Wheelchairman

Hiya folks. Just thought I'd show you my latest project! It's a tadpole trike built from the jig of my team's velomobile. It's a mild steel spaceframe construction with aluminium seat, indirect USS and generally uncompromised in terms of its practicality.

EDIT: Here's a list of my parts for this build.
Chainline
-110bcd Tiagra crank and external BB
-65t Egg chainring
-Wipperman 908 chain x 3
-Midcage Deore LX derailiur (may change to long cage due to idle pully issues)

Rear wheel
-32 hole Velocity Aeroheat rim (406)
-Deore MTB hub
-9 speed 105 cluster
-Used Tioga Comp-Pool tyre

Front Wheels
-32 hole Velocity Sim rim x2 (349's)
-Sturmy Archer drum brakes x 2
-Primo Comet tyres

Other
-Custom Mild steel steering handles
-9 speed indexed thumb shifter
-2nd hand aluminium brake levers
-Aluminium solid tie rods

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Here's a snapshot of the build so far;


The crossmember before being tacked to the kingpin mounts. Put together in a jig with all angles etc. doesn't look much now....


....but eventually the rest of the crossmember and boom is tacked together and all is well . The chainline passes through the middle of the crossmember.


The dropouts, chain stays (if you'd call them that) and rails are tacked together. Starting to look like it's worth it at this stage.


Roller/idle pully cage is tacked and so the chainline can be mounted. Dummy chain etc all carefully fitted out. I then took some measurements to guage the height of my seat, with a bit extra added to insure chainslap doesn't annoy me everytime I ride. I'm quite happy with the path the chain follows- very tidy and flat for what it is


Seat is on! Took a little work. I should've built a jig to get it within a bee's dick of perfect, yet was too lazy at the time. I regreted it later when I found my bum rest was 5mm lower on one side to the other. Had to cut and shut which too many hours. Even then I'm still not happy, yet I want to move on. I will cut this seat off in the distant future and redo it. At the moment though as far as I know it's just an aesthetic thing. Doesn't matter.

Also of note is that the frame is fully zipped up in this pic. Thanx to Jason for lending me his time and his MIG.


Steering handle mounts are....mounted, to the frame. Frame was painted using an epoxy based pressure pack. Seat is aluminium sheet. I bashed it around the seat frame with a sculpting hammer, resulting in a scalloped seat. Very stiff and, from "test sits", it's going to be a very comfy seat!

That's it for now. Have progressed further- much futher, yet haven't been able to get batteries for my camera.

Next update: Chainline goes on, with surprising results!

twahl

That's looking great to me! I look forward to the updates.

Wheelchairman

Thanx twahl

I have the chainline on!



Doesn't seem to work well as I need to fiddle with the derailiur to produce the right tension off the return idle-pully. The chain just doesn't wanna sit in it . I will get on to it tonight. Steering handles are mountable now, but still need work to make fully functional. That's it for now

pengyou

Nice looking job! especially the blue...may I ask why did you choose the metal seat as opposed to a mesh seat? I'm starting to drool about making my own so I want to know why people do what they do. Is there some reason why you did not use chromoly for the frame?

Wheelchairman

Chromoly is a little out of my price range and I also don't have the facilities to weld it .

I chose an aluminium seat over a mesh to aid power delivery and traction. Altough mesh is more comftable you lose power as the mesh flexes. The aluminium seat on the other hand ties the seat rails together and provides if you can imagine, a solid wall to push agaisn't. Having ridden both mesh and solid seats over the years in very similar trikes, I can tell you there is quite a difference

Wheelchairman

Due to lack of interest I finished this thread up in the alternative bikes forum. Forb anyone who's interested here's the link to the thread.
https://www.bikeforums.net/alt-bike-culture/356880-building-me-trike-pics-etc.html
Chow