Rear Derailleur Cable

I finally welded on 4 cable stops and 2 cable guide rings.  I've heard that the less overall cable housing you have, the less friction.  So I figured to eliminate the length up behind the seat back.  And on the underside of the rear fork.  Here are the photo segments starting at the rear wheel.

Notice the wire under the rear fork.

Here's the run paralleling the seat back.  I used a small length of cable housing to  bridge up to the rear fork.

The cable housing runs behind the idler pulley and through the 2 guide rings ... then up the right handlebar.

Here I'm attempting to show the full length of the cable run.  I think I've got it adjusted so it will shift the full run of the gears.  I need to bolt the seat back on, set the foam pieces on.  And test ride it up and down the street.  Once it is fully functional ... then it will be time to strip it all down and paint it.  sigh.  :-)

Wife's New Trike

Custom made by Jack at S&B Recumbents

My wife's bikes or trikes have to be blue!
And she wanted something that sat higher off the ground
than a DeltaWolf trike ... so she got the
Venice Beach Trike.

Front end view
"Sun Bicycles" seat

close-up of the king-pin ...
showing the grease fitting.
It has 14 mm axles on the front wheels ...
which carry the most weight.

Steering connector from the handlebars.

Another Rear Frame

Well, I was gone a week ... and then I just walked past the shop and looked at it. I haven't ordered the pillow block bearings yet ... so I'm kind of at a stand still. I've got axles cut and drilled for the hubs. Haven't drilled the spoke holes for the hubs ... so I haven't welded those. I guess that is a project I should make a jig for and get on with.

I did weld up another rear frame. And have the pieces cut to make the main frame ...

I really should weld up a bottom bracket ... toss a seat on the frame ... and see what length it really needs to be. I've been dubious about the mainframe length ever since I put a seat on the first one and stretched my leg out ... it looked way too short.

So I haven't even begun to cut the 3rd frame out of the 1-1/2" tubing ... :-p

Trike Progress

Believe it or not, but there has been some progress on the trike ...

The rear frame is completely welded ... it bows slightly (the open ends point slight inwards). I had to make the middle pieces 1/4" longer because the plans call for using 1-1/2" tubing ... and I made the mistake of getting 1-1/4" tubing ... and then cut the tubing specified for the lengths for the bigger tubing. Oh well. So, lots more welding, grinding, and re-welding.

I completed and welded on the gusset under the seat tube area ... put a 3" metal pulley on there (found cheap at Lowes) ... the grandkids will just have to live with the extra noise ... and not being confident about the joint between the main tube and front tube ... I welded a strip of re-enforcing metal to strengthen that. And I stuck the front forks on just for fun.

I did cut 3" off the length of the seat tube ... because I intend to put 20" tires on the rear ... and a 16" tire on the front.

I'm making plenty of mistakes on this 1st one ... by the time I get to the 3rd one, I should have a good trike for myself.