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08-26-09, 07:29 PM
Wanted to be able to get my 6 yr old grandson on the new Lambo tandem. Tried to drop the seat down, but he was still about 2" short at bdc. He was very anxious to ride, as I have been riding him since he was old enough to sit up strait (see my avatar.) Check out Kid Stoker Kits, and the price was prohibitive. Besides, he is only one of 3 stokers, and the only kid. Needed something that I could easily take off/put on.
Decided to kludge together a little foot rest for him. Put together a prototype with rubber bands attached to a water bottle holder and we put about 15 miles in it. Works great in principle, but a little too unstable.
Came up with the idea of some u bolts, wing nuts, tubing, and a 12" piece of wood. Today we cut and drilled the wood, he painted it, and we bolted it on. Went for a 5 mile ride and hit 22.6 mph. We had a blast but had to head back cuz dad was coming to pick him up.
Here's the Spec List:
1ea. - 1" x 3" x 12" pine board
2ea. - 1 1/2" u-bolt (or the correct size to fit your top bar.)
4ea. - wing nuts to fit the u-bolts
1 ft - tubing to fit the u-bolts
Cut the wood with rounded ends and sanded lightly. Marked and drilled 4 5/16" holes. In my case the u-bolts were 5/16" coarse thread. 3/8" plastic tubing slipped over the u-bolts with a little nudging and soap. I retained the flat metal bar between the 2 sides of the u-bolt to prevent the wood from being deformed by the wing nuts.
If you don't have a bottle holder in just the right place, you may have to glue on 2 strips of wood running parallel to the top bar to provide some support, and keep the control cables from being impacted by the wood or u-bolts. Another alternative is to put a piece of the above tubing over each cable. A small strip of rubber from an old tube may help prevent slipping.
Decided to kludge together a little foot rest for him. Put together a prototype with rubber bands attached to a water bottle holder and we put about 15 miles in it. Works great in principle, but a little too unstable.
Came up with the idea of some u bolts, wing nuts, tubing, and a 12" piece of wood. Today we cut and drilled the wood, he painted it, and we bolted it on. Went for a 5 mile ride and hit 22.6 mph. We had a blast but had to head back cuz dad was coming to pick him up.
Here's the Spec List:
1ea. - 1" x 3" x 12" pine board
2ea. - 1 1/2" u-bolt (or the correct size to fit your top bar.)
4ea. - wing nuts to fit the u-bolts
1 ft - tubing to fit the u-bolts
Cut the wood with rounded ends and sanded lightly. Marked and drilled 4 5/16" holes. In my case the u-bolts were 5/16" coarse thread. 3/8" plastic tubing slipped over the u-bolts with a little nudging and soap. I retained the flat metal bar between the 2 sides of the u-bolt to prevent the wood from being deformed by the wing nuts.
If you don't have a bottle holder in just the right place, you may have to glue on 2 strips of wood running parallel to the top bar to provide some support, and keep the control cables from being impacted by the wood or u-bolts. Another alternative is to put a piece of the above tubing over each cable. A small strip of rubber from an old tube may help prevent slipping.