New Trike Part 2

Joseph from Joseph's workshop with mk6, I was picking up the parts for mk7 from Joseph's Workshop.

And these are the bits

Part-Assembled at the front.

Setting up for cutting aluminium on 45 degree angle.

Part-Assembled at the back.

With some B-Spon riders.....

at Port Melbourne

Painting the bottom brackets

Clamping the front plywood assembly.

Setting up to braze the front bottom bracket.  The laser-cut parts underneath are for propping up the part to be brazed on and are 7mm wide.

Hi, here are some photos of the progress made making the new trike.  I picked up some laser-cut ply parts on Monday, and have been working on them on and off ever since, gluing parts, brazing and painting parts and sawing the aluminium for the frame.

There are a few mistakes in the file I sent to Joseph to have cut, the steerer holes were missing and I only got 2 of one part, where 4 were needed.  So I'm working around those things and have made the missing parts manually.  Will keep going, both with the building and the blog.

Regards

Steve Nurse

New trike Part 1

Ride to Work Day at Monash Caulfield

Brazing Jig for V-brake Bosses on 24" bike fork

After brazing bosses in place

Chainring with 42t biopace ring and guard plates each side.

The parts have been painted and are drying inside now. The fork dropouts are custom made from 4mm steel and have mounting points for mudguards, derailleur and a front fairing.

The back yard photo studio has improved a bit courtesy of some renovations next door to us

This shows some changes to one of my current trikes, I have simplified the handlebar arrangement by using a one-piece bullhorn handlebar.  Its not really wide enough (40cm) as my legs come up in between the handlebars while pedalling.  They should be about 44-48cm wide.

Met my friend George down the road, this has the old handlebar arrangement.

Hi

For a few weeks I have been gathering parts for a new trike and this post shows a few pictures of the parts plus a few photos taken around town.  Within a few days I will receive the frame and seat parts but putting them together will have to fit in around a full master's thesis redraft due in a week or so.

This time I am using a 24" fork for a 24" wheel (shock horror), and adapting the frok came quite easily as there is only one set of brake bosses to braze on and none to take off.  I plan to run brake cables up through the threaded part of the fork, and hopefully there will be room at the top of the tyre for this.

Regards

Steve Nurse

New Tailbox Part 3

The bike with the new tailbox installed  on part of the Yarra bikepath.

The box has side-panels which are held on by bulldog clips. Some more construction details are shown in photo 5 of this post.

The fit of the seat to my back and bottom are not perfect, and I took this photo yesterday to assess how I can change the design to make it more comfortable and aerodynamic. The shoulder rest will  move back 30mm and the tailbox top will be raised 30mm.

In this photo (click to enlarge) you can see the piece of ply between the 2 seat supports, right above the back wheel.  This stops the supports from failure by buckling, something which happened with a previous box.

 

Hi

For 3 few days now, I have been riding a trike with a new tailbox and curved plywood seat fitted.  My quest for the perfect tailbox takes another step, but is not over!  The timber panels of this 'box can be replaced with corflute or cloth versions, but I haven't made any of these yet.

Regards

Steve nurse

New Tailbox Part 2

While adding the internal braces for the seat....

I found I had to do this (modified tab shown at left, existing tab shown right) extra chamfering to get all the tabs to fit in.

Bending the base board.  It had been soaked using a towel before applying the iron to finish off the bending.  Cable ties were used once the bending was done, then the tabs were glued together.

At the dumpster on the way back from stationary supplier officeworks.  A sidepanel is hanging out the side of the tailbox, I'd bought it with me to check the size of the bulldog clips I was buying. 

Flattening the pivot part of the bulldog clips.  The clip (right) has been hit with a hammer while it was clamped on to a spanner as shown below.  This lets the clip fit into the tailbox assembly easier.


 

Hi, A few more photos of the tailbox assembly.  Finished for the most part now, I should have it on the bike trike tomorrow.

Regards

Steve Nurse

New Tailbox

Current Tailbox with sidepanels made by Christine Durbridge.  Occasionally I get problems like this one, the hook and loop holding the panel on comes loose. Besides that, the seat part broke, the backbone broke, it could have a bit more volume and the clamp arrangement could be improved.

Parts arrived for a new tailbox on Wednesday night.  Thanks Damian!  Here are the side frames.

Steerer

These are the parts that clamp on to the frame, the structural backbone.

Side panel detail. There are a few loose parts shown here, they will be screwed and glued on.  One of the "loose parts" is a small jig for locating the other parts.

These towels had been wet before the photo was take. The plywood seat panel was soaked in water, then heated with the iron to make the ply flexible. Here is the website for the plywood with a link to instructions.

About as far as I've got sofar, parts shown in photos 2 and 6 assembled.  The seat ply now conforms to the frame shape.

Hi, pictures and captions tell the story this time.  I will blog more about this soon.

New Youtube Videos

Hi

A while ago, due to an email address expiring, I lost he ability to log in to my youtube channel, and a few videos have accumulated in the meantime.  Her are the addresses.

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbIsOXePQVq5fSd9BBaC5CQ

Blog Posts with links to new videos:

http://modularbikes.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/port-campbell-to-geelong.html

http://modularbikes.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/at-st-kilda-selfie-stick-photo-alan.html

http://modularbikes.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/brads-40th-in-trida.html

and the direct links to the videos are

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5bI6rTAatk

(Most up to date video of my trike, riding long distance)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igBQuVDVCjA

(Around St. Kilda, a little pootle shot on a selfie stick)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inQ-IYfmX3k

(A few years old now, travelling on a wooden bike.)

Regards

Steve nurse

New Bike Storage at Uni

My trike in the secure lockup area.  This trike is 2.44m long and there's plenty of room for it.

Advertisement for an upcoming event, Ride to Work day on October 12

Hi

For a year and a half I have been attending Monash Uni at Caulfield, and for quite a while, I parked my trike outside.  For various reasons I stopped doing this, my trike is related to the work I do and it helps to have it nearby and its good to have it out of the weather and out of harm's way.  In the early stages, the trike would occasionally blow over in the wind.

Anyway, a few days ago all the staff got an email about a new, super-duper bike lockup facility, so I went to check it out.  My trike is quite long, (so are a range of other pedalled vehicles like this bakfiets @ 2.55m long) but it fitted in fine.  There are tools and a pump nearby, and entry to the enclosure is via a computer-linked student identification card.

So it all looks good in my book, but I will probably stick to my routine of carrying my trikes up 2 flights of stairs to my shared office for now.

There is a poster for Ride to Work day in the enclosure, and I will try to display one of my trikes at Caulfield's ride to work day coming up in a few weeks.

Regards

Steve Nurse

Bike Repair Workstation near the new lockup.   Note the spray on the back of the trike!  You get this when the road or track is wet - and because of the different wheel position the pattern ends up different on each side.

Collins Annual #7, 1954

Hi
On weekends I have a habit of visiting the local op shops and dumpsters.  At the local dumpster-depot there is a free book exchange and I came back with a few books last week.  One of them has some cycling stuff in it which I've copied here for your pleasure.  Soon I'll pass the books on - I think this book is a really good one for kids and has pages and pages of activities like making things from bits of junk.

All for now.

Steve Nurse