Clunkerbike

Forgive me reader/riders, for I have sinned and not posted for ages. But yeah, you know that, If I had any readers, you've probably all effed off, and who can blame you?! Anyway, NY rez, ride more and, now the weather is looking dry enough to take the welder outside, start building the bloody trike. But right at this moment, I has an insulated "fridge bag" (xmas loot) and new Blackburn drybag cages for the trusty touring bike, my HIGHLY modified, 2016 Reid Urban X2. Check the pics... The test bag is one of 2 Roswheel drybags from my bedroll system, which will now be moving to my forks because of my "Wild Man" bar bag.

Thanks for letting me whinge

God! I LOVE this video! Trikes helping to keep disabled riders riding. Watch out especially for the visually impaired guy who follows his friend's trike by way of her flashing red light. This is about creating/restoring ability, imaginatively.

I am also here... @crunchysteve Anyway, haven't had a lot to say lately, not since the steerer brace was printed, because I cannot rely on the weather to stay dry enough to take the welder outside and practice on some scraps. More news of the build when this freak, months long weather event fucks off.

Trying to get distance and stamina back after a heart attack is hard. Trying to know just what is feeling off-colour and actual chest discomfort is harder. So, after an unexpected ambulance ride (AGAIN!), my beta blocker got doubled. And Fark! The dizzies!!! Some examples. I'll stand up, then have to sit down again, immediately. After recovery, I stand up more slowly and go do the thing... what thing? I'll be enjoying a ride, well hydrated, not too cold, not too hot, not too fast, not too slow, then I arrive at my destination... Wait, oh jeez, lean on the bike, LEAN ON THE BIKE!!! What? That ride? 5km at 20km/h. Did I mention range curtailment?! Anyway, in the words of Farnsworth, "Great news everybody!" My cardiologist pulled the dose back to 2.5mg. OK, you don't care, I get it. You will when you're my age, you freakin' millenials. As you were. I have just recently pulled off a downhill 10k ride where the lean on the bike panic was less than the above...

I was wondering how true a wooden jig would be for building my steering crossmember. This part has to be as accurate as I can get it or the steering will pull to one side. Then I managed to again breathe life back into my cheapest, nastiest 3D printer, a Sinus T1 clone. Steering head jig completed. Perfect!

If there's one thing I love about Melbourne's public transport system, it's being able to take my bike on the train. that is all, as you were.

In Australia, our equivalent to the USA's Home Depot is Bunnings Hardware. Tradies use them, handyfolk use them, they carry nearly every imaginable item. One item I've used a LOT of is the Carinya Make-A-Bracket line . About 7 or 8 pieces of the 200x200 (shown) should be enough to make the metal tray for the play mat foam padding. Just add some heavy duty grommet strip to protect flesh from the metal edges and you have a light, strong seat.

The main frame is cut and ready to be welded, if Melbourne will only give me some decent freakin' weather to get outside with power tools. The crossmember needed a rethink. It's all well and good to make a sensible "engineering" decision (I'm a sound engineer by trade, which isn't a field of actual engineering) and use 35x1.6 SHS for all the main parts, but the decision then leads to using 50x5 SHS for making the lean steering wheel tilt brackets and slightly less than 600g of steel for each. Making the same brackets out of 40x3 reduces the weight to nearer 200g each, but requires the crossmember to be made from 30x1.6, also lighter but for no appreciable loss of strength. For my next trick, I might build a version of it out of 31.8x16x1.6 EHS for AeroAdvantage™. Meanwhile, as an exercise in learning FreeCAD, the design is being refined for a later version. A friend is considering an eTrike as a mobility aid and, if mine works, I'll probably start assem...

The steel arrived on Thursday, thanks Moorrabbin Steel . I haven't started working on it because I spent 2 and a half days in hospital with a repprise of the ticker problems that got me started on this project. I'm OK, more sleep deprived, than crook, but the angiogram showed nothing, despite feeling like an elephant had sat on my chest on Tuesday afternoon. I have 2.5m of 35x35x1.6 SHS, a half metre piece of 50x50x5 SHS for cutting the tilt brackets from, some 30x30x1.6 SHS for the arm of the pedal bracket (and an old bottom bracket shell from a bike frame), some 38x2 EHS for a head tube and a 190x inch 1/8 steerer from the donor bike that provided the bottom bracket. The rear triangle is also from a donor dual suspension MTB. Triceratops Two.1 will get its own rear tri. Racks will be integrated steel racks, built from 12x1.2 EHS, once I've done a billy cart test. Meanwhile, the disk brake hubs have arrived and fit the wheelchair axle bolts pefectly and run beautifully. ...