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Easy Racer Homebuilt Opinions and Comments - very LONG
Merry Christmas Everyone
I have been lurking around alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent for a few weeks now after seeing a picture of recumbent bicycle. I now know that the bicycle was a old Easy Racer and it looked very comfortable. I have been aware of recumbent bicycles for a while but I had a look on the internet to find out more. I live in Perth Western Australia and there are no recumbent dealers here so I can only evaluate what is for me based on research on the internet, which I have done a lot. At first I thought a Burley Limbo was for me. Rear suspension and convertible wheelbase seemed like good features. Then I thought a Burley Koosah/Jett Creek would be good. I had heard about numb feet and I have poor circulation in my feet. Next I was interested in a RANS Stratus, similar to the Burley but you can effectively lock it. Then I saw a picture of the Fold Rush and I thought that would be perfect, a LWB that easily folds. I was always concerned with the overall length of a LWB. Then I saw the price and decided I could not afford this. Any bike is going to cost an additional US$300-400 to ship here and then I have to pay taxes and duty bringing the price of a Fold Rush to almost US$4,500 ($6,000 Australian). I have seen many Tour Easy clones and the plans on the internet. So what I am proposing to do is make a chromoly Fold Rush based on the plans and pictures from the internet. I can cut and mitre the tubing and assemble it on a jig to for someone else to TIG weld. The jig would be a 3' by 7' 1" thick piece of particle board wood reinforced with 3" by 1 1/2" timber around the perimeter of the under side. The bicycle frame would be assembled flat on this jig and the various tubes would be attached to the jig with split wood blocks around the tubes and screwed to the board. Tube heights and alignment could be checked against the board as a datum and adjustment made so the frame was symetrical and straight. The blocks would be made by drilling holes in the wood to suit the tube diameter at a given height from the boards datum. The blocks would be cut along this centerline to make clamps for the tubes fastened togther with self taping wood screws. The clamps would be attached to the board with steel angles and screws, small adjustments could be made with washers after checking alignment and heights. The fork, bottom bracket and rear dropouts would be installed with lengths of allthread bolted to the board and the heights would be adjusted with nuts and washers. I would use the front axle center as a reference and all dimensions would be made from there. I am 6" 3" 250 lbs with a reclined X-seam of 45". The design I a proposing is as follows. Folding Easy Racer Specifications Wheelbase 70.5" Front Wheel 405mm 1.5" Rear Wheel 559mm x 1.5" Head Tube Length 8" Bottom Bracket Height 13" Distance from Front Axle center to Bottom Bracket center 18" Seat height (assuming seat is 4" above top tube) 24" Head tube angle 59 degrees Trail 2" Rake 3 3/16" 68mm wide bottom bracket 135mm rear dropout spacing Top Tube 1 1/8" diameter 0.035" wall Bottom Tube 1 1/8" diameter 0.035" wall Derailleur Tube 1 1/8" diameter 0.035" wall Chain stay tubes 7/8" diameter 0.035" wall Seat stay tubes 5/8" diameter 0.035" wall Front seat tube 7/8" diameter 0.035" wall Rear seat tube 7/8" diameter 0.035" wall Rear Triangle seat tube 5/8" diameter 0.035" wall (The Fold Rush has three seat tubes the above are listed from front to back of the bicycle) The folding/suspension pivot point will be a hinge made from 1 1/8" tube 0.25" wall, 5/8" IGUS bushes and a 1/2" bolt. I have selected this size tube as it would need a to be reasonably thick to act as a hinge and standard inch bush sizes are multiples of 1/8". I know the wall thickness is a bit too thick and I have concerns about welding this but the tube ID needs to be a multiple of 1/8". The total length of the hinge is approximately 8" and it is parallel to the bottom bracket. Chainstays will be easy to mitre to this. I have a 1992 mountain bike with Deore LX/DX components with very few miles on it. I was going to use this for the cantilever brakes, cranks, derailleurs, hubs etc. I have a couple of questions for the group. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. 1) Do the tube diameters and thicknesses seem about right. 2) Will the 1/4" thick hinge tube pose a problem for welding the 0.035" wall chainstays and seat tube. These will be virtually perpendicular to the hinge. The weld will be the ends of the chainstays and seat tube to the outside surface of the 1 1/8" 1/4"wall hinge tube. 3) How far can the outer most edge of the chainstays be from the face edge of the bottom bracket. Currently they are 1/4" from the edge. Consistent with uprights and recumbent pictures. If I reduce this distance (maybe to 1/8") I can make a large reduction in the pivot hinge length. The rear wheel folds up in between the two chainstays and they taper outwards. If I can make the gap larger at the bottom bracket I can make it smaller at the hinge. 4) Does the above jig pose any problems with respect to welding? The far side of the welds would be difficult to get at. Could the welder do part of weld or tack the frame together, remove from the jig, then complete the welds? Or would stopping and starting the welds be undesirable or perhaps nessecary to prevent distortion caused by the metal expanding? I would appreciate any comments, advice, ideas and questions any has with the above. I have made a preliminary drawing on CAD software and will try to post a picture of it at http://geocities.com/knerp2000/ Anyone that would like to respond by e-mail can send to . Please add 1 to the above e-mail address (i.e. 1999 plus one equals two thousand) Thanking you in advance, Marcus "I want a Folding Tour Easy" Jackson |
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#2
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Hi, Marcus, it sounds like you have given this a lot of thought, so
you'll probably be successful. Here is another place where you will be able to get a LOT of help and suggestions:- http://www.phred.org/mailman/listinfo/framebuilders Hope this helps you. Lewis. ********* |
#3
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Also helpful are the WISIL "project" pages, in particular
http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/jig/bike_jig.htm . The entire collection is he http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/whatsup.htm Jeff |
#4
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MJ wrote:
I live in Perth Western Australia and there are no recumbent dealers here... I'd strongly suggest that anyone in the Perth-Fremantle area of WA who's interested in recumbent bikes and/or trikes get in touch with Martin Arnold, who builds the LoGo brand sports touring tadpole trikes, and is also involved with several other styles and brands of recumbent cycles, including at least one folding bike. Contact info for Martin can be found at our website: http://www.logo-us.com/contact.htm or his: http://www.logotrikes.com/ Regards, Wayne Leggett LoGo Trikes USA Email: |
#5
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Marcus "I want a Folding Tour Easy" Jackson wrote:
I have seen many Tour Easy clones and the plans on the internet. So what I am proposing to do is make a chromoly Fold Rush based on the plans and pictures from the internet. Good luck to you, Marcus. I can't help with advice about welding, or with the details of a folding hinge, but I can help with Tour Easy plans: http://members.cox.net/lioninoil/plans.htm -- "Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes, it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877) |
#6
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To the group
I just like to say thankyou to all the people that responded to my post here and offline. Everyone was extremely helpful and positive. I received alot of great advice, ideas and encouragement. A lot of the input will be incorporated into my design which is still a work in progress. I can post or email the drawing in .dwg and .pdf format if anyone is interested. Although I am putting this off until it is more refined and complete. Thanks everyone Regards, Marcus Jackson Perth, Australia MJ m@m wrote in : Merry Christmas Everyone I have been lurking around alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent for a few weeks now after seeing a picture of recumbent bicycle. I now know that the bicycle was a old Easy Racer and it looked very comfortable. I have been aware of recumbent bicycles for a while but I had a look on the internet to find out more. I live in Perth Western Australia and there are no recumbent dealers here so I can only evaluate what is for me based on research on the internet, |
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