TriBiker19 

And if you're a stubborn cuss, you can go against advice and mess up bikes in even more spectacular (and possibly regrettable) ways. Oh my poor Fuji...

TriBiker19 

I'm just going to ask...how do you even get that started? Ladder? Stilts? Some poor schmoe that has to push up upright?

jackbombay

I put my right foot on the horizontal, uh, "bottom tube" and push with my left foot a bit, then put both feet on the bottom tube, then put left foot on left pedal, then throw right leg over seat and start pedalling. Its barely manageable from flat ground, you kind of need a bit of downhill to get on it. Once I weld some more stuff to it, a drop "grip" on the left side of the bars, and a lower peg to put my right foot on to get it all started, it will be fairly manageable from flat ground I think.

qcpmsame 

Now, if you could figure a way to have the ground level rear wheel steerable, and fabricate the linkages, etc., I'd pay to watch you learn to ride it successfully.

I'm an engineer, my mind works in strange ways......

Bill

jackbombay

Simplex derailleur insurance plan acquired.

I even remembered to make some shims/spacers so it will fit the Super Course seat tube well. I had an old frame tube with an OD of 28mm and 1mm wall thickness, that wrapped around the 26mm seat tube on the Super Course will be pretty close to the 28.6 that the VX front derailleur calls for.



I found this vid showing how to remove the upper pulley wheel too, so it now has been cleaned and has a dab of fresh grease :-)

jackbombay

Rear wheel steering is an odd one, My down tube twister bike is essentially rear wheel steering, but you steer it with your hip/butt,


Maybe my next bike will be front wheel drive with rear wheel steering. Having the rear wheel steer and be powered of course makes it complicated, you could run a shaft through the steer tube to an angle drive above the tire to make it work, you would need an angle drive above the steer tube as well, probably more money than I'd want to spend on it, so I'd go front wheel drive. I'm in $45 on this weird tall bike so far, and $11 was for the tandem brake cable to get to the rear brake.

jackbombay

Well, an angle drive gear box costs $1 from Alibaba LOL, there doesn't seem to be any dimensions, or specs on it though, heh...

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...B#shopping-ads

qcpmsame 

I long ago stropped saying, "It cannot be done." too many machinists and fabricators just take that as a challenge to their personal reputations and honor. Just the thought of keeping that all fabrication you have, and adding rear wheel steering to the mix makes this Parkie shudder (more so that the usual PD tremors.) Sorry, humor is what eases the pain at times, had to let that one go through.

That angle drive actually simplifies what I was thinking over, in my addled Engineer's brain space. I was going through some linkage rods, Heim-joints, etc. Much more primitive that the angle drive, good thinking there my good man, good thinking!

Bill

jackbombay

Thanks! I've invented/designed/built a lot of stuff in my life, I really like "problem solving".

I think it could happen with some extra cranksets stacked on the center line of the rear steer tube with the lower one attacked to the rear fork, and the upper one fastened to the frame, it would likely have some odd feedback into the steering system from pedal strokes, but would likely be rideable, maybe?

jackbombay

I got to portland yesterday afternoon and spent 45 minutes or so tinkering with my Super Course, getting valve stems straight, adjusted the front hub, turned a few spokes, kickstand removal, added rear blinky and headlight, removed the generator light, but I'll ess with t eventually and reinstall, lubed the chain, etc.... I'm going to ride with the simplex derailleurs for a bit so I'll have a better appreciation for the Sun Tour units when I swap them on. The front derailleur does have clearly visible cracks on the bracket around the seat tube, I think they're supposed to be there though ;-)

The bike rides beautifully, faster than I expected it to be, I do have less standover height than I like, not a big deal on a road bike though, IMO. Bike fits well other than that.

clubman 

As an inseam challenged, monkey-armed RSO, I've never had a vintage road bike that allowed proper standover clearance. It's never been an issue.
I'd probably benefit from the new sloping top tube designs but meh.