Recumbent - QNt 26 built up from a frame kit

Last week I finished putting together a Qnt 26 from a frame kit I purchased in January.
I used SRAM Red components, Terracycle Idlers, Aztec Power Lines for cabling - in total, the trike weighs in at 34 lbs!

http://www.crazytrike.com/wp-content/gallery/qnt-26/p2140188.jpg

More on my site: http://www.crazytrike.com

Last week I finished putting together a Qnt 26 from a frame kit I purchased in January.
I used SRAM Red components, Terracycle Idlers, Aztec Power Lines for cabling - in total, the trike weighs in at 34 lbs!

http://www.crazytrike.com/wp-content/gallery/qnt-26/p2140188.jpg

More on my site: http://www.crfazytrike.com

Very nice! I purchased plans from Rickey Howritz for his ThunderBolt MK II 26/20 Trike. I'm working on the plans to modify into a sociable quad. What hubs and brakes are you using?

Very nice! I purchased plans from Rickey Howritz for his ThunderBolt MK II 26/20 Trike. I'm working on the plans to modify into a sociable quad. What hubs and brakes are you using?

The front hubs are ICE's own - I had the standard bearings replaced with ceramic hybrids.
The brakes are WinZipp MAX and XAM 1816 mirrored mechanicals - I plan on a long ride this Saturday to set them.

The rear hub is a Shimano Ultegra with a SRAM 1070 11-28 cassette. The bearings are loose ball ceramics.

The trike rolls very easily...

What an awesome looking trike! Very nice. Where did you buy the kit? Did you have to have it welded ? Only 34# - that's ridiculously light for a trike, isn't it? Do you think it would it be possible to make that trike with all three wheels the same size?

What an awesome looking trike! Very nice. Where did you buy the kit? Did you have to have it welded ? Only 34# - that's ridiculously light for a trike, isn't it? Do you think it would it be possible to make that trike with all three wheels the same size?

The frame is by ICE (Inspired Cycle Engineering) http://www.ice.hpv.co.uk.

They have serveral models Q, Qnt ,Q 26, Qnt 26, T, Tnt, T 26 and Tnt 26. Each can be configured with a fiberglass hard shell or mesh seat. For the build, I choose to mount the fiberglass seat - I also have a carbon seat.

The Q, Qnt, T and Tnt are trikes with 406 (20") wheels all around, the Q26, Qnt26, T26 and Tnt26 are trikes with 20" front wheels with 26" rear wheels (a standard mtb rear wheel is used and is 9 speed).

I decided on the framekit versus the whole trike because I wanted to put on the components I wanted versus replacing parts, choosing to make this particular Qnt 26 a "go fast" road machine using SRAM Red goupset as it's core. I'll find out Saturday if I succeeded as I plan on riding a familiar 40 mile loop that takes me just over 2 hours on my Micro...

The front boom, rear triangle and cruciform where shipped to me from ICE, along with the front hubs.
Everything else I had to either assemble, install, or have built. Since I'm not a wheel builder, I had my LBS build my wheels and replace the cartridge bearings in the front hubs. The trike rolls very easily as mentioned before.

At 34 lbs, the Q is a little heavier than my Micro - which weighs in a 32.6 lbs, so it shouldn't be too much harder to go up hills. I've setup the trikes to have very similar gearing, the Micro with 18" wheels has 27 - 116 gear inches, the Q with it's 700c drive wheel has 32 - 121 gear inches.

The Q is basically an extension to a thought experiment I've had - Will the larger wheel allow me to go faster? Or is the larger wheel more of a drag? Weather permitting, I'll find out Saturday!

I will say that initial rides on the trainer (this past week) have given me some insight already as to how the Q will perform: For a given ammount of time and speed, my heart rates are lower for a given routine as compared to trainer sessions done on the Micro - I think this has to do with the different gear ratios and the smaller wheel, there is a greater jumper from one gear to the next, where as with the larger wheel of the Qnt26, ratios are closer - just my take on what I'm seeing so far in my recorded data.

Where or how do you order mirrored mechanicals? My home built trike with 3 20" wheels is "goaled' for 30 LBs using Road Tubing Set R531 or Columbus SL tubing and Aluminum parts. Development testing rear frame brazed over the holidays. Front Drive/Steer/Suspension...

DH

http://www.modelingdvds.com/images/toypics/development.JPG

I did a web search for WinZip Max and Xam disk brakes (I knew about them from BROL).
The company doesn't have a reseller in the U.S. I sent emails and was able to order directly. Pretty cool if I do say so my self.

Is the hard seat heavier than the std alum/mesh seat? Have you weighed them?

Thanks for the update, Dougfoot. Let us know how the time trials turn out. I see you used slightly higher gears on the new trike. Maybe you'll go faster.

I've heard that the mesh seat is lighter than the fiberglass seat, however, I also have a carbon seat that weighs less than the stock fiberglass - the stock seat weighs io at 2.5 lbs (all hardware installed), the carbon weighs in at just over 1.5 lbs (all hardware installed).

Doug
http://www.crazytrike.com

It looks fast just sitting there, dougfoot. I'm thinking that the bigger drive wheel will be faster, but I'll be waiting to hear the yes/no on that.

I've heard that the mesh seat is lighter than the fiberglass seat, however, I also have a carbon seat that weighs less than the stock fiberglass - the stock seat weighs io at 2.5 lbs (all hardware installed), the carbon weighs in at just over 1.5 lbs (all hardware installed).

Doug
http://www.crazytrike.com

I also have heard that, thought you'd know for sure. I'll ask ICE.

I'm thinking of buying a T frameset myself. Was almost ready to buy a few weeks ago, then got distracted by all the Q/QNT postings.

Really nice trike you got there. The CF seat, 700 wheel and long WB bars set it apart from the usual ICE trike.

Don't think I could bring myself to buy all those idlers, though.

No where left for you to go but fairing and tailbox, or more....

EDIT:

http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=47094

Post #8 from Steamer: ...... The mesh seat on my Trice feels like it has less give and is more efficient. I have never ridden a hardshell seat, so I am not sure how that would compare. And, in the case of Trice, their mesh seat is 1.5 lbs lighter than the hardshell seat according to Neil at ICE (who would know of course...), which surprised me a little bit. Generally harshell seats are lighter, but not in this case.

So, the stock mesh seat weighs 2.5-1.5= 1 pound ?

Very nice! I purchased plans from Rickey Howritz for his ThunderBolt MK II 26/20 Trike. I'm working on the plans to modify into a sociable quad. What hubs and brakes are you using?

Thank you for the information. You trike sure has stired up a lot of interest.

Good luck.