Thursday, January 12, 2012

First view of handcycle in Carbon Fiber!



At last! I got to put wheels on something other than a foam plug.  The carbon fiber is coming along and extremely rigid.  Matter of fact as an example of rigidity, when I initially inserted the the steering headtube into the base, I needed another millimeter of so in total length between the "U" shaped legs.  But I could not spread the "U" apart.  I did some filing in an area that is not of consequence in order to get it to fit.

The rear wheel does not have much room to the left and right in the "tail" part of the headrest.  I think I will be fine there though.

The structural areas are not finished yet.  There are more layers to go.  So far, I am surprised by the strength -- but then again, I have not put any weight on the bike.


Before adding the bottom bracket I had to insure that the bottom bracket would not get epoxy into the threads.  Therefore, I coated the inside of the headtube with grease.  Of course I had to be careful not get any grease on the fiberglass surrounding the headtube.


7 comments:

  1. looks great put a motor on it an u are set right !! Lee in Cali fornia that is

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    1. Interesting you say that... Yesterday I was putting in 70 miles on a Rails-to-Trails bike path with my newest delta design (3-wheeled) handcycle. I was riding with a very well-condition recumbent cyclist for about half the ride. We put in some long stretches at 21-24 mph, passing other cyclists. He mentioned that people would think I have a motor in front hub. On the uphill sections sometimes, I only wish...

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  2. hello hey what about the 2 wheeler ,,iv been wanting to build one havent seen many and surly not carbin thanks Lee .

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  3. The 2-wheeler was just too dangerous for me in that, as a handcyclist, I just go to slow too much of the time. At slow speeds combined with having to push/pull on the cranks while steering and balancing, I would fall if the "training wheels" were no in the down position. If I had more time to practice and if we had fewer hills and a lot less stop signs, maybe I could learn to handle it. But the difficulty of pedaling, steering, and balancing at the same time, us probably much more difficult as compared to a 2-wheeled recumbent. On a 2-wheeled recumbent, one is steering independently of pedaling.

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  4. thanks Bruce Chase 4 getting bac to meh ! you the best Lee pre , in Sanfrancisco .

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  5. I think we need to put more emphasis on streamlining,with the lower profile ,you already have a added advantage,but much could be gained with some aerodynamic body work.I love the bike. but ,why not a narrow tracked tilter,with a aerodynamic body,using a MP3 .Yamaha tri city parallel link system for tilting,3 or 4 wheeled narrow,low tilter,that the ticket to safe ,efficient human powered vehicle.

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