Anyone ever build a bicycle frame?

Once you ride a bent you will never ride an upwrong again, unless you are feeling masochistic.
Did you know bents hold all the major speed records for pedal powered machines.
Why don't we see more? Because in the 30's the "Union Cycliste Internationale", made it illegal to use recumbent bikes in events where standard bicycles were used and this ban is still in force today. Why? because they are way faster than upwrongs with same fitness level riders.
A lot of people worry that because you are so low to the ground cars cannot see you.
My experience has been that they see you, wonder what the hell you are and give a wide berth (not everyone but most).
Another very big plus is if you fall off you generally just slide along on your butt.
If you do go bent your butt, wrists, back and neck will thank you for ever.
 
DavidR8 said:
I used to own a Brodie road bike. Fine riding machine!
Thanks for the link Stu!
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Yeah he's quite a well regarded frame builder, I only came across his youtube a few months ago.

He has a video on making a U brake which looks like quite a simple/fun project also :)

Stu
 
I picked this up and read it cover to cover yesterday.
Fascinating insight into the bike building business.
ad617d6797189ad1fc9a04d18dd0c578.jpg
 
I stumbled on this thread and I am getting close to going down the rabbit hole. I have wanted to get a MIG welder and learn how to weld for a while and this might be the project to do it with.
I have a few questions about the tadpole bikes.
What are the sizes of the front and rear wheels?
How are the front wheels attached to the spindles?
Are the front wheels using rear wheel bicycle hubs?
I like the disc brakes but it could be hard to find bikes that were thrown away with disc brakes.
Caliper rim brakes be used on the rear wheel only.
The Warrior Racing Trike from Atomic Zombie has caught my eye. It looks to be a fun doable project.
Any information would be great.

Roger L
 
rogerl said:
What are the sizes of the front and rear wheels?
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Front wheels are usually 20", rear wheel can be anything if you design it in.
rogerl said:
How are the front wheels attached to the spindles?
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Get 14mm bmx axles for strength, they are only held on one side
st6.jpg
rogerl said:
Are the front wheels using rear wheel bicycle hubs?
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no
rogerl said:
I like the disc brakes but it could be hard to find bikes that were thrown away with disc brakes.
Click to expand...
its easy to make adapters that bolt to a standard hub and the disk bolts to that
da2.jpg
da6.jpg
rogerl said:
Caliper rim brakes be used on the rear wheel only.
Click to expand...
they can also be used on the front wheels via a separate tube to hold them, welded to the king pin
st1.jpg

rogerl said:
The Warrior Racing Trike from Atomic Zombie has caught my eye. It looks to be a fun doable project.
Click to expand...
Get the atomic zombie book it has everything in it and is easy to follow.
Read Peters site and download his spreadsheets for the steering geometry, 1mm out ruins the ackerman compensation (dont ask me how I know) http://www.eland.org.uk/steering.html
tube mitre is also a great program if your going to use round tubes.
rorty.net

Tube Miter Program by Giles Puckett | Rorty

A tube mitering program for Windows to print on any printer. This program deals in metric units.
rorty.net rorty.net
 
Looks like an interesting project. I love riding bike but have too many back surgeries under my belt to do it anymore. Recumbent would be fun. I'm running out of time though.

I would think a tig welder would be a much better choice than a mig for a project such as this.
 
rogerl said:
I stumbled on this thread and I am getting close to going down the rabbit hole. I have wanted to get a MIG welder and learn how to weld for a while and this might be the project to do it with.
I have a few questions about the tadpole bikes.
What are the sizes of the front and rear wheels?
How are the front wheels attached to the spindles?
Are the front wheels using rear wheel bicycle hubs?
I like the disc brakes but it could be hard to find bikes that were thrown away with disc brakes.
Caliper rim brakes be used on the rear wheel only.
The Warrior Racing Trike from Atomic Zombie has caught my eye. It looks to be a fun doable project.
Any information would be great.

Roger L
Click to expand...
Atomic Zombie is an excellent resource. It will tell you all you need to know. When I found them and read his blog he was welding everything with an arc welder. And as good as I used to be with an arc, I can't even fathom that now. TIG seems to be the weld Du jour but if you are doing steel frames you can get into a good MIG for a lot less and for the noob you can learn pretty quick.

I originally bought the plans for the tadpole trike. Then I ran into a deal on a manufactured one and never went back. Turns out here there are a lot of older riders (like me) and recumbent s are quite popular. So I was able to pick up a used trike for 1/4 of new price. The local club is now 90% recumbent. Personally having just rear suspension is perfect as on a trike that's where all the main shock is transferred. Usually you are only going over one bump at a time with the fronts so only one front wheel is bumped, lessening the felt shock. Not hitting speed bumps or something like that, yeah, that's jarring but how often do you run across that?

Mine has 20" front and back and a more upright seating. I prefer that to laying down. Like Willie Dixon said, I was built for comfort, not speed. And the thing about having a big back tire is you should carry two different size tubes. I'm also built for simplicity.
 
Hope you guys don't mind me bumping this thread, and posting some photos of a frame I made. I bought my first lathe, a South Bend 9", to make frame building fixturing tools, so I suppose that connects things.

My first few frames were functional enough, and got ridden a fair bit, but it took me a few before they were truly worthy of keeping around long term. The red frame has been my workhorse, and has a good 30k miles on it. Good fun!

Red1 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040123 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040194 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040219 by nessism, on Flickr
 
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