Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Sin City, Nevada
Posts: 2,884
Bikes: Catrike 700, Greenspeed GTO trike, , Linear LWB recumbent, Haluzak Horizon SWB recumbent, Balance 450 MTB, Cannondale SM800 Beast of the East
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I've owned trikes with both. My 2001 Greenspeed GTO is equipped with the Schlumpf Mountain Drive and a 65 tooth chainring in the front. The rear was originally a SACHS S-7 3 speed internal hub and 8 speed rear derailleur. That combination gave it an extraordinary wide gear range for touring. I put a lot of miles on it over 9 years and had just a few problems with the 3 speed hub and with the Schlumpf Mountain Drive. I was able to repair the SMD myself when an internal gear in it broke but had to import the part from Florian Schlumpf in Europe. The SACHS 3-speed hub lasted about 20K miles and then I had to replace it with a newer SRAM Dual-Drive. No bike shop in my area would even consider working on either one. My first trike and my current trike both have standard gearing with a front and rear derailleur. I can buy the parts for the drive online or in any decent sized local bike shop and if I were unable to work on it myself I could find a local bike show that would. It's the prime reason why when I retired the Greenspeed GTO I chose a bike with a standard drive.
I don't find maintaining standard gearing a problem but maybe that is just me.