A new trike.

[th62]

I'm building another recumbent trike, my fifth.
I'm using the same components from a two wheeler I made that I can't ride due to balance issues. It will feature:

Ackerman and centrepoint steering
Adjustable toe in
Shimano Deore cycle parts
Tektro hydaulic disks
700c rear wheel
20" front wheels.
Wheelbase 115cm
Track 760mm
Seat height 240m
Bottom bracket height 400mm
Frame 30mm tube
Kingpin angle 15 degrees
Wheel angle 5 degrees
27 speed
9 speed cassete
3 speed chainring

To date I've built the frame, welded up the stub axles, added caliper mounts and ackerman angled steering levers, added a bottom bracket and front deraileur mount, turned up some Delrin chain idlers and fixed the rear derailleur mount and sorted the hubs and quick release levers. Today I welded up some seat bracketing and bent and twisted some 3mm ally sheeting for the seat and back. Pulled it down off the bench and sat in it to try, very impressed - very, very comfortable.

Rims should arrive late next week, soon as they get here I'll measure up for spokes and order them then stick the wheels together. Once done I can start on the steering and associated linkages, then go for a trial run, sort out any problems and paint.

Here some pictures, frame all welded up, stubs welded up, calipers mounted, front derailleur and BB installed.

 

[Tim9]

Checking your post out with anticipation since a recumbent trike is on my wish list. Still looking for ideas and plans... since this is one of many items on my ever increasing to do list

 

[savarin]

Going to be a sweet ride. I wish I could still ride my bents but knees and a hip just wont take it any more.
I was in the middle of a tilting trike when I had to stop riding so never finished it.
All the drive and tilt mechanism is finished
Its still sitting all forlorn in my shed and I cant find anyone to pass it onto.

 

[th62]

Shame you're not in New Orleans, you could have passed it op to TIM9! I stopped riding due to a bung hip, left it hanging up in the shed till I got sick of looking at it so I threw it away. Not long after I, got a new hip, now I've got to go through the pain of making another. I just hope I get to finish it before the big dog in the sky fetches me. I'm sure Toby, Dennis, Stub, Scruff and Dante, Chum,and Shinta (my 3 police dogs) are awaiting my arrival. They've been waiting a while now...

 

[savarin]

Heres a couple of my bents and I really miss riding them
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/a-couple-of-my-bicycle-builds.8521/
I assume you are using Peter Elands spreadsheet to work out your ackerman geometry?
I found that even 1 mm made a huge difference. The green trike above can go from lock to lock without tyre scrub but it took a lot of experimenting.
If you are considering cable steering check out my experiments on Atomic zombie for the results (link in the above post)

 

[th62]

I also use mild steel, square tube because 4 trukes and three bikes have proven 30mm tube works well. I don't build to plans and certainly don't copy others, the enjoyment for me, is to design and build. Here's some pictures of previous builds. the red trike was MK2 and proved useful in testing different concepts, always being modified. The seat was a medieval torture machine. The black trike was MK3 and had hub steering, I used it every day for around 2-3 years. It worked ok up to around 40k, after that it got a little interesting, my first attempt at an ergonomic seat, it was reasonably comfortable.

The white two wheeler was also made up from discarded rubbish, but again had an unbelievably uncomfortable seat. The unfinished two wheeler had deore components, Tektro hydraulics and a shaped ally seat, the parts are now resident on my trike build. Very comfortable, when I wasn't lying on the ground bleeding from my head and it was quite fast. Picture was taken before I changed to 20" forks, added a caliper and wasn't painted. Now it collects rust behinfd my shed.

The grey/white trike was my last trike, I built it around 12 years ago and used it daily for 10 years. It was a great trike, extremely comfortable and very fast. The drive train eventually wore out and started slipping, but as my hips wore out around the same time I retired it. I made some bar end shifters for this one, far better than standards for ease of changing gears The dogs loved it, even if I wasn't riding it they loved sitting in their box seat.

 

[th62]

Rims turned up yesterday so I laced one last night. Calculations provided for 181/183mm spokes, I had a couple of 20" wheels with 185s so I tried them and they fit nicely. The rims I got off ebay for $67. They are caliper rims and look quite nice with anodised side walls. I'll lace the other one as soon as my hands recover, lacing wheels is very hand intensive. I've been busy making a filing machine the last few days so this is the first time I've worked on the trike for quite a few days..

 

[C-Bag]

Very nice, good job. I'm in awe of your work.

I love my ICE Adventure that I picked up locally off Craigslist. I was going to build one too and had the plans and material all together when the ICE came up. I was wanting to go recumbent because I was completely tired of numb hands and sore butt no matter the bars or padded seat.

The ICE was exactly what I was going to build with rear suspension. I use it to make deliveries to the post office several times a week. It's more or less saved my life as its kept me off BP meds. I also have a heavy duty BOB trailer when I have more orders than will fit on the rack. Here there is no flat ground so I'm always climbing or flying down a hill so it's not some long country trip but it's quite a workout. I was also able to pick up a TerraTrike for my wife. I can fit both of them in the back of my Nissan PU. We've done couple vacations with the trikes as its a great way to see an area.

 

[th62]

I cut bent and twisted somw 3mm ally sheet yesterday for a seat back. shaping it to fit my back was a long process but it is supremely comfortable. Also in the middle of making couple of new stubs, the 5 degree ones I made are just too much, these ones will be 0 degrees.
Also found I made the boom to short by 50mm. The joys of designing and building.

I also trued up the wheels the other day, got to within 0.15mm off perfect. No need for that sort of accuracy on a cycle, first bump I hit will put it out, Just thought I'd see how close I could get it. The join is always the bit you can't do anything about.

I offered to build a recumbent bike for the wife but she declined the offer, calls them 'nerd' bikes!

 

[C-Bag]

I offered to build a recumbent bike for the wife but she declined the offer, calls them 'nerd' bikes!

Is that a bad thing? what cracks me up is the ones who are totally entranced is little kids. It is a lot like a Big Wheel for grown ups. I always envied those kids on Big Wheels that looked like so much fun. My wife used to ride bike with me but she said I always had such a big grin on my face it made her want a trike too. I wish I would have had one of these when I was young, makes me feel like a kid again.