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I think the rake looks AWESOME!
Swingrat
- Thread starter Wildcat
- Start date
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With too much rake I can still ride it in locked mode, but in swing mode I need all the help I can get. That's why I toned it down, but I can tighten the spring bolt and get more rake if needed.
Should get welded today.
Should get welded today.
Welding vid! The welder now wears sunglasses for protection.
Wow.
I was going to grind down the welds hoping to make them smooth, but they asked for my grinder. They want to make a couple extra bucks so I said go for it! I will still do some touchup later to get it as good as I can.
They did a pretty good job cleaning up the welds. I'll do more as I get ready to paint later.
For now I needed to mock it up to check a few things.
The seat post will work, it's short enough for the lockpin even when it will be all the way down.
I have second thoughts on the 10mm lockpin. I think drilling that big of a hole through the fork might weaken it. The rear crown will take a lot of stress as the chainstays and cranks ride on it. I'm going to get some 6mm pins.
I put it together and see it needs some adjusting and then some. The rear fork can be reversed to get 2 inches less wheelbase. I wanted more rake on the front, so I'm going to reverse the frame to see if it sits better. If not I need to raise the front. The drivetrain is on the wrong side but it's just a mockup.
For now I needed to mock it up to check a few things.
The seat post will work, it's short enough for the lockpin even when it will be all the way down.
I have second thoughts on the 10mm lockpin. I think drilling that big of a hole through the fork might weaken it. The rear crown will take a lot of stress as the chainstays and cranks ride on it. I'm going to get some 6mm pins.
I put it together and see it needs some adjusting and then some. The rear fork can be reversed to get 2 inches less wheelbase. I wanted more rake on the front, so I'm going to reverse the frame to see if it sits better. If not I need to raise the front. The drivetrain is on the wrong side but it's just a mockup.
You've done a lot of work so far. It was fun rolling through all of the engineering and re-engineering.
I'll drop these two reference pics for you of the two swing bikes that I've had.
First was this original swing bike that was able to help doublenickel get and then pick up from him on a biz trip and deliver it to a collector friend down my way.
Then there was this home made swing bike that I scored on craigslist and rode around Savannah before selling it.
I was surprised at how easily I was able to get used to riding the homemade swing. One thing I discovered was that I really used the leverage of pushing my butt back into the saddle to give myself a stable anchor to control not only the rear swivel, but also the front steering. Since you are going with a regular saddle, you may end up wanting to have a laid back seatpost in the end to cantilever your weight over that rear pivot for better control. One thing I can tell you is once you start riding it, you will use a multitude of muscles you don't usually use while riding a bike. You will feel it in every back and stomach muscle the next day.
Build on brother!!!
I'll drop these two reference pics for you of the two swing bikes that I've had.
First was this original swing bike that was able to help doublenickel get and then pick up from him on a biz trip and deliver it to a collector friend down my way.
Then there was this home made swing bike that I scored on craigslist and rode around Savannah before selling it.
I was surprised at how easily I was able to get used to riding the homemade swing. One thing I discovered was that I really used the leverage of pushing my butt back into the saddle to give myself a stable anchor to control not only the rear swivel, but also the front steering. Since you are going with a regular saddle, you may end up wanting to have a laid back seatpost in the end to cantilever your weight over that rear pivot for better control. One thing I can tell you is once you start riding it, you will use a multitude of muscles you don't usually use while riding a bike. You will feel it in every back and stomach muscle the next day.
Build on brother!!!
I can totally relate to those insights. The right saddle is key to stear the rear end of a SwingBike. And pull that stem tight into the fork(s), as the handlebar will build up a lot more leverage than on a regular bike.
And yes you will have a lot of previously unknown sore muscles. Riding a SwingBike is a full body workout!
Kingfish: "cantilever your weight over that rear pivot for better control."
Reversing the rear fork will put the seat over the rear axle. That might help, but I have a bad case of sciatica so I may ride with the pin in most of the time.
Kingfish, did you notice any benefit to having the springs on the original bike compared to the home made one?
Reversing the rear fork will put the seat over the rear axle. That might help, but I have a bad case of sciatica so I may ride with the pin in most of the time.
Kingfish, did you notice any benefit to having the springs on the original bike compared to the home made one?
This morning before breakfast I swapped the frame around. The front looks better but there's a big problem. The seat is too high, even at it's lowest will be 38" high. That's about 6 inches too high.
With the tire at 26" and the head tube at 5", there's no way to lower the seat.
I have a 24" wheelset, but that's only 2 inches lower, not enough. I'll try a 20" wheelset later to see if that might work.
With the tire at 26" and the head tube at 5", there's no way to lower the seat.
I tried my 20" wheelset and it fit, the rear says it's Araya. It's got better chrome than the others but I don't think Araya made heavy gauge wheels.
It needs a 20" fork for the rear instead of the 26", the one from the donor bike is too short, already trimmed for that bike. The seat is still too high, I think that's why swing bikes are mostly 20". That will lower the rear 3 more inches.
It needs a 20" fork for the rear instead of the 26", the one from the donor bike is too short, already trimmed for that bike. The seat is still too high, I think that's why swing bikes are mostly 20". That will lower the rear 3 more inches.
I like the look with the 20's!
What if you keep a 20" in the rear, and put a larger wheel in front? That should give you a few more inches.
Just realized that would change the rake...nm.
I swiped the fork off the wife's Tiger bike to see how it sat. The seat stem was too large for that fork and the BMX style drops aren't flush, so the chain stays/cranks won't go on, so it's just to get an idea. This would put the seat height at 31 inches, just right so I could flat foot it. The angles of the head tubes are just about right where I wanted them. I ordered a 20" fork online, hopefully the stem will fit and the drops are like the 26" forks. I'll also see what the bike shop has the next time I go to town. If this works, I didn't need to extend the chain stays but the extra length just adds to the wheelbase.
The fork showed up already! I must have ordered right as they were shipping out.
I checked it for fit. The dropouts are good with room to spare.
The seat stem was again too large, but I have a bunch of handlebars stems that can be chopped up to work as a seat stem. I won't chop this one up.
The fork tube isn't long enough for a lock washer and top nut, but I think I can shave 1/4" off each end of the head tube and it'll work.
I checked it for fit. The dropouts are good with room to spare.
The seat stem was again too large, but I have a bunch of handlebars stems that can be chopped up to work as a seat stem. I won't chop this one up.
The fork tube isn't long enough for a lock washer and top nut, but I think I can shave 1/4" off each end of the head tube and it'll work.
I checked the new fork using bearings and caps, a nut won't even thread on. They won't work.
This fork also had no crown race, and all I had were loo large and didn't sit flush. This fork was doomed from the start.
It's a good thing I didn't cut up any stems to fit the seat.
The other fork that was too short may now be the one. I'll have to take some off the top and bottom of the Head tube, but It should have just enough length to work. I have a recessed bearing nut that will help. I can also do like I did with a handlebar stem before, use it seated all the way down to hold the bearing nut instead of a top nut. In this case the seat would keep it from loosening.
One thing I didn't show before, how to put two chain wheels on one crank. This is for one piece cranks. Leave off the chain wheel washer and replace it with the second chain wheel. They have to be concave chain wheels to work, facing away from each other. That gives the chain enough clearance. You can't add a washer between them because the tab probably isn't long enough. Check to be sure the tab contacts the inner chain wheel.
This fork also had no crown race, and all I had were loo large and didn't sit flush. This fork was doomed from the start.
It's a good thing I didn't cut up any stems to fit the seat.
The other fork that was too short may now be the one. I'll have to take some off the top and bottom of the Head tube, but It should have just enough length to work. I have a recessed bearing nut that will help. I can also do like I did with a handlebar stem before, use it seated all the way down to hold the bearing nut instead of a top nut. In this case the seat would keep it from loosening.
One thing I didn't show before, how to put two chain wheels on one crank. This is for one piece cranks. Leave off the chain wheel washer and replace it with the second chain wheel. They have to be concave chain wheels to work, facing away from each other. That gives the chain enough clearance. You can't add a washer between them because the tab probably isn't long enough. Check to be sure the tab contacts the inner chain wheel.
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It would be taller in the rear except the seat would be too high.
