recumbent trike build

[XRHYSX]

really ? i honestly feel like im going slow..

My home built trike has taken me 18 months so far, (doing 5 minutes here and there between looking after the kids and working)
I'm riding it and having fun on it this summer in its bare metal state and a bodge up gear leaver, but will be striping it down at the end of summer and will be making it look pretty,
You seem to be doing a good job, I'm watching with interest, I have the same thing with my brakes and may take some tips from what you have done

 

[stuee147]

My home built trike has taken me 18 months so far, (doing 5 minutes here and there between looking after the kids and working)
I'm riding it and having fun on it this summer in its bare metal state and a bodge up gear leaver, but will be striping it down at the end of summer and will be making it look pretty,
You seem to be doing a good job, I'm watching with interest, I have the same thing with my brakes and may take some tips from what you have done

Wow that would drive me mad haveing a project like that sitting not finished for that long lol
Ill be posting on here how the brakes work out they seemed to be working fine when I tested them but time will tell
I'm hopeing to start the frame re build. Today I was a bit unwell yesterday so did nothing but today's looking better so I might get the first test ride in today

 

[XRHYSX]

Wow that would drive me mad haveing a project like that sitting not finished for that long lol
Ill be posting on here how the brakes work out they seemed to be working fine when I tested them but time will tell
I'm hopeing to start the frame re build. Today I was a bit unwell yesterday so did nothing but today's looking better so I might get the first test ride in today

the joys of having a young family, they wind the missus up so she comes looking for me in the garage, im not aloud to escape until they are in bed and by then that's all I want to do

 

[stuee147]

the joys of having a young family, they wind the missus up so she comes looking for me in the garage, im not aloud to escape until they are in bed and by then that's all I want to do

lol yea been there know just what you mean but dont worry it will all be over and quiet you will only have to wait another errrm well actually i dont think it ever stops to be honest lol
they joys of family's

 

[stuee147]

here is the latest update

one rebuilt trike the brakes all work as dose the gears and steering well as far as iv been able to test. and the paint job has come out quite good i think anyway.

there is however 3 things that i need to do firstly the seat iv used some old canvas i had as a temporary seat cover but im planing on changing it as soon as i decide on what to cover it with lol
the second thing thats come to light today as i did my first test ride something is catching on the bottom section of chain, iv noticed every now and then when im putting some power threw the pedals quickly to accelerate or if im pedalling very fast in a low gear the chain seems to catch and the rear derailler extends forward as if the chain suddenly got shorter. iv not been able to work out why or where its catching im wondering it its the derailler section im using to hold the lower section of chain away from the ground.
heres a pic of what i mean

the upper section of chain is guided by the blue skateboard wheel (i know im looking out for red wheels lol) and the lower chain is guided by the derailler cogs. if you look at the first pic of the finished trike you can see i have the chain guides set about 3ft in-front of the rear wheel so sideways movement shouldn't be a worry and its a brand new 8spd chain. also it catches in all gears so i dont think its that im wondering if i change the front cog for a smaller one making the rout the chain takes a bit straighter my only issue with that is the reason i fitted the larger cog on the front like that was to make the chain drop bellow and clear the track rod shown here

but the more worrying issue i have found is im fine riding along slow handles well and smooth but as i start to get a little speed about 8 to 10 mph the front wheels start to wobble i dont mean shake i mean a real wobble. i managed to get to about 15mph and i thought the whole thing was going to flip over it was that bad . on getting back i had a look at the wheels something i should of done long ago i know but i thought they would be ok but they dont run true in fact they are well and truly
knackered. on close inspection iv found that both wheels are slightly out only by about 2mm either way but its not like one buckle in one spot if you follow the rim of the wheel its like the sea up and down up and down its almost like one spoke is pulling it one way and the next spoke has twisted it the other way. if you spin the wheel and look at the tiers its true they dont even rub on the brake pads because its not far out its just wavy. and i think it must be that thats giving me the wobbles im going to try and source a new set of front wheels and see if that helps i hope so as i cant find anything else it could be ?? anyone got any other ideas ??
i have checked the wheels alinement's and tracking and that all seems fine there is no play on the track rod so it cant be that im not sure.

but still it looks good but then again so dose a chocolate tea pot but its still useless until i sort this wobble out i can live with the seat and the chain i can pedal slower lol but this wheel wobble has me worried. lets hope i find a couple of 20" wheels soon and they sort it out for me.

 

[fixedfixer]

Looks really good. You are right about the red paint it suits the trike. Now those front wheels. Any up and down or side to side movement is going to have an impact and more so on the front of a trike where the wheels work together to make the problem worse. First thing I'd have a look at would be spoke tension. Are they reasonsble tight or slackish? Lack of tension can make em wobbly.

 

[fixedfixer]

You mention 'new chain' and I'm wondering if the chain rings are worn and therefore giving you some chain suck? New chains can catch on the 'hooks' on the teeth of worn rings. Just a thought.

 

[stuee147]

Looks really good. You are right about the red paint it suits the trike. Now those front wheels. Any up and down or side to side movement is going to have an impact and more so on the front of a trike where the wheels work together to make the problem worse. First thing I'd have a look at would be spoke tension. Are they reasonsble tight or slackish? Lack of tension can make em wobbly.

yea they are quite loose to be honest they are only cheap cycle trailer wheels although off of a heavy duty trailer i dont think they are up to much. iv looked about and i was thinking of using 20" bmx wheels iv seen some with a 14mm steal axel i think that would be strong enough and the axel should be plenty strong enough. and it shouldn't take much to change the fixings on the trike.

You mention 'new chain' and I'm wondering if the chain rings are worn and therefore giving you some chain suck? New chains can catch on the 'hooks' on the teeth of worn rings. Just a thought.

it may be i must admit the larger (plastic ) cog on the chain guide has got some wear on the teeth i was thinking of using my dremill type tool to smooth the cog off a bit where it has worn. the teeth on the rear wheel are ok i checked them before i started the build. although iv just thought iv never checked the rear (working) derailler as i was going to use a different one which i cleaned and checked. but then i couldn't get the indexing system to work so i swapped it over. i will have to give that a once over while im at it to lol.
thanks for the ideas lets hope i can source the wheels and sort the chain out soon as the short test ride iv done was great apart from them 2 things lol i cant wait to get it out for a proper run

stuee

 

[fixedfixer]

Some BMX 20 inch wheels should be good. I think you'll need to get the strongest you can because you get more sideways forces cornering on a trike than a two wheeler that leans over on corner. Some hard core BMX wheels look as if they have 40 spokes rather than 36. Never been into BMX so can't say too much about them.

What I meant about chain ring wear was more to do with your triple crank chain rings up front than the plastic cog. Worth a look too.

 

[ufkacbln]

"Wobble" is often due to the alignment of the front wheels.

There are reams of options, opinions and advice on the art of "toeing in" depending on the trike

Basically the resolution involves lengthening or shortening the tie rod to align the wheels.

If I have read your design correctly then you have a single tie rod that links the wheel support assembly......

This Catrike video should explain what I mean

If you want more generic info. Try Bent Rider and search

(Bent Rider just does not translate from the American and sounds sooooo wrong!)

 

[stuee147]

"Wobble" is often due to the alignment of the front wheels.

There are reams of options, opinions and advice on the art of "toeing in" depending on the trike

Basically the resolution involves lengthening or shortening the tie rod to align the wheels.

If I have read your design correctly then you have a single tie rod that links the wheel support assembly......

This Catrike video should explain what I mean

If you want more generic info. Try Bent Rider and search

(Bent Rider just does not translate from the American and sounds sooooo wrong!)

that's a good video i like the idea of the areal to measure i always use a tape measure.
i spent some time adjusting the toe in and iv checked it since and has not changed but i have about 4mm toe in so i might try reducing that to about 1 to 2mm and see if that helps.
iv also checked the measurements from the frame to the front and rear of the wheel are the same on both sides after i checked from wheel to wheel. ill give it a try and see if it helps. i am thinking of moving the tie rod to the front of the front axel line as this will help with the chain clearance if i have to change the cog on the chain guide either that or make a smaller dia tie rod i made it nice and big in-case anything whacked it as i ride along. and also because i had two bike frames to chop up and use lol. but i will give that a try as soon as the rain clears up a bit (god i miss my garage lol ) and ill let you know how it goes

 

[spennie]

If you used a link extractor to connect your chains, your chain might have a link pin sticking out a little bit.

 

[stuee147]

If you used a link extractor to connect your chains, your chain might have a link pin sticking out a little bit.

I was quite careful when I put the chain together and checked the pins were evenly threw but I must admit I never checked the entire chain ill have a look at that before I do anything with the chain guide cogs thanks for that I hadnt thought of that.
I just realised that now means iv got about 330 links to check I must remember to mark where I start or ill just keep going round for days lol

 

[Scoosh]

330 links/ 114 links/chain =

I'm due a chain replacement soon, too ...

 

[stuee147]

330 links/ 114 links/chain =

I'm due a chain replacement soon, too ...

yea i had to buy 3x 114 link chains and i have about a dozen spare links i had to remove to make it fit lol but then i have quite long legs