Passing the test of time

After 8 months of riding on a regular basis it's become quite clear that it's been a great investment of both time and money.

I have only made a couple of changes during this time.

1. Wider handle bars for a more comfortable riding position and more leverage (same style though).
2. Custom designed reflective logo for the front polycarb/clear section.

I'll post some pictures in the next few weeks.


Here's a sample video of some cargo bikes in action and a ride along on mine.

Pretty much done.

After a long period of nothing I finally have some more pictures and information.

I have been riding around town on the cargo trike for the last month with much success, 3km rides twice a day 5 days a week and at least a good 10km ride on weekends on the bumpy Christchurch quake damaged roads, this has been a great test for all aspects.

It took a few rides to get used to the feel of the trike given the camber of the roads etc, the trike handles fantastically with a bit of weight in it and at speeds up to approx 16-18kph depending on road surface. Stability at higher speeds is a little bit twitchy(a dampener will no doubt sort that issue).

Back from the powdercoaters.

One of the more fun parts to do...

I went into the powdercoaters with a black finish in mind, but ended up with this instead...

The Floor of the cargo unit is approx 4mm thick tread plate, Silicone and riveted.

Shimano Square Taper Bottom Bracket

All City 46t crankset and an Easton XC single speed rear wheel

Getting closer :) more updates in a few days.

After another month....it's update time.

Here's an update on some trike parts and a few pictures and details.

The steering arm and stub axle, the stub axle was turned from a 22mm solid rod with a 25mm step at the steering arm end and an internal thread on the outside edge for a 10mm bolt as pictured. The steering arm is going to be a bit hit and miss but there's lots of room for adjustment etc. I cut, drilled (20mm hole for the stub) and welded the large 3mm plate for the disc brake and steering arm mount.

Here's a shot of the wheel/steering mount, fairly crud at this stage but again there's scope for lots of adjustment. Using 10mm rose joints and a 10mm x 90mm bolt. The rubber parts are from a plumbing supplies store and just a temporary solution.

All welded up ready for the 2 frames to be stripped back and powdercoated. 

Finally some progress...

Well after the frame etc being at the welders for what ended up being a couple of weeks my new camera packed up for the second time in as many months and was away getting a new mother board, touch screen and scroll button... there goes another three weeks. So finally armed with my camera and a bit of time I seem to be back on track.

I had a bit of time over the last weekend to make up the steering arms and disc brake mounts and have got the frame ready to strip and powder coat.

I'll post some updated pictures in the next few days.

Playing the waiting game.

I have just dropped off the frame and cargo box to get fully tig welded by professionals as my welding skills are not what you would call great and while I can happily tac it all together I want it to stay together.

Hopefully in a couple of days... depending on how busy they are, I will have the frame back ready to assemble into a semi finished state.

Whats left to do?... lots.

Clean up/remove any unwanted or extra lugs off the frame or excess welds.
Design and build the axles for the front wheels including the disc brake mount and steering arm that comes off the axle.
Shape and drill the steering tube mounts... top and bottom.
Finish cutting and fitting the base plate.
Clad the exterior of the cargo box.
Powder coat or paint the frame and cargo box.
Design and build the light system.
Plus a few things I've probably missed!

Back in a few days with an update.

Steering tube attachment and final back half prep.

I got to spend another couple of hours in the garage today and thought I'd finish off a few things but grinding out the joins etc takes time and a lot of it when its not something you do everyday so I didn't quite get as much done as I hoped.

I woke up thinking about the steering tube attachment this morning... should I weld it to the front half or should I stick to my original plan to bolt it on giving me the added benefit of being able to dismantle it into 2 smaller pieces.

After pondering over it for a few hours I decided to carry through with the plan of bolting it on... for now anyway. I bent up some 3mm steel plate into an L shape a few weeks back with this in mind and had a 38mm hole drilled in each for the steerer tube to fit through and to get welded to. Each L section at this stage is going to be held on by 2 x 10mm bolts... so 4 x 10mm bolts in total. The L sections are going to be hand shaped and will be drilled to house the cable for the front brakes.

This photo is from the inside of the cargo box.

I managed to cut/grind and get the "down tube" ready to tac into place.