I am planning to build the Warrior

Joined
Feb 21, 2021
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Have read most of the way the plans. Very impressed so far. I have been looking online for the front hubs discribe in the plans “Formula??” So far I’m having no luck finding them. Does anyone know a source ?? Thanks
 
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Sep 16, 2018
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I got mine from aliexpres, but I now got the front wheels from icletta. They sell also the hubs separately. They are 12mm but narrow. I use now m12 stainless steel bolds.
My first build had m16 bolds with 20mm tubes over it, to get the 20mm for those hubs.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2021
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Thanks for the information. I’m still in the planning stage. This is all very new to me. But I believe I have the bug lol
 
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
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Netherlands and France
Good luck! The hubs I bought from Aliexpress, the rims were scavenged from an old bmx bike, the spokes I got from a French webshop (I have used 8 different spoke calculators to make sure I have the right length lol). The hubs are 20mm hollow axis, I will use 16mm or 18mm bolt with some weld on it to make the axis fit.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2021
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Depends on what you call a source? I scavanged a series of BMX 48 spoke front wheels , with adapted shaft for my Streetfox (don't shoot me, it wasn't finished, and it got recycled in Battlebots bits 9 years ago).

But now, I just would buy 2 Sturmey Archer single side drum brake hubs and learn to lace 20" wheels to them.
thanks
Good luck! The hubs I bought from Aliexpress, the rims were scavenged from an old bmx bike, the spokes I got from a French webshop (I have used 8 different spoke calculators to make sure I have the right length lol). The hubs are 20mm hollow axis, I will use 16mm or 18mm bolt with some weld on it to make the axis fit.
 
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
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Netherlands and France
Re spoke. Not repose lol darn auto correct
Well, I bought those "Novatec DH61SB Mtb Disc Brake 36 Holes Bicycle Hub DH Thru Axle Downhill Mountain Bike Front Hubs 20mm 110mm 2 Bearings" for indeed downhill mountain bikes. And added a diskbrake set. The spoke length had to be calculated. In the end I also found a youtube tutorial for 3-cross spoking of the wheels. That helped a lot :) First time right (a bit of wobble, easy to correct). Because it is a hollow axis you can use it on a wheel chair as well as on a trike. A 20mm bolt (diy'ed or bought) is strong enough to be side-mounted. Brad explains well in his Warrior plans.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2021
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Well, I bought those "Novatec DH61SB Mtb Disc Brake 36 Holes Bicycle Hub DH Thru Axle Downhill Mountain Bike Front Hubs 20mm 110mm 2 Bearings" for indeed downhill mountain bikes. And added a diskbrake set. The spoke length had to be calculated. In the end I also found a youtube tutorial for 3-cross spoking of the wheels. That helped a lot :) First time right (a bit of wobble, easy to correct). Because it is a hollow axis you can use it on a wheel chair as well as on a trike. A 20mm bolt (diy'ed or bought) is strong enough to be side-mounted. Brad explains well in his Warrior plans.
I am very impressed with the build plans and they are easy to understand. I did see about welding up a bolt to the correct size. I am now I search of some doner bikes. And to think I threw away or gave away 3 or 4 of them after my boys got drivers license. Wishing now I had kept them. Looking like I’ll be hitting garage sales in the near future lol
 
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Apr 23, 2020
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I am very impressed with the build plans and they are easy to understand. I did see about welding up a bolt to the correct size. I am now I search of some doner bikes. And to think I threw away or gave away 3 or 4 of them after my boys got drivers license. Wishing now I had kept them. Looking like I’ll be hitting garage sales in the near future lol
Make sure you select steel donor bikes, also lug-less frames are great (less steel to remove after cutting). I scavenged my old steel Gazelle racing bike - it will be reused in my warrior. As well as a 20" bmx and my son's bike.
 
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Oct 19, 2012
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Wakefield, UK
The hubs are not specific to trikes or any one bike. You want to search for thru axle hubs with a disc fittment (unless opting for the Sturmey drum brake hubs) and you want a minimum of 12mm axles. The common 3/8 axle won't hack it. Thru hubs come in 12mm, 15mm and 20mm. You can use 15mm if you also get a 15mm to 12mm reducer. 15mm bolts are exceedingly rare hence the need for the reducer to take a 12mm bolt. 20mm hubs are somewhat overkill unless you're very heavy and you intend to do some offroad racing plus M20 bolts weigh a ton. Don't forget to match the number of holes on the hub to the number of holes in the rims you intend to use. It's no good getting nice hubs if you can't get nice rims to match. Generally the more holes/spokes the better but I've gone down to 32 spokes without them collapsing but I'd suggest trying to source 36 hole hubs and rims. Lacing the wheel looks hard but isn't. There are tutorials to follow and if you can stand up, see lightning and hear thunder you're qualified to lace wheels. There are online calculators for spoke lengths to help you find the right size.
Some hub choices here
Whilst you're at Ali-express...
If you're going for discs then these calipers are both cheap and are matched. ie unlike most calipers scavenged off donor bikes you won't have one arm up and one down. On a Warrior I'd recommend brakes on the front only, with one lever per caliper.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2020
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Ohio
I found the hubs and rims on ebay and took them to a local bike shop to lace up. I am about 2 or 3 days away from a test ride on my warrior and here is what i learned and what i'll do different next time:
Go to walmart or target and buy 2 new bikes instead of using old ones. If you use old parts you'll get a new combination of old parts that may or may not match up and finding parts for old bikes is a pain. If you buy two bikes you can get them for about 100 each, you'll use a lot of parts off of both bikes, just the 3 chains needed are 20 bucks each, so you'll only buy one more, you'll have spare peddles, gears, grips, brake handles, etc. The head tubes, bearings etc. will all match and be new and easy to find replacements for.

Do not cut the seat back down tube at a 45 V like it says. The plans say cut it at a 45, then tilt it back at a 45, that will make your V cut, into a L, which is what is needed for other plans, but not the correct angle for the rear wheel support for the warrior.

The plans say make the front boom 11" from the ground. If you look at other warrior builds on here, you'll see that isn't high enough. The control arms that extend back, won't be low enough and the steering bar that connects the two wheels will hit the frame. I had to move mine up to like 12.5" instead of 11" (my theory is the bucket in the pic is 11" and then has an 1.5" piece of pipe on top of it). If you can't use a pipe as a makeshift axle between the center of the hubs for the two front wheels, then your frame is to low and it will be an issue.

Add extra bracing on the rear wheel support and the front wheel supports. Making it stronger won't hurt, but I found a lot of old posts of people saying that the one weld location is weak and it or the metal around it breaks. Most bikes have the rear wheel with triangular support.

Look at Jon's build on here and steal his idea for the frame for 2x4's, it makes it so much easier. Also go to the way back time machine (internet archive) I put a link in Jon's thread to some old posts on the old forum and a guy named spinner posted pictures of his build. He made jigs for making the front wheel cuts easier, the angles on tthe head tubes steering booms, etc and had a ton of useful information in there that took the guesswork out and makes it so you don't have to hold 8 different moving parts and get them aligned and welded.

I cut as many pieces and parts before i started welding as I could, it was a huge help to have all the tabs and stuff done and ready to go, so I wasn't trying to build and make it all at the time time. Some you can't do ahead of time just because you have to measure when it's built to that part, but there is a good amount you can do ahead of time like the end caps for the tubs the parts for the peddles, the steering tabs. I spent a good week prepping as much ahead of time as I could, then I tack welded everywhere i could and kept building, I didn't make final, solid welds until I had to, that way it was easy to make changes or corrections.

Buy several of his plans, he does things differently on other bikes that still work on the warrior, like the plans for the warrior don't really mention cutting down the seat tube, it just is says lave 12" and mentioned at one part about adjust it later, but the plans for another bike say how to size, show pictures, and have information. When I looked at my build i wondered why the tube stuck up so far, but the pictures shows his was just about the same height of the arms on the peddles.

anyway that's all i've got so far, i'm sure i'll think of more stuff soon enough.
 
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