One solution for high gas prices

[The Professor]

  Some one asked about more recumbent pics.



  I have built 2 of this style of recumbent bicycle. The second one, so that my daughter could ride with me on RAGBRAI, a bike ride across Iowa.



   This bike geometry is based on a design from holland, the "Eco bike". Later I found another similar bike called the Flevo bike. Theese bikes are rather dificult to learn to ride, but once mastered can easily be ridden hands off. They are very comfortable to ride on all day long.

   They are made from old bike tubing and parts and are brazed together.

[dhagerty]

Very nice.

I'm a budding wind experimenter.  The fellow that got me into it (PHinker, on this forum) posed a question once regarding these sorts of bicycles.

His idea is what I would characterize as sort of a self-perpetuating bicycle in that yo u have a generator that charges a battery that powers the bike on command.  It has the effect of "smoothing" hills in that you charge the battery coming down the hill (and on the straights) for those climbs.  Have you seen or considered such a thing?

Can you get shells or fairings for these kinds of bicycles?  As you can tell, I know little on the subject.

                                                    Dave

[healerenergy]

I like The design of your bike but there is one thing I have a question about a modification. Can you reverse the design and stear with the back wheel. I personaly don't like stearing and peddling with the same wheel.

[The Professor]

  As strange as it would seem, peddeling does'nt have much effect at all on stearing. But front wheel drive recumbents are extremely rare. There are many flavors of rear wheel drive recumbents. search for  "International human powered vehicles", a great site for recumbents and much more.

   They also have articles on making fairings.

[zap]

Nice looking bikes Professor.  I've had plans for a bent for awhile now and have a few bikes waiting for the day I have a place and the equipment to do it.  Did you find plans online?  Your bikes look like only one donor bike would be needed along with a few extra gears?  I've seen a few plans that need no welding at all and I just might bite on that.  Some plans can be found here in PDF for a long wheel base bike, based on the Long Easy. http://home.flash.net/~staudt/bike.htm

[The Professor]

This bike used 2 front forks, but I suppose the back half of a regular bike could be used to support the rear wheel instead of a front fork. Gears, only the sprockets, shifters and chain from one regular bike are used. There are no idlers. It probably required several bikes to supply the small diameter tubing. Some of it has diagonal splices to be long enough. Oh, and a third front fork for the hand grip supports.