AZ inspired trike build starts!

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@stormbird
The alternative is to have each rear brake on its own lever, so they'd be cutting brakes.
No idea what a ' cutting brake ' is ?

If I need to stop in a hurry I don't trust myself to apply even pressure and not put myself in a ditch or out into traffic :p
This is based on incorrect assumptions !
Hase the biggest Delta trike manufacturer in Europe has been selling their trikes for years with only rear brakes on separate levers .
I owned a Hase for maybe 6 years and been riding my current Python for 6 years , it now has individual rear levers/brakes there handling is benign even with one wheel locked up and in no way dangerous. Due to the position of the Python's pivot it wiggles and drifts towards the unbraked wheel this is easily tamed with the handle bars.

The situation of 2 brakes on one lever [ unless essential due to disability ] IMHO is asking for trouble ?
  1. do you think you can adjust 2 brakes to start braking at the same time ?
  2. do you think they can be adjusted to give the same force at the same time ?
  3. what if one wheel locks up ? do you release the brakes to unlock it ?
  4. so you have the lever mounted on the right hand side , how do you indicate right and brake at the same time ?
The front brake can be dangerous locking the front wheel up as the wheel is lightly loaded , if you do that there is NO steering [ do not ask me how I know that ......]
A front brake with a friction lever however is very handy as a parking brake , especially when loaded or with trailer etc
 
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@stormbird cutting brakes are used in off-road vehicles to lock up a brake so you can pivot the vehicle around it. You see them on sand rails a lot. I really appreciate your experience with individual brake levers. This is a big revelation to me, and really it is going to make the build that much simpler, so Thank You!

Also an interesting idea about using the front as a parking brake. That might come in very very handy. I do plan on having more load on the front (which is why the seat is further ahead of the rear wheels than many designs). Again, thank you!
 
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I've bought double pull levers off ebay before with equal pull. Don't forget though that the amount of force you apply is then split between the two brakes meaning twice the effort is needed to get the same result using the one hand. That hand may not be strong enough!

My first trike (swb tadpole) had a lever for each front brake and no rear and braked perfectly well. Using that system but on the rear is only going to add to stability
 
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@stormbird cutting brakes are used in off-road vehicles to lock up a brake so you can pivot the vehicle around it. You see them on sand rails a lot.
Ok I see , I assume that works because there is a huge amount of power going through the unbraked wheel , unlikely on a human powered trike :D


Also an interesting idea about using the front as a parking brake. That might come in very very handy. I do plan on having more load on the front (which is why the seat is further ahead of the rear wheels than many designs). Again, thank you!
No problem , it is especailly useful if you are trying to load/unload the vehicle at the rear [ i.e behind the brake levers ] and the ground is not flat ,
 
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Okay, two things:

1) I hate axle grease.

I have been carrying around the same two tubes of axle grease since around 2003. I originally purchased them for a vehicle but haven't really used them much. And bikes don't use a lot. I hate the stuff. It smells, it's hard to get off your hands, and it smells. Did I mention it smells?

Today I used some of it to service all three wheels and both headsets. So that's crossed off the list!

2) 5mm is the same as a thousand miles.

The bike I pulled the bottom bracket shell from is 73mm. The bike I pulled the bottom bracket from is 68mm. My dilemma is this: Do I pull the BB shell out of one of two beautiful bikes (one is a 1980's Pugeot!) and destroy one of those frames? or do I find a 122.5mm spindle somewhere? I'd rather just get the spindle, if I can find one. The spindle in the fat tire bike that I got the BB shell from was destroyed, or I'd have used it.

I've got more online searching to do before I can make a decision.
 
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If I understood your bottom bracket statement correctly you need a 68mm cartridge. I just bought a shimano 68 mm cartridge from my local bike shop for my trike. Everything here in Canada is more expensive than where you live but it was only about $25. The mechanic at the shop told me there are 5 different main sizes, I had guessed mine was 68 as well and made a lucky guess. I'm sure amazon has all the sizes as well.
 
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We used petroleum jelly ( Vaseline) on our headsets , bottom brackets and axles , used it for years before lithium grease. I hate smelly grease.
Yeah I think I'm going to pick up some nicer grease for the next time I do this.

I just looked at one of my parts bikes and it's not as nice as I thought it was. The Peugot will live, but this one's taking one for the team.
 
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My parts bike was missing a brade pad, so last night I ordered 4 new brake pads. The frame that I cut up last night taunted me with its cartridge bottom bracket, which I don't have the tool for. That too was ordered.

The seat back was held to the frame with wood screws, but I prefer a firmer attachment than that. I bought some blind nuts and installed those today with 10-24 bolts to use to attach the seat back. I trimmed them to length, and then got on to the next phase of getting the seat ready. I clear coated the side that will be uncovered and then glued foam from the camping pad to the seat bottom and seat back.

I completely forgot to get pictures of any of this, of course. But it was really nothing special. Tomorrow I should be able to show pics of the seat with the foam glued on and trimmed. Work is on hold until the above mentioned parts come in. I won't start cabling any of it until the bottom bracket is finished up. Again.

Another thing I purchased recently was a few waterproof 12V red LED strips. The goal is to get them flashing with an arduino and some drivers that can handle the current. This will also open up the possibility of custom patterns, such as ones that might encourage cars to give me plenty of room. As it is, no regular flashing LED's you can buy were big enough for this 42" wide ride!

There's also going to be the LED head lamp and perhaps some other electrical accessories. I think I'm going to go ahead and run the frame as ground and then just worry about the 12v positive wiring, just as in a car. Hopefully it'll save some complexity rather than create it :p
 
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Indeed! They are 18" strips with an led every inch or so. The headlamp was only $4 I think and is plenty bright. I think I posted a pic of it earlier in the thread or on my Instagram account.

My main goal is to be seen of course, and to see at dusk. Red tail lights and a headlamp are as far as it goes for now.
 
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Not much progress lately, because I'm waiting on stuff to arrive. Today I did get the seat done though. A couple of nights ago I'd glued the foam to them:



A seat on a seat, get it? Right. A friend who works at a ship yard where they build luxury yachts gave me some material that's leather-like and quite expensive, apparently. But these were leftovers that were being thrown away. I covered them. The backs aren't pretty. But here they are:



I'll post more when I have it :)
 
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First a picture, then the story.



It pained me to cut up the bike that this BB shell and seat post came from. But it had to be done. It was the only one I had left.

Yesterday I spent all afternoon cutting up another bike, one that I didn't care about at all, and building the bottom bracket for the Tri-Meridian. The tool for the cartridge bottom bracket came, and I wasted no time. I built it all and went to put it together, and... nothing. The bearing races wouldn't thread up. I should have stopped and come back to it, but I didn't realize how tired I was and how impaired my thinking was.

I cross threaded both sides by forcing the wrong bearing cups in. 😬😬😬🤢🤢🤢

I threw it away and got to work on the new one. I spent far less time on it this time, but I got it right. I left the bearing cups in this time while I welded, and I was also more patient and did small welds to cut down on distortion. The worst of it is that the cartridge bottom bracket on the other bike is trash. It doesn't turn smoothly at all. So I'm going to use the ball and cup BB that came on the bike I cut up tonight. I promise to honor its beautiful construction in an equally good bike. Maybe.

I actually hemmed and hawed as to whether I'd share this giant failure, but it's my way of keeping myself honest. The Internet is full of "I did this amazing thing with one simple trick" garbage that I want some poor soul who reads this thread thinking "Man, I could never do this!" to look at this post and go "oh, dang. They screwed up big on a simple mistake. This must be a project taken on by a Mere Mortal Who Has No Idea What He Is Doing."

Indeed.

But it's progress!

I'm hoping to get it installed tomorrow. Brake pads arrived and the seat is ready to be installed for now. My friend who gave me the seat covering said "you should have asked me for help, I do this all day!" We're going to re-do it more better and make it look really good. The back is, for now... ugly. Just terrible! I am glad to have a friend who offers assistance. I need it :p
 

SirJoey

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My cozy little nook in the corner!
Don't feel bad. I don't think anybody gets through one of these builds without a few mistakes here & there.
Heaven knows, back when I had a place to work, I made my share! Some were trivial, & some were real doozies,
most of which, like you, I shared on here. I've cut pieces too small, drilled holes too big, welded parts on backwards,
put my hand on blistering hot, freshly welded parts, & more! But (usually) we do better next time, right? :)

Remember, humility is a virtue, & one we could all use more of, IMO. Anyway, great story! Thanx for sharing!

***
 
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Wrong direction threads? The occasional need does not lend itself to readily remembering how to do it when the need arises. I'm having the same problem with Imgur through not using it often enough. I know it is straight forward but, lately, it has not been working out that way for me and this forum software reports an error on pasting, so it slips down the ToDo list a little bit.

Back to the original problem. When it comes to threading up those occasional things like bottom brackets and pedals, because I can't remember and it saves trying to, I always run a fingernail into the thread to confirm direction. It works - most times.

I remember a bottom bracket that need re-bearing about three years ago. The thread direction was not visible. I checked a reference and then attempted to remove it. I only managed to get it unscrewed a few mm before I gave up. The threads are still not visible. Maybe just as well as I think they would look terrible. Wrong way or not? Don't know, I forget.
 
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@vk3ckc did you have a problem with my images hosted on Imgur? I don't recall discussing it.

Oh, and by the way

IT HAS BEEN RIDDEN

Yup. Today I got the bottom bracket together and installed, and then cut some chain and put it together. I took it for a short ride on the dirt road next to my house (I live right off main street. It's a small town) and in the parking lot on the other side, which is partly paved.



It's comfortable! But it also has a problem that I need to solve: The Jackshaft. It turns out that these bicycle hubs I'm repurposing are just pressed together. They aren't meant to transfer torque, and so they spin. I have some welding to do to get them to not spin. I welded up one side where I could see it, and another joint started spinning. Minor detail...

The other issue is that I feel like I'm going to slide right off the seat. I'm not sure if that's just me having never ridden a trike of any kind before or if the seat material is too slick. Time will tell, there. Oh, and the seat no longer fits the same way now that it has foam on it! 0.o I should have seen that coming. I have Tee nuts to hold 10-24 machine screws to install it, and I had to go back to wood screws for the time being. Minor issue.

I'll be working on it more tomorrow. It's definitely not done, but it's inching closer!
 
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I haven't had any problems with any of your images at all. i'm having problems getting my own inserted in posts. i have downloaded a couple of "How to's" from youTube to try and sort out when I get time.

Getting ready to restart eLecTricks build due to what I have learned during testing in last few months
 
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Ah! I see what you mean. Drag and drop the picture(s) into imgur on any page. They'll be on imgur then. Right click on them and select "open image in new tab". Then go to the new tab and copy the URL. Then go here and select the Insert Image icon on the reply toolbar and insert the URL you got from Imgur. Should work :)
 
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