Members' bikes

[chilipapa]

From this 2013/14 season


To this, just ridden it in this guise.

Just needs a few tweeks to the triple and it should see me out to the Severn and back.

[greenmeansgo]

Barry - are the trikes designed with two front brakes as a legal requirement, or because more power is required in general?

I can imagine a trike is slightly heavier than a comparable bike, but not by a huge margin requiring double the braking power. On a normal road bike I rarely use the back brake anyway, and a single V-brake or dual pivot calliper on the front would be sufficient for all but a heavily laden touring bike in my experience. Obviously, sometimes braking performance is inexplicably underwhelming compared to expectations of a particular set up, and hence your double V set up, but in general trikes seem to be designed with two front brakes. Do you know why that is?

[mcshroom]

From what i remember it's because they have to have two independent braking mechanisms, and this is the easiest way to do it on a trike.

Modern tadpole recumbent trikes tend to use two disks on the front wheels and also don't normally have rear brakes.

[tatanab]

Barry - are the trikes designed with two front brakes as a legal requirement, or because more power is required in general?

I can imagine a trike is slightly heavier than a comparable bike, but not by a huge margin requiring double the braking power. On a normal road bike I rarely use the back brake anyway, and a single V-brake or dual pivot calliper on the front would be sufficient for all but a heavily laden touring bike in my experience. Obviously, sometimes braking performance is inexplicably underwhelming compared to expectations of a particular set up, and hence your double V set up, but in general trikes seem to be designed with two front brakes. Do you know why that is?

It is a legal requirement that there are two independent brakes and law permits tricycle with 2 rear wheels to have them both on the front.  Similarly it is the case that tricycles with 2 front wheels may have both brakes on the rear - provided you do not want to stop that is.  The recumbent case with two front wheels would therefore still require a rear brake (as I understand the 2 front wheel requirements) but this is got over by having a "parking brake" operated on the rear.

Solo lightweight trikes tend to have all braking on the front because rear braking does very little.  The wheels are lightly loaded and so they will easily lock up.   Add a substantial load (heavy touring or a tandem trike)and rear brakes become useful.   I have been asked by bicyclists why it is that I do not lift the back wheels with so much braking on the front. My usual answer is "tricyclists have inbuilt ABS between their ears". I usually only use one brake depending on which hand is nearest a brake at that time.

Riding trikes for 95% of my riding I am so used to having only front wheel braking that when I get on a geared bike I find I lock up the back wheel a couple of times until I get the feel back for rear braking again.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/regulations/construction-use

Paragraph 9-2 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1983/1176/pdfs/uksi_19831176_en.pdf

[slope]

Have I posted this before?

Apologies if so. Marbles gone AWOL

[Torslanda]

Lovely. Makes me think of Ruthie's 'Mixte Fixte' and the gents Claude in Tiermat's bunker. 

[IanDG]

The 'best bike' 2014 make over 

[Kim]

From what i remember it's because they have to have two independent braking mechanisms, and this is the easiest way to do it on a trike.

Modern tadpole recumbent trikes tend to use two disks on the front wheels and also don't normally have rear brakes.

Or more usually drums (I think the disc brake stub axle hubs are a relatively recent ICE development in response to a shortage of the ubiquitous Sturmey Archer part).  But the hubs on a tadpole work differently to those on a delta - rotating freely, rather than attached to an axle - so they aren't interchangeable.

I have seen an upright tandem trike with the extra bits of frame to mount rim brakes on the back wheels.  That's probably a strong argument for Magura hydraulics, unless you want to offload both to the stoker or something.


It's common practice to put a dedicated minimal parking brake on the back wheel of a tadpole recumbent, because unlike a locking front brake you can leave it applied while picking up the back end to wheel it around.  It's also a legal requirement if the two front brakes are operated by a single lever (making them a single braking system).  A single braking system appears to be legal on most recumbent trikes, on account of wheel size and seat height exceptions intended for children's cycles, which doesn't make it a good idea, of course.

[Polar Bear]

The 'best bike' 2014 make over 

Very classy as the bike is Windy, just look at that view.   

[IanDG]

'Toddun' from the 'Clisham Pass' (the layby by the Rhenigedale road junction) - and 2 water bottles I received as a gift 

[sojournermike]

I hadn't realised they only have brakes on the front.  I'd like to have a closer look at the double brake set up on the pink trike - looks very clever!

Thanks Oscar's Dad. I had these forks custom built. I was not satisfied with the braking power, using the original set up. I do a lot of riding in the hills west of Harrogate and needed a reliable and powerful set of brakes for the long and steep descents. I tried at first to work within the limitations of the original forks by adapting the bosses to accept modern cantis and the brake bar to take a dual pivot brake but still found them lacking in bite.

Mini Vs were easily the most powerful brake types, for the kind of set up I a using. (Campag Ergo levers and no desire to alter drastically the look and style of the fork to accept a disc brake, which would have required a different crown). So I went to Bob Jacksons in Leeds and they found a lugged crown that exactly matched the original with which to built me a new set of forks. I also took the opportunity to convert to an Ahead steerer. This allowed for a lighter build and a great deal more convenience and a range in both choice and quality, that modern componentry provides.

I'm very happy with the results. The forks perform as they should, comfortable and with no deflection in the front wheel under cornering or pumping hard out of the saddle. The brakes are as powerful as I need, silent and give me complete confidence in all conditions. I'm happy with the aesthetics, thinking they keep some of the original feel and design, while delivering me with a thoroughly modern and contemporary performance. In the general scheme of things, they didn't cost a great deal either.



Here is a picture with the original forks as I was building it up, the first time round.

I'd want two sets of working brakes on Greenhow Hill as well!

The new pink fork looks much tidier than the original installation and next time I see you riding past I'll hail you.

Mike

[Polar Bear]

'Toddun' from the 'Clisham Pass' (the layby by the Rhenigedale road junction) - and 2 water bottles I received as a gift 

I have stood at that point five times.   Useful gift those bottles.   

[Paul]

Have I posted this before?

Apologies if so. Marbles gone AWOL

Don't worry, BP will come across them shortly.

[gene hunt]

A few tweeks carried out, really pleased with it, just under 300miles now, have ordered a new pair of wheels for collection next week so I can switch to 23's tyres.

[Barry]

Barry - are the trikes designed with two front brakes as a legal requirement, or because more power is required in general?

Hiya Greenmeansgo, my understanding is, it's a legal requirment for any mode of transport on our roads, that they have two INDEPENDANT brakes, so if one fails, you always have a back up. 

To a normal cyclist,  all the braking on the front may look strange, dangerous even but they work pretty much the same, there isn't a great deal of difference. At least in practice, the whole triking experience is so much more different to normal cycling, that you don't really notice the small difference in the way they brake.

I like riding to the West of Harrogate into the Dales and finding hilly, quite, country lanes that don't really go anywhere, other than up and down, connecting tiny little villages and farms. I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie and have quite an aggressive riding style. I like to career around at speed pushing the limits of control, which necessarily means there are moments when I am completely out of control. Most rides out at some point, I end up giving myself a bit of a scare. Along with the exercise, the fresh air, the views, the nature and the quietness of the countryside, I enjoy and want that heart in your mouth, A hole puckering sensation, when you think you might have just killed yourself. And for this type of riding, the original brake set up, couldn't deliver me the kind of stopping power I needed, hence the conversion to Mini Vs.

[Barry]

..... next time I see you riding past I'll hail you.

Mike

Hiya Mike please do, I’m up Greenhow Hill three or four times a week and I pass your house a lot, going out via Knox Ford. You will have to shout though. I’m normally in my own little world hurt and pain and don’t tend to recognise people

[Juan Martín]

ROH Omnium 1 by JuanM58, on Flickr


ROH Lugs by JuanM58, on Flickr

Over the winter I have been building up this bike based on a 1954 RO Harrison Omnium frame.  I bought the frame in refinished condition from a V-CC member who I had initially contacted regarding another project; it came with the headset and a bag of assorted bits and pices including a TDC bottom bracket. I fitted a re-chromed Williams chainset from Ebay, changing the chainwheel for a 3/32" 50T; Sturmey Archer pedals and clips. The hubs are Normandy 32/40 fixed/free and were provided by a Retrobiker; I built them up with NOS 27" Alesa alloy rims with Sapim Race butted spokes and fitted a Maillard 14-24 5-speed freewheel; tyres are random 27 x 1 1/4" from stock (these seem a little too wide if anything and I would to change these in future if I can find something more suitable). 1950s Campag GS deraileur and a single lever take care of the gears. Brakes are ALP Competition from the same source as the frame. Tatty twin bolt seatpost (probably '80s although it is so weathered it could easily be older, possibly Sumerian) with high Campag content cheap from EBay, oldish but practically unused Brooks pro from CTC forum. Milremo stem and Il Primo Giro di Sicilia bars, Gripfast wingnuts, red toe straps and pump from EBay. I finished off the bars with red cloth tape sealed with a few coats of button polish; the ends were then whipped.

It needs a bit of fettling and general settling down but it's a nice spritely ride and I hope to be able to put in a few miles on the ROH over the summer.

[Blodwyn Pig]

^^^^^^Hmmmm! nice lugs!

[clarion]

Very attractive.

[Barry]

That's a lovely bike Juan Martin. I'm now in the process of looking for a 1950s doer upper, that I want to keep in vintage condition. A restoration project rather than the renovations that I did on the trikes. Seeing bikes like yours really inspires me.

[Juan Martín]

I certainly find rebuilding old bikes a very satisfying process. As a general rule the older the bike is, the more difficult to find and costly the components but it needn't be too expensive if you are prepared to refurbish unloved bits from the depths of the sheds of Britain and avoid the lure of the anorak. I have spent this afternoon cleaning and rebuilding Universal brake callipers and an ancient Campag mech excavated from yesterday's jumble at Ripley. They move. They gleam. They are beautiful!

[Barry]

There was a bike jumble in Ripley!? Why didn't anyone tell me?

[Deano]

I'll bet it's not the Ripley near Harrogate.

[Juan Martín]

Nope. The Ripley near Guildford. You need to keep an eye on bikejumbles.co.uk.

[Peter]

Did the freewheel tool get a workout?