Project Blue Bike (lowracer commuter bike)

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by Grant-53

If a rear suspension is not feasible at least put some type of springing under your seat.

I am trying to just get this thing together and on the road right now. Hopefully I can get everything pretty well dialed in and tested, and rock some spray paint until it's finalized enough to go to the powder coater. If I find it really needs suspension, I'll work on that when the time comes. "Steel is real." Until then, KISS.

Originally Posted by Grant-53

If the 65T chain ring is too big for the frame a smaller gear on the hub could let you use a smaller chain ring and get the same ratio. Either 42/13T or 52/16T will be the same ratio and should be readily available.

I can't go any smaller on the hub. It came stock with a 23T but I put a 20T on it. The chainring is probably 10mm larger in diameter than the hub part it mounts onto. Worst comes to worst, I may be able to build a roundabout chainstay to avoid the mess, or even heavily gusset the lower stay. There should be some way to get around it.

All in all, if this thing is some kind of unrideable or unbuildable disaster, I can always revise the plans, reuse the parts and build a LWB, RWD version.

PS- Wheel building tonight to get the mtb back on the trails. Then maybe some time to work on the bent? Hah. So many projects.

[renault_megane_dci]

Originally Posted by Sven7

I am trying to just get this thing together and on the road right now. Hopefully I can get everything pretty well dialed in and tested, and rock some spray paint until it's finalized enough to go to the powder coater. If I find it really needs suspension, I'll work on that when the time comes.

Cool !
Could we have pics ?

[Sven7]

Edit: I read that wrong. The only pics I have are going in this thread. Not much work going on right now as I try to get my mountain bike back together.

Here is the gearing for the 'bent at 80rpm. Should be a little faster due to wide tires.

[Grant-53]

I have a Bendix 16T gear that fits a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub.
OD is 2.82", ID is 1.42" and is .108" thick (flat)
If you are interested I can send it to you.

[Sven7]

Thanks, but they are only a few dollars online and won't fit anyway. The 8-speed has larger splines.

I am looking into an XL-RD5(W) (5-speed drum) for my commuter and I believe S-A uses the same cogs for that as they do for 3-speeds and kickbacks. Of course the only hub I'd like to have a small cog on, doesn't allow that!

[Sven7]

Got my mountain bike together and initiated it on a 40 mile "triple trail challenge" that almost killed me lol. So work continues on my favorite money pit.

I finished my last fork blueprint last night (finally got to use my carbon paper again!) and also did some tabulation. I'm going to get some copies of the blueprint tonight and then line up a time to get the fork welded up.

My friend gave me a set of Shimano SPD clipless pedals he wasn't using, and with some measurements he concluded that they could probably be rethreaded to go into my Schwinn crank. We'll see. Again, last resort would be to get new spindles machined with the correct specs.

Here is a running list of expenses for the project, for the curious and for my own convenience. I will try to update this when I spend money on crap. I'm including some vendor names in case anyone is looking for similar items.

Wheels
Front hub (Sturmey Archer XRD-8(W)) and 20T cog-....$166, Bikeparts.com
Rear hub (Shimano Deore disc front)-........................$21, Universal Cycles (UC)
Chrome 36h rims.............................................. .....$40, Calhoun Cycles
Spokes, store bought + nipples.................................$40, UC
Custom-cut front spokes.........................................$36 , Brooklyn Bike Doctor
Tires (Maxxis Hookworm)......................................... $40, UC
Rim strips and tubes............................................. ..$12, UC

Brakes
Rear caliper (Hayes MX5 cable disc from a friend's bike)..$30
Rear rotor (Tektro 160mm)........................................$20, UC
Levers............................................ .......................$free/parts bin
Front brake is a drum, included in hub price

Donor Bikes
Huffy [Granite?] (former winter commuter)....................$25/parts bin
-BB and frame segments
-Threaded headset

70's Schwinn Exerciser......................................... ....$10/parts bin
-65T chainring
-Minty Schwinn oval head badge
-Assorted tubing
-Minty BB bearings

80s Free Spirit Dynasty 10spd...................................free
-headset for under seat steering
-(the rest of the bike will be donated to the LBS)

Other
Crank, one piece (Schwinn Stingray or similar).............$5, East Side Bike Shop
Pedals (Shimano SPD).............................................$ free from a friend

Welding
Front fork.............................................. ...............traded for snow tires

TOTAL
$447

[Sven7]

Worked on the digital model a bit... it's pretty accurate. Good for keeping the morale up

[COcyclist]

I like the digital model you posted. I am eager to see how this works out. I have been considering building a front drive recumbent from some scrap bikes too. I may go with 700c front and rear wheels though.

May I suggest that you try a more conventional steering arrangement at least till you see how it goes? It would be easy to change later if you are set on understeer. If your model is accurate, it looks like you could drag a handlebar in a corner and set yourself up for a really bad crash.

[Sven7]

Dropped my fork stuff off at my fab guy's house last night! He's doing the welding and whatnot in trade for my snow tires.

I encourage you to experiment! 700C is on the big side for me even on an upright, but some people can make it work on a bent, so more power to them.

As for the steering, in the model I made some criteria planes representing slightly more than a 30 degree lean angle before the handlebars touch the ground. In reality it will be all what feels right within those constraints, but I doubt I'll have the guts to be leaning that far in anyway- if I'm 30 degrees over I'm probably already crashing! Haha. I'll be cautious and see how it all goes together. Maybe I'll modify it a bit for better angles after it's together.

This guy has a lot higher handlebars than I'm planning for, so maybe it will be uncomfortable to have them so low?

[bikin' Ed]

A couple other sites you (all) might check out for ideas etc are:
AtomicZombie - DIY Recumbent Bike, Trike, and Chopper Plans and recycledrecumbents.com