sacc51
23rd November 2019, 11:43 AM
I thought I’d apprise you all of one of my hobbies, building recumbent trikes. Why? Well they are far more comfortable than MTBs, which I can no longer ride anyway, and much faster than road bikes. Here’s my latest effort, not painted yet, just assembled to test for bugs before the paint. Suspension has nine evenly spaced settings and works really well, smooths out bumps and potholes exceptionally well. Centrepoint steering but no Ackerman on this one, I opted for stable steering at speed, so no tight turning circles either. I’ve retained 700c wheel at the rear, 20” wheels at the front and hydraulic brakes. Cycle parts are Shimano Deore and brakes Tektro hydraulic disks, courtesy of my MTB I can no longer ride. Chain droop is managed by four idlers I turned up on the lathe fitted with two 8x22mm bearing which lift the chain free of the rear forks Seat is again 3mm aluminium shaped for a comfortable ride shocky is from an MTB. Main frame is 32mm tubing with forks made from 35mm x 20mm tubing.. I have added a couple of threaded holes on the tail for inclusion of a rack and a water bottle holder is fitted at front with tubing to the seat area, culminating in an adjustable plastic hose. Toe in is handled by a 6mm rod threaded right/left hand thread so one only has to turn clockwise to bring toe in and anti clockwise to bring toe out, then lock off with locknut. Brake calliper mounts are independent of the steering arms and attached to steering levers via short threaded rods and tie rod ends. I’ve reversed the gear levers so the left side handles the 9 speed cluster and the right the three speed front cogs. Camber is around two degrees, and caster about the same. Wheelbase is 120cm and track is 79cm. weight is 19kgs, wet. About the same as an MTB. Very happy with this, the eight trike I’ve built, each one gets better than the last, the suspension is the biggest leap forward along with lever steering, I’d never build a trike without these two additions now, they make riding so much more enjoyable. Just need to paint it now. Just one of my hobbies, I have an XS 650 motor on the bench at the moment, bottom end is done, just waiting for a couple of new pistons before I rebore the barrel. I’ve always been a serial builder of stuff, as my wife likes to point out. Despite the PsA destroying my hands and using them causing unbelievable pain, one must continue with what one likes to do. Just takes me a hundred times longer to do anything. I’ll never be able to ride the 650 due to the pain in my hands but, bikes are my first love so I’ll probably still be building bikes/trikes when I leave for the great workshop in the sky. Hope they have metal lathes up there, couldn’t do without mine.