Hello inventive people here,
(Fistly a note, who i am. A 60 year old cyclist, 100s of 1000s of kms on the legs on bicycle-touring for decades, and he likes to experiment with things DIY. I am in the mood to try a DIY tadpole trike, in a way to be as simple and as cheap as possible, so that after a possible success i can offer plans/instructions to the community. With no rush, i do my research and work in free time, i am searching for a couple of months now on the web, i found this forum, good ideas in here, and feeling grateful i'd be glad if somebody picks any good idea as well.)
Anyway. With this post i want to make a question: do you think that the concept i describe is worth? The concept:
My main concern seems to be the so-called "one sided axles" (or stub-axles i think) for the 2 front wheels. I find many people worrying about this. I have found a couple of reliable solutions, but the problem is that they are quite expensive here, but my intention is to offer an effective and cheap solution for people to make with simple tools.
We can find already one-sided-axles on normal bicycles? Yes: the pedals. Can we exploit them? ... Having cycled over uncountable mountains and standing on the pedals quite much and with high power when young, i never ever ever had a single case of pedal failure even with cheap pedals. That tells me that the pedal is strong enough to withstand cantilever force (it is the right term? my english is not perfect) -- which is exactly what we need. The attachment of that wheel to the trike seems easy: it would be simply a job of welding a piece of a bicycle crank.
So let me take a cheap plastic pedal. (-see the attached 3 images-) I cut off the central part of the plastic body, and with a knife i carve it so as to keep only the part to support the two bearing beds. I slide this plastic piece inside a piece of steel handlebars of the proper length, so that it fits snugly and tight inside. I must file off a bit the circumference of the two bearing beds, and they sit nicely inside the steel handlebar piece and on the plastic support, on both sides. I add the rest: balls, cone, stopping washer, fixing nut. I adjust the bearings. I add the end protection cup. (No grease, just testing now.) The thing spins like a charm. Two flanges can be welded on the handlebar piece, on the one side being wide enough to accommodate a piece to support the disc-brake rotor (- spacers weld-jointed with bars). Lastly, the central plastic support part can be permanently fixed in the steel handlebars piece with a dozen of screws inserted through the steel in the plastic, and the holes for the spokes will be drilled on the flanges.
A good question:
-- OK friend, the axle may be strong, but the small bearings will be worn off soon.
A possibly good answer:
Thank You.
image 2
image 3
(Fistly a note, who i am. A 60 year old cyclist, 100s of 1000s of kms on the legs on bicycle-touring for decades, and he likes to experiment with things DIY. I am in the mood to try a DIY tadpole trike, in a way to be as simple and as cheap as possible, so that after a possible success i can offer plans/instructions to the community. With no rush, i do my research and work in free time, i am searching for a couple of months now on the web, i found this forum, good ideas in here, and feeling grateful i'd be glad if somebody picks any good idea as well.)
Anyway. With this post i want to make a question: do you think that the concept i describe is worth? The concept:
My main concern seems to be the so-called "one sided axles" (or stub-axles i think) for the 2 front wheels. I find many people worrying about this. I have found a couple of reliable solutions, but the problem is that they are quite expensive here, but my intention is to offer an effective and cheap solution for people to make with simple tools.
We can find already one-sided-axles on normal bicycles? Yes: the pedals. Can we exploit them? ... Having cycled over uncountable mountains and standing on the pedals quite much and with high power when young, i never ever ever had a single case of pedal failure even with cheap pedals. That tells me that the pedal is strong enough to withstand cantilever force (it is the right term? my english is not perfect) -- which is exactly what we need. The attachment of that wheel to the trike seems easy: it would be simply a job of welding a piece of a bicycle crank.
So let me take a cheap plastic pedal. (-see the attached 3 images-) I cut off the central part of the plastic body, and with a knife i carve it so as to keep only the part to support the two bearing beds. I slide this plastic piece inside a piece of steel handlebars of the proper length, so that it fits snugly and tight inside. I must file off a bit the circumference of the two bearing beds, and they sit nicely inside the steel handlebar piece and on the plastic support, on both sides. I add the rest: balls, cone, stopping washer, fixing nut. I adjust the bearings. I add the end protection cup. (No grease, just testing now.) The thing spins like a charm. Two flanges can be welded on the handlebar piece, on the one side being wide enough to accommodate a piece to support the disc-brake rotor (- spacers weld-jointed with bars). Lastly, the central plastic support part can be permanently fixed in the steel handlebars piece with a dozen of screws inserted through the steel in the plastic, and the holes for the spokes will be drilled on the flanges.
A good question:
-- OK friend, the axle may be strong, but the small bearings will be worn off soon.
A possibly good answer:
- a brand new pair of plastic pedals costs less than 3 dollars,
- the dimension standards of these cheap things are the same on the planet and easy to find everywhere, and,
- the job to replace "2 axles + 4 bearing cups + 52 balls" is a matter of half an hour at most and with very simple tools.
Thank You.
image 1Images:
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image 3