Warrior Trike Build Thread

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And the last one completed. Hopefully it'll go for a test ride today weather permitted. I still have a little fine tuning like the grips, bottle holder phone/mirror mounts. But it's good to use.
 
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Any reason the double pull lever is on the left? I assume that's pulling both front brakes. I know bikes do exist with the front deliberately placed on the left but they're somewhat rare, at least in the UK. They both look really good.
 
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You're correct the double pull is the front brakes. They're both on the left because that's what i could find in stock I had a difficult time finding any of them. I tried the splitter kind but it just didnt seem to work as well and was more messy than i wanted to try to cable manage.
 

Ian

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This is the completed shot and where all the next posts led up to. I used the steel recommendations in the book and weigh about 150lbs, I did the added reinforcement just to be safe. I also added peddle straps for my heels. The rear brake is a rim brake, not disc, and I later added a small rear fender.
Thom G, if you used a section of box tube for the front gusset will it foul anything. Or is it a weight issue or just plain ugly. Your's looks sweet!
 
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There's no reason you can't use box rather than sheet for gussets. It'll be lighter for the same strength too. Worst case is you'd need to drop the chain guide pulley down a fraction more
 
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There shouldn't be an issue using square tube. I first considered using square tube but decided to use the flat stock so it sat below flush with the frame. I found a manufactured trike that had all round tube and similar front supports and I didn't like how it looked as much, so I played around with the design and liked the curved look more than the straight line. I thought about bending a radius into the square tube but couldn't figure out how, I also considered getting the flat stock waterjet cut, with some circle or oval pattern to cut some weight, keep the strength and look cool, but I couldn't find a place and wanted to get the trike finished.

Popshot is correct, the pulley will need to be moved. I had to move mine forward to avoid hitting the support. Because you're moving it forward it will affect the height of the chain,, I added a small spacer between the pulley and frame to drop the pulley a little lower so it still cleared everything, you could also use a larger pulley. I would advise you to only tack in place as possible until you know the chain travel and everything will clear and is correct before welding it.
 

Ian

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There's no reason you can't use box rather than sheet for gussets. It'll be lighter for the same strength too. Worst case is you'd need to drop the chain guide pulley down a fraction more
Thanks Popshot
 

Ian

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Thom G, You sure know how to set the bar high. If mine ends up half as good I'll be ecstatic. I have a couple of questions and please tell me if I'm posting in the wrong place. 1. Is there are reason why you don't use a reverse thread on one of the front axles so that they tighten up with use like pedal spindles. 2. In regard to mirror brake calipers for the front brakes I have noticed some suggestions of using Moped, ATV brake calipers. The price looks good and they would look better than the reverse cable of bicycle calipers but they may cause more trouble than they are worth. I haven't seen any budget comparable MTB mirrored calipers. I'm looking mechanical but haven't excluded hydraulic if it fits the budget.
 
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Thank you for the compliment, I had no welding experience before i started so I'm sure some welders on here would cringe at a closer look. I just wanted to save some money and they looked like fun to ride.

1. That would be a great idea, i never thought about it and didn't even know about reverse threads on the two control rods until after i finished the first trike and read a post on here about left hand threads. If they have it large enough for the axels, i don't see why not. For the axles i had to add threads to the only bolts i could find to tighten them enough.

2. This is out of my wheel house, i just used normal mountain bike disc brakes. (The set is front and back and the holes are different. I didn't realize that and made two the same, and then had to redo the 2nd one.) I added a caliper on the rear wheel because i couldn't find a disc rear wheel, but the next two i used vbrakes and am changing the first to a vbrake. the moped brakes sound interesting, but the mtb brakes have been more than enough to stop quickly, and the vbrake makes powersliding awesome.
 

Ian

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Thank you for the compliment, I had no welding experience before i started so I'm sure some welders on here would cringe at a closer look. I just wanted to save some money and they looked like fun to ride.

1. That would be a great idea, i never thought about it and didn't even know about reverse threads on the two control rods until after i finished the first trike and read a post on here about left hand threads. If they have it large enough for the axels, i don't see why not. For the axles i had to add threads to the only bolts i could find to tighten them enough.

2. This is out of my wheel house, i just used normal mountain bike disc brakes. (The set is front and back and the holes are different. I didn't realize that and made two the same, and then had to redo the 2nd one.) I added a caliper on the rear wheel because i couldn't find a disc rear wheel, but the next two i used vbrakes and am changing the first to a vbrake. the moped brakes sound interesting, but the mtb brakes have been more than enough to stop quickly, and the vbrake makes powersliding awesome.
Thanks Thom G. I will explore the moped brakes a little more. Also Shimano make a nice hydraulic but I'm not sure about the price.
One more question if you don't mind. Long term I plan to add 250w mid mount pedelec and I was thinking of having an old Sturmey Archer AW 3 speed hub gear on the rear wheel. I just wonder if it will hold up to the extra torque or explode into a bunch of scrap. If I go this route I will use 20 inch on the rear so it's a decision to make before I start burning metal.
 
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Sorry, I can't speak to anything with electrical. I dont know anything about Ebikes.

To me they take the fun out of riding and I'd rather be in a car.
 

Ian

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Sorry, I can't speak to anything with electrical. I dont know anything about Ebikes.

To me they take the fun out of riding and I'd rather be in a car.
Thanks Thom G, I'm reaching the age where a little help is required going up hills.
 
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Like i said, if i had to deal with hills, I'd rather be in a car, luckily I'm in Ohio, we dont have "hills" here.
 
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Reassembled after powder coating. This is the same trike at the start of this thread that was off white. I didn't like the lack of durability with the paint, so it was off to powder coating. I also added a V brake on the rear wheel and cable guides.

 
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No they were just a green tinted like that when i bought them. They were the cheapest rims so I bought them I guess no one wanted green.
 
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Another post build/use recommendation: On one of my bikes the bolt welded to the frame, for the pulley, some how bent. Now I need to try to bend it straight without hurting the frame.

If I build any other bikes, I'm going to use a coupling nut or a few nuts and weld them to the frame, then put a bolt into it with locktite to hold the pulleys. If it bends I can take the bolt out and replace or bend it without worry of hurting the frame.
 
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