I'm being seduced and I need your help - Page 2

> I'm a lover of speed (not the drug) and after reading comments on here
I've
> learned that 'bents seem to have more speed than an upright. I was
wondering
> what would be the ideal 'bent for me. I would keep my upright for the
trails
> and, if I do decide to get a bent, use it on the road. I'm looking to
spend
> no more than £400 and if possible even less. I hear there is a shop with
its
> own test track in London. Is this true? So any ideas from you Dark Siders out there.

With such a limited budget, perhaps an Azub would be a good buy. Personally I'd go for the below
seat steering - it takes a little longer to get used to, but it's more comfortable in the long run.
http://www.azub.cz/old/english/products.html

I can't think of (m)any other new recumbents that would fit your budget.

Otherwise it's time to search for second hand deals.

Whatever you do, make sure you try out a wide range of recumbent styles before making a decision.

Mads

Gadget wrote:
> I've come across a website of a guy who makes his own bikes, especially 'bents.
>
> http://www.atomiczombie.com/

I found that the other day too - great bikes! Oh, when I found it, there were lots more pics and
stuff about mad electronic devices too. That doesn't seem to be there now.

> Is there any advantage to building your own 'bent?

For me, personal satisfaction, and potentially saving a lot of dosh. I wanted to try the whole thing
out without spending a shedload on something which depreciates faster than a C5.

> Is it difficult?

Not if you are happy doing all your own maintenance and have appropriate tools. I chose to get a
friend of a friend to do the welding for me, but the rest was just tinkering. I could have avoided
the welding, but I'm a fairly heavy powerful type person, and I wasn't convinced by the strength of
any of the no-welds designs I'd seen or heard about. Since then, I've been lent a welder, too.

> Is it cheaper?

I reckon my homebuilt cost me about £89, using roadkill components. Cheaper than anything I have
seen other than the one someone gave away on this newsgroup a while ago. I reckon a really
professional job with all brand new bits etc. might be doable for £700.

> Where do you get plans?
Um, I didn't really work from plans, but I did get a lot of ideas from the large picture on this
guys site:

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~lipetz/...s/bicycles.htm

<get carried away with description mode>

I ended up using a regular 15" mountain bike frame, rather than a girls bike frame. This did end up
a bit taller than some other designs, but I can still get my feet on the floor while sitting on it,
so its fine.

My major contribution to improved ease of building was the front brake design. Mr. Lipetz fabricated
a new bridge on his forks, but I cheated and used U brakes on the regular canti mounts which fit
perfectly for a 20" wheel in a 26" fork.

My main problem was with the seat. I ended up just throwing one together made out of an old
skateboard, a camping mat and bits of hardware from Homebase. The idea was to mock up something
which would allow me to decide where the ideal seat postion was, because the distance to the pedals
was not adjustable (without a welder etc.). It worked well enough that I have not got around to
replacing it yet. It has one feature I haven't seen on anyone elses recumbent - the forward part of
the seat is hinged to allow me to get on easier. I would have upgraded this to a fibreglass one the
other day, but for the normally well regarded Bikefix failing to stand by the price of the recumbent
seat as advertised on their web site.

The other bit which takes a little time is getting the chain routing sorted out. I used the two
chains approach like Mr. Lipetz, to avoid routing problems. I aimed for a straight line from the top
of the front cog to the top of the 'middle' cog (at the normal bicycle frame's bottom bracket) so I
didn't have to go around a guide pulley on the drive side of the chain. I used an old rear deraileur
bolted to an old front derailleur for the chain tensioner, and a bit of round electrical conduit for
a chain guide.

I went for over seat steering, which was eased by finding Halfords getting rid of multiple stem
raisers for £2 each, and a set of BMX handlebars whcich were lying around.

I didn't go with suspension, just two inch slick tyres.

One other thing I would probably do if I wanted it to look posh would be to get a better paint job
done on it - its current "anti-theft-hammerite" job is a bit flaky.

I realise that you gave me a bike a few months ago, and if you do decide to embark on the homebuilt
project, I can let you have some useful bits in return. Contact me directly if you're interested.

Now, if I could borrow a digital camera, I could put up some pictures on the web site...

Jim Price

andy_welch wrote:

> So by all means check out recumbents but don't assume that recumbent=faster.

One thing 'bents tend to do rather better than uprights is accept aerodynamic fairings. With these
in place you really can go faster (but again, if you're winching up a big hill in grannies they're
just added weight). Having pointed that out, I'll now point out that practically all of the road
going ones I've seen in the flesh haven't had fairings... If it wasn't so hilly round here I'd quite
like HPVel's Streamer for my Streetmachine, though to keep the rain off more than to go faster.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>On Sun, 1 Jun 2003 20:50:14 +0100, "Gadget" <Gadgetfreak_2000-NOSPAM-@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>I would keep my upright for the trails and, if I do decide to get a bent, use it on the road. I'm
>>looking to spend no more than £400 and if possible even less.
>
>That rules out new 'bents.

http://www.dutchbikes.nl/uk.htm is only 433 Euro. But it's a kit, and needs a donor upright to
provide parts (including the rear triangle).

If you're happy with that approach, see also http://www.iesales.com/ http://www.bentechbikes.com/
http://www.ihpva.org/Builders/DBEconBent/ http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/plans/plans1.htm
http://rqriley.com/bike.html or, taking things to extremes (forks held together with hose clips?!),
http://www.halcyon.com/peterson/wb.html

Alan Braggins wrote:
> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 1 Jun 2003 20:50:14 +0100, "Gadget" <Gadgetfreak_2000-NOSPAM-@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I would keep my upright for the trails and, if I do decide to get a bent, use it on the road. I'm
>>>looking to spend no more than £400 and if possible even less.
>>
>>That rules out new 'bents.
>
>
> http://www.dutchbikes.nl/uk.htm is only 433 Euro. But it's a kit, and needs a donor upright to
> provide parts (including the rear triangle).

Oooh. I'm seriously tempted now I have a nice big workshop to lose all the bits in. Anyone here
given it a go?

Colin

On Tue, 03 Jun 2003 14:11:16 +0100, Colin Blackburn <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote:

>Alan Braggins wrote:
>> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>>
>>>On Sun, 1 Jun 2003 20:50:14 +0100, "Gadget" <Gadgetfreak_2000-NOSPAM-@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I would keep my upright for the trails and, if I do decide to get a bent, use it on the road.
>>>>I'm looking to spend no more than £400 and if possible even less.
>>>
>>>That rules out new 'bents.
>>
>>
>> http://www.dutchbikes.nl/uk.htm is only 433 Euro. But it's a kit, and needs a donor upright to
>> provide parts (including the rear triangle).
>
>Oooh. I'm seriously tempted now I have a nice big workshop to lose all the bits in. Anyone here
>given it a go?

Seems very sheddi. "What else do you need: Blah blah blah and Tin of Hammerite."

I want one.

Tim
--
I understand very little of what's being discussed but for some reason it's fascinating.

(Jon Thompson, urs)

Tim Hall wrote:
> On Tue, 03 Jun 2003 14:11:16 +0100, Colin Blackburn <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote:

>>Oooh. I'm seriously tempted now I have a nice big workshop to lose all the bits in. Anyone here
>>given it a go?
>
>
>
> Seems very sheddi. "What else do you need: Blah blah blah and Tin of Hammerite."
>
>
> I want one.

I'm going to give it a go as a summer project if they can deliver in time. I have an old hybrid I
don't use anymore and it has reasonably decent componentry. My only thought was whether a 26" wheel
would be preferable to a 700c back wheel, my hybrid is 700c. I could hatchet up a crap mountain bike
but the transmission on that is crap and I'd end up buying more bits as well.

Colin

Tim Hall <timhall@nospamtoday.clara.co.uk> wrote in message
news:<96psdv8saqqkkbo7p6uch88dfghhsfhvcd@4ax.com>...

> Seems very sheddi. "What else do you need: Blah blah blah and Tin of Hammerite."

I also feel severely tempted, especially as I may be "resting" for a while in a couple of weeks. :-)

--
Dave...

> > Seems very sheddi. "What else do you need: Blah blah blah and Tin of Hammerite."
>
> I also feel severely tempted, especially as I may be "resting" for a while in a couple of
> weeks. :-)

I'm tempted as well, I have access to a local scrapyard which has been known to have old bikes
stacked miles high in one corner.

Gadget