Building a 20" wheel tadpole e-trike from scratch

[twinkle]

Well its two weeks since I started the new etrike, the mods are almost all done , the 10mm control rod with 8mm rod ends has been replaced with 13mm tubing with 10mm rod ends and a little strengthening fillet fitted , all strong and good and the little speedo mount has been welded into place . I have a water bottle to mount on the seat back next together with the speedo , It will be nice to make the comparisons between the trikes
In another 80 odd miles I will strip and paint it , I have the decals already .

I hope to do a test report after it is finished .

regards emma

 

[Geebee]

Quick build , a few questions if I may
How wide is the track
How much does it weigh
What is the final gear inch range

I once modified one of my trikes to 80 something gears with a mid drive, it was great, low was single digit gear inch, nothing was to steep.

 

[twinkle]

Specification at the moment
12 speed with 21x16 jackshaft final drive , this gives the same ratios as it the rear wheel was a 26" one , the gears are 14,16,18,24 with a 26, 38,48 triple
the gears are basically 29" up to 90" so in theory pedal-able to 30 mph .
the track is 31" wheelbase 40" and weight 35kg or 76 lbs , with battery
overall heigh without headrest is 22 "
The weight distribution of the whole trike is almost equal weight on all wheels ( 25 lbs approx ) measured with the bathroom scales under each wheel.

Both 160mm cable operated front disc brakes operate from the r/h lever and the rear Dia-compe band brake on the left either slows you or locks up the rear wheel with little in between

The main thing about this trike is I can get it inside the car on my own ,
Just got the paint , rosso red with black trim and cream seat , it will get a rear rack, panniers, speedo and drinking bottle holder but no mudguards or lights
The upgraded control rod has been fitted together with the speedo holder

once l fit the speedo l can give you more accurate road tests
Downhill it all seems fine without any pull or wobble .

Running over budget now by £8 gbp

regards emma

 

[D8ve]

Twinkle
Kudos to you for the build.

 

[twinkle]

The trike has been in real use now for 3 days , so far it has covered about 25 miles and has started to show both its potential and some small faults .
The small faults are based around the midi transfer unit that was needed as the e-hub was a single speed hub , the midi drive is slightly out of alignment and it has shiped its final drive chain once and the main drive chain has gone over the bottom gear cogs , both minor but nether the less irritating when miles from nowhere without any tools , the battery did 12 miles and only lost the first of its led indicators so it looks as if the range will be good , flecc was right about the use of the currie motor in the 20" wheel , it lacks a bit of torque when pulling away but the level and flat running speed is about 17mph , it seems happy when riding alongside "pushbikes " at 10-12 mph and the middle chain ring gives gears ideal to pedal along to , so far there has not been any major problems since replacing the steering link arm . I hope to be in a position to paint it at the end of the month . Today we took it down the beach and despite not being painted , or upholstered it still caught a lot of peoples attention . So far the top speed on the flat with pedal assist is about 23mph , There are still a few modifications to do with the wiring and controller , but the upgrade to a 36 v 250w controller
and 36v lithium battery appears to be working well.
regards emma

 

[twinkle]

Well Folks
Another 4 days have past and a few more miles under its tyres , Rechecked and adjusted the toe-in ( corrected to zero ) , Upholstered the seat in cream vinyl and fitted the ignition switch under the seat , As a final thing today I fitted the rack and panniers , So its ready for a few more miles before the paint goes on

Unable again to upload photos to the site so have linked via postimage





image sharing sites

 

[Geebee]

The light coloured seat really sets it off, nice one.

 

[twinkle]

Hi Folks

Still more miles being added to the trike , This weekend added some more again on the local brighton to seaford cycle path .

The trike appears to be doing well on range with 12 miles on the last charge and only 1 bar down on the battery ,
The 3 position switch low, std and high is usable only on the medium on the flat and high being used most of the time .

The rack came from a seventies scrapped 20" shopper bike and the extendable part rattled like a ******* all the way to seaford and back on Saturday evening , That will be cured tomorrow with a inch of weld ( that will teach it ).
Hopefully in about a fortnight I can strip and paint it in Rosso red with black trim.

The ignition switch has also been fitted and a mobile phone bracket has been made to fit in front of the cycle computer

New panniers on order , the problem with a recumbent is that you cannot put things in your pockets .

Note the Seagull on the gun on top of the Martello tower. ( Seaford )

.

regards emma

 

[twinkle]

Hi Folks

A few more miles on the trike and the battery still has only one light off the maximum , The rattle on the rack was solved by an inch or two of weld in the right place , Now I only have the flag to stop rattling for a silent ride, save for the purr of the e-motor as it kicks in on e-assist , I have fitted the new pedals with toe clips rather than clipless pedals and shoes as it is a funabout rather than a runabout , Everything is running well and I hope I have sorted the midi drive now with a little adjustment, with all 12 gears operating smoothly .
I might change the friction levers to index to see how it goes .

regards emma.

 

[twinkle]

True to form as they say about 90 miles on the clock and the end of the month came , The trike has been stripped down and has been sprayed , Italian racing red with black trim , The MTB triangle ,handlebars , front steering legs and tie bars are all black . I hope to let it harden for 36 hours and start to refit it on Thursday / Friday.

I will leave you with one photo , the frame in red.
next photos should be the completed trike .

regards emma

 

[twinkle]

Hi Folks

I have started to reassemble the trike . lt always takes more time than stripping it down and more time than originally allocated ,
Hopefully there will be more photos by Monday Evening , It needs to be finished by the end of next week and hopefully sorted as well . We are going on a Trike Camping Trip over a weekend in Lancing. With a few more Zombies and of course a few more trikes . I plan to tidy up the loom and address the other little opportunities that I had noticed when the trike was originally built , The new panniers are ready to be fitted once the test rides have been completed and the whole trike rechecked over twice to ensure that nothing has been missed .
regards for now

emma

 

[twinkle]

Ok Guys

Photo time
The trike has been reassembled and safety checked over TWICE and all is well Its been out this afternoon for the photo shoot but next week it will be put through its paces again .

Next report will be testing time but like all these types of projects it will never be FINISHED







upload pic

 

[D8ve]

Nice bike preferred it in black. Do you do commissions ?

 

[twinkle]

Nice bike preferred it in black. Do you do commissions ?

Sorry Dave
This is 110% hobby for me , You might be lucky If and when I become bored with it ( we have another couple ) If It does become available I will post the advert on here .
I build it to use this summer to a size that would fit with panniers ,etc in one piece in the car , and street legal power wise , so I can use it for caravanning latter this year when we go on holiday.
The problem with all one off's is the time factor , I would hate to think of the hours that goes into the trike .
Final Specifications are
40mm square 16g box section tube with recycled ( retriked ) rear MTB triangle and head tubes . other parts
20" wheels all round with 2" front tyres / 2.125 rear
Front wheel were ex BMX modified for disc brakes and 14mm stub axles .
rear wheel currie e-hub rebuilt into a 20" rim .
12 speed ( 4x3 ) on a jack shaft with a 21-16 final drive to the rear wheel .
14-16-18-24 freewheel with 28-38-48 front chainset and toe clipped pedals to reduce leg suck This combination gives 30" to 90" gearing .
weight inc battery 75lbs approx ( I can lift it into the back of the estate )
160mm discs front operating with one lever and the standard band brake to the rear .
36v 10ah lithium " bottle battery and the currie e-hub with 36 v brushless controller with cut out brakes etc but no pedalec sensor .
Under seat steering with own designed handlebars .

I do have a spare set of machined bits to build one more but as its summer I hope to be out riding rather than perspiring building , It is easier to machine 2 sets of parts out of a 6 metre piece of steel than 1 set out of 3 metres as you only need to drill 2 extra holes .
The " black " was the deposits left on the steel after forming rather than a paint , It had to be painted soon or it would have gone rusty red .
More details - plans ,etcetera take a look at the atomic zombie website ,
The only difference between us Zombies and regular cyclists are the bikes/trikes that we ride .

regards all

emma

 

[D8ve]

Thanks. I have half designed my next bike in my head. It's the zinc alloy soldering bit that really worries me. Oh and the split drive system
, and the seating and steering and ....
I must get out of my head and into the shed ;-)

 

[twinkle]

Hi folks

I have just helicoiled a stripped thread in one of the disc callipers and reassembled the calliper so that is all good , Its probably stronger with a steel insert than the original aluminium thread that striped ,

The new pannier bags arrived on Saturday and despite coming from the same supplier as the last one The mounting straps are fitted in a different position so I need to unpick the straps in the wrong position and restitch them in the correct place . I thought mass production meant that the bags would be the same ( how wrong you can be sometimes )

regards emma

 

[jackhandy]

Hi folks

I have just helicoiled a stripped thread in one of the disc callipers and reassembled the calliper so that is all good , Its probably stronger with a steel insert than the original aluminium thread that striped

Steel screws into aluwilliam... Argh!

 

[twinkle]

Pedals into aluminium cranks , stem clamp pinch bolts , mudguard bolts into alli frames ------ do I need to say more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..

regards emma

 

[twinkle]

Panniers Sorted ,and Its raining here , I have done a couple of modifications to the big trike and turning my attention to another hobby for a few hours .
Good trike ride last night , Only a Out of true Disc rotor to true up and I will be a happy Bunny . Photos later when its DRY and NOT overcast !!!!!!!!

regards emma

 

[twinkle]

Hi Folks

WELL I did say that these projects are NEVER finished and I think that I am about right there ....

After a long conversation and lots of Ideas :- A very nice man from Telford has built me a replacement Rear Wheel that will have a BIT more power than the Currie.
The next stage will be the conversion to the Q100 328 rpm motor in a 20" 36 hole rim and a disc rear brake .
I am Impressed It was only sent yesterday and has arrived before 1pm today.
Like normal , EVERYTHING has to be built from scratch ( Oh surprise ! ) so It wont be fitted until after the camping trip next weekend .
I am going through the Critical Path Analysis , to ensure that the upgrade is as Painless as Possible , also this might give a further upgrade to 21 or even 28 gears if I can get the right freewheel and eliminate the jackshaft freewheel ( which will be needed for the next project ( started ) )
the disc brake arm is yet another item that must be fabricated from bar stock and machined to fit .
This is just one of the reasons the upgrade will wait also I am trying to get the bits to make sure that the gear train upgrade can also use the pedalec sensor and I need to get a good 20" tyre for the new wheel .


No more photos as the weather is still WET ,

regards

emma