Recumbent Trike

[Rasp]

Beau, I am beginning to suspect that the siding of your house is finished bright...

LoL!! Well, I don't have any control over it. We live in a single family house that is buried within a condo complex, so the Architectural Review Board controls how everything "looks". Don't get me started on these clowns.

Rumor has it that Beau varnishes the T-111 siding on the garden shack...

I think we should have a Pan-Pacific Varnishing Showdown Invitational between Beau and this Japanese fanatic, Sanonmagic, the guy who builds the wooden bicycles. Look at his daysailer. It has just returned to the shop for a RE-VARNISHING! Looks like it just came out of the shop.



According to the text on the page, it has been eight years since the build and this is the original finish. Must have a canvas boat cover that reaches the boot top.



Oh, and he has a schooner too so he and Beau should get on just fine

[Tucky]

Well there you have it- thanks Kim. I hadn't heard of the others that came after Murphy. I would think that at those speeds the bike would be stable enough given the gyroscope force of the wheels, the problem would be any turning.

My memory also contains a story about someone who decided to see what made a bicycle rideable by making one you couldn't ride. I'm not sure I remember it completely. Turned out trail didn't matter, a bike could be ridden no matter the angle of the forks. Wheel size wasn't a problem and you can drive either wheel and steer from either end. The thing that makes a bike unrideable is if the two wheels are not pretty much in line.

[kimbottles]

John's and Fred's rigs for the record.....

[JoeP]

I know something else which makes a bike unridable or nearly unridable. In grade school there was a guy in my class whose dad was an inveterate tinkerer. One day he tookan old bike and offset the hubs from the center of the wheels towards the rims using different length spokes which he made up. He then had the kids in the neighborhood ride around the street to see which one could go the fastest or stay on longest, I forget which. I never got the nerve up to ride it but it was hilarious watching the other kids try. The bikes bucked like broncos and there were quite a few skinned shins, elbows and smiles at the end of the day.

[Orestes Munn]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APl3pCBOuPk[/youtube]

[LarryHoward]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APl3pCBOuPk[/youtube]

Muscle memory is a powerful thing.

I sailed a home built land sailer that used direct foot steering and you had to push with your left foot to go right and vice versa. With just a bit of practice, you could do OK when things were benign. Add in a puff or an obstacle and the natural reaction to "push right to turn right" took over. Not pretty .

[Orestes Munn]

Simple spatial transformation. What could be so hard?

[Tucky]

Thanks for that video- I don't think that was tried in the article I read, but I can see how hard it would be to get started.

Of course I've seen a lot of folks do something similar with a tiller and tell me my boat was unsteerable.

[LarryHoward]

Thanks for that video- I don't think that was tried in the article I read, but I can see how hard it would be to get started.

Of course I've seen a lot of folks do something similar with a tiller and tell me my boat was unsteerable.

That's what surprised me. I have absolutely no problem with a tiller but the land sailer pretty much humiliated me the first time I tried it.

Then again, I taught at Annapolis Sailing School when I was a lot younger. If anything, trying to teach surgeons on vacation their left from their right convinced me that not everybody "gets it" quickly.

[Orestes Munn]

Thanks for that video- I don't think that was tried in the article I read, but I can see how hard it would be to get started.

Of course I've seen a lot of folks do something similar with a tiller and tell me my boat was unsteerable.

That's what surprised me. I have absolutely no problem with a tiller but the land sailer pretty much humiliated me the first time I tried it.

Then again, I taught at Annapolis Sailing School when I was a lot younger. If anything, trying to teach surgeons on vacation their left from their right convinced me that not everybody "gets it" quickly.

I never had much of a tiller problem, because, I guess, I always felt I was steering the back of the boat and not the front.

My daughter, who is the most spatially challenged individual I have ever met outside of the dementia clinic, also taught at the ASS for two seasons. She also knew crap-all about sailing when she started, but they loved her for some reason.

We once met her with a boatload of students in the harbor and I asked them if she knew what she was doing. The answer was, "How would we know"?

[LarryHoward]

Thanks for that video- I don't think that was tried in the article I read, but I can see how hard it would be to get started.

Of course I've seen a lot of folks do something similar with a tiller and tell me my boat was unsteerable.

That's what surprised me. I have absolutely no problem with a tiller but the land sailer pretty much humiliated me the first time I tried it.

Then again, I taught at Annapolis Sailing School when I was a lot younger. If anything, trying to teach surgeons on vacation their left from their right convinced me that not everybody "gets it" quickly.

I never had much of a tiller problem, because, I guess, I always felt I was steering the back of the boat and not the front.

My daughter, who is the most spatially challenged individual I have ever met outside of the dementia clinic, also taught at the ASS for two seasons. She also knew crap-all about sailing when she started, but they loved her for some reason.

We once met her with a boatload of students in the harbor and I asked them if she knew what she was doing. The answer was, "How would we know"?

Good point.

Always a good group of college sailors there. We worked cheap.

Only felt like work when you had whiney students and there was no wind.

[Orestes Munn]

Thanks for that video- I don't think that was tried in the article I read, but I can see how hard it would be to get started.

Of course I've seen a lot of folks do something similar with a tiller and tell me my boat was unsteerable.

That's what surprised me. I have absolutely no problem with a tiller but the land sailer pretty much humiliated me the first time I tried it.

Then again, I taught at Annapolis Sailing School when I was a lot younger. If anything, trying to teach surgeons on vacation their left from their right convinced me that not everybody "gets it" quickly.

I never had much of a tiller problem, because, I guess, I always felt I was steering the back of the boat and not the front.

My daughter, who is the most spatially challenged individual I have ever met outside of the dementia clinic, also taught at the ASS for two seasons. She also knew crap-all about sailing when she started, but they loved her for some reason.

We once met her with a boatload of students in the harbor and I asked them if she knew what she was doing. The answer was, "How would we know"?

Good point.

Always a good group of college sailors there. We worked cheap.

Only felt like work when you had whiney students and there was no wind.

She had a blast. They made her swim a lot.

I still have trouble with the lumber carts at Home Depot

[Soñadora]

you could try a KrankiKobra

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUU9ZNzJAlw[/youtube]

or not try and say you did

[kimbottles]

you could try a KrankiKobra

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUU9ZNzJAlw[/youtube]

or not try and say you did

Looks like me trying to figure out the tiller steering on my low racer. Took about 30 minutes to sort it all out. The tiller on the low racer is backwards to the tiller on my sailboats!

[LarryHoward]

you could try a KrankiKobra

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUU9ZNzJAlw[/youtube]

or not try and say you did

Looks like me trying to figure out the tiller steering on my low racer. Took about 30 minutes to sort it all out. The tiller on the low racer is backwards to the tiller on my sailboats!

"Alcohol may or may not have been a factor" in the design decision process.

An honest man.

[Tucky]

Why is the question, especially looking at the cool hangar/workshop.

[floating dutchman]

Why is the question, especially looking at the cool hangar/workshop.

You missed the alcohol part

I do like the clever chain tensioner he has got going on there. Thats simple smart.

jeroen

[Orestes Munn]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AswlUoCnCs[/youtube]

[Soñadora]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AswlUoCnCs[/youtube]

now, if he could just bike to my office and sit at my desk for me for 8 hours I could probably get more sailing.

I took the plunge and should have my new trike in a few weeks. Will keep you posted.

[kimbottles]

COOL!!

send me a report after you try it. I have always thought they were cool.

[Soñadora]

one thing I need is to find a pannier that I can use for carrying my laptop and a change of clothes.

[Cherie320]

Should make you a nice commute ride. Enjoy!

[Soñadora]

been riding now for the past few days. This is quite an experience!

[kimbottles]

Please take video!

[BeauV]

been riding now for the past few days. This is quite an experience!

Wooooh! Wait a minute!!

Does it bend at your waist? That looks... Difficult.

[Orestes Munn]

Definitely Space-Age.

[Soñadora]

not difficult at all. That's why I got it

you ride it lying down. You steer with the joystick thingies sticking up on either side. There's a tie rod that connects the two. It's very comfortable to ride and pretty fast. I was able to keep up with some sporty dude on a skinny bike in matching bike clothes until I came to a hill. I still need to figure out the best way to get up hills. It's not as bad as it sounded from others I've talked to.

The thing is amazingly responsive. That actually took me by surprise. Best of all, after a 2 hour ride I'm not sore anywhere. It really is a blast to ride.

The only downside is that it seems to 'oscillate'. It's probably more of an issue because I'm not a small guy. It seems the inertia of my legs pedalling sets up a weird harmonic that makes the bike oscillate.

[BeauV]

Rick, I had to learn a different way of peddling when climbing hills in the dirt on a mountain bike. The trick was to pull up with one leg with about the same pressure as I was pushing down with the other. Similarly, I eventually got so I was pushing forward with the peddle on the top with about the same pressure as I was pushing the lower peddle aft. This got rid of the big increase in torque that my thigh would provide pressing down and made the torque in the rotation much more even. I'm sure some of the bike riding experts know a lot more about this than I do, but this kept the rear wheel from slipping during the high torque times and not doing anything at other times. You might try this.

I learned to do this by peddling with only one foot until I could get that leg trained to provide power all the way around the circle, rather than just pressing down. Then I practiced a lot with the other leg, until both legs could do it. Then, put them together. It took a couple of weeks to really get it right. It helps a lot with long road bike rides too as it takes some of the load off of the thighs.

Hope this helps, not sure if it will.

[Soñadora]

good suggestion, BV. I noticed that if I bring my knees closer together, that seems to mitigate it somewhat but I suspect it's more along the lines of what you're describing.

[floating dutchman]

On a normal bike a cadence of 80 to 90 is good for most people, I'd go on the recumbent sites and see what they suggest for a recumbent bike.
I could see that a too low cadence would cause issues, and a lot of people seem to ride with a cadence far to low.

Never know your luck, it night be that simple.

jeroen