I took a Rocky Mountain MTB, an cheapo Peugeot MTB, an older Bianchi racing frame, and a sturdy little kids bike with a 20" front wheel and hacked them all apart. Then tried to weld the pieces back together. Here is a fellow from work giving the prototype a spin.
I managed to scrounge up a 48 spoke BMX wheel with a 14mm axel. Skookum. The double horizontal tube seems very strong and plenty stiff. It just means the upper tube will run through the box. This will make it less flexible for cargo, but offer up a tube to tie stuff too. Surprisingly enough, the bike is quite easy to ride--- maybe a little twitchy at low speeds, and the front brake will lock up the front wheel in a blink. I expect these conditions to improve with the addition of a plywood box. (and cargo)
That is some mighty impressive work, makes me feel ashamed that I was so proud of myself when I started building my own wheels. What do you think the capacity will be when it is finished?
ReplyDeleteDon't be too impressed- its straight out of junkyard wars. I would have a very hard time lacing a wheel- did it ONCE a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI have put the "box" on the front now- and ridden around with about 40 kilos in it. It was fine, but my sense was that much more and the wobbles would rear their ugly heads. Its not super heavy duty- but should be great for hauling a couple of 15 kilo tykes around! For hauling weight nothing tops the Mundo. I'll get another post or two up this coming weekend. Cheers,