Alt Bike Culture - School project need help with front end lefty hubs

:thumb:Ok so i got this class where we build a car and see how many mpg we can get and i wanna put lefty hubs on the front with disc brakes. i just need to know what hubs i should use and what size is the axle. thanks-josh

-mostly need an axle size we pretty much have a machine shop so we can fabricate almost anything anything helps!

:thumb:Ok so i got this class where we build a car and see how many mpg we can get and i wanna put lefty hubs on the front with disc brakes. i just need to know what hubs i should use and what size is the axle. thanks-josh

-mostly need an axle size we pretty much have a machine shop so we can fabricate almost anything anything helps!
Lefty hubs are made specifically for the Lefty mono-fork. Or non-fork I guess. What's a fork with only one tine? A spear?

Easiest is to just go order one from a Cannondale dealer. $$$$ not cheap though.

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The Lefty's are built tough enough for MTB riding, but do you really need that much strength?

One way people who build home-made tadpole trikes (two wheels in front) is they use a 20" BMX wheel and adjust the axle so it sticks all out of one side. You can do this because with those wheels, the axle is just a long piece of threaded rod. .....There's two different front BMX axles common--one is like 3/8" thick and the other is 9/16" or 5/8" maybe. If you get a BMX wheel with the thicker axle, it's strong enough to support a few dozen pounds that way. These wheels only cost $40 or so each, and it's complete, it's not just a hub. Putting brakes on the rear (non-turning) wheels is easier.

Because you have access to machine tools--if you really thought that you needed something stronger than a BMX wheel hub, then it would probably cheapest to just make your own front hubs.

Good luck.

Also another free tip:

If you think that you will want suspension for this vehicle, forget about using MTB shocks entirely, because while they work very well, they are horribly overpriced. A single rear MTB shock from a decent company will cost $250-$300 or more.

Go look for the hydraulic minibike shocks online--12 inches long and cost around $40 each.

Aren't you supposed to figure things like this out yourself, instead of asking random people on the internet to do your homework for you?

Aren't you supposed to figure things like this out yourself, instead of asking random people on the internet to do your homework for you?

No need to re-invent the wheel. Part of the learning process is to learn how to use the available resources.

Use an old rear wheel from a trike. Those are one sided hubs. A wheel chair wheel would probably also work.

Wheel chair hubs .. want brakes? get in contact with a tadpole recumbent trike manufacturer

Such as GreenSpeed in Australia. buy parts they have modified for their products.

Sturmey Archer makes a couple of hubs that would work, except they come with drum brakes, not disc.

I think you will have problems using axles that are 3/8 or 10mm. better with 14mm axles. then on the end of the fork, weld a strong tube for it to go into. will be too much stress on a flat bit of metal, like regular forks use.
you can get bmx with 14mm axles and disc front brakes. I used to work in a Halfords bike shop in Scotland. They sold a X rated Snare, and an Apollo Mx20.3.
Ive seen a wheel chair in the junk yard. It had 24" mag wheels. the hubs were on a sort of bmx stem, that clamped round the frame tube. so easy to fit to something else. It didnt have brakes tho. I was going to get it. but I think 10 miles is a bit far to wheel it. :o

You could look up sites that are for Human powered vehicles, HPVs. As people build them out of bike parts. Atomic Zombie is a good one. Theyve got a website and youtube videos. You could see how people have made the front end on them

I think some trike builders are using these...

http://www.bitexhubs.com/2009/htm/hub-b-DH20M.htm

No need to re-invent the wheel. Part of the learning process is to learn how to use the available resources.

Precisely. Forums are for asking questions just as much as sharing information. If you aren't here to help and to learn, then you probably shouldn't be here.