My Recumbent Days

T his morning at 11:00 I started out on what I thought would be a great ride. Boy could I ever be wrong. The temperature was 61 degrees but the winds were gusting to 39 Mph out of the WNW. I was exhausted just trying to maintain a 10 to 12 Mph speed. I did manage to get a few sprints in and my top speed was 29.30 Mph and my average speed was 12.16 mph. I burnt 471 calories and had a total elevation gain of 213'. Y esterday I decided that I should replace the toy lock I bought in the Dollar store with a much more secure lock. I did my research and asked many questions at the Bent Rider Online forum and on the ActionBent forum, but that only confused me. To many different trains of thought on the subject. So I looked for reviews on locks and their security ratings. I found that a lock by Masterlock called the Street Cuff was one of the top contenders and was not as heavy. The Street Cuffs have an overall length of 22" which would allow me to lock the cuff around the main fra

T oday I finished the Ascent Carbon Bottle cage project, and it looks real nice, but judge for yourself! This project was inexpensive and not hard to do. The only power tool needed was the electric drill and bits. The Minoura bottle cage mount cost $6.99, the hose clamp was $.69, and the heat shrink was $.30. The cage of course is of your choice and price. It was also a very quick job, I think the complete job took one half hour including gathering the tools together. P.S. Notice the clean chain, Dumonde Tech lubrication is what makes the difference.

I t started raining yesterday afternoon and hasn't stopped yet. It is cool and damp and that means pain for me. I have been thinking about another project for the trike, but so far haven't come up with anything productive. The Zefal thermal water bottle I ordered has shipped this morning, but the Quick Stick Stic from the same company has not shown up. I am afraid it is long gone. Josh at JMar said they will ship a new one if I hadn't received it by today. I just sent Josh an email informing him of the situation. Hopefully he ships another out tomorrow. As I write this I have received another email from Josh informing me that he is shipping another today with delivery conformation. Talk about quick service. T his morning I sent a email to the mayor of our town asking why 6 towns in Middlesex county applied for grants to build or improve bike and walking paths, while our town didn't. I explained that the population in the town has grown steadily and the autos on the road

T he weather has been a bit nasty out and of course when the rain is on the way my back is causing me lots of discomfort. But that is par for the course. When my back is bothering me like it is today, I do not attempt to ride, and i sit like a vegetable. I try to keep myself busy and today I decided to do some basic maintenance on the trike. The first thing I did was run the chain for about ten while holding a clean rag around it. I wanted to get any road grime off the chain. Next I used the California duster to remove any dust and surface grime. After getting the dust off I looked for any nicks in the frame, and found none. I applied some Turtle Wax Color Cure wax to the trike. This wax is colored black and if there is a hidden nick it covers it and blends with the frame. Last but not least I wiped the wheels down and checked the condition of the tires. Found nothing to worry about. T he week before last on the 12 of May I ordered a Quick Stick Stik which is a tire iron that is suppos

A t this time I have a water bottle cage mounted on the main boom using two hose clamps covered in heat shrink tubing. It looks good and serves the intended purpose. I have an Ascent Carbon Fiber bottle cage which will not allow this type of mounting. So in order to use this nice looking and lite cage, I had to come up with a mount. I decided to use the top section of a Minoura bottle mount that is screwed to the heat shrink covered hose clamp. I drilled a hole through the clamp inserted a 5mm pan head screw through the hole from the bottom screwed on a 5mm Nylock nut then came the bracket and another 5mm Nylock nut. The results are this elegant practical and simple mount. The cage shown on the mount is just for demo purposes.

This morning early I went out for a local ride that ended up being a mystery ride. While I was out riding my rear dérailleur started to skip and jump, I just had it fixed yesterday. So in my travels I decided to ride the trike over to Halters Cycle, but since I wasn't sure of the route that would be most direct, I winged it. I then realized that my granny gears were the ones giving me problems, and I would have to ride in a non suitable gear range. I was committed as I had already climbed the largest of the three hills. It was a climb of 190' in less than a quarter mile. When I got there Jason was very busy and Chris had not shown up to work yet. Jason said he would get to me real soon, and as he started to work on my trike Chris came and took over. He had found that the limit B screw was in too far, and it now works fine. I started the trip home a little tired, but happy it was fixed. I rode 15.35 miles at an average speed of 11.54 and a max speed of 24.0. I burnt 715 calories

E arly this morning FedEx showed up with the box containing the bluing and blacking chemicals. I read the directions and followed them to the letter, but the results were poor. I contacted the company for some technical support and after a while we came to the conclusion that the alloy in both the steel bracket and the Aluminum safety bracket was not compatible with the chemicals. Tomorrow I will go to Auto Zone and purchase a can of automotive primer and some gloss black spray paint. At least the brackets will have some color. A fter reassembling the trike I headed over to Halters Cycle in South Brunswick New Jersey to have Chris change the rear shifter cable, and add a Avid Rollama jig. He also shortened the section of cable next to the rear derailIeur, which was way to long. I rode the trike for 11.32 miles on some of the worst rodes possible. I decided to take this route to both test the steering modifications and to test the rear dérailleur. The recent storm played havoc to thes

T his morning I had planned to ride at least 20 miles, but the wife threw a wrench in the works. Not a big deal, as I need to take it gradual, and not all at once. I rode my local loop and completed 11.17 miles and burnt 520 calories. The weather couldn't be any nicer the temperature was a beautiful 72 degrees and the wind was out of the ENE at 4 Mph. My average speed was 12.86 Mph and my top speed on the flat was 25.49 Mph. T omorrow morning I have an appointment with the pain therapist for my usual Lumbar shots which take all of five minutes, but a wait in the waiting room for two hours. I hate going there, but i know I need the shots. Once I get home I will be waiting for FedEx to arrive with my chemicals, I hope they come early rather than late. I would love to get this done in the morning and ride in the afternoon. I t is time for me to vent! I am tired of people telling me how to spend my money. The say why did you buy the ActionBent trike and then spend money to upgrade the

W ell Friday the 20th of April has gone and as I predicted FedEx didn't show up with the chemicals I needed to treat the parts for the steering modification. Again they gave all types of excuses and lies as to why it didn't show up. First they told me that the package had to be repackaged so there was a delay, then they told me that the package would still be on time. finally I found out from an employee that the package was misrouted to the wrong state so it lost a full day. Finally after speaking to a supervisor they said it will be here Monday. I asked if they could get it out for Monday morning, but they said they don't think so. T oday I will reassemble the trike so that I can take a ride tomorrow, with the original steering configuration. I am not happy about this whole mess, I was prepared for doing the job on Friday, but things happen. W ith all the assembly and disassembly of the front steering I realized that I need a good set of metric hex wrenches, so I bought a

T oday is another of those days where I would like to pull the hair out of my head or beat it against the wall. I have been trapped in this house since Monday as there a painters here working from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM. I am trying to keep busy, but I am running out of things to do. Today I gathered a bunch of my tools that were lying around and returned them to their proper places. I also cleaned out a section of the garage so my tool boxes would have a place to sit. I am hoping that tomorrow will be busier as FedEx should be bringing the chemicals for the parts I need to treat. But I doubt that they will make it on time as the truck left Lenexa, KS at 7:00 AM this morning. The FedEx tracking page still says that tomorrow the 20th is the date of delivery. And who knows what time they can show up, it could be late in the afternoon. I am trying to be optimistic but lately FedEx has had a poor track record as far as deliveries to me. Depending on what time FedEx gets here will mak

T his morning I removed the steering brackets from the trike and proceeded to dip them in paint remover to get off all the paint and underlying primer. The paint and primer came off after waiting for 15 minutes for it to work. I carefully used a straight edge razor to scrap off the remaining paint. After the removal I used some very fine steel wool to smooth out the surface and get any paint out of the nooks. Now I wanted to have a circular pattern on the parts so that any imperfections wouldn't show instead of keeping the original brushed finish. I put a wire brush bit in my Dremel tool and hit the brackets in a random pattern. The result was circular pattern on the surface of the bracket. I think they will look real nice after I dip them in the bluing and blacking chemicals. The next and final step was to wash them real well using dish washing detergent which removes the grease. I dried the brackets and placed each set in a Ziploc bag and sealed them in., to prevent oil or finge

A s the weather here is as nasty as could be, I spent the morning adjusting and refining the safety bracket on the steering. I felt the safety bracket was pulling the main bracket forward rather than keeping it at 90 degrees to the kingpin. After a little work with the Dremel tool it aligned perfectly. The next step is to remove them from the trike and strip them of the paint finis which is chipping off anyway. Tom found that Gun blue/black finish should work on the main bracket and Gun Black will work on the Aluminum bracket, so I ordered some from the Bass Shop. As soon as the finish is in , I will remove the brackets and dip them in paint remover and clean them very well. I then will refinish both bracket sets. The blued and blackened finish should look nice and last a lot longer than paint. I think I will even coat the washers, nuts and maybe the bolts. Tom is not sure if he will market the steering upgrade kit unless he has 10 people that commit to buying it as a full kit or as a

E arly this morning I changed the steering brackets to the 1 1/8" size and realigned the steering. I am getting real fast at the alignment using two metal tape measures. Took only five minutes and it is done. The turning radius with the tie-rod on top and the 1 1/8" brackets is around 10' still not bad at all. Turning and basic steering is smooth and very nimble. The steering needs a light hand as it is quick and very responsive. High speed runs seemed stable, but I will know more after I do some back to back and "S" turns. I will continue testing with the 1 1/8" brackets and the tie-rod on top as I feel that it is a safer installation. Mounting the tie-rod under the bracket might give a little better steering geometry but it places the tie-rod in harms way plus it also puts the chain tube in contact and deflecting the tube.

This morning I took the trike out after I aligned it properly and moved the tie-rod to the top of the brackets. The handling was excellent, but there was a tendency to pull into the turn on tight turns. The turning circle was an amazing 10'7" from outside of tire to outside of tire and 7' 10" from outside to inside of tire. This test proved that I need to move to the next size longer bracket, which means I have to disassemble the steering tomorrow morning. I am hoping the same security bracket will fit this extension bracket. I will also go through the process of realignment of the front end, a process by itself. This afternoon my package from Alfred E. Bike came containing my new set of Axiom Monsoon panniers. I ordered the panniers in the Gray/Black and it looks real nice on the Black Widow. They are large enough without being to large and taking away from the sleek design of the trike. The panniers are waterproof and well made. The hardware is very simple but well

T his morning I disassembled the steering upgrade package and changed the bolts holding the security brackets to longer bolts. I also realigned the main brackets and verified that they were the same distance from the center of axle to the edge of bracket. This ensures that the brackets don't affect the alignment. As you can see from the above pictures the brackets in the photo on the top are not aligned as well as the picture on the bottom. I then elongated the hole on one safety bracket to ensure alignment of the tie-rod mounting holes. Next was taking the tie-rod and making sure each ball end was screwed into the tie-rod the same distance. I preceded to mount the tie-rod to the top of the brackets. This position was opposite to the way I had it mounted yesterday, as it was on the bottom. I now grabbed my two metal tape measures and stretched one from side of one wheel at the back to the side of the other wheel at the back, about halfway up from the floor on each. I used the spoke

T oday the Prototype modification for the steering came from Tom. I first wanted to get some control tests done so I marked the ground on the outside of each tire, then made a 180 degree turn and when I was exactly opposite the two chalk lines I marked again the outside of each tire. The measurement of a tight locking turn (Where my handlebars were touching my body and the tires were scrubbing real bad) was 16'-6". I then installed the kit and made sure the alignment was close to correct. I then aligned the tires with the first two chalk lines and repeated the 180 degree turn and again marked the outside of each tire. The measurement was now a nice tight 12'. A real big improvement. The weather is preventing me from proceeding with other tests, so when the weather improves I will continue my evaluation of the kit. I have taken two photos showing the prototype brackets installed.

T his weekend was uneventful other than a trip to the Ben Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA to see the King Tut exhibit. The price for two was very expensive for an exhibit that contained only 33 objects from King Tut and the rest was from there regular Egyptian exhibit. On top of the $76.00 admission fee there was an additional fee of $12.00 to have the audio tour. At this time it is beyond the reach of the average family to attend. And I am sure none of the inner city kids get to appreciate it. After the exhibit the four of us that is my wife and our friends went to a small bistro for late lunch. The food and wine were excellent and I destroyed my diet for the week. But no one is interested in my diet! Enough of my ranting and back to other things. T his morning I finalized the sale of my Radical Design Panniers to another bentrideronline member. I received prompt payment and I sent the package out Priority mail. She should have it by Friday the latest. My new Axiom Monsoon pann

A fter a lot of thought, I have decided to sell my Radical Designs Panniers and purchase the Axiom Monsoon panniers. The main reason for this is that I over estimated the need for such a large pannier, and the Radical Design pannier is way to big. The Axiom Monsoon will be able to handle all my tubes and tools including my pump in one pannier and have the other pannier for my jacket and anything else needed for a day ride. I purchased these panniers from Alfred E Bike, and they seem to have some very reasonable prices. Here is some basic information on these panniers. Features and Information Fully waterproof welded tarpaulin and 600D polyester Posi-Lock attachment system secures luggage to rack even on rough roads; extra hardware included Roll-down closure for foolproof weather protection Top flap has waterproof pocket on outside, mesh tool pocket on inside Reflective logos and tabs for improved visibility 1510 Cubic Inches 13 x 11 x 5 T hese panniers also came in a

W ell nothing real exciting other than a another comfort adjustments on the trike. The adjustment was to the neck-rest, which was a little too high for use with my Bell Faction helmet. The new helmet comes down in the back a little more than the Bell Metro requiring that I drill two new holes in the neck-rest support frame. I think that the neck-rest is now in a better position which is lower in relation to where it was. On my next ride I will know for sure if the adjustment needs anymore tweaking. A few moments ago I received a call from McMaster Carr regarding the replacement tie-rod ends that I ordered. I was told that they are ready for pickup, you can't get better customer than they provide. I assume by now Tom has placed the first coat pf primer and maybe even paint on the brackets. They should be in the mail by early next week. As soon as I have them I will perform a few comparison tests. I am looking forward to this modification as it should improve steering greatly. If

T his afternoon Tom contacted me regarding his steering modification kit. As of now he has made the brackets and ran a few test rides. He found that the tie-rod ends we have way to much play and will not be suitable. But all is not lost. Tom contacted the manufacturer and found that there is a suitable replacement which has a PTFE Teflon bushing container which is made for our use. I contacted McMaster Carr regarding returning the others and replacing them with the Teflon version. They will be shipped here to the New Jersey office for pickup tomorrow. I will try for tomorrow, but will probably get them Friday. Tonight Tom will prime the brackets and get them ready for a first coat of paint. I am really excited about testing this system, as it reduces the turning radius and improves steering stability. A long term test will of course determine its true worth, but preliminary reports show great promise. I will test it at speed on my local ride that has the back to back 90 degree turns

I n a prior post I was concerned with the location of the Alarm on the left handlebar. And my concerns were warranted. The alarm is equipped with a ball bearing switch that detects the slightest movement. These ball bearings created a racket over bumps. Not that it was that bad, just distracting. I decided to move the alarm to location two, which is on the front dérailleur tube. I used the Minoura bottle mount to raise the alarm above the Terracycle accessory mount. The hardest part of the job was closing the cover with the four miniature slot head screws provided to do this. The screws were so small that it became a long and tedious job holding them and getting them into the four slots. A jewelers screwdriver was used for this purpose. I also removed the anti-false alarm mode as this location is not as sensitive as on the handlebar. Now if the trike is touched the alarm sound without the two warning beeps. T he photo above and to the right shows the detail of the Minoura mount r

O n Friday I received the alarm from Ducharme and I am mostly pleased with it. The alarm will serve the function as a warning system. My only fault with the system is the provided mount, which is far from robust. The first attempt to mount the alarm using the provided mounting plat was totally disastrous, resulting in the tabs on the plate breaking off. I didn't even put any pressure on it. The tabs are made of plastic and even if I did get the alarm mounted using the plate, it would break off on the first ride. I ordered the Minour bottle mount and I will mount it using that. Right now I have it mounted with Tie-Wraps which are provided to do this. I have the alarm installed on the left bar-end or mirror mount, but the unit contains ball bearings which I could hear when riding., which to me is not acceptable. So I will relocate the unit to the front dérailleur post. The actual operation and setup is very easy, but the instruction sheet is like one of those instruction sheets that