F'lowroller - 17 years so far...

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Nov 14, 2008
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High Plains Colorado
How it looked in July 2005 - just finished it:


The flop is so brutally severe that I need my daughter's steering assistance:


It was stolen a few months later - got it back after the police recovered it:


Rebuilt it with a much better wheel set, crank, chainring, stem, etc...


Same daughter about 13 years later - same bike about 30,000 miles later:


Same bike, with my oldest son on it recently - somewhere between 30-40,000 miles - still riding it:


Brad: Glad to see you're still at it - thanks for all the good work.
 
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Nottinghamshire England
Robert

Wow great to see you on here.

Every year I get your plans out and consider building one.

Main reason I don't ?

I think it may be to long to hang on the back of my very small SUV in a crowded United Kingdom.

All the best Paul
 
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Robert

Sorry meant to comment of the excellent pictures and history , how the years have passed !

Been building Pythons for 10 years and have 2 non-tilters and 6 tilting trikes in that time :-Scroll to bottom of thread for Mk1.5 & Mk6

Thinking out aloud , if the cables were not an issue could the front end swivel around until the front wheel was alongside the frame ?
That could mean the bike was only as long as the back of the rear wheel to the front of the pedal crank ring ?
What is that distance for a 26" [ which I assume yours is ? ] bike ?
I could of course gain a little by building it either 24" or with 20" wheels ?

Paul
 
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High Plains Colorado
Paul,

Thanks for the link!

Good questions! First thoughts on a folder:

1) The upper brace tubes act as steering stops - can't turn it backwards. The top of those brace tubes could go below the steering head rather than above, but I wouldn't want to do that with the 1" steering tube.

2) Smaller wheels would help, but it would go from VERY long to merely very long - and it would require all new geometry to get it right (Not that hard to change). The current bottom bracket height is 13" - I wouldn't want to go any lower.

3) A Dahon style offset hinge at the frame angle between the seat and steering head would allow the bike to fold fairly neatly in half. The wheels would be close to each other - with both wheels on the ground while folded up, the handlebar would be fairly high in the air - I think that would fit nicely on the back of the typical rack.
 
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Paul,
3) A Dahon style offset hinge at the frame angle between the seat and steering head would allow the bike to fold fairly neatly in half. The wheels would be close to each other - with both wheels on the ground while folded up, the handlebar would be fairly high in the air - I think that would fit nicely on the back of the typical rack.
Robert

It is possible if it did that there would be no need for the outside rack it would probably fit inside laid down.

Hmm food for thought.



I have most of one of these sat in the shed unused it has a crude folding mechanism , round tubes may be tricky to work around ?

Paul
 
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Nov 14, 2008
Messages
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High Plains Colorado
Paul,

A round tube version would be better. The first one I built had round tubing - I only used rectangular tubing to make it easier for others to build. Ideally, one could build the rectangular version first, get everything right, then make a jig from it and build the round tube version.

Here's the earlier round tube version, summer of 2003 - lots of detail differences:


The frame tubing was too weak - it was starting to yield a few months later....


That was my first human power recumbent - learned a lot from it - still put thousands of fun miles on it.
 
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Oct 19, 2012
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Wakefield, UK
That main tube is going to get a lot of forces hitting it at the worst possible angle. Suspension would ease some of those forces. A springer style front, hinged at the bb and sprung at the top of the brace would go with the look too imo.

That's an impressive amount of mileage.
 
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By the time that first frame was thrown out, it was buckling under the front of the seat - I mistakenly thought it would happen just aft of the steering head. Yes, suspension would be very beneficial for both the frame and the rider. Plus a rear suspension has the potential to drop down and swing forward, ending up under the frame.
 
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Yes, suspension would be very beneficial for both the frame and the rider. Plus a rear suspension has the potential to drop down and swing forward, ending up under the frame.
I had that thought , except it would contribute some more to the length when being ridden ?

Paul
 
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It would, but the weight distribution would improve a little. It's another one of those compromises in recumbent design that the designer/builder/rider has to consider.
 
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Robert

Well after much thinking I don't fancy the swing under back wheel idea.
It will make the bike longer in use and more awkward to get on and off a bike rack as it will become taller but not able to stand up.
i think there may be some mileage in either :-


moving the goose neck mounting up to the handle bars or even a bracket underneath projecting forwards slightly ?
or
making the right hand stay easily removable and just taking it off to get the front wheel to move through 180'
or
it is possibly the wheel only has to move through 90' to shorten it and I can live with it stuck out at right angles ?

now if only I can find the time to build one......

Paul
 
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Paul,

It will steer almost 120 degrees before the stay hits - the overall length only shortens about 6", but sure gets a lot wider. A quick release front hub at the rear wheel might shorten it more.
 

Radical Brad

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Thanks for sharing! Great to see your unique ride still on the road.
I am still kicking around here, but I fly into remote communities for my job now, so the only transportation I see has a propellor on the front.

I posted your photos out on the FB page.

Cheers!
Brad
 
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