[python] Re: Training Wheels
- From: Vi Vuong <vi_vuong@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: python@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 12:10:26 -0700 (PDT)
Hi RhG,
Another post that didn't get to my mailbox. Sorry for the late reply.
Yes, we have been on very similar paths. I started out making RWD midracer
recumbent bikes for little people (my kids and their friends), but they prefer
something cooler, hence the python trikes (Futon Express, Flintstones). I also
took the opportunity to vary the pivot angles for experimentation, from 65 and
30. Then came the Guinea Pig as my personal experimental vehicle for many
configurations.
Your outrigger is more much advanced than my simple training wheels which I
have
to hold on to, and thus cannot use my arms for balancing and other functions.
Have you considered putting shocks on the outrigger? I am noodling over
building bionic arms with built-in roller blade wheels, rear mirror, brake
level, gadgets...
Python bikes and trikes are both great design on their own, but their benefits
are different enough to deserve different use cases. Only the Futon Express
has
rear brakes but we don't really use them because we usually cruise very slow.
High speed requires a lot...
Last, please create a wiki page on openbike.org for your set up, and let me
know
if I can assist you in some way.
Thanks for sharing the details.
Vi
[python] Re: Training Wheels
* From: Rhisiart Gwilym <Rhisiart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
* To: python@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
* Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:41:24 +0000Hi Vi, You seem to have gone
the same
way as I had to go: First a trike back end, then stabiliser/training wheels to
either side.I put my extra wheels just by my hands too. In fact they're on
short spurs welded to the handlebars, and the bars are set up to swivel up and
down, so that the wheels can actually lift well up off the ground, and also the
bike can continue to bank over into turns. In effect, it's like putting your
hands to the ground, to help maintain balance, but with wheels under you hands,
to make it easier -- and no industrial gloves needed!As an extra refinement,
the
training-wheel forks are also able to castor, to prevent tyre-scrub on turns.I
use the 30 cm light bike wheels that you see on a lot of small children's bikes
these days, with Schrader-valve pneumatic tyres; very comfortable! And with
good
off-road capability too (I often ride down the side of a field to approach and
leave my place)I find that with either the trike back-end, or the
outrigger side-wheels, the python can be ridden straight away. I actually
did thirty kilometres or so with the trike form, in traffic, within a couple of
days of first trying it out, and had no bother; except that braking on the rear
two wheels was very bad: they locked up and began to skid with anything but the
lightest pressure on the brake levers. Hence me turning back to the bike form,
with stabilisers. Had it not been for that bad fault, I think I would have
stayed with the trike, because it's so likable in every other way. As an extra
refinement, I arranged for the front two thirds of the trike -- with rider
aboard -- to bank over like a bike on turns, but with hands braced on
handlebars
on the non-banking rear end. Gives wonderfully precise balancing control, and
encourages you to lift your hands momentarily off the bars on quiet roads, and
start to get the hang of balancing without aids, as you ride.The trike geometry
is very similar to Erik Wannee's training Flevo trike, which her rents out in
his home area. We seem to have hit on the same solution independently. Hadn't
heard of his version until after I'd built mine, though I believe he got their
first. I guess he avoids braking issues by doing it all on the front
wheel.Sorry
to all that I still haven't got round to getting out pics/vids of all this. As
soon as I can, I promise! I'm going through a lot ofchanges in my circumstances
just now (moving where I live; staying in one place myself, but with my dogs in
a stable 11 kilometres away; solots of stress and effort), and it's all I can
do
to just keep life's essentials ticking over. Plus the fact that I'm such a slow
old gitthese days. Everything feels like wading through porridge, and
takes ages! But at least things continue to edge forward, at
about melting-glacier pace. Back with more ASAP.Hwyl fawr i bawb! RhG
Hi All, I have managed to start a wiki page for my python bike/trike thingy,
<http://en.openbike.org/wiki/Guinea_Pig>http://en.openbike.org/wiki/Guinea_Pig.
Please
let me know what details you would like to see more of. A set of training
wheels make my second trial much more pleasant. Anybody here has resort to such
solution? I don't feel bad justifying and using it, but am not sure when I can
let go...DirkS, thanks for setting up the site. Will you set up the
donation page sometime? Will you expand the domain to hose any open bike design
or just Python?
>Cheers, Vi
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