Sunday 9 June 2019
A long gap, problems and Sarah learns to ride
Work finished on the Python some months ago, though there are still many details to add.
Sarah and I tried to ride it and failed. The bike rusted and Sarah found the cranks too long. The handlebar mount broke.
Recently, Sarah tried more successfully to practice, so I stripped the rust with a wire brush on an angle grinder, welded some better handlebars and applied zinc anti-rust primer paint to the frame. Sarah is now at the point of riding confidently as long as steering doesn't need to be precise.
Sarah and I tried to ride it and failed. The bike rusted and Sarah found the cranks too long. The handlebar mount broke.
Recently, Sarah tried more successfully to practice, so I stripped the rust with a wire brush on an angle grinder, welded some better handlebars and applied zinc anti-rust primer paint to the frame. Sarah is now at the point of riding confidently as long as steering doesn't need to be precise.
Sunday 20 January 2019
Preparation for riding practice
With the seat mounted. nearly ready to ride :). I mounted some bars in order to mount a brake lever and installed the rear brake. The BB is mounted to the boom with a Flevobike type adjustable BB shell. The rest of the drivetrain is spares from other bikes.
My partner Sarah was first to sit on the bike.
Now it's just the simple matter of learning to ride. We went to a local space this morning and, as expected, we fell off a lot and didn't go anywhere. There will be many more attempts in the next few weeks, reports to follow.
Once I am happy with the general setup of the bike I will add mounts for lights, rack and mudguards, a front brake, headrest and bottles. I will then paint the bike - again, I will make sure that no more welding needs to be done before I paint. It is possible that the front frame has too much flex - we shall see.
My partner Sarah was first to sit on the bike.
Now it's just the simple matter of learning to ride. We went to a local space this morning and, as expected, we fell off a lot and didn't go anywhere. There will be many more attempts in the next few weeks, reports to follow.
Once I am happy with the general setup of the bike I will add mounts for lights, rack and mudguards, a front brake, headrest and bottles. I will then paint the bike - again, I will make sure that no more welding needs to be done before I paint. It is possible that the front frame has too much flex - we shall see.
Seat drilling and mount
I drilled the holes in the carbon seat. There is lots of different advice about how to do this on the web. The risk is 'tearout' of the carbon fibre at the bottom of the hole. To avoid this I used a step drill, usually used for drilling sheet metal. This worked well and I got fairly neat holes.
The front seat mount rotates to adjust the seat angle but ther is not bacwards / forwards adjustability. I may add this later if needed. I used weld nuts, which provide a stop for easy location of the seat.
The rear mount will adjust using holes in the mount piece and swivels at the top to allow for angle adjustment. The mount is offset as there is only a frame on one side.
The front seat mount rotates to adjust the seat angle but ther is not bacwards / forwards adjustability. I may add this later if needed. I used weld nuts, which provide a stop for easy location of the seat.
The rear mount will adjust using holes in the mount piece and swivels at the top to allow for angle adjustment. The mount is offset as there is only a frame on one side.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)