Author Topic: Ready the flashing lights, party poppers, dancing girls and brass band...  (Read 86286 times)

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Through popular request, it's own thread:

I've just phoned one Kevin of D-Tek to see about going to play with some barakta-friendly trikes next week[1], and he recognised me.  And I don't mean in the "are you Charlotte?" sense, either.  I've only met him once!

Should I fear?  Or just bury my credit cards under 6ft of reinforced concrete?



[1] Muhahahaha

What is this doing hiding in this thread?  Surely there should be flashing lights, and party poppers, and dancing girls, and a brass band for this is Good_News. 


Well, Kevin called me back this morning to confirm, and I've just booked the hire of a CAR (we're liable to die of old age if we attempt this one by train), so we're officially going to Little Thetford for some trikey goodness next Tuesday   :thumbsup:


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And of course he remembers you - witnessed the purchasing of Priscilla, didn't you?

Of course!  He was gawping from the sidelines while I got oily with Regulator and his impressive collection of chains.


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Tell barakta from me she has to find something that suits, cos going on a WARTY with barakta is one of the things on my little list for 2011.... and I seem to be ticking things off said list relatively efficiently  ;)

I don't see it being too tricky.  We're basically after something akin to Tigerbiten's control setup, which is all standard parts, but with a handlebar adapted for short reach on the left.  Should be possible to do that without too much effort on most kinds of trike.  I'm more concerned about something that'll fit through a doorway and on a train without excessive silliness, tbh.

I think barakta's enthusiasm reached the right level last week, when I showed her a video of a train of Kettwiesels.  "Can we get two?" she said.    ::-)

Strongly recommend the Sprint, and it folds into quite a small package, I have the 26" and Barbara has the 20" rear wheels, also if they have any NT frames left it will fit through anywhere (the standard width isn't shabby either). Bloody marvelous and IMHO more stable than a Delta set up
The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves, and wiser men so full of doubt.

rower40

  • Not my boat. Now sold.

(we're liable to die of old age if we attempt this one by train)
Mordor Central to The Dead Marshes Ely is a direct train, every hour, journey time 2h30.  Not R17 speeds, but perfectly serviceable.  Then you would need a taxi from Ely station to Thettle Litford.

Anyway, enjoy your hire car, dancing girls and n+2 shopping. :thumbsup:
Be Naughty; save Santa a trip

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Mordor Central to The Dead Marshes Ely is a direct train, every hour, journey time 2h30.  Not R17 speeds, but perfectly serviceable.  Then you would need a taxi from Ely station to Thettle Litford.

Plus half an hour of arsing about (which may involve a *shudder* bus) to get to Mordor Central.  So 6-7 hours of travelling, some of which involves active moving around, balance and hearing.  While barakta *could* do it, she won't have any spoons left to play with potential n+1s, and would probably need a couple of days of doing not-very-much-at-all to recover.

There's also a non-zero risk of that train being utterly crammed with airport passengers (and associated luggage).  I stood (well, half perched on the Streetmachine, there wasn't really enough floor space to stand properly) all the way to Ely for the Mildenhall rally last year.  While barakta can probably wrangle a seat on disability grounds, in the absence of an obvious mobility aid, that tends to be Hassle.

If it were just me, I'd use the train, but a car works out marginally cheaper for the pair of us (even with a disabled railcard and the increasingly silly price of petrol) and should let us do in about 2 hours door-to-door.

Have you buried the CC yet?? He is very persuasive....... :thumbsup:

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Have you buried the CC yet?? He is very persuasive....... :thumbsup:

The car hire company informed me of the flaw in that plan...   ;)

Of course!  He was gawping from the sidelines while I got oily with Regulator and his impressive collection of chains.


POTD

fnar, fnar!

 ;D

Well, Kevin called me back this morning to confirm, and I've just booked the hire of a CAR (we're liable to die of old age if we attempt this one by train), so we're officially going to Little Thetford for some trikey goodness next Tuesday   :thumbsup:

Be sure to bung a bike in the boot for an emergency in case you break down in the middle of Skegness rush hour traffic Little Thetford and need to make a hasty escape for the sake of your poor wallet. ::-) ;D

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Be sure to bung a trike in the boot for an emergency in case you break down in the middle of Skegness rush hour traffic Little Thetford and need to make a hasty escape for the sake of your poor wallet. ::-) ;D

FTFY...   ;D

Here's more info on hows my trikes setup.

The front BB7 disk brakes are controled by a tamden brake lever.
The single lever pulls both brake cables.
It can be a bit of a pain getting both brakes balanced so they work evenly after renewing pads/cables, but its not bad.
The only downside is there is a risk of burning calipersout/heat warping disk rotors on long steep twisty decents where you need to stay on the brakes to keep control. Normally you could rest one brake while useing the other.
But my Trice is stable with only one front brake working, if you expect it.

The gears are worked off bar-end shifters.
The back is in the standard place.
The front is on a spur made up of two bar-ends.
There's just enough room to get my hand inbetween the main handle-bar and the bar-end to get the brake lever if needed.

One thing you could do is use two bar-ends, one back one up, to move the handle-bar around three inches back.
But you may have to play around with angles to keep the lock the same on both sides.

Luck .......... :D

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Interesting, I know a one-armed MTBer who used a lower arm prosthesis on the left and on the right had two brake levers (a 2 finger and a 4 finger), rear twistgrip shifter and front thumbshifter. He was pretty fast offroad.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Thanks for that, some good ideas there.

Gears should be straightforward, either bar end + twist-grip or two bar-ends.  I don't think we can justify the expensive german hub gear approach.  Barakta seems fine with both types of shifter.  I suppose having the front mech on a twist-grip would avoid the need for a spur.

Both front brakes on one lever, obviously.  Though the two and four finger levers together approach is interesting, that presumably lends itself to a one-or-both operation, which is better suited to two-wheelers.

I suppose it would be possible to have a rear drag/parking brake somewhere where she could tweak it with the left hand.  Unlike a prosthetic, she has approximately one and a half useful fingers on the left hand, which might be enough to work a cunningly-positioned friction shifter infrequently.  I'll stick the Streetmachine on the trainer and see if she can work the front mech.  Realistically, I don't see her doing much in the way of brake-sizzling descents for a while, though, so that sort of thing can be added later.

Good idea about using bar-ends to extend the reach.  That's probably about the right amount, too.  Would also make it a simple one-minute allen key job to rotate it to the other side to make the controls Kim-friendly, which is a bonus.

There's also the Catrike option, which would make different amounts of reach trivial.  I think she'll prefer the steering of the Trice, though.  I certainly do.

I think bar-end gear shifters give you the option of extending the size of the shifter - making it longer and bigger, so B could have the option of using her 'weak' hand for shifting.

My wife has arthritis and finds twist shifters very difficult once the cable is a bit sticky. Go for something that gives you leverage.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
The two brake levers allowed each brake to be operated by a different finger. The 4 finger lever was needed to reach past the 2 finger lever.
I modified a standard 4 finger brake lever to pull 2 brake cables for a one-armed lady to ride her hybrid. The long barrel adjusters made it easy to balance the brakes and the long lever made it easier to pull for a ladylike grip strength.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
The two brake levers allowed each brake to be operated by a different finger. The 4 finger lever was needed to reach past the 2 finger lever.

Ah, I see.  That *is* clever.


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I modified a standard 4 finger brake lever to pull 2 brake cables for a one-armed lady to ride her hybrid. The long barrel adjusters made it easy to balance the brakes and the long lever made it easier to pull for a ladylike grip strength.

I'm a fan of 4-finger levers generally, though I don't really have a shortage of grip strength.  I suppose it's mainly what I'm used to, and I don't see any significant advantage in two-finger levers.  You can comfortably work a 4-finger lever with two fingers when desired if the brakes are correctly adjusted.

They're also vastly superior if you're mounting them vertically upwards on an under-seat-steering bar, as it means you can reach the lever properly with your stronger fingers without changing hand position.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
I think bar-end gear shifters give you the option of extending the size of the shifter - making it longer and bigger, so B could have the option of using her 'weak' hand for shifting.

Barakta's issues are more range of motion than strength.  She has truly terrifying amounts of strength in motions that most people never normally use (eg. she'll clamp things between the knuckles of her little and ring fingers with the sort of force most of us would get from thumb + index.)  Stock bar end shifters should be absolutely fine with her right hand.  Twist-grip might be a wrist-fatigue issue, but she's ridden my folding BSO with grip shifter without trouble, and if it's controlling the front mech, she shouldn't need to use it very often.

Extending a bar-end shifter could be a good way of making a drag-brake more controllable by her left hand though.

redshift

  • High Priestess of wires
    • redshift home
I'm going to get shot for this, I know - it's not really a plug for Mike Burrows / Bob Dixon honest, but if Barakta's need for singlehanded control is strong, she should try a Windcheetah if she hasn't already.  She'll know in about 10 seconds whether it's right for her or not.

I usually pilot mine one handed, although not through need, and it can be piloted either hand.  It uses standard Dura Ace bar end shifter levers.  Don't be fooled by sitting static in it and trying to turn the joystick.  The steering's incredibly heavy when standing, and incredibly light when rolling.

Of course, it's also expensive, heavy on tyres, hard to park, completely nonstandard, has a seat you either love or hate, and you need to prepare for long nights of wrangling widgets to fit it...  ::-)
L
:)
Windcheetah No. 176
The all-round entertainer gets quite arsey,
They won't translate his lame shit into Farsi
Somehow to let it go would be more classy…

Unlike Redshift, I don’t have many miles on my Windcheetah, but I don’t think I could control it very well with one hand.  I find I can steer it with one hand, but then need to use the other to either change gear or brake, depending on which hand I’m steering with.  However, that’s just me, and I’m probably not as dextrous as others.  It’s certainly worth a go, though.

The Greenspeed SLR (not suitable for road use) has an interesting steering arrangement – an upright bar on the right hand side which you push forward or pull backwards to turn right or left. There’s a fixed upright bar on the left hand side, merely for holding onto for support.  It might be possible to adapt other Greenspeeds to use the same system, although I suspect it might be an expensive custom order.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Heh.  I'd like to get her on one, certainly - her reaction to looking at pictures of the controls is "eew", and I suspect the steering would involve a bit too much wrist/forearm in the position she's likely to be able to work it, but there's only one way to find out  :)

Expensive and custom isn't really a sensible option at this point - she's never really cycled due to the lack of an appropriate machine, so this is very much an exercise in getting her something she can actually ride safely and without damaging herself.  Expensive and custom can come later if she turns into a Cyclist and has niggly issues that can't resolved by shed-fettle solutions.  Keeping things reasonably standard means we can sell it on more easily if it doesn't work out.

I find the steering on the ICE trike very light but very positive.

If you go the ICE route, I'd get in contact with them direct about moddifing an ICE trike to fit Barakta.

My BB7 parking brake is worked off a 7 speed gear changer which is clamped to the handle-bar well below the brake lever.
It doesn't work very well as a drag brake due to the lack of weight on the back wheel.
It takes a fine balance to stop the back wheel from just skidding while getting any type of braking action.
It will stop me but I need well over 10x the distance of the front brakes.

If you want to see my ICE trike in the flesh, I can easily drive over to Little Thetford on tuesday as I'm based in Northampton.

Luck ............ :D

Charlotte

  • Dissolute libertine
  • Here's to ol' D.H. Lawrence...
    • charlottebarnes.co.uk
I know next to bugger all about trikes, so can offer no useful advice.  Nonetheless...

Barakta'sgettingatrikeBarakta'sgettingatrike!!!

*happydance*

:D
Commercial, Editorial and PR Photographer - www.charlottebarnes.co.uk

redshift

  • High Priestess of wires
    • redshift home
Heh.  I'd like to get her on one, certainly - her reaction to looking at pictures of the controls is "eew", and I suspect the steering would involve a bit too much wrist/forearm in the position she's likely to be able to work it, but there's only one way to find out  :)

How can I put this?  Ok, the joystick's on a UJ, so the first misnomer is that it's actually a joystick.  If it had a steering wheel on it like a car that would convey it a little better, but it's a yaw/rotational control, not a roll/pitch thing.  I do use my wrist, but I use more force to open a door.
Secondly, when I say it's 'light' when moving, I mean that for most normal riding if you 'steer', you'll lift the inside wheel and dump it.  'Steer' kind of means look in the direction you want to go and your Jedi_like use of The Force twisting the stick the tiniest bit will send the trike where you want it.  I'm not making this up.  Proper corners are an exception, where you have to steer, perhaps on an adverse camber, and then it becomes interesting in the "Ogodogodwe'reallgonnadie' meaning of the word.  Mr Larrington's pages describe this better, especially picture three of this page.

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Expensive and custom isn't really a sensible option at this point - she's never really cycled due to the lack of an appropriate machine, so this is very much an exercise in getting her something she can actually ride safely and without damaging herself.  Expensive and custom can come later if she turns into a Cyclist and has niggly issues that can't resolved by shed-fettle solutions.  Keeping things reasonably standard means we can sell it on more easily if it doesn't work out.

Of course.  Speedies can be cut down for sizing - I took mine to Bob after buying it secondhand, and he knocked about 75-100mm off the boom for me - but can't easily be extended, so once they're cut down that's it.  They're supposed to keep their value, but in some cases, that can also mean 'unsellable.'
L
:)
Windcheetah No. 176
The all-round entertainer gets quite arsey,
They won't translate his lame shit into Farsi
Somehow to let it go would be more classy…

Arellcat

  • Velonautte
Secondly, when I say it's 'light' when moving, I mean that for most normal riding if you 'steer', you'll lift the inside wheel and dump it.  'Steer' kind of means look in the direction you want to go and twisting the stick the tiniest bit will send the trike where you want it.

'Shifty is spot on.  To steer a Windcheetah while moving you need only hold the two ends of the yoke lightly between thumb and finger, and encourage and suggest the manoeuvre.  A rider called Martin Powell had lost the use of his right arm, and found the setup on a WC quite agreeable.  Changing gear, with the bar end levers mounted vertically, generally doesn't require much finger strength because you can use the thumb and the palm of the hand, and the length of the yoke is designed to place your hands approximately on your stomach, not stretched out or low down.

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They're supposed to keep their value, but in some cases, that can also mean 'unsellable.'

Well, quite.  :)  :-\
Quote from: Morningsider
I like that you think any of your conveyances might qualify as "a disguise".

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Thumbs are, unfortunately, not a standard item on a barakta, and the aftermarket version is never quite as well-integrated as the factory model.  Hence some non-standard joystick-holding would be required, in a way that may or may not actually work very well.  As I say, it'd be interesting to see, but I'm sceptical.

Avoiding too much "Ogodogodwe'reallgonnadie" would also be desirable.  I think we used up most of that karma on the upright tandem, and baraktas don't respond well to crash damage.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
I know next to bugger all about trikes, so can offer no useful advice.  Nonetheless...

Barakta'sgettingatrikeBarakta'sgettingatrike!!!

*happydance*


You can organise the brass band and dancing girls   ;)