HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN BEAUTIFUL BIKE -
Author's bike
RECYCLED RECUMBENTS -
This site leads you through my experience for creating a really comfortable LWB (long wheel base) recumbent bike. I use ‘donor’ bikes, usually old and unloved 10-speeds, and strip them down, cut, weld, combine, and augment these frames into a great style of recumbent bike. It also tickles me that I am 'recycling' older and unloved bikes into something you or I might ride with passion, comfort, and greater frequency. The methods described here are a sort of hobby or ‘sweat equity’ means of acquiring the best of pedal powered transportation and recreation. This site is one of several I know of that relay the experience of building your own recumbent bike. I am glad you stopped in – my purpose is to persuade you to try this project. You may already be a convert to the idea of riding a recumbent – for anyone who wants to ride a long time, the torture of sitting on a diamond bike saddle is the challenge. Recumbents for me remove that pain, and enhance my joy as a rider.
In your local bike shop, you may also you may be dismayed by the commercial cost of recumbent bikes. It doesn't have to be like that.
The Recycled Recumbent takes some time, ingenuity, and modest resources to build. It doesn't take a lot of cash. It costs you your time and thought - your first bike may take 2-3 weeks to build. The materials are easy – I find donor bikes at rummages and police auctions – the tools take a little doing. This is a brazed or welded assembly, and you need access to that equipment and those skills. I have suggested to some folks - "Buy a $100 class in gas brazing at the local Community College - you get some great skills and access to all the equipment you need to make your own frame this way!"
Objective
The objective of a Recycled Recumbent is a great bike at a modest cost in materials, built with accessible tools and simple technology. It is ALWAYS possible to make a better bike. You can use better tubing. Build completely from scratch. Have me build your frame. Use better and more expensive components. Employ sophisticated machine tools for jigging and alignment. This frame is possible to build well without micrometers and specialty jigs. I make choices for the EZ Clone and Mach 2 that trade costly hardware for home made fabrications. The choices are deliberate, to keep both the costs down and the process accessible.
This modest bike is ‘upgradeable’. Set it up as a 10-speed using components from your donor bikes. If you like what you are riding, buy 'presents' for it. After you ride it 500 miles, get it a crank with a granny gear - reward yourself and your bike. Get a really nice rear wheel and tire, maybe with a 7 or 8 speed cassette. Perhaps a fairing, the second season out. Your riding experience will teach you what your priorities for upgrades are. If you look at my yellowbikes in the pictures, you will see lots of presents... and there have been lots of miles to teach me what I wanted, as well.
“(I wish you) Miles of smiles", say some friends of mine. Recumbent riders smile more, because it hurts less.
