Easy Racer Homebuilt Opinions and Comments - very LONG

Merry Christmas Everyone

I have been lurking around alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent for a few weeks now

after seeing a picture of recumbent bicycle. I now know that the bicycle

was a old Easy Racer and it looked very comfortable. I have been aware

of recumbent bicycles for a while but I had a look on the internet to

find out more.

I live in Perth Western Australia and there are no recumbent dealers here

so I can only evaluate what is for me based on research on the internet,

which I have done a lot. At first I thought a Burley Limbo was for me.

Rear suspension and convertible wheelbase seemed like good features.

Then I thought a Burley Koosah/Jett Creek would be good. I had heard

about numb feet and I have poor circulation in my feet. Next I was

interested in a RANS Stratus, similar to the Burley but you can

effectively lock it. Then I saw a picture of the Fold Rush and I thought

that would be perfect, a LWB that easily folds. I was always concerned

with the overall length of a LWB. Then I saw the price and decided I

could not afford this. Any bike is going to cost an additional

US$300-400 to ship here and then I have to pay taxes and duty bringing

the price of a Fold Rush to almost US$4,500 ($6,000 Australian).

I have seen many Tour Easy clones and the plans on the internet. So what

I am proposing to do is make a chromoly Fold Rush based on the plans and

pictures from the internet.

I can cut and mitre the tubing and assemble it on a jig to for someone

else to TIG weld. The jig would be a 3' by 7' 1" thick piece of particle

board wood reinforced with 3" by 1 1/2" timber around the perimeter of

the under side. The bicycle frame would be assembled flat on this jig

and the various tubes would be attached to the jig with split wood blocks

around the tubes and screwed to the board. Tube heights and alignment

could be checked against the board as a datum and adjustment made so the

frame was symetrical and straight.

The blocks would be made by drilling holes in the wood to suit the tube

diameter at a given height from the boards datum. The blocks would be

cut along this centerline to make clamps for the tubes fastened togther

with self taping wood screws. The clamps would be attached to the board

with steel angles and screws, small adjustments could be made with

washers after checking alignment and heights. The fork, bottom bracket

and rear dropouts would be installed with lengths of allthread bolted to

the board and the heights would be adjusted with nuts and washers. I

would use the front axle center as a reference and all dimensions would

be made from there.

I am 6" 3" 250 lbs with a reclined X-seam of 45". The design I a

proposing is as follows.

Folding Easy Racer Specifications

Wheelbase 70.5"
Front Wheel 405mm 1.5"
Rear Wheel 559mm x 1.5"
Head Tube Length 8"
Bottom Bracket Height 13"
Distance from Front Axle center to Bottom Bracket center 18"
Seat height (assuming seat is 4" above top tube) 24"
Head tube angle 59 degrees
Trail 2"
Rake 3 3/16"
68mm wide bottom bracket
135mm rear dropout spacing

Top Tube 1 1/8" diameter 0.035" wall
Bottom Tube 1 1/8" diameter 0.035" wall
Derailleur Tube 1 1/8" diameter 0.035" wall
Chain stay tubes 7/8" diameter 0.035" wall
Seat stay tubes 5/8" diameter 0.035" wall
Front seat tube 7/8" diameter 0.035" wall
Rear seat tube 7/8" diameter 0.035" wall
Rear Triangle seat tube 5/8" diameter 0.035" wall
(The Fold Rush has three seat tubes the above are listed from front to

back of the bicycle)

The folding/suspension pivot point will be a hinge made from 1 1/8" tube

0.25" wall, 5/8" IGUS bushes and a 1/2" bolt. I have selected this size

tube as it would need a to be reasonably thick to act as a hinge and

standard inch bush sizes are multiples of 1/8". I know the wall

thickness is a bit too thick and I have concerns about welding this but

the tube ID needs to be a multiple of 1/8". The total length of the

hinge is approximately 8" and it is parallel to the bottom bracket.

Chainstays will be easy to mitre to this.

I have a 1992 mountain bike with Deore LX/DX components with very few

miles on it. I was going to use this for the cantilever brakes, cranks,

derailleurs, hubs etc.

I have a couple of questions for the group. Any and all feedback would

be greatly appreciated.

1) Do the tube diameters and thicknesses seem about right.

2) Will the 1/4" thick hinge tube pose a problem for welding the 0.035"

wall chainstays and seat tube. These will be virtually perpendicular to

the hinge. The weld will be the ends of the chainstays and seat tube to

the outside surface of the 1 1/8" 1/4"wall hinge tube.

3) How far can the outer most edge of the chainstays be from the face

edge of the bottom bracket. Currently they are 1/4" from the edge.

Consistent with uprights and recumbent pictures. If I reduce this

distance (maybe to 1/8") I can make a large reduction in the pivot hinge

length. The rear wheel folds up in between the two chainstays and they

taper outwards. If I can make the gap larger at the bottom bracket I can

make it smaller at the hinge.

4) Does the above jig pose any problems with respect to welding? The far

side of the welds would be difficult to get at. Could the welder do part

of weld or tack the frame together, remove from the jig, then complete

the welds? Or would stopping and starting the welds be undesirable or

perhaps nessecary to prevent distortion caused by the metal expanding?

I would appreciate any comments, advice, ideas and questions any has with

the above. I have made a preliminary drawing on CAD software and will

try to post a picture of it at

http://geocities.com/knerp2000/

Anyone that would like to respond by e-mail can send to

. Please add 1 to the above e-mail address (i.e. 1999

plus one equals two thousand)

Thanking you in advance,

Marcus "I want a Folding Tour Easy" Jackson

Hi, Marcus, it sounds like you have given this a lot of thought, so
you'll probably be successful.

Here is another place where you will be able to get a LOT of help and
suggestions:-
http://www.phred.org/mailman/listinfo/framebuilders
Hope this helps you.

Lewis.

*********

Also helpful are the WISIL "project" pages, in particular
http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/jig/bike_jig.htm . The entire
collection is he http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/whatsup.htm

Jeff

MJ wrote:

I live in Perth Western Australia and there are no recumbent
dealers here...

I'd strongly suggest that anyone in the Perth-Fremantle area
of WA who's interested in recumbent bikes and/or trikes get
in touch with Martin Arnold, who builds the LoGo brand sports
touring tadpole trikes, and is also involved with several
other styles and brands of recumbent cycles, including at least
one folding bike. Contact info for Martin can be found at our
website:

http://www.logo-us.com/contact.htm

or his:

http://www.logotrikes.com/
Regards,
Wayne Leggett
LoGo Trikes USA
Email:

Marcus "I want a Folding Tour Easy" Jackson wrote:

I have seen many Tour Easy clones and the plans on the internet.
So what I am proposing to do is make a chromoly Fold Rush based
on the plans and pictures from the internet.

Good luck to you, Marcus. I can't help with advice about welding, or
with the details of a folding hinge, but I can help with Tour Easy plans:

http://members.cox.net/lioninoil/plans.htm

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

To the group

I just like to say thankyou to all the people that responded to my post
here and offline. Everyone was extremely helpful and positive. I received
alot of great advice, ideas and encouragement. A lot of the input will be
incorporated into my design which is still a work in progress. I can post
or email the drawing in .dwg and .pdf format if anyone is interested.
Although I am putting this off until it is more refined and complete.

Thanks everyone

Regards,

Marcus Jackson

Perth, Australia



MJ m@m wrote in :

Merry Christmas Everyone

I have been lurking around alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent for a few weeks
now

after seeing a picture of recumbent bicycle. I now know that the
bicycle

was a old Easy Racer and it looked very comfortable. I have been
aware

of recumbent bicycles for a while but I had a look on the internet to

find out more.

I live in Perth Western Australia and there are no recumbent dealers
here

so I can only evaluate what is for me based on research on the
internet,