Re: Climbing is hard

Alan Braggins said:

I do however have an angle grinder, MIG welder, and a small pile of bike
bits. Watch this space, but without holding your breath. (I haven't been
to Kevin for the "try out assorted recumbents" session yet though, that
plan got rather disrupted by the car dying.) I need to learn how to drive
the GIMP too (and/or a suitable CAD program). And probably to decide that
I really do need to trust my welding for at least some structural stuff
rather than trying to avoid it.

Get a copy of this: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/booklet.html

For free CAD you could try Qcad http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html which
is OK for 2D work. Or, if you can find a working Sun 3 I've got Medusa 6
on tape...

Rather than MIG welding for hand-made thin-section bike stuff it's normal
to braze. Bottisham Village College used to do welding & brazing
evening classes, but as their website is fubared atm I can't tell if they
still do.

Mike

Mike Causer said:

Alan Braggins said:

I do however have an angle grinder, MIG welder, and a small pile of bike
bits. Watch this space, but without holding your breath. (I haven't been
to Kevin for the "try out assorted recumbents" session yet though, that
plan got rather disrupted by the car dying.) I need to learn how to drive
the GIMP too (and/or a suitable CAD program). And probably to decide that
I really do need to trust my welding for at least some structural stuff
rather than trying to avoid it.

Get a copy of this: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/booklet.html

I think it still said "new edition coming soon" last time I looked.
Definitely looks worthwhile.

Quoted message said:

For free CAD you could try Qcad http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html which
is OK for 2D work.

http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad_downloads.html says demo version times out
after 10 minutes, buy a licence for production use.
http://www.freebyte.com/cad/cad.htm#2D3DCADSystems has a selection of other
possibilities.

But "take side view photos, scale to match, cut and paste bits" will
probably do for rough 2D design.

Quoted message said:

Or, if you can find a working Sun 3 I've got Medusa 6
on tape...

I've got an Amiga, which is at least 680x0 based. There was a very basic
(simple command line stuff only) Amiga emulator that ran on the Sun, but
the other way around could be trickier though, and I'm not sure if it's
working anyway. I am certain I don't have a tape drive.
But I think JohnM might have the appropriate kit.

(And somewhere I have Imagine for the Amiga, I ought to try transferring
it onto UAE. Assuming I can read the Amiga floppies.)

Quoted message said:

Rather than MIG welding for hand-made thin-section bike stuff it's normal
to braze.

Yes, but I already have the MIG welder and a bit of experience with it,
and the pile of scrap frames are thick-section welded ones (thicker than,
say, the Alfetta body panels I got the MIG for).
There is an obvious downside to that, but it's not as if there are any
big hills locally anyway.

Alan Braggins said:

Quoted message said:

Get a copy of this: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/booklet.html

I think it still said "new edition coming soon" last time I looked.
Definitely looks worthwhile.

Yup, new edition is out now (and I must get one too).

Quoted message said:

http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad_downloads.html says demo version times out
after 10 minutes, buy a licence for production use.

Ah yes, there's a slightly older version available as an rpm with no
restrictions, or if you have Qt build the current version from source.

Quoted message said:

http://www.freebyte.com/cad/cad.htm#2D3DCADSystems has a selection of
other possibilities.

Mainly for MS-Windows, there's very little for Linux.

Quoted message said:

I've got an Amiga, which is at least 680x0 based. There was a very basic
(simple command line stuff only) Amiga emulator that ran on the Sun, but
the other way around could be trickier though, and I'm not sure if it's
working anyway. I am certain I don't have a tape drive. But I think
JohnM might have the appropriate kit.

Only Sun 4s the last time I was in his server (bed)room.

Quoted message said:

Yes, but I already have the MIG welder and a bit of experience with it,
and the pile of scrap frames are thick-section welded ones (thicker
than, say, the Alfetta body panels I got the MIG for).

Well watch out for distortion then....

Mike

in message
<[email hidden]>, Mike

Causer (') said:

Alan Braggins said:

I do however have an angle grinder, MIG welder, and a small pile of
bike bits. Watch this space, but without holding your breath. (I
haven't been to Kevin for the "try out assorted recumbents" session
yet though, that plan got rather disrupted by the car dying.) I need
to learn how to drive the GIMP too (and/or a suitable CAD program).
And probably to decide that I really do need to trust my welding for
at least some structural stuff rather than trying to avoid it.

Get a copy of this: http://www.bhpc.org.uk/booklet.html

For free CAD you could try Qcad http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html
which
is OK for 2D work. Or, if you can find a working Sun 3 I've got
Medusa 6 on tape...

I use AC3D, from here: <URL:http://www.ac3d.org/>. It's not true CAD,
since it doesn't really know about solids and doesn't have any real
dimensioning; but it is an excellent 3d modeller and visualiser. It's
shareware, but the license is inexpensive and in my opinion it's great
value for money. The author is also pretty good at responding to
questions and suggestions. It exports both to AutoCAD and to POVRay.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Diplomacy, American: see Intelligence, Military

Alan Braggins said:

I do however have an angle grinder, MIG welder, and a small pile of bike bits.
Watch this space, but without holding your breath. (I haven't been to Kevin
for the "try out assorted recumbents" session yet though, that plan got rather
disrupted by the car dying.) I need to learn how to drive the GIMP too (and/or
a suitable CAD program). And probably to decide that I really do need to trust
my welding for at least some structural stuff rather than trying to avoid it.

Compare and contrast. You have already got some experience with welding,
are used to the welder you own and are using bike tubing.

I had no experience of welding, have access to an arc welder which is
easily twice my age and am now almost reaching a passable skill level
(Somewhere approaching almost competent!) as I reach the end of
producing my second frame.

I would strongly advise buying Atomic Zombies Bicycle Builders Bonanza
or at least looking at the site (www.atomiczombie.com). If for no other
reason than you'll realise that if he's still alive, it can't be that
difficult.

Jon

In article said:

Alan Braggins said:

I do however have an angle grinder, MIG welder, and a small pile of bike bits.
Watch this space, but without holding your breath. (I haven't been to Kevin
for the "try out assorted recumbents" session yet though, that plan got rather
disrupted by the car dying.) I need to learn how to drive the GIMP too (and/or
a suitable CAD program). And probably to decide that I really do need to trust
my welding for at least some structural stuff rather than trying to avoid it.

Compare and contrast. You have already got some experience with welding,
are used to the welder you own and are using bike tubing.

I had no experience of welding, have access to an arc welder which is
easily twice my age and am now almost reaching a passable skill level
(Somewhere approaching almost competent!) as I reach the end of
producing my second frame.

The assumption of a second frame is one reason for not worrying too much
about the weight of the thick tubed welded frames....
As it happens I do have an arc welder too, but I've never used it (it was
my father-in-law's), and when I did do arc welding it was on _much_ thicker
stuff.

Quoted message said:

I would strongly advise buying Atomic Zombies Bicycle Builders Bonanza

That was my birthday present to myself. I'm thinking of something a bit
like the Kool Kat, but based on a 26" wheel frame (with a 20" fork).
I'm undecided between a 20" rear wheel, a 26" rear wheel with a very
steep head angle and hardly any trail, and cutting and bending the frame
to have a 26" rear wheel, 20" front wheel, and the headtube back at the
angle it first thought of.
(Or using a lighterweight fork that I could bend to change the trail, but
that's for a 451mm wheel I don't have, and would need either a lot of
threading or welding a different headtube in place (but does have a much
longer stem which might work for OSS without welding an extension onto it).)

Quoted message said:

or at least looking at the site (www.atomiczombie.com). If for no other
reason than you'll realise that if he's still alive, it can't be that
difficult.

Hmm. You're not getting me on one of those tallbikes just because I've
seen photos of someone else doing it....
I'm not convinced by something as low as the Marauder for commuting or
town use either.

Alan Braggins said:

The assumption of a second frame is one reason for not worrying too much
about the weight of the thick tubed welded frames....

You claim the first one was a prototype and treat the excess weight as a
good training exercise.

Quoted message said:

As it happens I do have an arc welder too, but I've never used it (it was
my father-in-law's), and when I did do arc welding it was on _much_ thicker
stuff.

I've been playing with ours a lot recently and have finally managed to
get the hang (Sort of) of welding thinner tubes. I did however punch
neatly through the front derailleur mount tube by leaving the current at
70A and then attempting to weld a < 1mm walled tube to 1.2mm wall one. I
then got to spend about 4 hours this evening, laying up material around
the tube until I could successfully weld it. Grr.

Quoted message said:

That was my birthday present to myself. I'm thinking of something a bit
like the Kool Kat, but based on a 26" wheel frame (with a 20" fork).
I'm undecided between a 20" rear wheel, a 26" rear wheel with a very
steep head angle and hardly any trail, and cutting and bending the frame
to have a 26" rear wheel, 20" front wheel, and the headtube back at the
angle it first thought of.
(Or using a lighterweight fork that I could bend to change the trail, but
that's for a 451mm wheel I don't have, and would need either a lot of
threading or welding a different headtube in place (but does have a much
longer stem which might work for OSS without welding an extension onto it).)

My first plan for after Christmas is to make a Spincycle for the Bike
Station. I can see us getting grief from the management though, as the
station car park is probably not the best place for it, but is the only
large open area available.

Quoted message said:

Hmm. You're not getting me on one of those tallbikes just because I've
seen photos of someone else doing it....

Coward. I'd love to make one and then commute to work on it, but given
the hill I have to travel I can see a disaster in the making. Too high
for a Martlehat to be any use! ;-)

Quoted message said:

I'm not convinced by something as low as the Marauder for commuting or
town use either.

I'd stick a flag on it. TBH, the fact that you are so strikingly
different means you'd only have problems if you tried to jump places in
stationary traffic.

Jon

On 15/12/04 12:02 am, in article [email hidden], "Jon

Senior' jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk said:

My first plan for after Christmas is to make a Spincycle for the Bike
Station. I can see us getting grief from the management though, as the
station car park is probably not the best place for it, but is the only
large open area available.

You and me both..

I have most of the necessary bits in the garage, just need to find some
time.

I'd like to find a smaller wheel than 26" though.

...d

in message <[email hidden]>, Jon Senior

jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk ('') said:

Quoted message said:

Hmm. You're not getting me on one of those tallbikes just because
I've seen photos of someone else doing it....

Coward. I'd love to make one and then commute to work on it, but given
the hill I have to travel I can see a disaster in the making. Too high
for a Martlehat to be any use! ;-)

You notice that the place where Atomic Zombie lives is extremely flat. I
suspect that this makes the skycycle rather easier to deal with; I've
certainly no plans to try riding one around here.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Morning had broken, and I found when I looked that we had run out
of copper roove nails.

Jon Senior said:

Alan Braggins wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hmm. You're not getting me on one of those tallbikes just because
I've seen photos of someone else doing it....

Coward. I'd love to make one and then commute to work on it, but
given the hill I have to travel I can see a disaster in the making.
Too high for a Martlehat to be any use! ;-)

ISTR Chalo Colina admitting in rec.bicycles.tech that he had carved a
large groove in his scalp by riding his tallbike under an awning. A
PFDB might have helped in that case.

--
Dave...

dkahn400 said:

ISTR Chalo Colina admitting in rec.bicycles.tech that he had carved a
large groove in his scalp by riding his tallbike under an awning. A
PFDB might have helped in that case.

One Bob Johnson competed in the BHPC race at Milton Keynes on a tallbike in
2001, and reported that the martlehat was very useful when carving through
overhanging trees...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

Simon Brooke said:

You notice that the place where Atomic Zombie lives is extremely
flat. I suspect that this makes the skycycle rather easier to deal
with; I've certainly no plans to try riding one around here.

I'm sure you could find a flat bit to practice on before tackling the
Dalbeattie Slab.

--
Dave...

In article said:

Alan Braggins said:

I'm not convinced by something as low as the Marauder for commuting or
town use either.

I'd stick a flag on it. TBH, the fact that you are so strikingly
different means you'd only have problems if you tried to jump places in
stationary traffic.

I have a car for use when I'm happy to sit stationary in traffic as
normal bikes pass it....

David Martin said:

You and me both..

I have most of the necessary bits in the garage, just need to find some
time.

I'd like to find a smaller wheel than 26" though.

Next time you're in Edinburgh pop into the bike station. They have a
huge pile of 20" (And similar) wheels out the back. The bearings may
need a service, but it'll hardly need to be perfect!

Jon

On 16/12/04 12:00 am, in article [email hidden], "Jon

Senior' jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk said:

David Martin said:

You and me both..

I have most of the necessary bits in the garage, just need to find some
time.

I'd like to find a smaller wheel than 26" though.

Next time you're in Edinburgh pop into the bike station. They have a
huge pile of 20" (And similar) wheels out the back. The bearings may
need a service, but it'll hardly need to be perfect!

Every time I go through Waverly (fairly infrequently) the Bike Station is
closed. I'll have to ask a colleague who commutes Edi-Dundee (for the next
week anyway).

...d