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Recumbent Tadpole V1Last Post: December 28th 2007
[image on the left is just to give you a rough idea of what i'm building, and is not the final design]
This is something i've wanted to build for ages because it not only looks fun to ride, but is good for long distance cycling/touring. And with the addition of panniers, can carry a lot of gear. August 8th 2007 I start off by salvaging a donor that i spotted ages ago dumped at the side of a back street road. Girls bike, girls bike!!!  After some chopping with a reciprocating saw in true Scrapheap Challenge style, i have the bits i need.  Bottom bracket with the bit's i don't need ground off.  and the steerer tube is also ground back, and it is cut into two pieces.  they are then welded to the ends of the cross member.  which has it's outer sections attached at 15°.  and it is attached to the frame rails with a rake back of 15°.  After over an hour of measuring and lining up, then checking and re-tacking, the rear gets welded in place.  Square box section is welded under the front to strengthen the frame.  To attach the hinged boom i make up a couple of brackets, which are welded to the front cross-member.  A quick-release wheel skewer is severely shortened, and utilised used to clamp the lower boom support.  The front end extended...  ..and folded back, so it can fit into a car boot easier...  August 19th 2007 The framework is strengthened by a gusset at the bottom bracket end.  And a few braces to join the bars together.  August 25th 2007 Moving to the back now, the rear dropouts took me all day to fabricate, but they are now welded to the frame.   August 26th 2007 The rear brake mounts are on. The adjuster on the back of the block is hitting the frame, and stopping it swinging far enough back to remove the wheel. If the brake i use has the same problem i will add a recess to the frame.  September 1st 2007 For the the seat i've used 3/4" steel tubing, and i've bend it to shape around a wooden form.  Here are all the pieces ready to be welded together.  ....and here they are welded together, and offered up to the frame.  The lower seat mounts are welded to the frame.  September 2nd 2007 A couple of brackets were attached to the lower seat cross member, then a telescopic mount was fabricated for the rear.  September 3rd 2007 The chain guides, which are skate wheels with a groove machined into them, are now welded into place, and the chain (which is made up from three) is installed.  ...and the chain is tested (finally something that moves i hear you say). The glowing wheel at the front was the only one i could find that didn't cost a small fortune. I will probably replace both when i can find decent replacements. September 4th 2007 Received the front wheels at last and proceeded to adjust the 14mm axles so that there is loads on one side that could be screwed through a mount. I then made up a kingpin to mount the first wheel. Unfortunately i'm not happy with the angle, as there is loads of positive camber, so i will have to do the kingpin again. Luckily it's not too much work.  One thing to note is the boom at the front is a bit high. This i know of, and i can easily adjust. i just need to see how much clearance i have under my heels once it is on the floor before i can sort it. September 6th 2007 Now it's on the ground i've been able to adjust the boom so that the crank is lower, but still with plenty of clearance.  September 7th 2007 Steering is nearly done, I'll post pics when i finish. September 8th 2007 It's finally rollin, due partially to a few bodges. It now has control arms and a working back brake so i've been able to ride it briefly for the first time.  September 9th 2007 A friend had a go on it this morning, and he was very impressed with it. It's got a few creaks due to dry joints (won't add grease until it's painted), and the steering and a few other things need tweaking, but it's getting there. Thought i'd better add a pic for you all to salivate over now that the seat is done. Changed the front mech and chainwheel since the pic. It also now has the rear mech connected, and i've re-routed and shortened the rear brake cable to tidy it up.  September 10th 2007 I've taken a few more links out of the chain today, and it's sorted it out nicely. The track-rod is made of 10mm solid aluminium round bar with a hole drilled into each end which is tapped with a M5 thread. M5 rose jointed rod ends are then screwed into the ends with a nut to lock them off after they've been adjusted to 2mm of toe-in.  September 16th 2007 I've not done much worth posting to it this week besides finishing and painting the steering arms. The one thing that's worth pointing out is an easy parking brake setup that's lighter than a dedicated brake and lever that you have on some trikes, and a lot better than a rubber band that people use on others. It's simply made up by mounting a sprung bolt to the brake lever carrier with a ground down nut inside (or you could use a split pin). This is operated by pulling the brake on, pushing the bolt, then releasing the lever before the bolt so that it catches under the lever and jams the brake on. To release it, all you have to do is pull on the brake and the bolt will spring free.  Here's a pic of one of the steering arms.  The aluminum handlebars were wobbly before, but i've sorted that by epoxying them as well as the rivets. They ain't moving now. September 30th 2007 Finished the front boom today I made up a pair of bushes for the pivot points that have a domed hex head bolt screwed into either side to hold them in, and they have completely removed any play in the boom whilst still allowing it to pivot freely when it needs folding. I am well happy with the way it went. Also as you can see from the picture it is now painted.  I also have now an orange marker flag on a 6ft fibreglass whip pole, so i can be seen if i use it on the road. October 3rd 2007 Left Halo 3 alone for enough time this evening to fit the front brake bits i have collected together. The olde worldy caliper brakes are fitted to the ends of the control arms. (I need to cut down, and re-thread the mount on the side shown)  ...and the front brake lever is a twin pull unit. This allows me to control both the front brakes, so instead of the conventional setup of having a separate lever for each side and no brake on the back i have a setup like that of a bike, with left lever for the back and right lever for the front. By the way, although the lever looks a bit close to the tyre for comfort it's an odd angle, and there is no danger of loosing a finger.  Just noticed the old skateboard wheel is knackered. The bearings were a little suspect to start with and i should have put a new set in and checked that there was a spacer between them. Plus the wheel is a little too soft. Something sounded wrong on it, so an inspection showed that a bearing has seized and the chain has cut into the soft rubber, so i'm gonna need a new one. The chavtastic glowing roller blade wheel however is fine, but if i use one at the bottom it may be too tall. I'll give one a go as i have 3 spare and see how it fares. October 6th 2007 I've tried a grooved roller blade wheel like the top one in place of the skate wheel, and it seems to work fine besides being offset differently to the original. I can easily sort that out by fitting different spacers on the shaft. I will give it a punishing test tomorrow, to see if it can stand a bit of abuse before marking it down as a victory. They definitely don't make stuff like they used to. The hamerite that I'm using on the frame is more fragile than car spray paint. It only takes a slight knock to chip it right back to the bare metal, yet it's more expensive and more hassle to apply. Gonna enquire as to what it'll cost to get it shot blasted then powder coated when it's finished. If it's too much i'll rub it down and spray it with coach paint instead which is quite tough. Now I'm happy with the cable routing and component positions I've started drilling angled holes to run the cables through the frame which looks far neater than having them outside. It also keeps them out of harms way. October 7th 2007 I've now added a bit of bracing to the rear arms. There was a bit of flex which added some comfort, but also allowed the rear to twist slightly when pedalling, which made the brake rub. Now it's pretty solid.  The rear mech cable which was running along the frame tube in the picture is now inside. Next job in this area is to replace the cable tie that is loose to allow the hose to move with the mach, with a loop of steel rod. The chain can easily hold the hose in place, but it's a precaution that prevents it swaying into the tyre. October 16th 2007 I changed the crappy brake blocks that came with the brakes for shimano V-Brake blocks. They not only look nicer, but have more adjustment and nearly twice the surface area.  A bottle cage has now been added as well. It's tucked in under the front of the seat, which makes it easy to get to. And because it's mounted directly to the frame tube it cuts down on unnecessary extra mounts. Also today the rack turned up. I cut down the legs a bit and made up a bracket so that it attaches to the back of the seat. I also mounted the rear light to the underside. This unit also has the advantage of having a brake light and indicators built in, but will need the wiring lengthened to fit the trike.  December 28th 2007 It's been a while because i've been busy with other things, but here finally is an update. I've sourced some irrigation hose, and after heating it over the gas hob to straighten it out, cut it to size and fitted it over the chain, trying to cover as much of it as possible.   In this image, you can see how i cut the hose down it's length, and wrapped it around the top of the upper chain guide to cover it and protect any stray fingers that are fumbling for the bottle from getting caught in it. The bottle looks closer at this angle, but it's in fact a couple of inches away.  I've also bought a decent rear tyre today, which i'll fit in the next couple of days. To be continued.....
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