I've not gotten any farther on this part of the project, but here's some stuff I forgot to post back when this thread was active:
DIYed from the brake arms off a kid's BMX junker, just cut off and bolted onto the arms on this triangle.
Keep in mind that to really get this to work you need to put spacers between the brake shoes and the adapters, so that they end up at the same distance from the adapters as they would have from the original arms, relative to the new length of the arm. I did not do that here and they worked ok with my wide steel 24" rims, but not well enough. Would have if the pads were closer to start with, at the right angle.
The caliper brakes were used because I didn't at that time have any matching working stud-mounted arms, otherwise this would have been unnecessary.
The extensions were needed because I had welded in a new crossbrace to replace the destroyed old one in a place that would allow me to use 26" wheels with this triangle if I ever needed to, even though it was from a 24" bike (with a toasted front end).
The first use I had for this triangle was actually on ReCycle, the first recumbent I tried to build, but didn't plan well enough so it could not be finished with my available technology.
It would have had a 26" rear and 20" front. The 20" front is actually why the shock fork on CrazyBike2 has those dropout plates welded to the front edges: they would let me use a 20" wheel on a 24" fork and still use the brake arm studs.
Steampunk Workshop's Jake Von Slatt actually cut and rewelded his 24" forks to make them fit a 20" wheel; this was far too much work for me, so I cheated. But I did like his idea.
http://steampunkworkshop.com/Short-Wheelbase-Recumbent-Bike
Some useful bike stuff from his site:
http://steampunkworkshop.com/visual-aid-bike-design
http://steampunkworkshop.com/front-wheel-drive-moving-bottom-bracket-experiments
http://steampunkworkshop.com/hardshell-bicycle-trunk
http://steampunkworkshop.com/home-depot-bike-headlight
DIYed from the brake arms off a kid's BMX junker, just cut off and bolted onto the arms on this triangle.
Keep in mind that to really get this to work you need to put spacers between the brake shoes and the adapters, so that they end up at the same distance from the adapters as they would have from the original arms, relative to the new length of the arm. I did not do that here and they worked ok with my wide steel 24" rims, but not well enough. Would have if the pads were closer to start with, at the right angle.
The caliper brakes were used because I didn't at that time have any matching working stud-mounted arms, otherwise this would have been unnecessary.
The extensions were needed because I had welded in a new crossbrace to replace the destroyed old one in a place that would allow me to use 26" wheels with this triangle if I ever needed to, even though it was from a 24" bike (with a toasted front end).
The first use I had for this triangle was actually on ReCycle, the first recumbent I tried to build, but didn't plan well enough so it could not be finished with my available technology.
It would have had a 26" rear and 20" front. The 20" front is actually why the shock fork on CrazyBike2 has those dropout plates welded to the front edges: they would let me use a 20" wheel on a 24" fork and still use the brake arm studs. Steampunk Workshop's Jake Von Slatt actually cut and rewelded his 24" forks to make them fit a 20" wheel; this was far too much work for me, so I cheated. But I did like his idea.
http://steampunkworkshop.com/Short-Wheelbase-Recumbent-Bike
Some useful bike stuff from his site:
http://steampunkworkshop.com/visual-aid-bike-design
http://steampunkworkshop.com/front-wheel-drive-moving-bottom-bracket-experiments
http://steampunkworkshop.com/hardshell-bicycle-trunk
http://steampunkworkshop.com/home-depot-bike-headlight
