The Recumbent

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Phase I

My modifications to this point have been

• Cleaned up hacked paint job (and stickers on frame -- ugh!), leaving reasonable chrome finish. (Boom and bars need finish work.)
• Rebuilding the seat with high density plywood
• Replacing the old one-piece crank and front boom with a slightly higher quality cotterless crank (from my old Raleigh[1]).
• Adding new Mt. bike pedals and "PowerGrip" straps
• Adding a front deraileur
• Replacing the steel/plastic rear deraileur with an alloy SunTour
• Replacing wide Mt. bike bar with sawed off road bar
• Replacing brake grips with a matched pair
• Adding "down tube" shifters
• Fiddling with fold-down mechanism on stem assembly (still not happy with it)
• Replacing front wheel with a better alloy wheel.

(Oh, and I gotta think up a better name. Hummm... "Billy the 'Bent"? "Billy the Kid"? How about just "The Kid"?)

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[1] The Raleigh rises once again from its ashes. This was my second "good" bike -- the first one was stolen -- and after a severe crash, came back as my first home made "fixed gear". The frame had been striped of parts and left hanging in a corner, until now, when once again, after a bit of hack-saw work, it hits the streets again!
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Phase II!

• First step was to get some real tires. Primo front, Duro (?) back, but at least they aren't knobies.
• Add a pair of really sweet, classic Shamano above-bar shifters.
• Diameter of shifter mounts requires change to a real Mt. bike bar, shortened by about 3" on each end.
• Replace pivoting stem with rigid piece of tube. (Another donation from Raleigh!)
• Add a computer. Now I really know how slow I'm going... :-(
• Replace steel rear wheel with a decent alloy one ($45!)
• Pull the Mt. Zephal rear fender off the Mt. bike and discovered that it fits perfectly through the triangle formed by brake bridge. Looks sharp, and will keep mud stripes under control.
• Discovered that lack of water bottle was a real problem on first ride. Added cage to back seat where I can reach it while riding.

The big change was to replace the pivoting stem with a rigid one. The pivot was nice for transport, and hauling the bike up and down the basement stairs (where I keep all my bikes), but it was heavy, and made riding one handed almost impossible. I chopped off an old stem and bolted it in place, making a stub that I could clamp a 1" tube to, lifting it to the point where I could mount the actual stem and bars. I had a terrible time getting the bottom clamp tight enough so that it wouldn't slip, but after adding a couple of shims, I think I've finally got it.

Second thing was the shifters. The downtube shifters were nice, high quality friction shifters, but reaching them between the legs was a royal pain. Went to the bike shop and after some digging around in the back room, they came up with an old, dusty pair of Shamanos. Only wanted $18 for them. Let me tell you, these puppies are nice! I can select either indexed or friction (good since deraileur is old pre-indexed), and they are made of real metal, not plastic. Nice stuff!

Next thing that had to go was tires -- something without big knobs. I really liked the Primo high pressure tire on the front (100psi), but wanted something with a little more give for the rear (or more to the point, my rear...) What I found was an inexpensive Duro (40psi) 1.33" tire. I've got it up to about 60psi, which seems to be holding, and gives enough bounce to be manageable.

Of course, now I've got a computer, so I can tell how far I've gone... or how slow I'm going. With current gear setup and wheel diameter, I can hold up about 17mph, which I hope to improve as I get back in shape after the winter...
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Phase III!

Big thing is learning to climb hills. I really have to learn to spin my way up hills. The bike is still heavy (compared to the fixed gear bike), so it will never be that quick on hills, but at least now I don't feal like I'm about to die when I'm only 1/3 of my way to the top!

So, now I've sunk more money, but it seems I'm finally getting a return on my investment...

• Repaced the more standard size freewheel with a "corncob" racing freewheel. That buys me a couple of teeth on the smallest sprocket, which gives me a little higher top end. I can push 20~22mph on a pretty steady basis.
• Finally found my old SunTour Cyclone deraileur, which does a better job of spanning a 6-speed freewheel.
• Swapped in a Sugino crank in front. That gives me the option of putting in a larger front sprocket, if I can find one.
• Replaced chain with new one (or, more to the point, three new chains... :-/)
• Painted front end (not shown here). Really spruces it up!

The pictures here are thumbnails.  Click on the picture to see the large image:

The 'Bent	You can see shifters between knees (bad!)	Handlebar, and adjustment for seat angle.	Handlebar folded forward for transport.
Rear deraileur (SunTour Vista).	Front crank and deraileur (note PowerGrips).	Phase II: New wheels!	New alloy wheel, water bottle & fender
Simplified steering column	New handlebar/Shifters	Computer	Alloy front, and Primo tire
Overall	Mt. Zephal fender	"Zac" rim	Riding at Letchworth State Park