Hello. For a school shop project, I am thinking of building the Warrior trike. I like the tadpole frame design, and I am interested in dipping my feet into recumbents. I am not sure if my school has (or is able to have) welding equipment, though, so I have been thinking of making the frame out of carbon fiber. Would this be a good investment? I have never worked with carbon fiber before, so I am unsure.
Considering making a Warrior trike frame with carbon fiber tubes.
- Thread starter Rajabox
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The problem with ALL recumbents is the chassis has it's members used as beams. A typical diamond frame bike has all the forces going along the tubes length where they are strongest. Our chassis by necessity have forces accross the tube. That is why we use steel. It has the necessary flex to give and then recover from those forces.
That doesn't mean carbon can't be used but carbon tubes will not have strength in the right direction. You will need to design a frame that allows you to make strong box sections plus allows you to mount on or bond in metal parts for the headtubes, steering pivot and rear wheel dropouts plus the bottom bracket. It can be done as a google search will show but designing then making the chassis moulds and then the chassis os no simple task. The chassis has to be designed to work AND designed to be able to be made. With steel a mistake is easy to alter, not so easy with carbon. It's a difficult job unless you deal with grp and carbon mouldings on a regular basis.
That doesn't mean carbon can't be used but carbon tubes will not have strength in the right direction. You will need to design a frame that allows you to make strong box sections plus allows you to mount on or bond in metal parts for the headtubes, steering pivot and rear wheel dropouts plus the bottom bracket. It can be done as a google search will show but designing then making the chassis moulds and then the chassis os no simple task. The chassis has to be designed to work AND designed to be able to be made. With steel a mistake is easy to alter, not so easy with carbon. It's a difficult job unless you deal with grp and carbon mouldings on a regular basis.
Thank you. I have been talking with my teacher, and he said that welding isn't allowed at the school, but he suggested that we could join the metal together with lugs and screws and gussets. Do you think this could work?
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DannyC
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A bolt-together trike is possible, but comes with a host of issues.
Flexure makes nuts & bolts work loose etc. Lugs & fixtures add unnecessary weight.
Not saying it isn't impossible but it is not something I would undertake unless I wanted to meet the undertaker sooner than I ought to.
This has been done a few times, in aluminum ............. What Danny said ^^
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I’m thinking of maybe outsourcing the welding part of the build to a shop, then continuing with the welded frame at school. Does the build have any other welding components besides the frame?
The steering / kingpins will need welding, possibly some of the handlebar components.
If you outsource the welding, don't forget the moveable bottom bracket assembly, misc. cable guides, chain guide rollers, track rod, etc, etc.
The Warrior plans will show everything that needs to be welded.
If you outsource the welding, don't forget the moveable bottom bracket assembly, misc. cable guides, chain guide rollers, track rod, etc, etc.
The Warrior plans will show everything that needs to be welded.
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Popshot
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Bolts require anti crush tubes welding in or tubes need some form of internal support to prevent crushing. Bolts are heavy and a lot of bolts adds a lot of weight. It can and has been done but is usually sub ideal.
Wood has been used with clever use of box sections to add strength. Bamboo has also been used. Some welding is usually still needed to modify things like the bottom bracket to mount to the eood or bamboo.
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Wood has been used with clever use of box sections to add strength. Bamboo has also been used. Some welding is usually still needed to modify things like the bottom bracket to mount to the eood or bamboo.
It looks nice, but acquiring bamboo where i live would be difficult. I’ll talk with my teacher and see what else he suggests, but i’m thinking of just outsourcing the welding to a neighbor. If that can’t work though, i’m curious about the wood designs. Is there any other place where i can find information on that?
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Try the internet for bamboo supplies.
tadpolerider.com
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Bamboo wood is known to be a strong wood. It is plentiful and fast growing. In some places in the world bamboo wood is used a whole lot where metal is normally used elsewhere. Have you ever seen b…
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