Short Wheelbase Recumbent Bike
I currently own and ride an Easyracer's TourEasy which I like very much. However, I would like a fully suspended bike and I'd like a platform that I can use to experiment with partial and maybe full fairings. I looked at many, many different commercial bikes and finally settled on the HP Velotechnik Speedmachine as the design that I would base my bike on.
The HP Velotechnik is an aluminum bike. However, since my "IPO money" never materialized I still don't own a TIG welder. Therefore, this bike will be made of 4130 Chrome-moly steel. I've also decided on square stock rather than round since I won't be able to bend a 2" tube and square members are so much easier to align.
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May 5, 2002 UPDATE: I rode this bike about 50 miles. Some aspects of it were very good; the ride was great, the suspension worked wonderfully. The handling was also very good, it handled much better then my Tour Easy. Unfortuneately, the handle bar location was terrible. On my first ride to work my hands fell asleep! The bottom bracket boom also had a great deal of flex and I found the bottom bracket too high for my taste. Finally, the seat back was too upright and my suspension design made that difficult to change. However, the handle bars turned out to be absolutely perfect for my Tour
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Collecting Materials:
After getting my shop in order and purchasing a new drill press I began to collect the donor bikes:
The black one is a Bridgestone that was hit by a car, it will donate the head and bottom bracket shells, handlebars and brake levels. The red bike is a Specialized Crossroads that was purchased and stripped for an Easyracer project a few years ago. The reason it looks a little weird is that it is currently fitted with the 27" running gear from my old Fuji Grand Tourer. It will donate its rear triangle. The Mongoose was just purchased and will donate the suspension components and grip shifters. It's drive train will go on an Easyracer for my wife and it's wheels and tires will be combined with some EMT tubing and an abandoned ShopLink.com container to make a beach cooler/cart.
I did attempt to purchase a frame shock and suspension fork separately, but the price of these components would have been in excess of $400 for aftermarket parts. The Mongoose parts are, admittedly, lower quality parts but for $149 they are sufficient for this experiment and if the bike turns out well I can upgrade later.
My first job will be to see if I can cut down the 26" suspension fork to fit a 20" (406mm) wheel. As you can see the fork is quite heavily constructed. It's all steel which should allow me to cut and splice the legs at will. The active components are a spring and black elastomer. The stroke is about 3" which seems kind of long for a road bike. I'm going to try and reduce that by about half.
I've decided on a 700mm x 20"(406)wheel configuration. The frame itself will be 2" by 2" 4130 Chrome-moly steel with a .065 wall. It's about twice as heavy as I wanted but I have it and I wanted to get started and I'm just not that concerned with weight. I have most of it designed in my head but I don't know what I am going to do for the seat. Right now the plan is to lay-up a fiberglass shell with a closed cell foam pad.