hub instead of the shifter itself. To facilitate this mechanism, the Speedhub requires a dual-cable push/pull shifter. Since the Edge is not setup for this I had to find a place to mount the cable adjusters. The seat post clamp is the perfect place. This location is the perfect distance away from the hub.
Rohloff Cable Mount Closeup
Here you can see a closeup of the cable adjuster mount. In order to make it work I used a longer bolt for the adjuster clamp and then fed a nylon lock nut down the mount. Because the shifting is all down inside of the hub there is not constant tension on the cables like a conventional hub or derailleur. Instead the cable is only pulled tight while actually changing gears.
Rohloff Shifter
With 14 speeds on the Rohloff shifter it is pretty much impossible to shift from 14 to 1 with just one twist. I have to ratchet shift about three times to go through all the gears. Since the actually shifting happens in the hub instead of the shifter you know that you are always in gear. Each gear change provides a good solid click.
Custom Rohloff Wheel
To keep things looking sharp, we put the Rohloff Speedhub into a Velocity AeroHeat rim. It complements the AeroHeats in the front perfectly.
Rohloff Torque Arm Clamp
The Rohloff Torque Arm counteracts the tremendous torque generated inside the hub. Most internal hubs use special lock washers that puts all the torque into the dropouts. The arm acts like a lever and shift the torque outwards. In order to attach the arm I added another clamp.
Chain Tubing
My biggest dislike about the stock TerraTrike Edge is that the chain runs through over five feet of chain tubing in addition to the three idlers. That's a lot of drag and really affects performance. In coming up with a more efficient chainline, getting rid of all this tubing was top priority.
Besides, it gets rid of a lot of weight.
TerraCycle Front Idlers
The TerraCycle Idlers are the best, but getting them to work on the Edge requires modifying the chainline. In order to get rid of all the chain tubing I had to change the chain's routing so that only one side runs through the frame tube. Here you can see that the power side of the chain is fed into the frame tube, while the return side now runs under the frame. This setup is much more efficient than the stock chain routing.
Front Idlers
One of the best things about about internal hubs is that you can set up the idlers to keep the chain in a straight line without hving to worry about changing gears. Here I've laid the TerraCycle Power Idler on top of the Return idler so both chain paths stay in line. The Return Idler functions as a chain keeper for the Power Idler, while it has its own chain keeper on the bottom. This setup only works because I'm only using one chainring in the front.
Rear TerraCycle Idler Modification
The rear idler setup was the most difficult to do correctly. Without the chaintubing I had to make sure that the chain runs right in the middle of the frame tube with no chance of rubbing the frame. I also wanted to use the TerraCycle Power Idler instead of the stock delrin idler. In order to get the larger TerraCycle idler to fit properly, I had to add a new clamp next to the stock clamp. Unfortunately, the stock clamp is glued in place so it cannot be reused.
Almost a single speed
Not having to deal with chain float makes things really easy. Keeping the chain lined up all the way around maximizes efficiency.
Rohloff Chain Tensioner
I've tested a lot of chain tensioners and the Rohloff version is one of the best. It is extremly well built and applies enough tension on the chain to keep the return line taught all the way to the front idler. The tensioner will take up about 10 links of chain which is enough to handle the standard FSA triple chainring in the front for all three chainrings.
Return Chainline
Keeping the return chain close to the frame is something that I've been working on for quite a while when using a derailleur with the Edge's modified chain routing. Since the Rohloff Speed hub has only one sprocket I don't have to compensate for the derailleur moving up and down. The Rohloff Chain Tensioner keeps the chain at just the right height and provides enough tension that I'll never have to worry about the chain slipping on the sprocket.
Custom Edge Sideview
Here's my Edge before I replaced the front gears with the Schlumpf HSD.
New handlebars
Just like road cyclist have bars that provide various hand positions my Edge does too. After experimenting with a similar arrangement on the Zoomer, I decided to try it on the Edge. So far so good. For more pictures of my Edge Handlebar Modification click here.
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