Jack's Garage

Recumbent Retreat

2011-09-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

In August, my friend Michael and I camped out at Fort Stevens State Park in Warrenton, Oregon. It was beautiful weather, and the park has miles and miles of paved trails that just cry out for bike riding. That's exactly what we did as part of the 13th Annual Recumbent Retreat. The Recumbent Retreat is a weekend long bike fest filled with rides and activities for all of the of it's 130 or so participants. Each year, the organizers reserve two complete "circles" of campsites as well as a "group site". The group site is where the evening fireside story swapping takes place, and where the Saturday morning rides depart. Social activities include a Saturday evening potluck, treasure hunt, and endless opportunities to compare stories and ride bikes together.

The high point of the weekend, for many, is the Lighted Bike Parade (see above picture of "Tweety"). Riders decorate their bikes with amazing displays of lights. Then, after dark, ride in a parade line through the entire campground to the cheers and encouragement of families lining the roadway. There are some campers who plan their camping trip each year just to be at Fort Stevens for the lighted bike parade.

If you are on the west coast, then planning an annual trip to the Recumbent Retreat should be an essential part of your summer ride plans. There are a few pictures on my Flickr page.

Jack

Parts

2011-08-11T01:50:00.000-07:00

Well, my rims arrived from Bikepartsusa.com. They were laying inside a plastic bag inside a box that was too large for them. There were only a few scratches. 2 weeks + bad packaging = no repeat customer here.

Parts Shopping

2011-07-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, I've been using a lot of parts from scrap bikes on my projects. Partly because I like the idea of recycling, but also because I'm just not rich (ok, I'm cheap). I've welded nuts inside of old sockets to make stand-offs for mounting things. I've used old pieces of chain for hinges. I even used an old road bike to make a hitch-mounted bike carrier for my recumbent.

But there are somethings I decided to order new for the current trike I'm building. Instead of cleaning up scrapped bottom bracket shells and trying to find two that match to use as head tubes, I decided to order some from Nova Cycle Supply. While I was at it, I ordered one more to use as, get this, a bottom bracket shell! Nova has lots of braze-on items too, so a few cable stops were added to the order, since those are kind of difficult to cut off an old frame and mig weld onto a new one.

From JensonUSA.com, I ordered new cartridge bottom brackets (Shimano UN-26) to use as king pins. It's the same setup I used on the first trike, which seems to be holding up well. I like Jenson; their shipping is not too expensive, and they deliver within a week. Sometimes they have pretty good sales, too. Like the Pedro's rim tapes I added for $.59 each, or the Presta adapters for $.63. I ordered them on the 8th, and they were delivered today, on the 15th, right on time.

Also on the 8th, I ordered a pair of inexpensive Weinnman 406x19mm rims from BikePartsUSA.com. I wanted this particular size, since I won Schwalbe Durano tires and tubes as door prizes, and buying these rims to match was cheaper than buying new tires to match the other rims I had on hand. I told you already that I'm cheap. Their shipping is cheap enough - $8 compared to $22 at other sources websites. My total order came to $43, which is just over the cost of the next cheapest single rim I could find. I don't have great expectations for the cheap rims - reviews on them are mixed, but for what my application I think they'll be fine (non-drive wheels, no brakes, rather wide hubs).

Anyway, today I got an email that they have finally shipped my order today. A whole week to process my order? They must be one of those internet retailers that doesn't actually stock the parts they say they have in stock. They order them when you order them. That explains why they billed my credit card a week before they filled my order. That just irritates me.

Now, I know that Nova takes a little over a week to deliver, because I'm cheap and choose the cheapest ground shipping possible. Jenson takes 1 week to deliver, even on their cheapest shipping. After 8 orders, I'm really happy with them. They've become one of my two favorite places to go for parts and accessories shopping. The other favorite is Universal Cycles, mostly because they're - you guessed it - cheap, and because they have a store here in Portland with free shipping to the store. I like their website, too, because for each item of their huge inventory, they tell you how many are in stock, where, and how long it will take to bring them to the local store. I love Universal Cycles and Jenson for ordering parts and gear. I go straight to Nova Cycle Supply for frame parts.

Bike Parts USA? I don't know............

ROAM

2011-07-10T04:49:00.000-07:00

This summer, 50 velomobiles from Europe, Canada and the United States will be rolling (or riding or driving, I'm not sure what to call it) across America. Leaving from Portland, Oregon on July 28th, they will pedal an aggressive 200km average per day to reach Washington, DC on August 26th. I will be there to cheer at their departure, though I'm really hoping to be involved in at least some token way, so I can say, "I was there and I helped make it happen." My club, Oregon Human Power Vehicles, will be volunteering in the background to help make the delegation's Portland experience a good one.

The official ROAM (Roll Over America) website has links to several blogs that riders will be using to post their stories and pictures as this never-before epic event unfolds. I will be following their trip and wishing I could be apart of it, while I ride my bike to and from work. Take some time and read over the information on their website - I think you'll start to appreciate just what a tremendous undertaking this is. The Trans-Am bike trip has been made plenty of times before, but seldom on such a short itinerary, and rarely with such a large group. Never, has it been done with a 50 velomobile team.

I think this marks an important milestone in bicycling history. While we complain about gas prices, rising costs of medical care and crowded city streets, a tsumani of solutions will be quietly rolling across the country, proving the viability of pedal powered transportation.

Trike Done! Part 2

2011-05-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

I mounted a water bottle cage on top of the main tube using t-nuts intended for wood working. I cut off the tangs, then set them into a hole drilled in the frame and welded around the edge. I actually found metric t-nuts at Ace Hardware where I seemed to go twice a week to pickup nuts and bolts.
Here's the boom clamp I made. I but a section of the 2" tube, then slit it and spread it out slightly. I cut a threaded nipple used for tensioning fence gates in half and welded the pieces onto one side for nuts. Then I welded on two bushings to hold the bolts. It turned out pretty nice.
Here's the rear deraileur - it came from the bike I snagged at Community Cycling Center.
Finally, we could start painting, and wouldn't you know we got a 70 degree day for it.
I was able to paint the entire bike all in one day since I could use the back yard and driveway.
Reassembly went pretty quick. This time, I replaced the temporary nuts with nylon self-locking nuts wherever I could, especially in the steering linkage. To adjust the steering, I first loaded the trike with 150 pounds of sandbags to simulate a rider.
Then I centered the middle link and adjusted in one wheel to match it.
Then I used a yard stick cut into two pieces to make a slide ruler. Two rings of inner tube hold the pieces together. I brought the other wheel in line adding .1" of toe-in. It tracks very nicely, so I'm happy with that.
I made a mount for the speedo sensor out of a prop rod from an old wire rack. I drilled a hole in the brake mount for a place to attach it. I wanted to put the wireless sensor on the rear wheel to minimize error, but the wireless wouldn't reach that far. It works here without any problems.
These are the steering bumpers - just a piece of old tire wrapped around the handle bar. The tire protects the seat frame.
I made a seat cover out of Pfifer Tex, an outdoor furniture material I bought at Fabric Depot. I hemmed all the edges 1" and popped in brass grommets then laced the seats on with 1/8" cord. I put on 2 and a half chains from Bad Monkey, and adjusted everything. Here are a few pictures of a really happy kid riding his new trike. We both rode in the Human Power Challenge this weekend. It's a great group, with a large contingent of homebuilders, and some of the fastest and most capable riders around here. He took home a medal, and I got some positive comments on both of the bikes. Good times.
Jack

Trike Done!

2011-05-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

My Bad - I haven't blogged in a while because I've been working feverishly to get the trike done before the Human Power Challenge which is put on by Oregon Human Powered Vehicles. Now that it's over and one, I'm catching my breath and tidying up the garage workspace as well as getting you caught up on the final part of the project.

I made handlebar mounts the same way I made the steering knuckles - by cutting pieces out of square tubing and welding up the seams. Then I cut up an old handlebar to make trike style direct steering bars. Somewhere I picked up a pair of bar-ends , which I'm using now as handles. Just by chance (not by design), swapping parts from side to side and front to back can give me 4 different hand locations/positions.
Here's the boom. The bottom bracket shell and shifter stem came from a road bike, but the sliding tube to fit into the frame is a 1 7/8" muffler pipe. Crude but cheap and it fits perfectly.
Here is #1 son testing the hand position to see if he can reach the full range when turning.

Now onto the drive train. I knew I'd need an idler to handle all that chain, so I started by turning a Raz'r wheel on the grinder and using a screwdriver to melt a groove in it. I made a spare while I was at it.
I laced string through the largest and smallest rings in the front and back and played around with the chain line by moving the idler around.
I ended up with this as the perfect location. The chain passes over the outrigger, and under the seat frame. With only 1/4" clearance above and below, I needed to be able to finely adjust the position of the idler.
This is the result. It mounts on a clamp around the short vertical tube that the rear triangle attaches to.And from the other side...I used links from an old chain for hinges on the clamp. It had to open up fully to go around the tube, then tighten down firmly with a bolt and welded-on nut.
more in the next post....

Flickr

2011-05-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

I'm moving my bike project pictures to Flickr, since all I really do here is upload pictures and add comments. I plan to finish up the trike project story here, but that will probably be the last for this blog.

More Wheel Pics

2011-03-16T17:33:00.001-07:00

Here's a top view of the rear wheel installed. That's a 14-28 7 speed freewheel. We might swap that out for something with a higher range later on, but I had this one laying around and it's almost new.
Here is the left steering arm. The brake caliper mounts on top of the two towers. Yeah, I know, the spiral in the center of the brake rotors points the wrong way - the wheels are installed backwards, but that will get fixed when we take it apart again.
And the right is shown here. The caliper mounts underneath this one on similar towers.
Here is the right side again from underneath. The king pins are tilted in 20 deg, and back 15 deg. This setup gives me about 1.5" of trail and center point steering. I was shooting for a little less trail, but the bottom of the king pin prevents me from moving the axle farther forward. Another option would be to weld the steering arms to the bottom of the king pins, but I really want this to be easy to repair years from now.
I ordered some rod ends from McMaster-Carr to use in the steering linkage. At around $2.25 each, this was much better than trying to scrounge up a set of suitable rod ends like I did for my red bike. That only used 2, and it didn't mater what size they were. Here I need symmetry, so all 4 need to be the same (and I added a couple extra for future use since shipping was the same).

Jack

Steering Arms

2011-03-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

With the steering arms completed, #1 son was anxious to try painting them. Here, he's priming them.

The black semi-gloss we are using for everything that isn't going to be green is drying here.

Here are the wheels. The hubs and rims are black, with the green spokes. They look awesome in real life.

And here they are installed (temporarily). I put the back wheel on while my favorite son installed the steering arms and front wheels.

With the wheels bungy corded to prevent them from flipping back and bending the brake rotors, we can start laying out the seat. It will be non-adjustable, similar to the way a Catrike seat is hard-pointed to the frame.

Hubs Completed

2011-03-12T01:37:00.000-08:00

Since the wheels for the front of the trike originally had coaster brakes, I needed to adapt them for a rotor. To make an adapter, I cut a donut from 1/8" thick steel, and drilled holes to match the rotors that I got as part of a complete kit from Bike Nashbar. I welded the donuts onto the hub flange that used to hold a sprocket.

I reused parts from the old wheels to build up the axles, then assembled them into the hubs.
Here's the outside of the completed wheel.
And the inside, or the brake side, of the wheel.
Jack

Trike Steering Knuckles

2011-03-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

Time to set up the front end. Keep in mind that this is the first time I've undertaken this, and I'm no pro. If you know a better way of doing this (short of learning a real cad/cam program), I'd love your input. I propped up the trike frame with a box and set the front tires in place. Shooting for about 1.5" of trail, I took a few pictures to refer to for alignment, and started fabricating the steering knuckles.

I started by cutting some tapered pieces to fit the tapered square of the "bottom brackets" that I'm using as king pins. these came from some 1.25" square tube scraps. I like working with this stuff because it's easy to cut and weld, and it's pretty strong.
Then I clamped the pieces onto the bottom bracket spindle (leaving room at the end to draw them up with the capture bolt, and welded up the joints.
With these parts completed, I used more square tube scraps and a few clamps to adjust the position of the pieces relative to each other in order to get the right angles for my steering and welded it all together. The idea here is to add everything that needs to be added, like brake mounts, and steering arms, then trim away everything extra. Crude but, hopefully, effective.
After drilling axle holes, I installed the wheels and built mounts for the disc brake calipers. Following a test fit on the trike, I added stud for the steering tie rod to connect to, on the wheel side of the trailing arm. To establish a wild stab at ackerman steering, I used a spreadsheet that I downloaded (in the links on the right of this page). The only real guess work was where in blazes to start my measurements from. In theory, one would measure everything from the king pin, but that goes out the window when the king pin is tilted aft and in to obtain center-point (or near to it) steering.

Again, I spent the better part of an afternoon looking at other trikes on the internet. I determined that some of the most respected trikes must be using the point where the tire meets the road as their reference point, so that's what I did. My steering arms will connect just inside and behind the brake rotors. Then I cut off all the extra material on my steering knuckles to lighten them up a little.

Morning Ride

2010-12-18T22:36:00.000-08:00

Trike Paint

2010-12-16T23:27:00.001-08:00

My son gave the rims and hubs their first primer coat, to get ready for black paint. We picked out the paint scheme today. Glossy Meadow Green for the frame and semi-gloss Black for the accents. The rims and hubs will be black, and the spokes and nipples will be green.

Hubs & Rims

2010-12-16T23:00:00.001-08:00

Time to build some wheels for the trike. I'm combining two sets of bike wheels, taking the rear hub from both and placing them with the rims from one bike. The idea is to take advantage of the larger diameter axle, as well as use the cog mount as a brake disc mount. To do this, I disassembled the hubs completely, then welded the cog mounting piece onto the end of the hub housing. I discarded the brake shoes, return spring and middle bearing. The other two bearings are installed in the ends. I won't be using the cogs; they just indicate where the brake discs will go. I'll make some aluminum donuts to adapt the discs once I get them.

On to the rims... The front rim had only 20 spokes as opposed the rear rim's 28. So that I had a matching set, I welded up the 20 holes, then marked and drilled the rim for 28. It came out pretty good, I think.

Chain Tube

2010-12-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

When I built my bike I used cheap and available PVC pipe for a chain tube. I wanted something long enough to protect my chain from dirt flying up from the front tire, and rigid enough to alleviate the need for a guide pulley on the lower run of the chain. Since then, I've decided that the PVC tube is too noisy, especially since installing a larger freewheel. The biggest problem with rigid chain tubes is alignment. The tube has to have enough float to keep itself aligned with wherever the chain is going to or coming from while not sliding forward or back.

A trip to the local True Value Hardware store yielded 4 feet of clear vinyl tubing intended for use in RV water systems. At $.69 per foot, I couldn't go wrong. It was pretty curled up, but some hot water made it pliable enough to stretch out. There is still a little curve, but the tubing is soft enough that I don't think it's anything to worry about. As soon as the chain has tension, the tubing straightens out.

For the lower run, I used zip ties to grip (but not squeeze) the tube at the top of the fork. There is some float there, but the tube can't slide back with the chain. I cut this section long enough to pass a couple inches aft of the tire, then placed another pair of zip ties near the back end to hold the tube away from the tire.

For a while, I had a second PVC pipe on the upper run below the seat, to keep the chain from rubbing on the original wide tire I had. When I put the skinnier tire on, I omitted the top tube since it was noisy and (I thought) not needed. Well, things being what they are, I went with putting a piece of this quite and flexible stuff back there to keep the chain cleaner. Since I'm using the bike for commuting, I need all the help I can keeping the chain clean.

I'm pretty happy with the results, just spinning the chain through by hand in the garage. The tubes move around where they need, and the clicking and scraping of the chain running through the rigid tube has been reduced to a very soft "thubbing" noise. I can't wait to take it out for another ride.

The Dia-Compe front brake works much better than the previous versions. The action felt worlds better when I took a 17 mile ride on Sunday. Even in the blasted, cursed, nearly freezing, sent straight from hell, jacket drenching, shiver causing rain, the front brake felt better. Some new pads are in order, though.

New Front Derailer & Brake

2010-11-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I replaced the front derailleur with one that I modified with a larger cage. Well, it just didn't work out. The pantograph had too much free play, and the mount is too close to the chain rings to allow the springs to pull the chain onto the smallest chain ring, no matter how sturdy the cage was. Not exactly what I was hoping for. Maybe on another bike, that derailleur will work fine, but not on this one - not enough room to make up for the slop.

I found a Shimano Deore XT derailleur in my parts box, and decided to put it on. The clamp ring is quite a bit larger, so I had to make a pretty large shim, since it's aluminum and I don't have the equipment to weld on a smaller clamp. I think the reason I didn't use it a long time ago is because of the shimming, but I'm glad to go there now. This worked, and the front shifts beautifully.

On to the useless front brake. I measured the lever force at 8 pounds just to get the pads to move, not to mention apply braking force. It was just something about that particular brake (a very cheap one), and cable drag. I found that the cable housing was a smaller diameter (shifter cable housing), so that was part of the drag problem, but even with the correct cable/housing the brake was stiff and ineffective. So back to the parts box I went and viola! I pulled out a Dia-Compe road brake. I'm not sure of the model - something old and discontinued, I'm sure. It has a cam mechanism on the side to multiply the force applied by the cable.

I had to move the mount hole about 1/2" lower, as the Dia-Compe has a shallower throat. A steel 1/4" spacer welded onto the bottom of the fork stem placed a mount hole in the perfect spot. The brake looks good, the new lever pull is under 4 pounds, and I can't wait for the weather to break a little so I can test ride it.
Jack

Riding on New Wheels

2010-11-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

I took a 14 mile test ride Saturday. The new fork and front wheel are awesome. No complaints there, at all. I may trim the front fender back a few inches to prevent heel strike, but it hasn't been a problem yet, so maybe not.

Rear wheel? The used rim I cannibalized was pretty dinged up. Well, OK, it was pathetic and I ignored that because I really liked it. During my test ride, hard braking was downright scary. The wheel locked up too easily, nearly dumping me once. I didn't even try any hills on my ride - just flat cross-town riding.

Monday night I modified a C-clamp by polishing the fixed side of the jaw, and attaching an oak block to the screw side. Then two whole hours were spent, turning the wheel, pinching here and there, measuring, applying brakes slowly, pinching more, marking, (filing the awful seam welds), and adjusting until the rim had a gentle respect for the brake pads.

Today I rode to work (11 miles), then rode home. It was such an incredibly beautiful day (almost 70 deg - this is November, right?), that I decided to take the long way home and rode along the river to the other bridge (an extra 6 miles). There was a stiff wind at my back which enabled a steady 22mph cruise along the path. I really wanted to keep up with that brunette on the rode bike who got on the path in front of me, but by the time I reached the end of the path, she was ahead by 1/4 mile. Dream on.......................................
"Jack, wake up! You're slobbering. By the way who's Natasha?"

Anyway, the rear wheel brakes smoothly now. Odd thing is, now the v-brakes squeek (very high-pitched) and tend to get sensitive after 5 or so seconds of steady application. maybe the rubber has overheated, or is wearing out. I'll try some new pads and see how that changes things. Not a show stopper, ridability is good. I'm happy with the mods.

Only mod left is to fix that dang front derailleur!
Jack

Fork Mod and New Wheels

2010-10-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

I now have 700 miles on the recumbent. I've entered the modification phase where I'm fixing all those little things that I ignored when the bike was new. I've modified the handle bars and I'm quite happy with the result. Now it's time to address the wheels and tires.

I have had no less than 7 broken spokes on the 16" front wheel. I finally concluded that the reason is......(no-brainer here).....this wheel is a KIDS BIKE WHEEL! Not meant to carry my significance over bumpy road surfaces at 30+ mph. I hate to admit this, but I've also felt a little discomfort with this fact when I've looked down at the speedo going down a big hill and saw 40mph+. Bearing condition, rubber speed, wheel design and age, temperature and my insurance coverage have flashed through my mind on several occasions.

So, to make things short here, I ordered an real front wheel (Avenir 16X1.5) from Niagara Cycles. It took a week to leave their facility (10 days total to get to me), and when it arrived, it was loose in the manufacturers cardboard box. Inside the box, also loose, were the spoke wrench and patch kit I ordered. They had been poked in through the hand hole cut in the side of the box. I'm lucky they didn't fall out of the box during shipping - "Come on, people, at least put tape over the hole."

I ordered a Kenda Kwest 100 psi tire from Bike Tires Direct. This would be a good place to mention that I loved dealing with Bike Tires Direct. What a nice experience - they have given me hope for the future of customer service in America. No more Walmart tires for me, Bub, I have a new dig.

Now, my front fork wasn't wide enough for the 'real' hub on the new wheel, and the stoutness of it prevented me from just bending it out even a little. My solution was to cut the legs off of an old fork (the one I cut the top off of to make my under seat steering pivot), and insert them into the arch of my fork. I built a wood jig block to fit the old fork to retain my steering geometry, cut some spacer blocks to add the required width, then made a few judicious cuts with the chop saw. After fitting the legs into the arch, I added a couple of slits up the sides to allow for added weld strength, then drilled a hole in the back of each joint to allow an extra spot weld for good luck. I welded, polished and painted, then installed the finished product. I'm impressed with how good it turned out.

And since I was looking at tires and wheels, I decided to find a narrower solution for the rear of my bike. The slick balloon tire I had rolls well at full pressure, but if it's a only few pounds low, it feels like I'm dragging a sand bag due to the soft rubber. It's also not terribly aerodynamic (26x1.90"). I had an older 10 speed front rim (it had a 26X1_3/8 tire on it) from a garage sale bike. It's a nice sturdy rim, but I needed to swap in a rear hub and freewheel. I dug through my parts box and pulled out a nice hub, but ordered a new freewheel from JensonUSA when I couldn't get the old one apart to clean/lube it. It has 34 teeth in low gear (6 more than my previous, worn out freehub), which will be nice for hill climbing. I used Sheldon Brown's spoke calculator then picked up spokes at River City Bikes (why can I never leave there without buying extra stuff?), and the build was pretty uneventful. I dressed it out with a Schwalbe Marathon 85 psi tire, also from Bike Tires Direct (turns out it's a 650b rim, not a 26x1_3/8 as the previous owner thought).

With the new wheels installed, there were a few issues to contend with. The fenders needed some creative adjustment, as the rear wheel is slightly larger than the design diameter I used to build the bike. The larger gear on the freewheel presented some new challenges, though. In the largest/largest gear combination, the chain wasn't long enough. The upper idler wheel conflicted with the large cog. With the front switched to the smallest chain ring, the derailleur ran up onto the large cog in the rear.

After pondering the options and looking at a bazillion pictures of other recumbents on the internet, I decided that the easiest solution was to increase the reach of my derailleur. By chopping the hanger and inserting a one inch piece, I gained the needed clearance under the large cog. Inserting 2.25" pieces into the lower arm of the derailleur gave it the extra capacity to take up the chain links I would need to insert to allow operation on the largest chain ring. I added 5 links to my chain, and viole! The whole things works quite well. Now for some weather suitable for a test ride....Jack

The Beginning

2010-09-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be good to recap, in a simple chronology, the beginnings of my recumbent bike. I've never posted the pictures and single drawing that helped me settle on a design, but just to fill in the missing parts, here is the story. My buddy Mike has a passion for velomobiles, and his interest started me down the road to recumbents. If money were no object, I'd probably go for a production bike, but since I'm a cheap bastard, I decided to build my own bike.Besides, I love building things.

To start with, I stood my trusty old mountain bike frame up against the wall, and placed a short fork in the front. Then I experimented with seat and pedal positions until I thought I had a fair fit. After snapping a couple of pictures, I sketched out the one and only plan. Once the frame had a shape, I again experimented with seat, handlebar and pedal positions, then ran the chain line.

After riding the bike a couple of times, I decided that the handlebars were too bulky, springy and awkward, so I switched to underseat steering. I also made a few changes to the chain system, which are detailed in previous log posts. I hope this gives others who might want to try building their own machine an idea of how to get started.
Jack

The Pain and Profit of Commuting

2010-09-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

OK, so the BTA has the Bike Commute Challenge going on right now and several of my coworkers and I are committed to riding to work as often as we can during September. For me, that's about once or twice a week, at about 22 miles round trip.Part of my commute takes me across the I-205 bridge. It's the fastest way to get to work, even if the multi-use path down the center of the span requires ear plugs to prevent madness.

According to my sensibility the path has another flaw. It has a terrible washboard profile that limits my speed to a little over 20mph. Over 28mph, I fear for the integrity of my bike frame as the ride is barely controllable. At around 25 the rhythm is solid but manageable. At 20 the porpoising just makes me wish the bridge were not 2 miles long.

I'm sure suspension would help, and there is always the possibility that the 'flaw' was carefully designed to limit bike speeds to save pedestrian lives, but to me it's just annoying. Last week as I let my speed approach 30mph, I heard a solid ping from the front wheel. I continued on to work uneventfully. For the last week or so I had been nursing a slow leak in my front wheel, so during my lunch break, I pulled the tire to patch the tube and fix it for good. It was then that I discovered two broken spokes in my front rim. Hmmph. Dang bridge. I had no choice but to ride home gently and swap out the wheel with a backup garage sale special. Somehow I made it without collapsing the wheel.

Today I set to replacing my broken spokes to put the good wheel back on, since the spare wheel really isn't designed for rim brakes (!). While truing the wheel I noticed that I could see light through the seam opposite the valve stem. Nice - scratch one wheel - no fixing that one. So I carefully conjugated the f word into a phrase that appropriately describes my feelings for the bridge to hell, and tossed it in the junk parts bucket. Thankfully the wheel came with a matching rear wheel with the same number of spokes, so I can swap the hub over and be back in business.

On a positive note, though my ride home from work is long and tiresome, I try to take different routes and smell the roses along the way to make it more interesting. It's a great way of mentally separating myself from work. The long up hill path becomes a great focus object. "Slow and steady wins the race," I tell myself, "slow and steady."

Jack

New Use for a Road Bike

2010-09-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

What else should a person do with their road bike after they made the switch to recumbent?

Jack

Trike Frame Pictures

2010-08-30T23:20:00.000-07:00

Finally - pictures of the trike frame. Construction is going pretty fast so far. I'm using bottom brackets for the king pins. I ordered the shells from Nova Cycle Supply, and got the bottom bracket parts from Jenson USA. I'm a little concerned that the cheap bottom brackets might not hold up well to the pounding they will take by being loaded vertically, but by using cheap standardized parts, I can test the concept for under $40. Then if the design seems to work I can upgrade to better quality parts when these wear out. If, in practice, my idea just totally stinks, I can always cut the bottom bracket shells off and redesign the steering knuckles from the beginning. The axle will mount to a (still to be designed) T bracket that will fit onto the lower square taper of the bottom brackets. The handlebars will fit onto the top taper. Simple, modular, easy to modify and easy to repair.

This is my son's trike. He's currently 9 but will top out at around 6' and easily hit 200#, according to the pediatrician. The trike needs to be very adjustable so he will be able to ride it for years (like to college because his poor dad isn't going to buy him a car).

Jack

Handlebar Mod

2010-08-24T00:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I survived a day at the Recumbent Retreat. My buddy Mike and I went. He's the one who got me interested in recumbents and velomobiles in the first place. We picked up a flyer at the Human Power Vehicle Challenge at PIR in May, and I knew we had to go, and I'm so glad we did. We rode 46 miles by the time the day was finished. That's 2.5 times farther than I have ever ridden before. It's pretty paltry in comparison with seasoned cyclists, and downright anemic for most recumbent riders, but pretty darn good for me. The bike held up great, and I have to admit I was proud of the looks it got.

I'd been thinking about narrowing my handlebars for a log time. When I ride the I-5 bridge this summer (across the Columbia River) it was tense. My knuckles were only a couple inches from whacking the beams on one side, or the railing in the other. It made for a very slow commute, and after connecting with an electrical box sticking out, I decided I would never ride that path again.

The more I ride the bike, the faster my top speed gets. The faster I go, the more I crave it. So far, my top is 43mph down a very long steep hill. So, whether the decision to chop the handlebars is driven by scraped knuckles or adreneline, I did the dirty deed today. They measured 30" wide before, now they are 27". I removed the bars, then screwed wood blocks to my work table to make a jig. After cutting the tubes on each side, I overlapped them slightly and welded them in place. Following paint and reinstallation I did a quick test ride and I'm very happy with the result. The grips are at the same height as before, just inboard 1.5" on each side. The top pic shows before, middle shows after, bottom shows where I chopped the bars and fillet welded them back together.

Oh, by the way - I've discovered that I weld much better if I wear my reading glasses inside my hood. Duh - old age.
Jack

V-Brakes

2010-08-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

Here are pics of the completed V-Brake mod to my recumbent. They work great! I love them on the back. If they work half this well in the rain, I'm set for winter. The V-Brakes remind me of power brakes in a car - not much lever feedback, but solid stopping power.

I picked up these levers at a garage sale - someone had done quite a bit of upgrading, and I bought a bag of used parts for $5. In the bag were these levers (Shimano Deore XT), a bottom bracket, bar end levers (which I might use on the trike I'm building) and some small hardware.

I cut the studs off a donor bike hanging in the garage, cleaned them up a bit on the grinder, then held them in place with magnets while I measured the distance between them. Then I drilled two holes in a block of oak flooring exactly that distance apart, and inserted the studs into it. I clamped the block of wood in place so the studs were held snuggly where I wanted them, and tacked them on. I pried the wood block off, then finished welding and painting them. I stopped by Bad Monkey to pickup new brake pads, a noodle (which was missing) and got a cool sticker. I found metric cap screws to hold the levers on at the hardware store.

Now, to find an even bigger hill.......
Jack

New Brakes

2010-08-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hmmm..... After riding my completed bike for a while, I realize my brakes really stink. The rear bake is totally ineffective, and the front brake just melts, giving me about 3 or 4 good rides before I need to peel the rubber off the rim.

I found some V-brakes in the parts box, and I'm in the process of installing those. I welded the bosses on tonight. I'm missing the noodle and the screw that holds the lever onto the boss, so that's on tomorrow's list. It should be a huge improvement. If not, I need to look for a disc brake to put on the back. I hit 43 mph on a down hill the other day, and was quite lucky to have a green light at the bottom of the hill.

Other changes due to learning as I go - the head light set up I had was too flimsy and worked loose. I'll need to build a sturdier mount for that. I removed the chain ring disc - it was rubbing the derailleur. My front derailleur is a bit flimsy making downshifting under a load difficult, so maybe this winter I'll build it up, also extend the cage a bit.

I've started building a tadpole trike for my son. I bought 2" tubing for the frame, and 1" tubing for the seat. The seat tubing seems like overkill, but I want it to add strength and stiffness, as it will be suspended, structurally speaking, between the rear triangle and the front legs that go out to the front wheels. Right now the bike is in a jig, and partially welded. The rear triangle needs to go on, as well as the cross arms and turning tubes. I'll toss up a picture when I get some good visual progress.

Jack

Details

2010-03-24T22:19:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention that I needed a round disc to fill the hole where the goose neck had once been plugged into the top of the fork. A quarter seemed to fit just right, so at least now my bike has some monetary value. The other three are pics of my pedal weights zip-tied in, the adjustable rack, and my super-cheap, super-easy headlight. I just bent a piece of soft steel around a spark plug socket and drilled a hole to mount it. Some careful tabs bent here and there keep the flashlight from sliding out and keep the velcro from slipping off.

Robot Hand

2010-03-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

This is the cool robot hand my 8 year old son built. He did 90% of the welding and cutting, and I just did the grinder part (because bad things can happen real fast on a grinder). He has been watching the whole time I built the bike and I decided that it was time for him to try out welding. We got the idea from Instruables, and scaled it down to his size. We spent a total of about 8 hours on it.

Yes, I'm Basking

2010-03-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

To recap what happened in the final stages of the bike build....

I had to swap the left/right orientation of my new stand, because I failed to take into account which side the chain runs down. No big deal, just to note that the pics below show it on the wrong side.

I installed the seat, and rack as an assembly, since they, along with the rear fender, all tie in together. After lacing up the seat and test riding it, I decided to bend the upper half of the seat forward by about 2 inches. So I unlaced the seat back, bent it, touched up the paint, then relaced the seat cover. It feels much nicer now. Btw, the basket on the rack can be moved forward/back to fit a bag or whatever I decide to use back there.

As I installed each item during the final build, I tore them down, cleaned and lubed as much as possible. With the back wheel this meant taking the cassette off and repacking the bearings. Well, the wheel came off my old mountain bike, and the cassette was so bloody tight that I actually popped the halves of the spool apart trying to loosen it. Enter new wheel from the junk pile. I spent two evenings respoking the second center (from a terribly twisted wheel) into the old rim and truing it. When it was finally ready to go back on the bike, things just flowed into place. Two days later, i was rolling it down the driveway for a test ride around the block. Yeehaw!

I decided to spring for a new chain and new pedals. Something about recycling rusty chains from the junk pile just didn't seem fitting. Also, one of the pedals I wanted to use turned out to have a bent shaft. I like my new pedals, as they are one-piece metal, have little raised gripper studs, and were easy to modify with weights to make them rest in the proper position.

I put on a bunch of reflective tape that I bought a couple of years ago just for this moment. I also made a little bracket to bolt on the front to hold a small flashlight for a headlight. I get a few pictures up soon.

I found a great bike shop close to home. The guys at Bad Monkey Bikes, Board & Skate are great! I told them what I was doing, and they were more than happy to spend a little time helping me select exactly what I needed. On my second shopping trip there, they were mounting a new basket on a little girl's bike while she and her dad were waiting to go for their Saturday ride. Some bike shops wouldn't have taken the time to install a low profit item for free, but then again, some bike shops aren't in business very long. A shop needs to do more than sell expensive bikes to rich people - it needs to service the neighborhood. I'll be a loyal customer to these guys for a long time. Oh yeah, and they had cheap parts as well as pricey ones, so I could just pick what I wanted and not feel like a cheapskate.

I rode the bike to a meeting tonight, about 4 miles away. I hit 35mph going down the hill to get there, but coming back up, it was obvious how out of shape I am. Yikes, I had to stop three times coming up the hill to catch my breath. It's going to be a long spring, but at least I have my very own recumbent bike. And it's red!

Done!

2010-03-21T00:34:00.001-07:00

Pictures

2010-03-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

Finally, I have a few pictures of my bike. The frame and seat are done. The seat is installed, and the rear fender and rack are also in place (since they all tie in together). Next is the front fork, then crank, wheels, chain and shifters, then finally the handlebars. I'm doing the handle bars last so I won't repeatedly bang my head on them while working on everything else. Learning from experience, we are.

I also built a new cradle for the bike, which holds it lower, and from underneath.
Jack

Fresh Progress!

2010-02-25T17:26:00.000-08:00

I've actually been working on my recumbent again. Yes, really! I made a new, lower stand to hold the frame from underneath, and built a new seat. The seat is almost complete, just needing to add tabs for the back support struts, and mount the rack to it. My goal is to have it on the road by the first day of Spring.
Jack

For John

2009-09-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Paint

2009-06-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Frame, fork and handle bars are painted. Now I'm prepping the seat for paint. Didn't like the first color of red on the frame. It looked too orange so I went to a darker red which looks pretty good.

Recumbent Bike Progress

2009-06-15T04:37:00.000-07:00

I have done a lot of prep work and applied the first coat of primer to the frame. Progress at last. There are a few places that need some touch up metal work before I go further, but I'm happy overall.

Mike's EZ-Tad

2008-08-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Wow! My friend Mike bought this cool EZ-Tad with an electric motor. What's even cooler is that he let me ride it. It was so fun. The seat is way comfortable, and the ride is great. The motor has some serious zip to it. I like how the thumb throttle gently applies as much torque as you want to help climb hills, or gives full-out speed for just being lazy. It would make a perfect commuter.

I stripped my own recumbent down to just a box of parts, and sanded the frame. Now I'm prepping it for paint, which is going very slow and tediously. Especially since I've only been able to get a few minutes here and there to work on it. At least it's moving ahead.

Jack

Spandex Optional

2008-05-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

After being downtown during rush hour several times last week, I have a new appreciation for bike messengers who deal with crowded streets daily. They deserve to be recognized for their brave and outstanding accomplishments.

I came across this excellent alternative to the Tour de France, while I was surfing for useless stuff (ooops - I meant "researching a great problem"). Maybe each large metropolitan area should select two winners, then have them compete in a cross-region marathon with a shotgun start.

Jack

Sexy Trike

2008-04-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it sure has been a while since I wrote about bikes. Gosh, it's been a while since I've written about anything. No apologies, just change.

Today I had the occasion to burn an hour or so in Portland, so my son and I stopped by Coventry Cycle Works and slobbered a little. The friendly staff showed him a folding bicycle, and let him sit in a few trikes. We found one trike we mutually admired, then pondered how much trouble we would be in if we slapped it on the credit card and brought it home. It's a gorgeous Sun EZ-3 USX for $1029. I quietly confided to my son that the seat was at least 10 times more comfortable than the one I made for my recumbent project. He started to grasp the dollar amount when I told him it costs as much as 100 Bionicles. He said he thought he had about $10 saved up.....

That started me thinking if I could justify buying one. Let's suppose I consume about 1.8 gallons of diamond dusted, gold filtered, platinum fortified gasoline driving to and from work each day. At the coming price of $4/gallon, that's $7.20 a day. If I were to ride the bike instead of driving twice a week, I would save $14.40 per week, or $748 per year, assuming I'd also ride it around town to save gas on those weeks when I skip work to do garage projects. At that rate it would take me about 15 months to pay it off, and I would be a healthier/happier Jack. Now, if I can just sell the idea to the other half of the voting members in my financial club (my wife).

Jack

Toolbox Cart

2008-03-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

I made a little trolley to carry my toolbox around on. It gets a little heavy when it's loaded with all the essentials, and carrying it across the parking lot or around work can give a real bugger of a back ache. That's the problem with large top boxes - they almost carry too much.

Anyway, I used about 5 feet of 1x1x1/8" angle, and cut 45 deg corners to fit around the perimeter of my box. Then I welded each corner, and stuck on some old wheels I had lying around. To hook on a tow rope, I welded on a master chain link in it's 'open' position. Neato. Altogether it took about 3 hours to build including paint. Now when I need to haul my toolbox around, I'm ready to go mobile.

Jack

Arrrr!

2008-02-14T20:32:00.000-08:00

My pirate name is:

Mad Jack Kidd

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Tac-100 Modification

2008-01-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

Introducing the new and improved "TAC-100" overwater swim practice attack board - the perfect swim board for aspiring army kids.

My son, who really likes army stuff and has his own secret "army", needed a kick board for swim practice. I happily found a way to combine both of his loves, receiving my inspiration from the TAC-100 boards that the Navy Seals use in underwater combat missions. Of course, theirs are much more complex and have a depth meter and timers built in, but I don't think mine turned out half bad.

I started by ordering a plain black kick board, made of closed cell foam. The I found a small clip-on compass and removed the clip and eye from the ball. Using a small piece of sheet metal with a 1.25" hole punched in it as a template, I hollowed out a pocket for the compass to nest into then glued it in using black silicone RTV. He's thrilled with the finished product, and shows it off whenever he can.

Jack

Update on Everything

2007-08-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

It seems like I've been ignoring the garage projects lately, but really I haven't. I have 3 separate things I'm juggling: 1) the recumbent bike project 2) adding cabinets to the family room 3) restoring my pachinko machine.

The Bike -
I'm ready to tear the bike apart and paint it. The only problem here is that my work space in the garage has been over-run by cabinets. I guess it will be a nice fall project....I won't go into my feelings about this.

The Cabinets -
We've decided to replace our oak book cases and worn old desk with a permanent "cabinet/counter top/desk/entertainment center thing". I'm in the process of finishing a tall cabinet (looks like a pantry cabinet) to go in the corner, and three base units (one with all drawers) to go under the counter top, along a 16 foot wall in the family room. While it's a lot of work, and the timing is pretty bad (right in the middle of my bike project), I have to admit I'm looking forward to the finished product.

Pachinko -
I've been doing a LOT of reading, looking at pictures, studying diagrams, browsing forums, and surfing ever pachinko site on the internet. The best ever site for information, help, parts, advice, pictures, and fun is Pachitalk. There is a good explanation of how a vintage pachinko machine works at Dan's Pachinko Page. And this guy has been chronicling his pachinko machine restoration - like what I need to do to mine. Pachinko fans can really love their machines.

On top of that school started this week; both kids going this year. The youngest is going to try out for the swim team in a couple of weeks, so they will be swimming together.

The garden hasn't been very productive. We got some huge zucchini, that luckily a friend has been taking off my hands. The giant pumpkins just might be large enough by Halloween. The watermelons are still about 2" in diameter. We got 2 cucumbers, a bag of green beans, no peas, 1 bell pepper that rotted on the vine before it was big enough to pick. The corn is still growing, but in varying stages. I'll feel lucky if we get a dozen full sized ears. The sunflowers are doing good - about 8 feet tall and one is about 10" in diameter. Next year, I'll do things differently...

Jack

Pachinko

2007-08-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

I have triumphed. I have reached my self-appointed goal in life. And I did it with my son along to witness my greatest moment, my crossing the victory line under a freshly unfurled checkered flag. I am a great father, now.

This afternoon we rode our bikes around the block. I have to admit that it wasn't a purely recreational trip. OK, we were going to a garage sale on the back side of the block. Sometimes we just have to do these things. I mean, summer is almost over and we haven't put forth our best effort to procure unnecessary junk. He, of course, was looking for Legos, while I, being the older, wiser shopper was looking for treasures with a more immeasurable type of value. Things I might be able to identify as "cool stuff" when in the company of those who may be less appreciative of the finer things tucked away in the garage.

Today, I found it! The holy grail of garage sale finds! I am fulfilled in my most secretly kept desire, one in which I never expected to find balance. Yes, I bought a pachinko game!

And boy am I going to be in trouble when my wife sees it. It needs a lot of work, is missing most of the electronic parts, has spider webs on the inside and corrosion on the outside. I'm looking forward to spending some time tearing it apart, cleaning it up, replacing missing circuits, treating and painting the nasty parts and maybe building a new cabinet for it. The official license sticker is still located in the corner of the play board. How cool is that, honey?

Now I'll have to do some extensive research to find out what is missing and hopefully get a wiring diagram. I took 28 pictures of the insides, so I can put everything back the way it was. I can also compare mine with any pictures I (hopefully) find on the internet. Cool - a real life surfing project for all these rainy days - just what you were saying I needed, right Snookums? But this project has to wait until after the cabinets in the family room are done and the bike is painted, I promise.

Jack

Front Fender

2007-08-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

I went to Coventry Cycle Works on Friday and bought a Planet Bike front fender for $15. I like Coventry Cycle Works - the showroom is like a candy store, and they are so friendly. I brought my son along. He was truly amazed at all the recumbents and trikes. Right away, he pointed out a very nice Catrike and said, "Wow, this one looks really fast - we should buy it!"

"Yeah, I'd love to. Go tell your mother we should get one."

The front fender is now installed. I test rode the bike tonight, and trimmed a small notch in the rear fender where the chain rubbed when on the largest gear. Everything else works well, and I'm happy. The fenders fit well and look good.

Should I dare to say I'm done building and ready to paint?

Jack

Rear Fender

2007-07-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

I installed the rear fender. It fits quite well, although I trimmed a little at the brake caliper. It looks good and I like it.

The front fender, yes the front fender. Well, it looked like it might have been a 24" size, so I thought up a great way to reform it. Tonight I ran some very hot water over it to make it pliable, then tightly coiled it up and wrapped tape around the outside to hold it (#2 above).

To keep the tape from unwrapping, I tied it with string. I laid it in the sink and slowly poured a tea kettle of boiling water over it. After allowing it to cool, I cut the tape and string off and voila! I had a tightly coiled plastic fender! Not exactly what I had expected t happen, but maybe I could still save things. (#3 above)

I had an extra 16" wheel (#4 above) that I thought would make a great form, so I stretched the coil of plastic around the tire and wrapped it with tape again, and repeated the boiling water treatment. When I started to unwrap the tape, I began to realize the situation had gone form hopeless to being a train wreck. (#5 above)

Then I started laughing out loud and finished unwrapping the rest of the fender. (#6 above) As I looked at the twisted, distorted mass of junk I had to admit that sometimes I am nothing short of a moron. What was I thinking, pouring boiling hot water over plastic? If I were stranded in the amazon and needed this fender to save my life from venomous fire ants flying up from my tire as I sped down the road, I would use it without hesitation. But then if I were riding through puddles of poisonous ants in the amazon I would deserve to have a hideous looking bike. I'm just glad I can laugh at myself.

"Hello? Planet Bike? I'd like to order a 16" Freddy Fender for the front of my recumbent. Yes, I'll hold." Oh great, they're out of stock. Hmmm. I knew I should have ordered it last week.

Jack

Hangar Bike

2007-07-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the QC bike from the hangar. I love the look and it rides like a whole new bike again.

Jack

Fenders

2007-07-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've now ridden the recumbent almost 30 miles. Last week my son and I took a ride through town. I am getting quite used to the bike now and I have no more ridability problems. It's time to start the finishing process.

First, I'll take the whole thing completely apart and clean each part. Second, I'll touch up any rough spots on the frame and spend a good deal of time "making it look pretty". That will include rewelding any joints that looks ugly, giving it a good bondo and sanding job, and a nice coat of primer. Then comes the paint job, reassembling, lubricating, adjusting and tidying up.

But before all of that, I have one last thing to do. Yesterday I visited the Community Cycling Center (I've mentioned them before). I picked up some nice foam handle bar tape that matches my seat, and a set of used Planet Bike fenders. Both fenders are full size so I'll have to try to recontour the front one using some real hot water and a form. At $5 each they were practically a steal, so if I fail I'm still miles ahead on the rear fender. I need to fit them on and drill holes or weld tabs where needed before paint.

We also picked up two tires (classy-looking whitewalls), handle bar tape and some spokes for our "hangar bike". In deepest gratitude I spent yesterday and today changing the tires, fixing the spokes, truing the wheels, cleaning and oiling the chain and shifters, waxing and retaping the handle bars. I brought in a more comfortable seat from home to fit us old guys better. It seriously feels like a real bike again. With the new black/white tires, black seat and black tape I think the bike looks like a police cruiser - which fits our department perfectly.

Jack

Seat Work

2007-07-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

I finished the seat back modification. I trimmed 3.5" off the top of the seat back and welded on a new cross piece. I picked up two more yards of Phifertex to make a new cover. They were out of black, so I finally settled for dark blue.

The under seat steering has brought one new problem. When the upper side of the chain is under tension and the largest gear is selected on the rear wheel, the chain links lightly tap the under side of the handle bars. I'm going to fix this by lowering the blue skate wheel pulley about 1/2 inch. It's not a major problem, but it means another couple of evenings spent cutting, fitting and welding.

I went to the beach this week with the whole family. It was a good time for everyone. I've also spent about 18 hours working at a very busy fireworks booth. I am truly looking forward to a day of rest for the 4th.

God Bless America,
Jack

The Pre-mod Steering

2007-06-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

I found this picture of the handlebars before going down under. The steering riser was very bulky looking and a little heavy, plus there was some wobble at the top of the fork due to having so much lever effect.

Jack

I Like It!

2007-06-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

I rode my new recumbent yesterday briefly, just to try things out, then again today for half an hour or so. I stayed in front of my house most of the time, but I did make one run up the street as fast as I could go. It handled very well. I'm finally getting used to it. This might seem odd, but it was easier to adjust to this configuration than the other. I think now my hands are closer to the line between my eyes and the front wheel. Before, my hands were up in front of my face and reflexively, I expected the wheel to be behind them. Now, I just need to trim the seat back down a little. Click the pictures for a larger view.
Jack

My New Handlebars Are Coming Along

2007-06-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

My new handlebars are coming along. They are fitted and jigged together, now I just need to clean up the tubes near the welds (so I don't choke on burnt paint), and weld them. Once they are assembled I can figure out where the push rod to the front fork will need to be.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the bar ends are canted up 20 degrees. Coupled with the 10 degree tilt of the fixed stem (which I still need to weld onto the frame) the hand grips will be tilted forward 30 degrees from vertical. The overall width is 28".

Jack

Steering and More

2007-05-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

I have collected the pieces I need to build the under seat steering. I'm using the rest of the fork stem from my old Huffy mountain bike for pivot bearings, a straight handlebar for the center portion and a kid's handlebar for the end sections. I rough cut the pieces now I just have to fit and jig them. I'll take some pictures along the way, as usual.

I also decided to shorten my seat back. I can trim about 4" off the top, and still receive the same amount of support in my shoulders, especially since my arms will be hanging down. It made me a little nervous to have the square corners of the seat back so close to my head in case of a real hard wipe out. I also think it will make it look a little less gangly. Of course, I'll need to sew new seat covers to fit the mods, but that's not a big deal.

Jack

Steering Tube

2007-05-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

The kids and I rode bikes for a few minutes this afternoon. Not very far or for very long, but enough to decide I like everything on my recumbent except the steering riser. It wobbles a little fore and aft in the top of the fork. I'll tear that apart and see if I can tighten it up somehow. Really, I'd like to come up with a totally different steering riser, since the one I have looks clunky and heavy. With that exception the bike is ready for disassembly to get ready for paint.

I rode the clown bike around the cul de sac too. As always, my kids busted up laughing. My neighbors across the street had never seen the clown bike or my recumbent. #2 kid had been "helping" change a sprinkler. They were impressed - I could tell.

Jack

Pictures Finally!

2007-04-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

I rode around the cemetery near my house yesterday. It's a great place to ride with no traffic to speak of and very quiet neighbors. It's fairly level and the road winds around a lot. I rode for about a half hour, averaged 10 mph so it was a nice leisurely test ride.

The recumbent seems about ready to tear down for sanding and paint. I didn't find any new issues. The boom is much stiffer. The seat feels fine, although I think I'll make new covers for the finished bike to fix the extra grommet problem. The speedometer mount works great. I decided to leave the handlebars alone.

Jack

Riding My Recumbent Bike Again

2007-04-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

I took a ride yesterday after making the last set of changes to my bike project.

The seat is pretty comfortable, and I don't slip down anymore. I think I've conquered that challenge.

The front boom is a lot stiffer now, and while riding it, I didn't really notice any flex, although I have to admit I forgot to watch for it while riding.

I made a better place to mount the sensor for the speedometer, and attached a bracket to the frame to hold the display at the bottom of the steering riser (between my thighs when I look down). I discovered the magnet that attaches to a spoke and whips past the sensor, was a loose so it wasn't registering when the bike was going above about 5 mph. I tightened it during a mid-ride garage stop. Also during the stop, I realigned the back wheel which I installed crooked two days ago (how embarrassing).

After a couple more trips around the block, I decided the bike handles much better with the new front dropouts (and the rear wheel straightened out). It's a little floppy at very slow speeds (below about 4 mph), but feels smooth, predictable and solid at higher speeds. I would like to have a little more tiller in the handlebars, though. Tiller is the distance from the centerline of the steering tube, back to your hands. Maybe I'll reverse the gooseneck or try another handlebar.

The front brake position still looks fine even though the tire sits 1/2" further forward than before. In fact, it might even line up better. Go figure.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow - I promise. I'm finally getting closer to a finished bike! It's been about a year since I started.

Jack

Gears and Other Interesting Numbers

2007-04-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

I used the Gear Inch & Shift Pattern Calculator just to crunch some numbers. Don't get the idea that I'm obessed with this whole gear ratio thing - I mean it's just a bike. Who really cares what the gear ratios are and how many shift combinations copy each other? What matters is whether the bike is fun and ridable or not. Anyway, just in case years from now someone else is deciding whether to build a bike and they're surfing the web for ideas and numbers and copying pictures to a special folder like I did... here are some more numbers.

My chain rings have 28, 39 and 50 teeth. The gear cluster on the back wheel has 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 28 teeth. My rear wheel diameter is 26.5", so my gear-inch range is 26.5 to 94.64".
If you're not familiar with gear-inches, that means in low gear my wheel would feel like a 26.5" diameter wheel if the pedals were attached directly to the wheel (like a unicycle). In high gear it would feel like a 94" diameter wheel. The really useful numbers that come out of this is that at 50 pedal strokes per minute, in low gear, I would go 3.94MPH, and in high gear at 70 strokes per minute I would go 19.71. Those are pretty reasonable numbers -a good hill climbing torque, but a good downhill high gear with a few gears in between.

Whl Dia: 26.50 inches
Chainring: 28/39/50
Cluster: 14-16-18-21-24-28

1> 28x28 = 26.50"
2> 28x24 = 30.92"
3> 28x21 = 35.33"
4> 39x28 = 36.91"
5> 28x18 = 41.22"
6> 39x24 = 43.06"
7> 28x16 = 46.38"
8> 50x28 = 47.32"
9> 39x21 = 49.21"
10> 28x14 = 53.00"
11> 50x24 = 55.21"
12> 39x18 = 57.42"
13> 50x21 = 63.10"
14> 39x16 = 64.59"
15> 50x18 = 73.61"
16> 39x14 = 73.82"
17> 50x16 = 82.81"
18> 50x14 = 94.64"

I think I could probably do without the middle (39) chainring if I were starting from scratch. The lowest range and the highest range overlap. But - it's just a bike, and what difference does a 6 ounce gear make when I carry way to many extra pounds myself. I read somewhere that the cheapest, bestest, most cost efficient way to make your bike lighter is to lose a couple pounds.

And still more numbers if anyone cares:
Seat bottom to crank angle = 8 degrees above horizontal
Seat back to crank angle = 112 degrees
hip joint to crank = 34"
crank bearing center is 1" lower than hip joint (drops 1.75 degrees)
X-seam = 40.5"

Jack

New Fork Dropouts

2007-04-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

The new dropouts are on the fork. I'm going to fix my seat before I take a test ride. That should be about it for major changes, so I'm getting closer to a paint job and a finished bike. It would be nice to have it done by summer, but that's probably wishful thinking. It all depends on how much time I can put in.

Jack

Forks for the Bike

2007-04-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

I realized it's been a while since I posted a picture of the whole bike when I tried to describe to my Mom what it looks like. This picture shows things pretty well, but it still had the old seat. I haven't modified the new one yet - I'm working on the fork right now. Today I cut the new dropouts for mounting the front tire on the fork. I'm adding a little tab to the front side so I can mount a fender. I think I'll need to move the brake forward a smidge to match the new tire position, but I'll wait and see for that.

"...just wing it and see what happens."

The garage door broke a spring Friday. Luckily it happened when my wife was coming home after picking up #1 kid from school instead of when she was leaving to go. The guys who installed it 6 years ago came right out and fixed it.

Jack

Some Calculations

2007-04-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

Center of Gravity Calculations:
Weight / Arm / Moment
Front Whl 138.5 / 9 / 1246.5
Rear Whl 169.5 / 50.5 / 8559.75
Total Wt 308.0 / - / 9806.25
CG= 31.84"
Estimated CG height: ~ 31" from the ground (just above belt).

Ok, so here's how I did it. (I know the guys at work are snickering now, because this is a normal function of our job, so if this is old news, just bear with me - some of my friends would actually find this interesting.) I hung a string from the front side of the crank bearing bracket (bb) with a pointer tied on the end. This became my datum point. I measured the distance from where it hit the floor to the center of the contact patches for the front and rear tires. 9" and 50.5" respectively. I set the rear tire on a block the same height as my bathroom scale, and set the scale under the front tire. Then I sat on the bike, and recorded the 138.5# weight. I swapped the wood block and the scale and weighed the rear wheel - 169.5#.

Then I multiplied the weight on the front wheel (138.5 pounds) by the arm (9 inches) to get a moment of 1246.5. I did the same for the rear, then added the two moments (1246.6+8559.75). To find the center of gravity, I divided the total moment (9806.25) by the total weight (308.0 pounds) for a CG of 31.84 inches (31.84" aft of the front side of the crank bearing). That puts it just about 1 inch forward of the bottom of the vertical tube below the seat. It also means I have 55% of the weight on the rear wheel, and 45% on the front, which should feel fairly stable.

Now the actual measuring was a lot more difficult than it sounds here. My scale is digital, and you have to tap it then wait until it zeroes (about 8 seconds), then within the next 5 seconds step on and hold perfectly still while it reads the strain. Using this scale to weigh a bike was almost impossible. I had to get everything centered and ready, straddle the bike, squeeze the brakes so I wouldn't roll off, tap the scale with the wheel and hold it up until it said 0.0. Then at just the right time, I had to set the wheel down in the right spot, sit down, get my feet on the pedals, steady myself against the wall without supporting any weight, and hold perfectly still until the scale gave a reading - but I couldn't lean to see the display so I had to just guess at the time.

Using these numbers, I went to the steering calculator (actually it's called the Trail Calculator since that's what it figures out) and plugged in my numbers. My theoretical trail (ideal amount of trail) calculated out to 1.5". My actual trail calculated to 2". Adding another 1/2" of rake to my forks would bring my trail right on target.

So today, I built a jig to hold my fork and locate the new drop outs. I drilled some holes into the center block and inserted pins where the axle is currently, then I cut some 1/2" thick spacers I can insert under the block after I cut off the old dropouts.

Another productive weekend.

Jack

Gusset

2007-03-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the gusset I welded on to stiffen up the front boom attachment to the steering tube. I cut a stiff paper pattern, then traced it onto some .032" steel sheet. Then I used a piece of scrap pipe to press the sheet between the jaws of my workmate until the sheet had a nice U shape. With a little trimming and tapping with a small hammer, it fit perfectly.

I'm still planning on doing some seat work, and modifying the fork for better steering feel.

Jack

Rides

2007-03-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

I rode the bike around Sunday, then again Tuesday evening. According to the speedo I went 9.5 miles Tuesday and hit 43mph! My conclusion is that the magnet that attaches to the spoke is passing the bar-shaped pickup at too occluded of an angle, and actually registering twice on each pass. So, my real distance should be 4.75 at 22 max. That sounds much more realistic. I guess I need to move the pickup to a better location (one where the magnet lays parallel to the spokes).

I tried some tricks with the seat cover to figure out why I keep sliding down. I think I'll cut the seat bottom side tubes about in the middle, and have them come straight back to meet the seat back just above the mount clamps. That way I'll still have the same height/curve in the front part of the seat, but I'll have better "cheekage" in the rear part. I also recontoured the back to give a little more support in the mid/upper back area. That part feels great now.

The front boom flexes a little. When I really push hard (starting, accelerating, hillclimbing), I can see a slight movement, and feel it flex. To help eliminate that, I'm in the process of adding a gusset to the front side of the steering tube. I made it by making a paper template, then cutting it out of .032" steel sheet, and bending it around a piece of scrap tubing. I still need to weld it on, but I'll post a picture when it's done.

While I have the steering apart, I think I might make new front drop-outs. The steering feels just a little touchy, and I think maybe by adding some rake (going from 1" to 1.5" or maybe even 2") I'll put some "center" feel into it. I'll spend some time toying with the steering calculator first, and come up with some definite numbers.

Jack

Oh My Aching Seat

2007-02-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

So my new seat is installed, and the cover has been laced on. That went pretty well, although I noticed one flaw. The two grommets at the cutouts for the crosspiece are located on the edge of the upright tubes. Since the grommets are flat and the tubes are round, they are starting to tear out. I don't really need the tension right there, so I think I'll cure it by relacing the seatback and just skipping those holes. The grommets at the top of the back and the front edge of the bottom are ok, maybe because there isn't so much strain on them, but the middle ones won't work.

I took a ride around the block, and decided I like my new seat (I can reach the ground now), but the curve in bottom toward the takes away my "bun space". I kept sliding down, and couldn't stay in one place. So, a recurved design is needed for the bottom part of the seat. Maybe I'll just have the tubes come straight back to meet the seatback at an angle, instead of curving them up. The front part of the seatbottom is perfect.

I swiveled the steering riser tube around to bring the handlebars back about three inches, since the seat leans back slightly more than it did before. I don't think I like that - I lost some of the responsive feel the steering had. I'll be changing that back.

I was having trouble getting the chain to shift gears properly without throwing it off either side, so I installed a disc on the outside of the front gears, and a small stop on the inside. I could not get a point of adjustment that would give a slow reliable shift without throwing the chain in a quick shift. I think it might have to do with the fact that the middle gear was not intended to have a smaller gear, and it actually sort of tilts inwards at the top of the teeth (if that makes sense). Anyway, problem solved, even when shifting while going over big bumps.

More changes, more test rides, more fiddling, more tinkering.

Jack

Seat Cover

2007-02-21T21:37:00.001-08:00

More Pictures. The top one shows the fabric after I cut it out. I applied wide masking tape wherever I needed to make a mark and laid everything out using a pencil and a yard stick. Then I laid the fabric over the frame to make sure I had the cutouts in the right place, and to think through the seam corners so I wouldn't mess it up. Then I made the cuts.

The second picture shows the two sewn/grommeted pieces laying on the frame. The cutouts are where the cross pieces underneath are welded on. They actually line up this time. I made the 2" top and bottom seams first, then the cutouts, and finally the 1" side seams. I used 1/4" grommets again (more on the bottom, less on the sides). The third picture is a closeup of a cutout.

The Recumbent Blog had an entry today for the Greenspeed Frog (trike). I'm thinking of building a trike next, so I was excited to check it out. The website the link took me to is like a candy store. There is a link on the left side (Builders Corner), that has more homebuilt bike pictures than I've ever seen. And the pictures show all kinds of stuff, from CAD drawings of concept bikes to "how I attached three headlights". Of course the text is in Dutch(?), but a picture is worth a thousand words to a visual learner like me.

Jack

Seat Frame Again

2007-02-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not writing much lately. There haven't been many things worth mentioning, at least not that I feel like sharing. I guess I haven't been feeling very wordy.

Here are some more pictures. I made the new seat frame this weekend. It will lay back a little more, sit further forward, and have less of a "thigh shelf". It's quite a bit norrower, a decision I really hope I don't regret. I cut off the idler pulley mount, reinstalled it closer to the frame and made a clip to keep the chain from bouncing off when I go over big bumps.

I rode around a bunch Saturday hopping off curbs, going in tight circles, and just getting used to the feel of things. I'm going to develop some serious thigh muscles on this thing. I was surprised at just how little shifting I needed to do riding around the neighborhood. I could still pedal productively up a small hill in the same gear I used to come down it. Shucks, on my Schwinn I'd have shifted through the entire range going both ways. Maybe the Schwinn is just too easy to shift, and too hard to pedal.

Jack

Shifters

2007-02-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

The Community Cycling Center is one of Portland's coolest places. Their goal is to get a bike to every kid - regardless of whether or not they can afford it. They do this through donations of used bicycles and lots of volunteer labor refurbishing bikes. They hold cheap/free classes in bike maintenance, sponsor rides and help kids learn to be responsible riders.

They also sell parts to maintain your bike. Enter: new shifters for my recumbent! I picked up a matched pair of Suntour ratcheting shifters for a pretty fair price (more than I wanted to spend, but cheap for such a nice set of levers - I couldn't pass them up).

Jack

Chainring

2007-02-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

I finished the chainring modification. I welded some little spacers on the backside of the middle ring, then clamped the small ring to the front side and drilled through the whole stack at once. Then I moved the small ring to the backside and riveted it in place.

After primer, flat black paint, and reassembly I realized that I needed to rock the shifter back just a little more so it would have enough range to cover the difference in sizes of gears. So I heated the tube with a propane torch, stuck a larger drift (punch) inside the tube and used a cargo strap to winch it rearward, so the shifter dropped a little lower. It was a crude operation, but since I planned it well, and measured carefully, things went smoothly. I can't wait to ride it again. Just a few more changes first.

Jack

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chainges

2007-01-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend I replaced the idler gear in the tension side of the chain with a skate sheel. Actually, it's a 3.8" wheel from a Razor scooter. I chucked it up in the grinder as suggested here, and sharpened an old screw driver to cut the groove. It worked like a charm, but the melting rubber smell was disguting even with the garage open. I also did away with the return side idlers, and replaced them with a tube. During comparison tests in the repair stand, I noticed quite a bit of drag coming from them all, and I never did like the vibration. The new chain controls seem to make a huge difference in both issues.

Jack

What can I say?

2007-01-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Well, the pictures pretty much say it all. I felt brave Wednesday, and with a break in the rain, I decided it was time. It went pretty much as I had planned. My kids took the pictures.

I started off in the garage, going only a few feet on the first try, while staying close to the wall to grab on if I needed to. On the second shove-off I went for it, pedalling down the driveway, and turning slowly left to circle the cul de sac once before pulling back into the garage. It takes a conscious effort to turn, since I had to start by leaning the bike into the turn, which is done by steering the bike out from underneath me. It will take some getting used to, and takes a little more forethought than an upright bike, but it feels comfortable to control. Given time it will be, well, as natural as riding a bike.

The gearing felt fine, had it in low gear, but shifted up for the third try. The smaller pulley in the tension side of the chain is a little noisy. The chain hopped off of the smaller idler pulleys in the return side, but I knew this would happen. I know I need to make some keepers to go around the chain to keep it on the pulleys. That was a known problem. Also known was the fact that the grip shifter is terribly mismatched to the rear shifter. One click results in a shift of three gears. I'll be putting the thumb shifter back on at final assembly.

The first attempt at stopping was odd. The seat bottom is too long, so it's difficult to drop both feet to the ground at the same time. The trick is to drop one foot, keeping the other on the pedal, and lean enough to be stable. The first time I stopped, I just grabbed the bike stand to prop myself. The second time I almost fell over. The third time I did it right, but awkwardly.

Other things I think I might change are building a new seat (of course - same back curves and slope, shorter bottom, more downward curve at the front edge, and sliding it forward about an inch), possibly replace the small idlers with rubber skate wheels (quieter), moving the real idler pulley inward about an inch to better line up the chain, and maybe push the handlebars forward an inch or two. The handlebars are fine right where they are for riding, but they make mounting/dismounting difficult because of the way they overhang the butt. I find myself having to tip the bike off to the side while I straddle it, then lifting my leg over the bar and pulling the bike back up again. Wierd. I did some measuring with the crank assembled, and decided I have room to squeeze in the third chainring up front. I'll have to do that before paint, as I'll need to cut off the stub of tubing the front shifter is mounted on after I get a final location for it.

Both of my kids came out to watch me ride it, and took turns taking pictures - the best of which are posted above. Thankfully I didn't crash or they would have taken a very clear picture of that. And thankfully, no neighbors were out. Now to make some changes, ride it again, then take it all apart.

Jack

Ready for a test ride

2006-12-31T16:39:00.000-08:00

The recumbent project is ready for a test ride, as soon as I feel up to it. The cables have all been routed and adjusted and the tires have been aired up. I've spent plenty of time sitting in the saddle in the garage this past week, wishing I didn't feel so light headed and run down. Maybe by the end of this week...

Jack

Seat

2006-12-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

The seat has been sewn and installed. It worked well, and the new material is much stronger than the original nylon. I had to cut slots in the part that wraps around the back to allow for the supports - somehow I messed up the location of my cutouts. I'm not too stressed over this as I'm going to build a whole new seat again when I tear it apart for paint anyway. I put the chain on, and installed some cables. Still lots to do, but it's beginning to look like a bike.

Jack

Seat Material

2006-12-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

I have some seat material, that I believe is the same stuff the commercial builders use. I found it at Fabric Depot, under the name of Phifertex. It's vinyl coated polyester mesh, and from the little bit of pulling and tugging I've done, it's very durable and doesn't stretch. Plus it will breath like it isn't even there, which will be nice for summer rides.

On my way to go fabric shopping, I took the long way and went by Coventry Cycle Works. Wow, I felt like I'd been to church when I left there. I could actually hear angels singing when I looked at the trikes closeup. There are Catrikes, Terra Cycles, Burleys, and Bachettas that now have my tongue marks on them. They were working on a very rare (and very odd looking) British trike. I had to ask the mechanic how to steer it - it was that weird. Anyway, I'm glad I went there because I saw a lot of different ways to solve problems (like seat mounting, cable routing, steering for trikes, etc), and had a nice chat with the mechanic. He invited me to come back sometime and take a few test rides - I could ride anything on the floor. Talk about an inspiring day - all that on top of getting my hair cut.

Jack

Tearing Apart the Seat

2006-12-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I had more mixed success with the seat for my recumbent. My sewing job turned out very nice (almost professional quality), but when I installed the bottom and tried it out - let's just say it was a little too stretchy. I found myself sitting on the top tube, wishing I weren't. I've also decided that the seat back MUST be raised about 10 degrees more. The seat bottom needs to be tilted back about 5 degrees more, and extended about 3 more inches.

So, tonight I began dismantling the seat, and looking at options. I think I'll reuse the seat back, but mount it to the bottom in a different place. I'll also reuse the bottom, except for the rear crosstube, which needs to be bowed, and dropped below the side tubes. The front cross tube needs a bushing between it and the frame to provide the correct tilt (thankfully I came across some 1/4" thick phenolic a few days ago and snatched it up just for occasions like this - free, too).

Jack

Recumbent Update

2006-11-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I fabricated the steering tube, and installed the handlebar. I also installed the brakes, and measured for the rear derailleur cable (I have a new one that is just barely long enough). The handlebar is going to be crowded with grips, gripshifter (on the right only - thumb shifter on the left) and brakes. It came from a kids bike, but is the perfect shape for this project. If I find I can't use it, I have a couple of backups, but I really like this bar because it has such a nice droop to match my arms coming up from below.

I modified the seat a little to make the back-to-bottom connection stronger, but in the process, tipped it back about 5 degrees further. I think it might be a little more than I had wanted, but it's still not quite as far as some production recumbents. The only way to tell for sure is to try it out on some test rides, which I am really looking forward to.

I had some black rip-stop nylon laying around that was leftover from a temporary streamer we put on the balloon when the Belarussian military shot down a balloon during the Gordon Bennett. Always a rebel. Although it may not be strong enough to stand up to years of wear and tear, I decided to go ahead and use it since I may be building a better seat fairly soon anyway. I measured and cut the fabric, now I just have to sew it up. I can't wait to installed the seat cover so I can sit in the exact position I'll be riding in. The boards I've been sitting on are little too stiff and thick to get a true feel for pedal position, arm angel, neck support, etc. At any rate, I'm beginning to install all the little parts to get it ready to ride - just as the weather is turning crummy.

Jack

Pictures of the Recumbent Project

2006-11-22T21:34:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures tonight. I finished the seat mounts, and laid out the steering. The first three pictures are of the seat mounts. Then a couple of whole views, and one showing my "test seat" (a couple of old drawing boards). The last picture is the rear brake mount. I left the kickstand mount on the bottom tubes when I cut them from my old mountain bike so I could reuse it. It also has a tab for mounting a fender, which would be a nice addition later.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I replaced our water heater last weekend. Not a hard job - don't hesitate to try it yourself when the time comes. And it will come...
Jack

Recumbent Seat Progress

2006-11-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

On my recumbent bike project, I assembled the crank with just the two stock chainrings (with bearings and cones from the ramp cruiser) and figured out how I will attach the seat bottom in the back. I welded on two flat plates, and drilled them to accept two U-bolts that will hold the seat bottom rear cross tube. The front mount will have a similar arrangement. I'll weld a small plate to the cross bar and use a single U-bolt to clamp it to the top frame tube.

I found two perfect seat back support rods - I tore apart an old bike rack that was broken in three places, and the rods that mounted it are the perfect length, predrilled, and look very nice. I welded tabs on the seat back to mount them and they fit great. If this sounds confusing, take heart, I'll take some pictures soon and load them.

It's beginning to look like the recumbent I had pictured in my head, even if it is quite heavy. The Recumbent Blog has an interesting post today, on what little difference a superlight bike makes for the average Joe. I wonder how much difference a superheavy bike makes.

I still haven't found fabric for the seat. I have some black rip-stop nylon in the closet - maybe I'll just use that for now, and sweat it out. I need to get that sewn together, so I can sit in the seat to plan out my handlebars. I need to throw some primer on, too, before it starts to rust.

Jack

Good News for the Project

2006-11-15T06:02:00.000-08:00

I found a source for the bearings and cones I'm missing for my recumbent project. A friend gave me a pretty nice mountain bike sometime back that he dug out of a dumpster at his secure storage unit. He wasn't scrounging, but most of the bike was sticking up, and immediately he thought of me and our fleet of bicycles at work. It had some damage and a few pieces missing, but it was a high-end one that appeared to be repairable. You might recall, it's the one I started to tear down to use as a base for my recumbent, only to realize after removing EVERYTHING that it was aluminum, and thus beyond my welding capability.

To make a long story shorter, I reassembled it Monday evening , and tuned it up Tuesday evening, digging through my pile of spare parts to replace whatever was missing to make it usable. I'll take it to work today and swap it out with one of the older "ramp cruisers" I donated last year that is wearing out. The bottom bracket on the "one-brake, three-gear, death trap" of a ramp cruiser is the same style/size as my recumbent.

Now I'll be able to resume assembling the recumbent to fit the seat, and make some handlebars.
Here's to good friends! Yeah!

Jack

Axim Fixed

2006-11-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

It worked! With some help from a friend at work who repairs things like this, I was able to resolder the terminals from the connector to the motherboard. It powered right up when I tried, and later worked perfectly when I put it in the cradle to hot-sync and recharge. I'm so happy again.

Jack

Pain and Depression

2006-11-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

My Axim has a booboo. The sync/charging connector on the bottom of it, is loose. I haven't decided if I want to try soldering it, replace the motherboard, or send it out for repair. I did find some great information on the Axim Users site, and mustered up the courage to take it apart. The connector is small, and the wires coming from the back are tiny. Soldering without destroying the whole thing would be a challenge. It would take a very sharp soldering iron. I need to confer with the experts on this one before I go any further. It's time to go upstairs.

Jack

Update

2006-11-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

I changed the sidebar - little changes so you might not notice. I deleted the few personal blogs I read and moved the other items up. Did you ever click on "Letters to Fiona"? It was a brief, but deep, well written blog. Maybe you've had a relationship like that, where you met someone really, truly incredible, then realized you were headed in two different directions. You saw them wave through the back window as they left, taking your heart with them. If you ever do read it, start at the oldest entry, and read upward.

I swapped out my CO2/argon bottle today. Now all I need is a whole bunch of time. I've been wearily consumed the last week or more. Working a lot, busy evening schedules, full weekends. Sorry I haven't written more.

Jack

Go Figure

2006-11-05T10:14:00.000-08:00

I finished welding up my seat back, and attached the back and bottom together. I don't think the joint is strong enough to last through much abuse, so once I figure out the best angle for the seat back I think I'll weld a gusset in to make it permanent.

Elsewhere in the project I became frustrated. Evidently I left the bottle valve on last time I welded, and there is a slow leak at the regulator. I have almost no co2/agron left. Another week of no welding. So I decided to start assembling the bike so I can test fit the seat. I started to assemble the crank, so I could figure out the chain rings, and. . . . . where are the crank bearings . . . . .where are the crank bearing caps . . . . . hhhhmmmmmm. For the life of me I can't find what I did with them. I have a red bin that all the parts are kept in, they just aren't there. gggrrrrrr.

Jack

Cleaning Up

2006-11-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

My son barfed in the car on the way home from picking up my daughter at school today. He tried to get it out the window. I just finished cleaning up both sides of the door, the window, the seat, and the carpet. At least it didn't happen in front of the all the kids at school. He'd be an orphan. So, now he's watching a movie and getting ready to go to bed early. "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command." Whatever - he likes it.

I bought more wire for the welder today, so the great bicycle is rolling again. I got an 11 pound roll this time, since it was only a little more than the 2 pound roll. Cheaper in bulk, again, I guess. It was the same thing when I bought the argon bottle, so I have the big one. Now I'm all set for winter, which coincidently appears to be coming. It's been raining for about four days and the ten day forecast shows 4 different words for "rain". Sure beats 90 degree weather.

Jack

Seat Back and Movies

2006-10-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

The recumbent bike project saw some progress this weekend. I welded about 90% of the seat back, then ran out of wire for the welder. Aarrgggh! I won't get out to pick up more until the weekend, so until then I will try to fit the seat back to the seat bottom, and look into possibilities for mounting them.

I'd like a clamp setup that allows easy adjustment forward and back, but I realize that might require a little more machining than I have the technology for. There are some commercial recumbents with some really innovative seat clamps, but they have real engineers and CNC machines to make them with. Maybe I can rig something out of steel angles that will pinch the top tube. I also need to put the whole bike together again so I can lay out the handlebars, put the front crank together with all 3 chain rings (and make sure that works). Little steps but moving down the trail, none the less.

I saw Over The Hedge this weekend. Pretty funny. Both kids cracked up the whole way through it. I had to go out the garage and work, they were laughing so loud. I also saw Click. It was odd, but enjoyable. Nice to watch something other than the usual Friday night chick flick. Oh, yeah, I also saw The Wedding Planner. Chick flick all the way. Gag, Yak, Choke. Last week I watched The Breakup with Jennifer whatever-her-name-is (really cute but why is she in the cover of every brainless magazine?). The ending sucked so bad. The DVD had an alternate ending which was nothing more than the same ending in a different place. Dumb.

Jack

Yes, I spent way too much time indoors this week.

Jack

Progress At Last!

2006-10-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

The recumbent project is breathing again. I know - you're shocked. Yesterday, I ground the tubes for the seat bottom, and made a jig to hold it square while I welded it. This afternoon, I practiced welding for a few minutes just to warm up, then went at it.

My welding turned out pretty good this time. I'm getting better at it, and for once I think I did a fair job of it. This tubing is thinner than the larger tubing, so it was trickier, but taking more time to set each weld up and being extra careful paid off.

Tonight I measured and started cutting tubes for the seat back. Both uprights are cut, and I cut the first cross piece and bent it. Now to make two more cross pieces exactly like it.

I need to start looking for a strong, breathable fabric to make the seat out of. I'll sew a seam up the sides to double up the fabric where it wraps over the side bars, then punch eyelets and lace it up the back with parachute cord, so I'll need fabric strong enough to not tear out at the holes, while still being breathable enough to not drench me between here and the video store. Almost time to go shopping again. I have very few ideas about how to attach this seat once I've built it, but I'll figure something out. I have to.

Jack

Bicycle Helmets

2006-10-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, we never wore bike helmets, and I don't ever remember seeing my friends wear them. After a couple of nasty head bumps in my youth you'd think I'd learn, but let's just say that there is only occasional evidence of lasting damage, and let's drop the subject. (Seriously, I've always wondered......)

Then I started thinking about when people started wearing bike helmets, and found a great article on the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute's website. I doubt if Amelia Earhart's helmet (pictured above) would have done much good in a crash, but it probably did a lot to keep a head warm in a cold airplane. Then I came across an interesting article by Susan Levine that really drives home the need for kids to wear bicycle helmets. (hmmmm, more reason to suspect lasting damage...)
If only I had worn a basket on my head with a pillow tucked inside like the sport ballooning pioneer, Auguste Piccard. There are always iron helmets, which I'm sure would protect my head in a hard crash on my recumbent, but what about protecting the rest of my body from the helmet? I suppose something very soft like a basket of fruit would provide some comfort, but the fruit flies would be bothersome on a warm day.

A fully enclosed helmet would provide lots of protection, but I hope the wearer of this helmet doesn't require much air. May be a fresh cactus smell would be nice. Just don't tip your head.

Jack

The Agony of Defeat

2006-10-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when the Wide World of Sports used to come on TV, and it had cool video clips of great sporting moments during the introduction? I used to love watching it. "The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat!" The image for the "agony of defeat" was a downhill skier going totally out of control and spinning, flipping, cartwheeling, smashing and flopping over a ramp about 10 feet high.

Well, that's how my tube notching jig worked when I tried it yesterday. To make a long story short, the tubing has thin walls, and the hole cutter has course teeth. I knew it would be touchy, but I thought maybe if I eased the cutter forward very lightly that it would cut without really binding up. Not a chance.

On the first try the cutter locked into the tube and whipped it out of the jig, C-clamps and all. Thankfully it was only a short test piece. So, I reclamped the tube on the OTHER side of the jig, and tried again, using even less pressure. It started to cut a nice fishmouth, but as soon as I was about half way through, the cutter jerked and locked in. I had to undo the clamps to un-impale the cutter from the tube.

Now, I could go get a hole cutter with finer teeth, or even weld up something out of an old saw blade, but I've already wasted way too much time on this stupid thing, and I'm beginning to feel like I'm making no forward movement in my life. Keep in mind that there is a psychological reason for doing this project. I'd really like to feel good about having done something myself, that I can enjoy for a long time. And this stupid tube jig is making me irritable.

Conclusions? I should have saved 2 weeks, and just used the stinking grinder to fishmouth my tubes as I have been so far. I'm getting pretty good at that method. Maybe someday I'll get a real tube notcher for another project.

J

My Cat Ate Your Earphones

2006-10-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

Well, the good news is - I fixed them.

The bad news is - My cat ate them after I was done.

I owe you a new pair. I'm so sorry.

She has ruined so many earphones by chewing on the cords....

Jack

Clown Bike Update

2006-10-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

I finished replacing the drive gear on the clown bike. It goes a little faster than before, and I was able to fix the bad bearings in the crank while I had it apart, so the project was a success. I had to remove the chain guard, because it doesn't fit the new gear, and put a longer chain on which I had laying around from the $3 bike, I think. I rode it around the cul-de-sac a few times, and could almost keep up with my son on his bike. I'm not sure I like the sound of the rear spokes protesting my weight, though. Somehow I need to beef up the rear wheel before I attempt a ride around the block.

Jack

The Clown Bike

2006-09-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is my Clown Bike. It was my son's first bike, but he outgrew it. We were going to give it to St. Vincent DePaul, but I noticed just how sturdy the thing really is, and decided to keep it for fun. I raised the seat, added real pedals, and tightened up the spokes a little, but it's stock the rest of the way. He always cracks up when I ride it - maybe because I'm not exactly a little guy myself.

The CG seems a little far back, but by the time you lean over to grab the handlebars between your knees, it's just about right. I just wish it would go a little faster (which was always his complaint, too - his legs just couldn't spin any quicker).

Enter the $3 garage sale bike! I've been wishing that I had a smaller front gear for my recumbent, to give a little lower gear for hill climbing, and was pondering my choices this evening. The current smallest gear is 39 teeth. I looked at the (36 tooth) gear from the $3 bike, and decided it wasn't small enough.

Then I noticed the Clown Bike has a much smaller gear (28 teeth). I did some measuring and found that the crank and gear from the $3 bike will fit the clown bike, giving it the much desired boost in speed (due to more chain being pushed for each turn of the pedals).

It also lets me use the 28 tooth "clown" gear for my recumbent - which is more what I had in mind. I'll have to do some modifying to assemble the gears into a triple pack, but it'll be worth it.
This will change my lowest gear-inch value from 36.2 to 26.0. This translates (at 80 pedal revolutions per minute) to a change from a low speed of 8.6mph to 6.2 mph. Nice.

I cut and bent a few tubes for the seat tonight. I'm kind of nervous about the seat, because it is such a prominent feature. I guess I should just relax, and take the attitude that if I don't like the way it feels, I can always replace it very easily later on, improving upon my first design. The important thing right now, is to have something to sit on so I can keep moving forward.

Jack

Things Kids Say

2006-09-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

These are things my daughter has actually said after being in school for three weeks.

"That's my gym teacher over there."
"Oh really? What's her name?"
"I don't know. But she sure blows that whistle a lot."

"Nathaniel can't read."
"Who's Nathaniel?"
"He's the boy that sits next to me."
"You're in 4th grade - what makes you think he can't read?"
"Well, whenever we trade papers to grade our work, he marks all my answers wrong."
"Maybe you should work on your penmanship."
"No, boys just can't read."

"That's Peter over there." (pointing across the parking lot)
"Oh? Is that one of your friends?"
"Are you kidding? He ate two fortune cookies at lunch today, but he didn't take the fortunes out first!"

Jack

More Bike Work

2006-09-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

I really hope this doesn't get boring, hearing me yak about my bike all the time, but it really is about the only thing that has happened the last few days worth mentioning here in this sophisticated forum. It's not that it's going to be such a great bike, but it's lots of fun to build.

I've spent about 2 hours total this week finishing the welds (I'm getting much better), then prepping the frame for primer. I want to have the frame ready to paint before I assemble it next time to mount the seat and handlebars. Then I can test ride it as soon as I put the seat and handlebars on, then disassemble, paint and reassemble it for proving.

I also need to get a tubing bender to start working on the seat frame. I think just a conduit bender will work, but I don't want some cheap piece of junk that has a rough finish on the inside of the groove. I want nice smooth bends that are ready to paint. Maybe I'll just get the $15 conduit bender and polish the inside of the groove.

I found this cool bell by following a link from The Recumbent Blog. I think I'll order it for my bike. It would work well in the right side of my handlebars, with a mirror mounted in the left side.

Jack

Grinding Away

2006-09-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight I cleaned up a few welds on my recumbent frame (most of them needed some kind of touch up). There are two I need to weld again - I just don't think they have enough penetration to trust with supporting my ampleness as I ride like a madman.

The next phase will be the seat. That will take some thinking, and lots of studying pictures on the net. I looked at paint today. I'm no painter, so I'm planning on rattle-canning the whole thing. Red frame, black and chrome components, black seat, black stem and handle bars, and a pasty fool riding it.

I really like the paint job on this bike, but I'm sure they don't use spray paint. It's nothing fancy, just a good looking basic paint job to make a simple bike look great. It just looks like it wants to go for a ride, doesn't it.

Jack

Bike Progress

2006-09-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have a drive train! I was very busy this weekend and made some great progress. I installed standoffs for the upper guide roller, and both lower guide pulleys. I also tacked a stand pipe on the drive bracket to hold the front derailleur. I put a few old chains together, and tested the setup to make sure it would work. I'm not totally happy with my decision to use plastic idler pulleys in the lower run to inhibit the bouncing of the chain. They are a little noisier than I thought they'd be, and give a hell of a vibration. I might ditch them later for the rubber skate wheels since they don't have any real tension on them. The gear in the top run works great.

I installed a mount for the rear brake, and made sure it would work as I planned. Then I disassembled it again, and started cleaning up my amateurish welding job. There are a couple places that need to be ground off and rewelded, and a couple places where I probably could have done better if I had just closed my eyes. I think the hardest part of mig welding so far is being able to see what I'm doing - the gun hides so much. Anyway, I have much more to do, before assembling it the next time. I also still need to build a seat, which will be a challenge due to so many variables and arbitrary things like wide butt, skinny butt, lumbar support, shoulder support, tilt, back length, adjustability...

I started to add cable nips to allow naked cables for the long straight runs, but after tacking one on, decided to bag that idea and just have the flexible housings run the full length of the cable. It really wasn't worth the extra work for......why do they do that anyway? I mean how much weight do you really save? I can't see how it reduces friction in the housing, since the friction occurs at the bends, and you haven't eliminated any bends.

I'm sure that when I'm done with this project, I'll look back on it and have to conclude that I know nothing about bicycles, welding and design. But maybe that's not the real goal here. It's a chance to learn to weld, and to play around with bikes. It's also a chance to build something myself, and to use my tools which otherwise collect dust in the garage. But more than that, it's something positive in a world that sometimes seems pretty dismal. My bike is always there waiting for me to come out and play, and it will always be as good as I want it to be.

Jack

Recumbent Chain Gear

2006-09-06T05:43:00.000-07:00

I found an easy solution to a small problem in the design of my recumbent. The top side (tension side) of the chain was too close to the botom of the seat when the slack was taken out of it. Some recumbents use a rubber skate wheel here, but that seems to me to be a poor choice, due to the amount of tension on the chain causing rapid wear in the wheel. Others use a small idler pulley from a rear derailleur, but that seems to me like it would produce a chattering feeling under strenuous pedaling due to it's small diameter (and resulting small number of teeth in contact with the chain).

So, my solution was to remove the rear gear from a small child's bike (that I bought at a garage sale - geeeze, give me a break). It was about 3" in diameter, with a nice 1.25" hole in the center. By chance I had a roller bearing with a 1.25" outdside diameter, which I had removed from a fitness trainer (that I turned into a bike maintenance stand, but that's another blog story for another day). The gear fit perfectly over the bearing, so I tack welded it on. Digging through a tackle box of old hardware that I keep under my workbench, I found a shouldered bolt that fits the inside diameter of the bearing perfectly, and is just the right length to allow me to add a chain keeper under the head of the bolt.

The gear is large enough to handle the chain smoothly, even when very tight, and hard enough to not wear out quickly. Now all I have to do is weld a nut onto a standoff where I want the pulley to be located, and the chain will be pulled down to clear the seat bottom. I think that location will be just aft of the steering tube along the top tube (see the picture below). Any further forward, and I would run the risk of sucking brake and shifter cables into the gear when turning sharply.

My only concern is that the outer race might have overheated during mig welding. I removed the grease seals first, kept the welds quick, allowed some cooldown time between welds, and oiled it well before reinstalling the seals. It feels ok now, but time will tell. If it fails, I might need to heist another kids bike - I have a spare bearing.

Jack

My Bike Project

2006-08-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

I'm building a recumbent bike. It's a short wheel base one, using my old mountain bike for parts. I wanted to learn to weld, so I bought a mig welder, practiced welding scraps together for a while, then started chopping up the bike. I've always wanted to try a recumbent, as I really love bikes, so what better project to practice welding on?

I'm just about done with the main parts of the frame, as you can see. I still need to add tabs for attaching the rear brake, a couple of chain managing pulleys, and build the seat and handlebars. Then it's test ride and adjustment time. I'll finally disassemble it completely for a paint job. It's been a real education designing this thing. Besides, it gives me an excuse to be in the garage for hours on end.

I added a few guy links to the right column. I'll add more later, maybe break them up by category.

Jack

Welcome to Jack In The Garage!

2006-08-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

This is where I’ll post things I’m building, or tinkering with. Just guy stuff. Maybe we can tell some garage level jokes, or things like that.

Why? Mostly because a guy needs a place to chat with other guys, and talk about guy stuff. Feel free to leave a comment if you have questions, comments, or just want to bs a little. And please share some garage jokes.

Jack