"Hillel" <
[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> "rorschandt" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
>
news:[email protected]...
>>
>> Thanks for the link. I actually intended this trike to be fully suspended (again), but determined
>> that suspension on the front of a tadpole makes
> the
>> handling very spongy.
>SNIP< anti-swaybars help the leaning, but deaden
>> the suppleness of the suspension.
>
> Take a look at the front view of Rickey Horwitz's design for the Diablo trike:
>
http://www.hellbentcycles.com/Diablo.htm
Did you see my other trike?
http://pictures.care2.com/view/1/174801833 Although I have deep respect
for Mr. Horowitz (thanks for all your help Ricky via web pages)I believe his suspension will suffer
from the same problem, just not as bad as mine.(his is also a lot prettier) He has very effectively
moved the inner pivots of the suspension arms as far outward as possible while still giving an
appropriate amount of suspension travel. Had connected linkage to the shocks, he could have moved
the shocks inboard of the pivots allowing them to be even closer to the wheels. However, when the
rider's weight gets transferred towards one wheel in a turn, the supension will lower that side of
the vehicle. The anti-dive mechanism he refers to is probably during braking. Careful attention to
the relationship angles between upper and lower suspension arms changes the caster angle as both
front suspensions are compressed, suppressing dive somewhat when _both_ wheels are in action. I
utilized that in the Tulpa Trike, and it does help. Probably every modern automobile on the planet
uses that principle.
>
> If you use Cane Creek shocks with lockout control, you could even have the steering automatically
> lock out the front suspension (or one wheel at a time if you want) when you turn the bars.
>
This idea I like better than manual lockout.
>> The next machine will probably be a lower machine to be more appealing to more people. The center
>> of gravity is quite high on the Chaco, most would find it more appealing to be seated less than
>> 12" above the ground. The current seat height is about 16" very high for a tadpole.
>
> Do you find this trike a bit unstable due to the height? IMHO the 16" seat height seems a bit
> better for commuting in traffic if the trike is stable enough. One fear I have with the tadpoles
> that I have tried is that they are too low to ride in the snow here in winter - just when I would
> need it.
>
Haven't actually ridden it yet, as the drive train isn't done. My first trike
(
http://pictures.care2.com/view/2/863401558) had a seat height similar. I did not think it was
unstable, but my brothers both did.But they aren't cyclists, nor as adventurous as I. One crashed it
20 seconds after mounting up! (~: I have improved steering geometry since that first trike, so this
one "should" actually be more stable. I really liked the higher seat.
> Out of curiosity, how much does the Chaco frame weigh? (Compared to other popular trike frames?)
>
Before I mounted parts on it, I weighed it on a food scale that only went to 5 lbs. It barely
"pegged" the scale. 5 lbs + ? 6 ? Encouragingly, I used the wrong tubing wall thickness on this
trike because I made a mistake when ordering. I estimate that mistake added 2 lbs. I am nearly
finished adding stuff to it, and have access to a bigger scale this evening. I will try to weigh the
complete trike.
later, rorschandt