Chad T-rike

[Chad T]

Been meaning to start a thread for this. Here's what's happening.

Got this trike conversion kit....

...and am going to use it on this bike.

Tire selection. Vee Rubber 2.35 Speedsters in brown. Supposed to be really fast.

First snag was realizing that I need to move the axle back as far as possible to not hit my heels.

The bottoms of the fork legs rest on the axle brackets and should help support them. Had to trim the bottoms of them a bit to make them fit.

Here's where I'm at. Sorry I couldn't crop out more of the mess.

Will need to do a rolling mock up to make sure everything is level and square...and to see how it looks of course...

 

[D3V1L76]

Been meaning to start a thread for this. Here's what's happening.

Got this trike conversion kit....

...and am going to use it on this bike.

Tire selection. Vee Rubber 2.35 Speedsters in brown. Supposed to be really fast.

View attachment 92487

View attachment 92488

First snag was realizing that I need to move the axle back as far as possible to not hit my heels.

View attachment 92489

The bottoms of the fork legs rest on the axle brackets and should help support them. Had to trim the bottoms of them a bit to make them fit.

View attachment 92490

Here's where I'm at. Sorry I couldn't crop out more of the mess.

View attachment 92491

Will need to do a rolling mock up to make sure everything is level and square...and to see how it looks of course...

Wow! Looking good so far. Can’t wait to see the finished trike! Good going so far.


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[LukeTheJoker]

Love that bike, looking forward to seeing it as a trike!
I have a pair of those Speedsters in black at 20x1.5, got them on sale, just waiting for the right build to come up...

 

[Chad T]

Wow! Looking good so far. Can’t wait to see the finished trike! Good going so far.

Thank you! Meant to include the original build thread for the bike.

http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/super-stock-scrambler-1x10.88655/

Love that bike, looking forward to seeing it as a trike!
I have a pair of those Speedsters in black at 20x1.5, got them on sale, just waiting for the right build to come up...

Thank you Luke! Feels good to be playing with bike parts again.

That's funny you've got a set of Speedsters. We both had Chase Hawks too. These 2.35 ST versions are really heavy. These brown ones were on sale too along with the hot pink ones.

This vid sold me on these tires. Guy on a fatbike with 4 inch Speedsters chasing some roadies down a hill.



Came up with a plan for bracing the axle assembly. No room to do anything around the mount brackets but found this old handlebar cross brace and it fits the axle cage tubing perfectly.

Ordered a pair of longer ones that should hopefully reach the brake bridge. If not I'll just use some sissy bar clamps on the seat tubes.

 

[Chad T]

The Speedster is a high quality 90 TPI tire. I use them in 20 x 1 3/8''. Grip and rolling resistance is decent. Cleaning is a pain though.

These ST Speedsters are only 72 tpi..I think the fatbike ones come in 120. Hoping these roll good.

Beautiful bike and I'm sure it performs very well. Like all the enhancements. I tend to make similar improvements. How is that paint holding up?

Thank you! Rattle can paint doesn't hold up very well so it's got a few chips especially where components are bolted on.

Is there a particular reason for the conversion?

Yes actually there is. I work in a large factory (500,000 sq ft). They have tricycles there that some of the workers ride but they're all spoken for. They're crap too. Mostly Sun trikes and they're all beat to death.

I asked the plant manager if I could bring in my own trike and he asked me why. I told him I like to customize bicycles and wanted to turn one into a trike. He said yeah go ahead so here we are.

Was originally going to use this bike

http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/71-schwinn-stardust-10-speed-class-1.104618/page-4

Scrambler works out better because it has longer cranks and a more comfy seat. Stardust is also original paint which is a one year only color. Stringray/Scrambler was already frankensteined so good candidate for a trike conversion.

Don't feel good about faking a Scrambler either. It's kind of a Scam-bler.

 

[Chad T]

I'm holding off bombing my bikes because a lot of sprays don't seem to hold up over time. Would rather use a higher quality like PPG.

I've gotten some paint from automotive touch up that is a bit higher quality than the Duplicolor on the trike.

This '70 Fastback has 2005 Ferrari Maranello yellow on it. One of my favorite rattle can jobs.

http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/70-fastback-finally-painted.101609/page-3

Got around the chipping at the drop outs by polishing them.

I'm sure this will also be a stellar build! Wish you lived nearby.

Me too. Sounds like we're birds of a feather...

Ok back to the trike business. Got something heavy in the mail and couldn't remember ordering anything that would weigh 2 lbs.

Thought about keeping the 7 speed freewheel the axle has on it now....for about a minute..

Cassette wont thread onto the shaft collars on this axle but I found one that should work.

11-36 10-speed.....and it's a freewheel!!...

Axle removal, band brake fiddling and 10 speed install should be coming up soon.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

10 speed freewheel!

 

[D3V1L76]

That is going to be so sweet to ride. I dig that Ferrari yellow. Oh and very nice water bottle setup very slick.


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[Chad T]

10 speed freewheel!

Once I found that I had to make it a 1x10 trike. Little ridiculous even for me....It's heavy and sloppy compared to a cassette though.

That is going to be so sweet to ride. I dig that Ferrari yellow. Oh and very nice water bottle setup very slick.

Thank you thank you.

Did a lot of work on this today but didn't make a whole lot of progress.

Wanted to remove the axle and slip the new freewheel on there.

Axle removal is fairly simple. Just loosen the set screws and make sure to pull out the keys or you'll be trying to tap the axle out for a long time.

Just pulled it out far enough to get the freewheel and brake drum out.

10 speed freewheel uses the same special socket but it doesn't seat into the fastener on the freewheel very far.

7 speed freewheel on the trike was barely finger tight on the shaft collar for the axle.

10 speed threaded right on.

While I had the axle out I needed to investigate this problem with the band brake hardware.

Bolts were tiny and the spacers super thin so found some bigger bolts and cut some spacers out of some old valve guides.

Had to elongate the holes in the brake housing to get it centered on the axle with the larger bolts.

Took a little more filing on the spacers but finally got everything squared up.

If that don't hold I'll sure think it should have.

36t gear is a tight fit....10 speed trike...

Is this chain shot?

Must have ridden this more than I thought. I bought another short chain I was going to ad to this but now may have to go another route. Figured this chain would be like new still.

Wanted to get the fork and brake mounted but didn't get to it. Anybody ever see a 3/8-12mm axle washer/adapter?

 

[Chad T]

Got the handlebar cross braces I'm using to mount the axle with the other day. Got them put on and threw the wheels on for a quick look.

Axle is bolted at the dropouts and braced with the handlebar cross braces. Feels pretty solid but will have to road test to be sure.

Still have to hook up the derailleur, chain and brakes. Can't wait to ride it. Need to figure out some type of bed/basket for the back.

 

[Chad T]

Wanted to get the fork and brake mounted but didn't get to it. Anybody ever see a 3/8-12mm axle washer/adapter?

Dropouts on the fork were actually 1/2 inch which I guess was a short lived thing on high end BMX bikes in the early 2000s. Found a guy on ebay who was making the washers (dropout savers) I needed.

Spent a little more on this Evo 2.5 brake because it's made to clear a 2.5 tire. Seems like that was a good move even though these are only 2.35.

Added locking brake levers..kinda blah but it tries to roll away even on the garage floor. Have to adjust the brakes kinda loose to make them lock.

Been riding it a lot. It's a blast!! 1x10 works out awesome on the trike.

Here she is.

Couple ride vids in front of the house today.



Next one is the same except at the end I do some zero turns turning to the left (drive wheel is on the right).



Only problem with the trike axle was a knocking sound when turning to the right. Replacing the non-drive side axle spacer with something thicker and larger diameter cured that. I also put some o-rings inside it to keep it centered. Nice and quiet now.

Got a basket coming for the front but it's done other than accessories.

 

[bficklin]

Turned out great, good job!!!


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[LukeTheJoker]

AWESOME!

 

[Chad T]

Thank you fellas!

Putting the final touches on this. Got a Sunlite rear rack basket for the front. Just clamped that to the handlebars. For the rear I was looking for something to re-purpose for a basket/bed. Wanted to use the kid's John Deere wagon but it's too wide. There was also this little trailer he used to pull with his pedal tractor. He gave me his blessing to use it..(the tractor is long gone...didn't last long after he figured out how to wheelie it)...

That's about it for this one. Gonna try and sneak it into work tomorrow...that is if I can manage to cram it in momma's car..

 

[Chad T]

Mission accomplished. Was able to sneak this into work this afternoon. Swiped a flag off of a wrecked trike. Can't wait to cruise it around the plant tomorrow. It rolls really good on the smooth concrete.

 

[bficklin]

Mission Accomplished [emoji41][emoji41][emoji41].


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[JaxRhapsody]

Lookin good. I want to build a trike too, but until I can find another 2wd rear end like my old Columbia, it'll hafta wait.

 

[crazydave58]

Super cool build!,...I love trikes...I always wanted to do a custom build of one but I don’t have your skills...the custom frame manufacturers like Ruff cycles won’t do trike frames cause they say there’s no demand for them...I’d love a trike something like this one..

 

[Brian macumber]

I think that is the fastest i have ever seen a trike being rridden nice job

 

[Chad T]

Cleaned this up yesterday. Was really filthy from the factory I had it in. Hadn’t touched it since leaving that job 3 yrs ago.