Need Advice For Switching An X5 Into A 20" Wheel

Wood?
Scary thought to me. What if termites attack?

I've made metal parts with nothing more than a drill and a hacksaw. Just find a suitable piece of junk to start with. If the shock just slides into the cup, you might be able to find some metal tubing to make an extension (like conduit?).
 
You guys are as funny as termites, attacking any bike-related concept with the word "wood" in it. :)

Wood is comparatively light and can remain very strong when crafted and treated properly. Odds are, you live in a wood house and often sit on wood chairs. How often have you treated your wood house or chairs for termites?

As for the environmental issues, cutting down too many trees is bad, cutting down any trees in some areas is bad, but mining metal is not exactly environmentally-friendly either, and metal is not a renewable resource like wood. There's no reason wood can't work for bikes too.

Here, direct your wood-fear at these:
"Woody":
http://www.lowriderbike.com/bike_features/01sumlrb_custom_wooden_bicycle_woody/
01sumlrb_woody07_zoom.jpg


Another "Woody" -- a wood recumbent with building plans:
http://www.manytracks.com/Recumbent/woody.htm
bike-s1.jpg
 
Malcolm said:
There's no reason wood can't work for bikes too
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:lol:
hmm – the high-stress components on those bikes seem to be made of very shiny pieces of wood...
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How does that contradict my assertion, "There's no reason wood can't work for bikes too"? The bulk of those bikes is wood. And as I stated in regards to my wood shock-extender plans, I'd still use metal bolts to both attach it, and transversely to prevent the wood from splitting. Sheez, almost nothing in this world is so black-and-white.
 
It doesn't contradict your assertion at all. With careful design and correct choice of timber you could replace almost all the components on your bike with wood if that's what you want (and why not). It's just that for certain components, such as bearing surfaces and suspension components it's difficult to beat a nice chunk of metal. Even the old horse-drawn carts used small amounts of metal in strategic positions where they found wood just didn't last. I'm not saying that wood won't work, but you might find it's easier to achieve a reliable solution with metal.
 
It's just that for certain components, such as bearing surfaces and suspension components it's difficult to beat a nice chunk of metal. Even the old horse-drawn carts used small amounts of metal in strategic positions where they found wood just didn't last. I'm not saying that wood won't work, but you might find it's easier to achieve a reliable solution with metal.
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I totally agree, and don't think I've ever communicated anything different. The practical reason for me to consider the use of wood for some bike parts is that I have extra wood on hand, wood is usually cheaper, and it's much easier to fashion than metal with the tools that I have.
I do find it puzzling that wood seems to get totally ruled out of everybody else's bike-related projects here without any consideration at all. It's great for at least parts of the less-stressed/non-moving big parts...

I've used wood to excellent effect in my battery boxes (helps that wood is already insulated), and on little brackets and such like the one to my Currie's basket. In each case these are fortified by metal nuts, screws, brackets and such. But doing the whole thing with metal would have been more expensive and taken much longer (for me).

img_2392_105.jpg
 
I do find it puzzling that wood seems to get totally ruled out of everybody else's bike-related projects.
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True, for some reason people don't like mixing wood and metal, except on luxury boats and in kitchens, where it seems to be part of the accepted design language and a sign of quality. I think it's the homebuilt look. It is strange that we accept certain objects as being higher status if they look mass-produced rather than individually crafted. Image obviously doesn't bother you though, so why not. I look forward to seeing the end result :D
 
Malcolm said:
I do find it puzzling that wood seems to get totally ruled out of everybody else's bike-related projects.
Click to expand...
Image obviously doesn't bother you though, so why not. I look forward to seeing the end result :D
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:lol: True. I lean far toward the image-is-nothing end of the image-is-nothing/image-is-everything continuum.
I like your observations regarding the general acceptance of mixed-materials in some contexts but not others.
 
To stop the wood spliting along the grain, wrap it (tightly) with thread, yes thread, apply some epoxy (slow set, I have done this with kevlar over carbon fibre, used quick set, it set half way through, hand heat helped it on the way) first and prepare to get messy. Think about it, each turn could have 5lbs of force on it, multiply by say 300 and...
 
maxwell said:
To stop the wood spliting along the grain, wrap it (tightly) with thread, yes thread, apply some epoxy (slow set, I have done this with kevlar over carbon fibre, used quick set, it set half way through, hand heat helped it on the way) first and prepare to get messy. Think about it, each turn could have 5lbs of force on it, multiply by say 300 and...
Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestion, but how is this better than drilling a few holes and bolting the wood through the sides? I've yet to actually have any pieces split, but I do that as a precaution in areas that look vulnerable to splitting forces of any sort.
 
I may not be better, it does distribute the forces a bit and think of the fun you can have with different colours of thread.
 
Malcolm said:
I do find it puzzling that wood seems to get totally ruled out of everybody else's bike-related projects.
Click to expand...
True, for some reason people don't like mixing wood and metal, except on luxury boats and in kitchens, where it seems to be part of the accepted design language and a sign of quality.
Click to expand...

http://www.woodysfenders.com/products.php :D
 
maxwell said:
I may not be better, it does distribute the forces a bit and think of the fun you can have with different colours of thread.
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting bike bondage?! :shock:
No thanks. I already have Fechter, Ypedal and you to publicly punish and humiliate me -- all I need to do is say the secret go-phrase "duct tape" or "wood". :p
 
Miles said:
http://www.woodysfenders.com/products.php :D
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Those are cool fenders! Well shellacked against termite and weather attack. :D
 
Or even try triangulation with two bits of wood (the seat tube being the third member).

Someone said if wood was discovered today it would be heralded as the new wonder material.
 
maxwell said:
Someone said if wood was discovered today it would be heralded as the new wonder material.
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Yes. It has a similar specific modulus to Carbon-fibre composites, for beams in bending (beats everything else for plates under pressure...) and it grows in trees... :D
 

I'm having a bike shop build a wheel for me that's very similar to yours. Mine has a CVT hub. Aparently the spokes aren't available at the right length. Obviously the spokes are very short. However, the bike shop is cutting longer spokes and threading the ends. Sounds like a major pain in the butt to me, but they're doing it. Also, they're doing it relatively cheaply. They're charging me $110 for spokes, rims, aand building two wheels. It seems like a good deal for that much work.

I's look into getting a longer shock because I don't think you'll be happy with shorter cranks. I've ridden bikes with short cranks. It's frustrating. It feels so much better to have the leverage of longer cranks.
 
Thanks for that, Beagle.

I'm going ahead with the 20" wheel, and no other mods until I see if 1-1.5" ground clearance will be enough for my terrain and riding style. I don't curb-hop this bike, and I don't often ride it through bumpy terrain. So I'm thinking the clearance might be adequate. I can probably train myself to coast over speed bumps and such with the pedals in the horizontal position. It might take a few lumps for the lesson to sink in, though...
 

O.K. Here's the deal:

I welded foot pegs onto my bike, and their clearance is 3 1/2 inches. In my opinion that's the lowest you should go. I've scraped the ground many times. Also, my foot peg hit a buldge in the pavement where a tree root had made a mini-volcano thing. It smacked into it at 15 mph and bent my footpegs to about 45 degrees.

The problem you'll find is not cornering, but rather bumps and valleys in the road. Imagine your tires in valleys and your pedals over a bump. The worst is when you have a combination--just try leaning into a turn over a speed bump. You get the picture.

You should be able to simulate this by taking a turn with the pedal down.

You didn't hear that from me.
 
I just measured on my Norco, i have 4 inches below the pedal at dead bottom stroke. No weight on the bike.

When i sit on it ( 175 lbs ) it goes down to 2.5/3".. but my chainring is considerably higher ( 8 " without weight )

I almost never hit the pedals on the ground.. going around the traffic circle at 45 km/h leaning hard with the pedals horizontal is not a problem either.

I did hit the left pedal once on the BMX track going over a hard packed hill, if i had not pedaled i would have made it with room to spare ! lol.
 
Beagle123 said:
You didn't hear that from me.
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Beagle, who? I don't know anyone named Beagle and he never said word-one about pedals. :)

And point taken. It sounds like I may be better served by taking the extra time to extend my shock a few inches at the same time I have the bike apart to mount the new wheel. Ok, mid-stream planning correction...no problem! I just have to tamp-down my excitement to get riding on that new wheel a little. :)
 
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