PVC Pipe for frame?
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Joke? It was lost on me, what with 81 posts it looks like others were also fooled. Here's the link to the thread I'm talking about. Velo: Thus far, thus bonkers - Bike Forums Andy
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That design didn't have 8 wheels, Mr. Stewart. The joke design I'm referring to is in https://www.bikeforums.net/framebuil...arcycle-d.html.
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After watching the Utah Trikes video, I *REALLY* want to see a fully enclosed plywood version with a rear bench seat, full suspension, floor, the “driver” and two parents and a tuba inside rolling down the road. Any road. Paved, dirt, frozen, muddy, rutted, unplowed, tore up from beer-swillin’ yahoos in their brodozers... you name it! I’ve got the popcorn popped, extra buttery, and the couch pillows are all fluffed up! Bring it!
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After watching the Utah Trikes video, I *REALLY* want to see a fully enclosed plywood version with a rear bench seat, full suspension, floor, the “driver” and two parents and a tuba inside rolling down the road. Any road. Paved, dirt, frozen, muddy, rutted, unplowed, tore up from beer-swillin’ yahoos in their brodozers... you name it! I’ve got the popcorn popped, extra buttery, and the couch pillows are all fluffed up! Bring it!
#30
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The cynical side of me says these guys really just want to sell plans. I really question if these really work.
Some warning signs for me in include the note the pvc must be reinforced with wood or a metal pipe, there are no pictures of anyone sitting on these things, and there are no pictures of details like bottom bracket and crank setup
also PVC get really brittle in the cold which we know Alberta has.
This is so far off your long stated design goals that you should just rethink them
i.e forget quad go for 3 wheel, one in back and 2 in front, forget suspension and use big tires, super light outside covering, and so on. Good luck
Some warning signs for me in include the note the pvc must be reinforced with wood or a metal pipe, there are no pictures of anyone sitting on these things, and there are no pictures of details like bottom bracket and crank setup
also PVC get really brittle in the cold which we know Alberta has.
This is so far off your long stated design goals that you should just rethink them
i.e forget quad go for 3 wheel, one in back and 2 in front, forget suspension and use big tires, super light outside covering, and so on. Good luck
I was looking at this for ideas, not necessarily to directly copy.
My goals are, and have always been:
1) Must be stable. Yes, recumbent trikes are stable, HOWEVER:
2) Ingress and Egress must be reasonably easy. By the time a recumbent trike is low enough to be stable, it's so low that, with the baking show's worth of lard padding my seat, it's hard to get out of. Some trikes I almost had to roll off the seat onto my hands and knees, then get up. Therefore...
1a) Must be stable with a relatively high center of gravity.
3) Must provide some protection from weather.
4) Must have a smooth ride. Honestly, fat tires looked tempting, until I found out how squishy they are. I've ridden on half-flat tires before. No fun. Thus the suspension.
5) Be COMFY. Which is why I wanted to go the recumbent route in the first place.
6) Be nice to look at... and I kind of like the look of old cars, on which my original design was VERY loosely based.
7) Must have decent carrying capacity, including room for saxophone or guitar, or groceries.
Last edited by MrInitialMan; 03-13-21 at 08:15 PM.
#31
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I was thinking about how to best answer this, thus the delay in replying.
I was looking at this for ideas, not necessarily to directly copy.
My goals are, and have always been:
1) Must be stable. Yes, recumbent trikes are stable, HOWEVER:
2) Ingress and Egress must be reasonably easy. By the time a recumbent trike is low enough to be stable, it's so low that, with the baking show's worth of lard padding my seat, it's hard to get out of. Some trikes I almost had to roll off the seat onto my hands and knees, then get up. Therefore...
1a) Must be stable with a relatively high center of gravity.
3) Must provide some protection from weather.
4) Must have a smooth ride. Honestly, fat tires looked tempting, until I found out how squishy they are. I've ridden on half-flat tires before. No fun. Thus the suspension.
5) Be COMFY. Which is why I wanted to go the recumbent route in the first place.
6) Be nice to look at... and I kind of like the look of old cars, on which my original design was VERY loosely based.
7) Must have decent carrying capacity, including room for saxophone or guitar, or groceries.
I was looking at this for ideas, not necessarily to directly copy.
My goals are, and have always been:
1) Must be stable. Yes, recumbent trikes are stable, HOWEVER:
2) Ingress and Egress must be reasonably easy. By the time a recumbent trike is low enough to be stable, it's so low that, with the baking show's worth of lard padding my seat, it's hard to get out of. Some trikes I almost had to roll off the seat onto my hands and knees, then get up. Therefore...
1a) Must be stable with a relatively high center of gravity.
3) Must provide some protection from weather.
4) Must have a smooth ride. Honestly, fat tires looked tempting, until I found out how squishy they are. I've ridden on half-flat tires before. No fun. Thus the suspension.
5) Be COMFY. Which is why I wanted to go the recumbent route in the first place.
6) Be nice to look at... and I kind of like the look of old cars, on which my original design was VERY loosely based.
7) Must have decent carrying capacity, including room for saxophone or guitar, or groceries.
Bottom line is you really want something you can use, otherwise why it is just an art project, nothing wring with art projects per se, but I understand you goal is to have something you can and will use
weight is critical, if you build something that weighs 145 kilos and then add a 100 kilos of person and 25 kilos of stuff, it will be slow, hard to get up hills and dangerous coming down hill. Every little feature adds weight, you would have to be ruthless in this area
There always constraints, weight, cost, material, time, skills, knowledge, experience. If you had a full on carbon fiber faclities and engineers and $100k budget you might be able to build what you want and it still work, otherwise building in the barn with steel tube, etc it is going to be harder and you will have to compromise
Not all recumbents are low....see some pics later
stable and high center of gravity oppose each other in physics
the economic concept of TANSTAAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch) applies to everything you , I.e. you make a very weather proof enclosure out of 1/4 " ply wood....cook but adds weight and look out for the headwinds
best for weather is proper clothing
I would suggest you think more bike and trailer to get what your are looking at
A higher seat 3 wheeler like this has suspension and with 2 wheels in back you probably you can use some of what you already have gives you a lot of what your are looking for. you could set up some weather protection with fiber glass poles (think backpacking tent poles) fabric and clear sail material (think windsurfing sails as a material example) you can get plans and it does not look like a hugely complicated build https://www.atomiczombie.com/timberw...rike-diy-plan/
and for more haulage a trailer
some things out there for inspiration
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#32
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Been thinking about this. I think I will forgo the floor I originally had in mind. I'll just have to either learn to avoid puddles, or have just a partial floor that ends before the pedals (A thin sheet of plastic--like a snow carpet--should protect me from splashes from below.)
Also, going to see about getting some materials of my own--and maybe a pickup truck to transport them in. The steel I originally used was waaaaaaay too thick.
The suspension of the trike looks interesting, and while I'm still wanting front suspension, I ran across Sliding Pole suspension, which is where the poles the front spindles turn on are elongated to include coil springs. Should be reasonably light and simple.
The reason I was looking at these PVC plans is, well, I don't know how to weld, and I'm a) a bit old to teach myself anymore and b) if I tried to take a class, I'd likely be laughed out of it due to me being almost middle-aged, and thus should have learned welding long ago. :-/
Also, going to see about getting some materials of my own--and maybe a pickup truck to transport them in. The steel I originally used was waaaaaaay too thick.
The suspension of the trike looks interesting, and while I'm still wanting front suspension, I ran across Sliding Pole suspension, which is where the poles the front spindles turn on are elongated to include coil springs. Should be reasonably light and simple.
The reason I was looking at these PVC plans is, well, I don't know how to weld, and I'm a) a bit old to teach myself anymore and b) if I tried to take a class, I'd likely be laughed out of it due to me being almost middle-aged, and thus should have learned welding long ago. :-/
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The reason I was looking at these PVC plans is, well, I don't know how to weld, and I'm a) a bit old to teach myself anymore and b) if I tried to take a class, I'd likely be laughed out of it due to me being almost middle-aged, and thus should have learned welding long ago. :-/
This is really going to be a whole lot easier than trying to make it out of PVC or wood or something!
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Sorry about my last post, everyone. I'd been up all night and was feeling more down than usual.
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#35
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The reason I was looking at these PVC plans is, well, I don't know how to weld, and I'm a) a bit old to teach myself anymore and b) if I tried to take a class, I'd likely be laughed out of it due to me being almost middle-aged, and thus should have learned welding long ago. :-/
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It's much easier to learn to weld than it is to make a chassis or bike frame out of PVC pipe! Especially if you aren't too bothered about weight-- you can use thicker steel (like 1.6mm) and buzz it together with a flux-core welder, which only costs 100 notes or so. People are a bit snobbish about flux-core but with a little practice and a decent quality wire you can make an acceptable joint on material between about 1.6mm and 2mm thickness.
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You can be up and running with a small welder in a day but it will take practice to to make a decent weld and understand what amps, etc. mean to the metal you working with. Another consideration is cutting pipe / tubing. A decent pipe cutter or the Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw are my choices.
This welding learning thing reminds me of what a Chinese restaurant owner told me years ago. It only takes a few minute to learn how to eat with chop sticks. But a lifetime to become good at it. 35 years later I still agree.
As to cutting/mitering the tubes I would not suggest a pipe cutter (assuming the rolling wheel type) as most tubes most people will want to use will have thin enough walls so the tube will just flex away from the roller and the cutter can easily "walk" it's way down the tube's length as you run it around the tube. Hack saws, hole saws, grinders (i use a bench mounted one for roughing out some miters) and hand files are the low cost go tos for most of us when we started out. Andy
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You can be up and running with a small welder in a day but it will take practice to to make a decent weld and understand what amps, etc. mean to the metal you working with. Another consideration is cutting pipe / tubing. A decent pipe cutter or the Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw are my choices.
Speaking of flux-core welds of velomobiles this guy's project is pretty interesting:
By his own account his welding is a bit of a "horror show" but it's good enough. He's very good at the machining and design aspects though.
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this may be on interest......
6 wheel bicycle, huge, ~20 mph electric. 5' x 10' - $1,600 (willow glen / cambrian)
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/d/san-jose-wheel-bicycle-huge-20-mph/7315728264.html
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It's for sale because they tried to ride it uphill.
I'm always curious why people undergo an elaborate project like that without looking at what anyone else has done. Afraid they might learn something, I guess
I'm always curious why people undergo an elaborate project like that without looking at what anyone else has done. Afraid they might learn something, I guess
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it looks like it has a carbon bottle holder cage....weight counts
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Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can
(looking for Torpado Super light frame/fork or for Raleigh International frame fork 58cm)
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