Thanks to txusic we have a great Sketchup of the trike.

Here's the file
(7.36MB It's on my Google drive)

Here you can download the Sketchup viewer.

 http://www.sketchup.nl/download/viewcategory/16

The seat is a little different from what I have but no reason not to look at both designs and pick your favorite or design a seat yourself. 

Michael Barron's variation of the Tribolt.

Babybolt

CAD drawings txusic

Less caster angle?

I spent an afternoon at LTE recumbent bike shop. The owner Boudewijn, from the Tripod and Tracer trikes, suggested I did less caster on the Tribolt. The tilting effect will be less as a result.

Maybe he is right. Maybe not. Point is he always links the front brakes on his trikes. Then you don't need centerpoint steering.

When I built the first copy of the Raptor I had no steering axis inclination. The handling was perfect. With 14 degrees caster. After I added my design steering the brake-steer was as god as gone, or at least very manageable. But it didn't improve anything else.

So I will do some experiments with less caster and less kingpin angle and compensate with the wheel axle further behind the kingpin.

The last word is not spoken yet about the steering. It's complicated. My L-profile setup works fine. But perhaps it can be improved by other angles, more or less Ackermann compensation and axle placement.

If you do link the front brakes, please consider the simple straight Raptor method with no steering axis inclination whatsoever. Death easy construction. I found 14 degrees working great. Less then 10 degrees and you may encounter problems with the bottom bracket height and your heels touching the road. Check before you drill.

    

Space frame

Interesting bolted trike. http://picasaweb.google.com/106252701495483297783/ProjectN55AndVelomobile

first short test ride babybolt

Took the new trike out round the block.
Verdict. Pretty good. Some brake steer. and it shifts in a corner on the larger cogs.
Didn't even bother to check the front wheel alignment but I will next time.
Seat position is too reclined for me so I will put it more upright.

The small 305 front wheels seem to roll well enough.

Babybolt seat cover on

Finished stitching on the purple ribbon on the seat mesh. Single stitch only but I'll double it later on the front side.
The fabric comes from an old trampoline. It stretches a tiny bit. Since the trike is very low I probably going to put a piece of chain tube on the power side just under the seat. With my weight there's a risk I sit on the chain and damage the seat cover.

The Raptor bottom bracket. The front plate is a bit thin at 5mm. My goal is to make it look nice as well.

builders pages

Do you have news or something interesting to tell? Do you want to show us pictures of how your project is progressing? Please edit you personal page.

You can post on the home page as well. No problem.

But your builders page is where we hope to see lots of info of all the Tribolt creations. Especially when you are doing certain features differently from the original design.

Not all blog members have their own page yet. Just a few were created as a start. If you start building or want a page in advance please let us.

At this moment there are 3 blog administrators and the rest are 'authors' so you can post as well.  You can become administrator as well if you want to and know more about social media the we do.

There has to be done lots more work on the articles and manuals. Please be patient and check later if there is something new.

Thanks for joining.


Ron ( Rontor) 

rear derailleur cable routing

The small persons trike, I think I call it the Baby Tribolt,  is almost done now. Here's the cable routing for the rear derailleur. It can be one piece of cable housing. But I want to be able to partly clean and lube it once in a while.
Little brackets like that can take up a couple of hours depending on how good you want to make them look. It's a piece of the tube I used for the frame 4mm thick.

The Baby trike has 16inch 305 front wheels and a 20inch rear wheel. I must say, the smaller rear wheel feels more sturdy already. Pre 2004 Catrike Speeds used 305 wheels. They're tiny.

As with all trikes this one too sees first daylight in the living room. Very few trikes have been made in the garage only or are unpacked outside. This clearly distinguishes trikes from bikes.