Recumbent - Garage Sale Greenspeed GTO

Last weekend while at work, I received a call from my wife saying that she had seen "one of those bikes that you lay down on to ride" at a garage sale down the street. She also said that it didn't have a body on it like my velomobile,told me the price and if I saw it I, she knows that I'd buy it. Well I'm thinking that if it was a production bike it probably was worth at least twice as much.

I arrived at the garage sale at 7:30pm in my velomobile and asked about the recumbent that was for sale. I was shown the item for sale and it turns out to be a trike. That explains why my wife said it didn't have a body on it. I know next to nothing about trikes and can only drop a few manufactures names. The trike had no name on it and the seller had no idea either, it was his son's trike. I gave the trike a once over. It was missing the front left tire. Front left wheel was missing a spoke and the hub was damaged so the spoke can't be replaced. Turning the trike up on its side and upon looking underneath saw an item that caught my recumbent's newbie eye. There was an S&S coupler. I knew right then I was looking at a quality trike because S&S couplers are 1. expensive and 2. not put on cheap bikes. I figured that if it didn't fit me I could alway sell it and make a small profit. It was late so we agreed to the sale the following day.

I went home and started researching what trikes had S&S couplers. I soon came to realize that the trike was probably a Greenspeed GTO. I couldn't sleep that night. I was an 8 year old at Christmas time all over again. In the morning I went to get the trike and armed with a tube, tire and my research from the night before I saw that it was indeed a GTO with 3x8 dual drive. I paid the man put the tire on and rode her home. The only thing I don't like is that it has some massive 175mm cranks. :eek: My knees could tell a difference. My velomobile has 155's. I'm now the proud owner of a garage sale Greenspeed GTO for $250.00

You lucky DOG

You are truley lucky, Ive been looking for a trike for 3 months that I can afford and isnt a piece -o- junk. You just hit the jackpot. good luck ride well.

I'm not a trike person, but even I would jump on that. Congrats on your lucky find!

It's not hot is it?

Holy s*** that's a sweet deal. Better hope the guy never finds out how much that trike was really worth!

It's not hot is it?

I don't believe so and I really hope not. If I have the slightest feeling of an item being stolen then I WILL NOT buy it. I have do my due diligence in researching that very concern including posting to several recumbent forums and contacting the HPV club in my area. My conscious is clear, however the cold hard truth is that I will never know. It is theoretically possible that it could have been pinched in another state and transported here. I can tell you that there is no identification label from a national nor state registration on the trike.

Holy s*** that's a sweet deal. Better hope the guy never finds out how much that trike was really worth!

It was "the guys" father selling it for his son at the garage sale. Apparently the trike has sat for quite awhile unused. It is very dirty and does have some minor damage, ie the front left wheel. When I payed for and picked up the trike Sunday the father asked me what the trike was worth and said that his son had purchased it used several years ago. I did my best to be as diplomatic as I could and asked how much his son had paid for the trike. I was told that it was in the neighborhood of $1200.00. I told the father that his son had gotten a good deal on the trike as a new GTO sells for around $3000.00 and up. I mentioned that there are some component differences between what they sell now and the trike he had just sold me. The father looked at me and said "so you got a good deal also." I replied that I gotten a very good deal and am quite happy. The father said that several people had said that he should offer it for sale on Craigslist as he could get more money for it. The father said that he didn't want to go to the hassle of putting it for sale online. The family knows me by sight because I ride my velomobile regularly by there house. The father said that he was going to try and find me to see if I wanted to purchase the GTO. Well, I found him.

I'm now the proud owner of a garage sale Greenspeed GTO for $250.00

THAT, my friend, is the score of the CENTURY!!!!!!!!

I was in heaven when I got a GTX with ALL the bells & whistles for $2,000!
(retail for the GTX w/all the accessories is about $8,000!)

Odd too, is the story was the same; Father selling son's "old" trike.
I was certain that it wasn't stolen either, as the father is a police seargent! :rolleyes:

All I can say is; incredible score! I'm greenspeed with jealousy! :roflmao:

...I was certain that it wasn't stolen either, as the father is a police seargent! :rolleyes: ...

That doesn't hold much water either :o

You, sir, are a ******bag unless you re-sell the bike for 500 bucks to me :) In which case you are my best friend!

I just stumbled on this old thread from 2007 doing a Google search about GTO's and thought I'd give it an update.

Turns out the GTO was stolen. I found on the net an old archive about a stolen GTO. I contacted Greenspeed and with their help and the help of many others tracked down the original owner. He was very surprised. The GTO had been stolen four years earlier. It turned out really well for me. The original owner got his trike back. I was given a demo GT3-II that was new, 2008 model along with around $900.00 retail value of Microsoft software. Guess who the original owner worked for? It wasn't Greenspeed. The GT3-II is a nice trike but still I do miss that little GTO.

Here's a picture of the owner picking up his GTO. He and his cousin had been in town to attend a bike race and their van with the GTO was stolen from the motel parking lot. The van was recovered a week later and it took the GTO four years to work it's way back home. This photo is from September 2007

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1204/1465243840_d0142da748.jpg

You are a good soul! I know what it feels like to have something stolen. Someday I hope to experience what it feels like to have it returned. The original owner is so lucky that people like you exist. You made my day!

Nice. One of those stories that gives me the warm fuzzies and renews hope for the human race. :thumb:

Thank you for the follow-up, and for being willing to do what was right. I am sorry your bargain of the century did turn out to be hot... but it looks like a good ending.

What of the man who sold you the trike?

The seller probably knew that his son had got hold a hot trike and that's why they didn't want to advertise it on Craigslist. I think he didn't want to get his son in trouble and just wanted to get rid of it so that it was no longer in their possession.

:)ensen.

I hate to see the thief go unpunished. Too bad it's too late now to report it to the police. Even if the son had been the actual thief, the father was fencing it and is guilty too.