Rear Wheels

The bike shop said what I needed were 201mm spokes ... so I bought them. Having some time on my hands today, I decided to lace up the wheels. Only to discover that the spokes are too long. The spokes would extend through the nipples and punch holes in the innertube.

Should I have questioned his professional judgement? ... the spoke calculators that I ran on the web has said to use 195mm spokes (or there abouts) ... which would be shorter ...

LATER - he assured me that you just tighten them up and cut them off with a dremel tool ... even with the top of the nipple (inside the rim).

Is this for Real???

I was doing a search on the internet for "folding bicycles" and stumbled across this ...

The blurb said that it was hydraulic driven ... since there is no evidence of a chain, belt, or gearing. It's called the "Jacknife." click here for more info A treehugger site!

Future of American Transportation

As fast as American gasoline prices are rising ... we may soon be on par with European prices. If so, then we will soon be doing like the Danes and Parisians are doing ... riding our abandoned bicycles ...

Bolted to Frame

There it is ... bolted to the frame ... needs a few more parts ...

Bottom Bracket 01b

I cut the tab pieces I welded to the bottom of the Bottom Bracket out of a strip of 3/16" metal that I bought at Lowe's. I clamped a piece of main tubing ... along with a piece of 1/16" cardboard between the 2 tabs (trying to make some allowance for paint thickening the width of the tube).

You can see my less than stellar welding job ... before I grind it somewhat pretty ...

Bottom Bracket 01a

This is one of those fancy cast bottom brackets ... if I grind away all those round thingies that the tubes were brazed into ... I'll have nothing but scrap metal left.

I should really ask Jack at S&B Recumbents where he gets his bottom brackets from. Nice clean new ones that really look nice ...

Okay, so I welded caps on them and ground them smooth with the hand grinder ... Jack would be proud that I'm not using a hand file ...

1st Set of Pillow Block Bearings

No rude comments about my messy workbench ...

I finally got in my first set of pillow block bearings ... they fit snugly but smoothly around the axle. I put 2 of them on the axles and set it on the rear frame to mark the holes with an ultra-fine tip Sharpie. Now I need to get some bolts, washers, and drill the holes ... before working with the next 2 bearings.