DIY build on ICE adventure quest frame

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Hi all, complete newbie here both to the forum and the world of triking. I have recently purchased a frame only project that I'm hoping will become my first recumbent trike. The frame is an unknown vintage ICE quest adventure, it comes with a mesh seat although this is not attached and doesn't appear to have any Fixings, it has a 3 ring front mech with one crank arm only and the steering mechanism complete to the drop heads but no front axles/hubs or wheels, no rear wheel either. My intention is to fit a 26 inch rear hub motor wheel and 20 inch front wheels either drum or disk braked. My question to the forum members would be what kind of axle/hub set up could I use? I have an engineering background welding/fabrication so any and all suggestions gladly welcomed. Thanks for reading.
Giles (mistyped my name on joining and got no idea how to change it 🙄)
 
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Hi all, complete newbie here both to the forum and the world of triking. I have recently purchased a frame only project that I'm hoping will become my first recumbent trike. The frame is an unknown vintage ICE quest adventure, it comes with a mesh seat although this is not attached and doesn't appear to have any Fixings, it has a 3 ring front mech with one crank arm only and the steering mechanism complete to the drop heads but no front axles/hubs or wheels, no rear wheel either. My intention is to fit a 26 inch rear hub motor wheel and 20 inch front wheels either drum or disk braked. My question to the forum members would be what kind of axle/hub set up could I use? I have an engineering background welding/fabrication so any and all suggestions gladly welcomed. Thanks for reading.
Giles (mistyped my name on joining and got no idea how to change it 🙄)
Pics or it never happened ;-)
I am sure we can all suggest how you can get where you want to be after we see what the base-frame etc. is like.
 
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OK.
I think that what is "missing" are the axle bolts and hubs for the front wheels.
The steering "arms" that the adjustable steering links attach to have the "anti-turn" post for the backplate of a drum-brake hub.
The set-up looks similar to a greenspeed look here.
But maybe you should give ICE themselves a call on Tel +44 (0) 1326 378848 and see what they can tell you about axles & hubs for this frame (you never know).
Good Luck with your re-build.
 
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OK.
I think that what is "missing" are the axle bolts and hubs for the front wheels.
The steering "arms" that the adjustable steering links attach to have the "anti-turn" post for the backplate of a drum-brake hub.
The set-up looks similar to a greenspeed look here.
But maybe you should give ICE themselves a call on Tel +44 (0) 1326 378848 and see what they can tell you about axles & hubs for this frame (you never know).
Good Luck with your re-build.
Thanks for your response, I probably will have to ring them as my initial enquiries through the contact form on their website has so far gone unanswered, I think they do use sturmey archer drum hubs from factory but I'm not sure of the actual part numbers, I've found 70mm and 90mm left and right handed mono fork fitment units on ebay but at around £160-190 for the pair I was hoping there might be a DIY workaround that would be more economical.
 
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Assuming they do use the Sturmey hubs then any 12mm bolt will fit through. The rear-most part may need the drill through to clear the threads or the bolt may tighten into those threads. 12mm is just enough of an axle to not bend so you could use any 20" wheels with a 12mm thru axle hub. You'd need to fabricate some brackets to hang callipers from for the discs and weld them to the steering arms. Such a job is about as simple as fabrication gets. Your "problem" is that whilst 20" wheels with discs do exist they are rarer than rocking horse poo with any size axle other than 3/8" which won't do, so you'd have to get some 12mm thru axle disc hubs and lace your own though you'd be doing that if you bought a pair of Sturmey single sided hubs anyway. I recently made a pair of 20" wheels on 12mm axle disc hubs and the hubs were about £15 each.
 
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IMHO, The pukka SA 90mm hubs are well worth the money; However, they come in 2 flavours bolt through or QR (I use the QR ones) but you will be restricted to the bolt through.
Easier to set up than discs, less fuss and excellent braking performance. They are found on most Velo's I think; primarily because the wheels can be removed easily whereas disc brake wheel removal is a much more involved affair.
 
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Tools would be needed anyway to remove a bolt through drum so two extra bolts on a calliper only adds 1 minute to the job. On a Velo there's always the issue of access to components with the body in the way so a Q/R wheel could be a major plus. Not as big an issue on an open trike I would suggest.
 
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I'm still trying to get my head around the actual fitment of the hub/wheel to the steering arm, my wheel building experience is zero so either way is going to be new to me. the sturmey hubs are expensive so the 12mm thru axle disc hubs will probably be my chosen path. does anyone know the reason for the grub screw, i had assumed it was some kind of lock nut/anti-loose device.
 
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Of course, it is your shout and you must do what you think best for you.
Bear in mind that the frame was designed and made for specific hubs and drilling out the threaded axle bores for 12mm bolts is an irreversible step.
IF you are going for A.N. Other hub which can be secured with a 12mm 8.8 or 12.9 hardness bolt (perfectly adequate IMHO) look to see if a partially threaded bolt of the appropriate threaded/non/threaded dimensions is available and pack out to the nearest size with steel shims/washers (available in 0.5mm thicknesses).
Rule of thumb on such bolts is:
  • Bolts up to 125mm long have 30mm of thread.
  • Bolts 125mm to 200mm long have 36mm of thread.
  • Bolts over 200mm long have 49mm of thread.
And the bolts generally are available in 5mm increments.
Hope this helps.
 
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I too thought the grub screw looked strange and made the same assumptions. You may not have to drill the threads out if they match an M12 bolt in which case the grub screw can stay and be the lock for the bolt. Don't forget to factor rotors and callipers in the with the cost of the hub. The Sturmeys are expensive but they come with brakes built in. 12mm thru hubs don't.
 
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Having seen many commercial trikes ROSS/ICE included I have never seen a grub screw placed there, most people building on here have never even seen a commercial trike never mind a particular frame..

I think you need to join both Bent Rider Online [ BROL ] and the British Human Power Club [ BHPC ] post your pictures and see if someone can explain how it is meant to go together and what parts are missing , or try contacting DTEK who may have seen one and may have some parts ?

This is what we expected it to look like :-



Disc brakes would require a caliper mount welding to the kingpin , a task not to be undertaken lightly on a commercial frame.

It could be made of CroMo steel and so thinner than our home-builds and not necessarily of a suitable thickness for the stresses involved in disc brakes.

The moment you touch that frame with a welder you have reduced it's value from a Ice trike frame to a home-built frame and probably only worth 1/4 the value ?

Also looks like there may be no ackerman compensation ? some of the early ROSS/ICE trikes were build like that and had interesting handling :(

Any solution will not be cheap , the parts missing are probably over 1/2 the of a s/h trike if buying new , also have you checked what wheel size it takes at the back ? they did both 20" and 26" versions I think ?

Paul
 
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