bikes

Quote from: ThePedalMan998 on May 06, 2025, 12:52:03 am

I welded in the brake bridge today, which represents the final welding that needs to be done on the bicycle frame. The bridge seems a little far from the tire, but it looks like it is not so far that calibers only touch the tire rather than the rim. I think this is perfectly adequate for the first frame. Honestly, I just feel grateful to have been able to reach this point.

Does this mean that the brakes will wear the tire and potentially damage it over time compared to the brake pressing entirely on the rim?

Yes, the tires may be gradually worn over time. This is not ideal and I should keep in mind for the next frame to move the bridge a bit closer to the tire. I think though that since the brakes mostly touch the rim I can get away with this problem for a while.

Got a bike shop to install the headset cups and crown race. The bike is now almost rideable.

Got a bike shop to install the headset cups and crown race. The bike is now almost rideable.

Looking nice! Excited to see the finished bike

Quick question, do we have any motorcycle enthusiasts here?

Hi fellas,

I have been taking a momentary break from bike mk1 to assemble this used and relatively rare tandem recumbent bicycle I bought. This recumbent was once manufactured by a company known as bikeE, not to be confused with e bike. This bike has no electric assist whatsoever. The tandem version of the original bikeE recumbent bicycle incorporated some improvements, including a new front steering geometry with a backwards fork. This backwards fork geometry was developed by Cal Poly tech professor by the name of Bil Patterson, a pilot in the USAF and professor in bicycle design. BikeE unfortunately went bankrupt in the early 2000's, and their bikes can now only be purchased second hand off of websites like eBay or KSL. This makes their products, like their tandem bike, relatively rare to see in the wild.

https://bicycleman.com/brands/bikee-recumbents/

The bike is nearly ride able, I just need pedals and brake cable installation.

The bike is nearly ride able, I just need pedals and brake cable installation.

Yooooo that's awesome! It's like a real bike now. I was telling people at RMRRF about your bike project and a lot of people were impressed

Thanks Rachel, bike mk.1 is nearly complete and bike mk.2 is already under construction. I also got some input from a professional framebuilder how 3d printed parts can potentially be used in bike construction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKV3TJ6qlvU

Bike mk.2 will likely incorporate, amongst many improvements, S and S couplers for ease of disassembly and packing in a travel case.



http://www.sandsmachine.com/

bikeframe mk.2 is now complete, i will compile a full list of improvements over the mk.1 shortly, but here are some examples.

1. improved frame geometry to minimize toe strike and improve weight distribution ratio.
2. vastly improved welds with far fewer cases of blowing through the tube.
3. reduced frame weight by using butted tube across whole frame. thickest part of butted tube was about .04 inches thick. in contrast most tube on bikeframe mk.1 was .049 inch wall thickness straight gauge. seat tube on bikeframe mk.1 was almost twice as thick as tubes on rest of frame, adding additional weight and necessitating two seat tube slots.
4.  increased portability by adding s and s couplers, allowing frame to be disassembled and packed into a checked luggage bag.
5. frame designed to accept the more popular disk brakes over the older style rim brakes.
6.unlike bike mk.1, frame has threaded water bottle bosses and cable guides brazed onto the frame. bike mk.1 has no accommodation for water bottles or cables, necessitating the usage of attachable cable holders from velo orange.   

a big thanks for all the support received thus far, this endeavor would not have been possible without you all. learning to build bikes has proven to be amongst the most challenging endeavors i have ever attempted, and i still have much to learn. more than once has the desire to give up crossed my mind. i will keep updating on how future bikes go.

Wtf! You spent 9 months building the first bike frame and you already made a 2nd one in under a month? That's a crazy efficiency boost!

i was able to arrange a class on bike frame building with highly accomplished framebuilder walt wehner. walt recently started teaching classes on framebuilding again if anyone is interested. bike mk2 was made as part of that class. i am glad i took it due to all of the interesting things i learned about bikes, such as the basics of bicycle suspension.

https://waltworks.com/sample-page/

Finally got some pedals and the cable for the rear brake installed. Bike.mk1 is now ride able. There are some problems, particularly with toe strike, but it seems overall the bike rides well. I really appreciate all the encouragement provided, getting this far was no small challenge. Will keep you all updated on future bike related plans. If their is interest I may also put a detailed step by step explanation on what I learned making my first bike the wetfish wiki.





This video demonstrates the issue with toe strike. Toe strike is prevalent on most bikes and can be mitigated by making sure to move ones feet out of the way, but in this case even small turning angles cause the wheel to strike the riders foot. This seems to indicate that the wheelbase for the bike is too short.

My current plans after this is to start building up bike mk.2.

After completing bike mk1 I feel a mixture of great happiness and this.