recumbent chain

[stuee147]

hi all
just been thinking of the recumbent im building and i have the chain guide rollers sorted cut down skateboard wheels.
iv been thinking about tubing to guide the chain i thought of good old garden hose as its soft enough not to damage the chain but hard enough that the chain wont wear threw it after 5 mins. only thing is will it be ridged enough ???? i dont want to have a clamp securing it every 6 inches. my other idea was the blue mains water pipe strong enough and shouldn't damage the chain but will it be to stiff ???

any ideas or thoughts will be gratefully revived

thanks
stuee

 

[Yellow7]

Hi Struee.
This is probably not the best forum for bike building / engineering information, but maybe you have also posted elsewhere?

I’m a little confused over your exact need of the pipe, is it to simply cover the chain, or to guide it? I presume the former as you state you are using skateboard wheels to guide it, am I correct? If so the then the stiffness of the pipe will not matter, if it’s the latter then I’d consider a slight redesign so the skateboard wheels ‘guide’ the chain around any bends, NOT the pipe as it would soon wear out, and cause chain problems.

How about using standard bottom derailleur jockey wheels (they have the bearings in) for the guides instead of skateboard wheels? This way the chain would stay in place slightly better. Just use a 6mm bolt through the jockey wheel bearing then Nut-Lock to secure a single nut in place so the bearing has a slightly loose fit and then secure the bolt to a bar that has been tapped out at m6, then weld / clamp the bar to the frame?

There's some info here that may probe useful (also using a hose pipe (on the Return): http://privat.bahnhof.se/wb747623/build.html

 

[steveindenmark]

Ask on the recumbent section-

Steve