Greenspeed

They are the Godfather of trikes. I ordered these recumbent bicycle plans 6 months ago. They come with 15 CAD drawings, complete with measurements and instructions for building every aspect of the trike, a wheel building chart to calculate spoke length, and a parts list. You won't have to guess at anything.

If you do have questions you can email Paul Simms who runs the factory. They always answer emails within a few hours even though they're on the other side of the world! They make you feel honored.

It's amazing that the world's #1 recumbent trike manufacturer will just sell their blue prints to anyone who'll buy them. It's a great value. It's an OPEN SOURCE bent!

Thunderbolt Trike

Detail, detail, detail. Ricky Horwitz has done a great job with the Thunderbolt Trike concept. These plans are available for FREE through the International Human Powered Vehicle Association. It's more than a set of plans. It's an all out treatise on building trikes. Somewhere on the site Mr. Horwitz says he wants to known as the man who wrote THE BOOK on trikes.

Horwitz has been building trikes for about 12 years, which is almost as long as Greenspeed has been around.

Topics include:

• Steering System Theory
• Brake Systems
• Welding Options
• Parts and tools needed
• Chain Management
• Seat Building

Overall, this is a great way to get started in building a trike without spending any money on recumbent bicycle plans.

Long Wheelbase Plans:

The Gold Rush design is the bent that broke the 50mph speed barrier. The Tour Easy, the consumer version, is a strong design. Bents built from these plans have been known to hole 260+lbs riders plus a trailer and gear. It's a great way to get into recumbent cycling at little cost.

If you have a old mountain bike or even and old 10 speed laying around you can reforge it and give it new life. No sense in throwing away your old bike(s).

Backyard Bents's plans are the similar to the recycled recumbent design above. These plans have been in existence for at least 20 years. The footnotes in the text site books are from the mid 70s. No one knows where the plans came from or who made them, but they are widely available on the net and it's a proven design. Plus, it's FREE!!! I think of them as (OBS) Open Source Recumbent Bicycle Plans!

La bent by Ladue Recumbent Bicycle Plans

I bought a set of these plans a couple years ago when I first got into recumbent bikes. I bought both the LWB and delta trike versions. The plans are well laid out and give a list of items to buy. Ladue has included many CAD drawings to help understand the process.

I think this is an awesome bike build. LaDue calls for square mild steel tubing to keep cost down, but 4130 chromoly steel is a much better choice.

• Chromoly is 3x as strong as mild steel given the same thickness.
• 4130 chromoly steel is relatively cheap. It's been around for decades.
• Plus, it's airplane tubing. This means you'll have a bike which is 3x stronger and much, much lighter simply by changing the metal. Plus, cost would not increase very much. $60 - $70 is about all it would cost for tubing in chromoly for this bike.

Ortlieb makes more than just bicycle saddlebags they make motorcycle saddlebags, racks, bicycle mirrors and other accessories.

I've never used them, but many cyclists swear by them. It would be an insult not to include them.

Arkel is a Canadian company. They have the world greatest customer support. I think they rate up there with Apple Computer Company because they treat each customer like a gem.

I've ordered 2 sets of bicycle saddlebags from Arkel over the years. Their product is just as good as their service. Each set of panniers is packaged well and they give you lots of brochures and info.

The best thing about Arkel pannier is their Hook System. It is the STRONGEST in the industry. The best way to describe it is like unto an I-beam on a construction site. They just don't break. I've done bunny hops and jumped curbs. Once I the pannier half on and it still didn't fall off. It's nearly impossible for these panniers to become unhooked.

Make your own panniers! It isn't hard. I've built a set for myself over a year and a half ago using Arkel's Hook System. I called them the Buckets of Doom.

Homebuilt panniers have two categories: bags or buckets. The easiest way to make panniers is to find an already made bag or bucket and convert them to saddlebag duty.

The hardest way would be to sew up your own bags together from Canvas or Cordura. Many hikers, backpackers, and mountaineers make their own outdoor gear including backpacks, tents, stoves, even clothing and rain gear! So, if you have experience in sewing, GO FOR IT. If not, stick with the conversion idea.

The best thing to do find an Army/Navy Surplus store and buy an A.L.I.C.E. (All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment ) Pack.

The military uses these to carry all their gear. They can be used with or without the frame or straps. They come of 3 basic sizes: small, medium, and large.

These are fine, but the best buckets to use are square buckets made of High Density Polyethylene manufactured by Ropak Central. I used these to build the Buckets of Doom. Polyethylene is a very dense plastic which can take the rigors of touring. It's really stuff stuff.

You can get them from U.S. Plastic

U.S. Plastic sells them in 4 and 5 gallon sizes. That's 1075 cu. in. and 1,344 cu. in. (17.6 and 22 liters) respectively. With two pannier that totals 2150 cu. in. and 2688 cu. in. (35.2 and 44 liters) respectively. Plenty of storage space!

I used Arkel's Hook System when building my hardshell bicycle saddlebags because the hook system was already made. All I had to do was bolt them onto the buckets! Simple. Easy. You can also order the Ortlieb hook system. At any rate, buying a prefab. hook system is the easiest way to go.

Trike Builds: 

These are by far the most difficult type to build. But if you want to build a recumbent bicycle, trikes are King of the Road. They are three wheeled, human powered go carts. With tadpole trikes, the hardest part is building the steering/braking system and the crossmember. With delta trikes, the hardest part is building the drive system.

Tadpole trikes have 2 wheels in the front and one wheel in the back and are read wheel driven. Although I have seen front wheel drive models, rear wheel drive is the standard.

Delta Trikes have one wheel in front and two wheels in the back. Most delta trikes I've seen are one wheel drive. A two wheel drive delta trike would necessitate some kind of differential which would make the trike as heavy as lead in a black hole. The same goes for front wheel driven tadpole trikes. Trikes are heavy buy nature and using a differential would add too much weight. Thus, rendering the trike less practical.

Let's face it: the diamond frame (DF) world enjoys building bikes from frames sets. That is you can buy the bare frame, headset, fork, stem as a kit and just transfer components from your other bicycles or just pick and choose the components you like best.

For instance, I want to build a recumbent trike. I want more than 27 gear combinations. A great way to do that is to add a quad chainring as opposed to a triple chainring. If I bought a factory built trike, I would have to throw away the stock crankset. Well, that's a waste.

In recumbent world, these options are limited. That's because not many 'bent manufacturers sell frame sets. But as 'bents become more and more popular, more frame set options will become available.

Some companies sell the tubes for their 'bents. The tubes are precut and mitered (fish mouthed) and come with a set of plans. All you have to is weld them up. This will make it easy for you to build a recumbent bicycle.

This is also a great time saver, as tube mitering by hand can take FOREVER. Your arms will be ripped like Mr. Arnold by the time you get done with your first 'bent.

Tube Kits Come With:

• Bare unpainted frame parts
• Forks
• Rear triangle
• Seat tubes
• Seat cushion or fabric (sometimes)
• Handle bars(sometimes)
• Stem(s)
• All tubes pre-cut and mitered
• Basically, everything to build a recumbent bicycle except the transmission!

   

Plans built bents are great because you always have a standard to go by. You can make modifications based on the plans. You can stray as little or as much as you need to in order to accommodate your needs.

For instance, if the plans call for 1.75 inch diameter tubing and you are over the weight limit for the plans, you can just increase the tubing to 2 inch diameter. Building from plans offers complete customization from a rock solid proven design.

Sometimes it's best to buy the plans first to assess how much time and energy the project will take. Then you will be in a better position to determine if you really want to build a recumbent bicycle.

Okay, for you hardcore types this will excite you. No plans, no drawings, just build a recumbent bicycle with raw imagination and a BUTT LOAD of luck. No really, there are some who find this option quite satisfactory.

If you're an engineer, then, luck has got nothing to do with it. But for us mere mortals...Well, just let the pros handle it.

I've heard pilot's who decide to build their own airplane instead of buying one. They enjoy the building process. Sure they like flying, but the building process cuts into thier flying time. That's why many 'bent builders will build a recumbent bicycle in the winter so that spring, summer, and fall can be used for riding.

Building CAN cut cost, depending on the options you choose. Another great thing about building is that you can build as you can afford to.

Some high end trikes can reach $5,000 or more. Not only can you build a recumbent bicycle for about half the price, you can buy the frame set first, then, weld. Save more money, then, paint. Save and build the wheels. You see the point? You may not have $3,000 for your dream bent, but you can spend $100 here and $300 there. Overtime this will add up.

Pros:

• Custom build a machine to your own needs (You could build 135 speed machine if you want!)
• Can Cut cost.
• Pride of having built it yourself

Cons:

• More time consuming.
• Cost of tools could overall undercut saving. (There are other options).

If you're looking for a 'bent for your next tour. Why not build a recumbent bicycle? There are several options for building that will allow you to create a great machine for your next tour, even if you're not a welder!

We'll look at the pros and cons of build vs buying, as well as, available options for building, and levels of difficulty between various options.

The first thing you have to do is determine what type person you are. Do like to build things? Do you tweak things? Do have a deep seeded need to figure out how things work? If so, you can easily build a recumbent bicycle. If you are just trying to save money, you may do best to buy outright or go for the frame set build up which we will discuss later.

Various options are listed below. So, take a look and enjoy!

Short Wheel Base machines are the easiest to build because it's easier to keep the wheels in alignment. The front and rear wheels have to be in the same plane. With a short wheel base machine this is easier to accomplish.

I consulted a welder while planning to build my Greenspeed trike. He said, “Son, when these plans say an inch and three quarters, they MEAN an inch an three quarters.” Then, I hit me...

Steaming down Mount Cheaha at 45+ MPH with 50+lbs of gear is NOT the time to think, “I wonder if I was off by a quarter inch on the crossmember?”

Remember Allen Shepard's prayer? “O God, please don let us screw up” or something to that effect? Well, if you have any doubts let the pros handle the frame and wheel building.

If you want to build a recumbent bicycle, SWB machines are easy. This would be a great first 'bent-- especially, if you hacked the rear triangle off an old mountain bike and used that as your rear triangle.

Some would say that SWB 'bents are not for touring, that they're better suited for racing. Rev. Johannes "Hans" Erich Myors has pedaled more than 140,000 since 1993. Last I checked he was riding a SWB machine by Lightning Cycle Dynamics. Now Lighting recumbents are known for being the fastest racing 'bents in the world, and this guy is using it as a hardcore touring machine!

Okay, whether you choose to build a LWB or a SWB 'bent, it is hard to keep both front and rear wheels in the same plane. But with LWB machine (65 inches or more), the chance of misaligning the wheels is MUCH greater. If youare willing to undertake the precision ecessary to achieve good wheel alignment, then LWB's offer great rewards.

If the wheels are out of alignment you're not going to have fun. You'll be fighting the machine with each pedal stroke. And you will be much slower. Worse, you'll get a serious wobble which can be life threating at speed.

However, LWB 'bents make for great touring. It's like floating on air. Downhill on a LWB machine is like riding a steel roller coaster. Taking the extra time needed to ensure proper alignment will be worth it.

Want to build a recumbent bicycle? You can't go wrong with a long wheel base machine!

I was out riding yesterday on an old country road. To my left were lush green fields filled with young corn. To my right were fields of overgrown hay, set to replenish the soil for next year's crop.

It's FLAT here in the Black Warrior River's flood plain. I'm not much for hills!

Up ahead I saw the an old plantation. With tall white pillars and black window shutters, this place stands as one of the last symbols of the “Old South.” I thought, “If these fields could talk, I wonder what stories they would tell"? When riding through places like this I wonder, "How many slaves were beaten, castrated, raped, or killed in these fields”?

I rode a little further and noticed a man on a tractor cutting grass. His little son sat on his lap while they both went cutting and bouncing along. That kid was happy and all was good with the world.

Just then, I saw fellow cyclist riding toward me. He had some kind of mountain bike, a white helmet, and rode at a slow and easy pace.

“Good morning,” he said.
“Hey, hi ya doing?”
“Well, just fine.”

That's what I love about touring: you can SEE America.

I don't know about you, but wouldn't you want to experience adventures like these with as much comfort as possible? Traditional, diamond frame bicycles cause a lot of pain for me. Crotch corrosion, spaghetti shoulders, and wrist wring out take ALL the fun out of touring.

But there is a solution: recumbent touring bicycles. Recumbents were built for two reasons: speed and comfort. For us tourists, COMFORT is more important.

As a musician I understand the need for ergonomics. Riding a traditional diamond frame bicycle just doesn't cut it for long, cross country tours. With the right recumbent touring bicycle all these PAINS and DISCOMFORTS are NO MORE.

Bents ain't cheap. So, I've included several sections for building your own machine to help lower cost. Take a look around, and have fun.