txusic

Hello PPL...

I´m working on a version of this marvellous trike... with Ron's advice and permision

My needs and the place were I live, are completelly different than most of the other tribolt home builders, so i need to adapt the original design to a new-er conception, more practical for me...
i will call it in it's honour: tr3bolt

My design neccesities in order:

1. cheap
2. comfort
3. ligth weight
4. all terrain
5. smaller angle turns

At the moment im still in the drawing board, playing around with 3D sketchup over a version I sellfishly created for Ron. I´m adding over his design, parts of donnor bikes i have stored away after breakage, allways with the implementation of the tribolt build guide, in mind.

As i sketch away, i keep moving things around to try and fit everything into a tighter space, trying to mantain a low profile CG and a wheelbase under 110cm.

when designing a shorter trike, CG weight considerations have to be seriously taken, as they affect the trike stability & manouvrability. Rider’s position has more effect on overall weight distribution than longer trikes... keeping around 30% of the weight in the rear, and 70% in front.
Too much leg weight in front of both 20" wheels, and youre prone for a see-saw effect when breaking or trailing on rough terrain. To much weight towards the back and you mess all the steering.

I´m considering altering the gussets that support both parts of the main boom; the underseat horizontal and the 14º angle sustaining the cross member and bottom bracket.
They will be modified to add, other uses. By extending its load bearing capacity with heavier reinforcements and its shape to accomodate the chain iddler underneath, on top become the frontal hard seat support and if possible, hold an under seat steering.
We will see if its too much weight and stress, or if the chain friction becomes a nasty vibration??

Parts:
Recently I swoped some logo designs for a full suspension decathlon Rockrider 6.0 - unrideable and in a bit of a state... Also i made some dirtbike images for a spanish female rider, in exchange of 3 air  light motorbike suspensions. I already had 2 other broken bikes, one aluminium and the other is a bmx frame and handlebar... I had more bits and bobs and 20" wheels but got stolen from a yard i was keeping them.

I´m also waiting for a mag. to pay a cheap online postproduction job i did back in 2012... I exchanged the job, either for quick cash, or help on another project.. none happened.
After reclaiming my money loads of times and getting loads of excuses, I declared that money lost, until recently. I contacted them again and agreed te payment ASAP. Now im waiting to buy both front wheels and T6 grade aluminium out of it, when ever they decide to pay me back.

I need to build an inexpensive hard seat probably out of plywood... I never liked meshed seats, for some bizarre reason I allways preferred harder surfaces paded, even when sitting in the beach i rather sit on the sand (that i dont dig too much) than in one of those... I tried turning my bike upside down sitting on a mesh chair at an end and testing it.. didnt like it either... so a hard seat will be, even if it adds extra weight. The angle will be around 30º from the horizon...
I want the seat to work also as an integral part of the structure, triangulating the frame from the gusset to the vertical back stay, that supports the rear dropout hence, adding stiffness to both.

Another massive consideration was the rear end.
I wanted to use the rockrider steel swing dropout to cheapen things, make it an easier build and add rear suspension.

The rear suspension of the 6.0 is a direct link between the top triangle of the rear dropout to the top tube, as seen in this picture on the left.

Most DIY builders what they do is lenghthen the bike, like in the image below... and attach the suspension towards the main boom, making the trike very good looking and sporty but awefully long and heavy, not that good as a

climber and believe me, we do have a handfull of hills nearby.
Inherent to that type of suspension is the trend to bounce and take a lot of torsion when pedaling because of chain loading force, making climbs preety damm awefull!! Also the idea of having 1 real connection betwen the main tube and the rear dropout on a bolted homebuilt trike didnt sound reasonable at all...

so what i´m looking forward is to change that RR 6.0 thru axle rear dropout, towards a system like the Giant - Maestro multi-link suspension, by cutting some parts and asking a welder to rejoin them in an ideal form to adapt my trike.

Front suspension...
i was looking for an A-arm wishbone type, mantaining exactly the same tribolt, shape, distance and knuckles plates, made out of that L shaped aluminium plate with the rod bearings attached in the exact same position.
at first i would build the current Tribolt crossmember and upgrade it afterwards when all else is properly working and builded.

Under seat steering
i was considering direct nuckle steering as its boulder, simpler, easy to build and lighter...
but for some reason doesnt feel right with the wishbone implementation, the up and down suspension motion wouldn't fit...
i would like to be able to play with the toe in toe out capabilities through the rod ends and also place the handlebars a bit further low and back if it doesnt interfeer with tight cornering.
Also have the handlebars, leaning a bit forward for wrist confort and to feel more sporty!!