The bike is made with carbon tubes and and Easton carbon stays. Carbon steerer tube. The front seat tube is the only aluminum frame tube and is Columbus butted. The 3 handlebars are carbon, joined with Profile aero bar clamps. Crank, cluster, rear derailer- DuraAce 7800. Shifters- Shimano 10 speed rapidfire. Brake levers- Tektro carbon. Brakes- Cane Creek single pivot titanium with Nokon aluminum cable housing. Seats and (shortened) posts- SDG. Titanium leverless wheel skewers. KMC hollow pin slotted super light 10 speed chain. Almost all bolts replaced with aluminum, and a few titanium. SRP aluminum derailer pivot bolt. Weight w/o pedals, or gas tank is 22 lbs. - This is my first carbon build. I used about 30 packages of Devcon plastic welder with carbon fiber mixed in to internaly assemble the bike before wrapping the joints externally with carbon tow or fabric.
The bike evolved from light weight aluminum chopper bicycles I started building in 1996.
Steep one, this... There's a 25 inch wide steel drainage grate across the road at the curve, and the dark patch just below it is damp pavement. The rear wheel didn't lose any traction. If the front wheel was closer the the crank, I would have lost traction.
The ultimate long distance in comfort bike, I believe. 2 positions relieves pressure points, sore elbows, hands, neck, butt, and, refreshes muscles by using different muscle groups, or using them differently. The front seat is for climbing, the rear for descents. Use either seat on the flats, but you'll prefer to lounge in the back seat. You might not win the race, but you'll enjoy the ride more. Sometimes you'll think you're in your car's back seat on the way to Grandma's.
The "gas tank" is a triangular cardboard box covered with brown vinyl, velcro closed front and bottom. Holds a tubular tire, pump, ect.
Shifting-
The shift levers are only readily at hand when you are in seated in the rear seat holding the rear bar ends. However, with Shimano's new Di2 electronic shifting, 2 or 3 sets of lightweight shifting switches could be used fore and aft along the handlebars.
I've promoted my bikes, sending pics to magazines, getting into 14 publications for free. (20, including the last six I paid for in Velo News.) - Here's some more self promotion, you might find interesting. - In Nov. '98, I sent a package of 7 pages, with pictures of my bike in 10 magazines, to about 22 bicycle manufacturers. (I delivered packages in person to Specialized, Ritchey, Bontrager, and Santa Cruz, (local).) I got letters back from Trek, GT, and the one below, from Schwinn. - In 2003, I saw one of their OCC choppers on the street, and learned it was being test marketed over in Sacramento. Must have been in prototype in 2002 or earlier. - I suggested to Schwinn they build my bike, no strings. Maybe they did. Similarities (to my '98 bike) - A smaller wider wheel in the rear, bigger thinner wheel in front. ... Frame angles are close, if you consider the actual rake of the Schwinn fork, if the axle ran through the centerline of the fork tubes instead of tabs welded to the front of the tubes. ..... Rear brake cable runs inside of the top frame tube on both bikes. ..... Thanks to the Schwinn OCC Stingray, I learned how to finally get fork trail right, and to go for a really FAT rear wheel (when viewed from the side anyway.) If it hadn't been for the OCC Stingray, I probably would have stopped building bikes in 1998. - Neither bike was very usefull though- you can't stand to climb, and even if you could, there's no seat to periodiccaly rest on.
The Schwinn letter, dated Dec. 9 1998 ---- ..... "Re: Mountain Chopper...... Thank you for your interest in our company. Although innovative, the idea you submitted to us is not something we are interested in pursuing at this time." ........................................................ ("mountain chopper" was a name given to my bike in one of the magazine articles I sent to Schwinn.)
This picture was included in my package to Schwinn, as published in VQ magazine in 1998.
I don't make bikes for sale. I would like to offer help to any bike company who wants to build this type of bike. ....... There are no patents on my design. All bike makers are welcome to copy, no strings.
Carbon 22 lbs Back rest folds down
Upper "tripple clamp" - Just an 1/8th inch carbon plate held in by the stem. Lite-weight.
Seat is carbon fabric over Baltek mat and styrofoam. It's ribbed on the bottom, ribbed internaly. Bolted to a paired down nylon seat base. The hinge pin is a carbon rod. Lots of epoxy, crude but strong. A tall back rest is essential for putting power to the pedals.
Hinges allow tight slow speed turns when in the front seat. Angled at about 40 degrees, back seat turns are made without the bar folding. Hinges are carbon plate, aluminum pin.
Took all the parts off an "elevated chain stay" mtb when the frame cracked. I got some damaged 6 foot cement-spreader handles for $5 each at Home Depot for the main frame and fork tubes. Rear triangle oval tubes were aluminum lobby dustpan handles.
Same frame. Shortened the fork and put a 700C wheel in front. A slick on the back. Painted a H-D engine on a paper/foam/paper pannel.
Same bike again, with HED wheels, Dura Ace. A reaction to the Schwinn OCC rear tire. Not a winner, my knees hit the forks.
Totally new frame and fork. My knees no longer hit the forks, proper fork trail, front V-brake, but, not comfortable. - Used it to prototype the Roadrecumbent bicycle.
Tight front seat turns with bar folded.
2010 Sea Otter Classic. If you didn't see me in the booth, I was under the table, out of the sun. Hours in direct sunlight, (or perched on top of a standard road bike) is torture. ... The tube behind the seat has a digital camera in it, continuosly looping a one minute video of the bike in action. The tube shaded the screen and looked like a bed roll. ---- Someone who is just a casual bike rider could do a 100 mile ride in one day on this bike and not feel too beat up to make the return ride the next day ...because... this is the ultimate long distance comfort bike.
edit: It squeeked where the carbon plate meets the inside of the fork tubes, a little silicon glue fixed it. The fork tubes developed cracks where the plate enters. I wrapped with carbon and epoxy to fix. The problem is the tubing- it doesn't look like most carbon bicycle tubes, because the last layer isn't woven, it's completely unidirectional- The woven type would probably have kept it from cracking.
This bike seemed to climb hills too easily. At first, I conjectured, on my standard road bike, on a 10 degree hill, there's 120 lbs on the rear wheel, 60 on the front. On this bike, there's 100 on the rear wheel, 80 on the front, and I thought - the lighter rear wheel was easier to turn. I bought an SRM Power Meter crank and took readings on both bikes. - I was going up the hill faster on the Roadrecumbent, but using more power. Turns out, I conclude, because of the much shorter distance from the seat to the bars, about 2/3 the average distance, and because the bars are a few inches above the seat, I remain more upright on the seat, more "glued" to it, and the weight of my head, upper torso and arms counteract the downward pressure of my feet on the pedal.
Also, the grip is directly over the pedal on a steep hill. I can pull direcly upwards on the grip as I press directly down on the pedal. - lines of gravity.
2010 bike and more
Pros
Cons
70 inch wheelbase - it's not nimble, a slow turner. The longest factory Harley Davidson had a 69 inch wheelbase. If you are in the back seat, the front wheel is light, so if you are going to turn on a slippery surface you need to slide forward to put more weight on the front wheel. I'm giving it a 67 inch wheelbase.
Two positions you I change often - Keeps body parts from getting sore, they use different muscles, and the same ones differently.
Climbs hills easier than any other bike. It's a LOUNGE CHAIR half the time.
Closed course only. Sails on a bike are a bad idea. You can get blown into traffic or another rider by a huge unexpected gust. However, a strong gust directly from the side would turn the sails parallel to the wind, creating minimal drag, while the girl on the panniered bike would get blown off course a lot more. Only tail winds deploy the sails. Black Tyvek, 2 carbon frames, and tape to tape it to the frame - 82 grams, or 2 3/4 oz.
w/o pedals. 19.2 lbs without rear seat and post.
Warning: Grounding a pedal is NOT an option while in the back seat on the ape hangers. The front wheel will get levered off the ground and you will go down fast and hard. BB height must be high enough to eliminate the threat.
20.9 lbs
2016
3 inches shorter wheelbase this year. Less rake, shorter fork, so it turns tighter.
Rear seat is .6 lbs. lighter, Less wind resistance, and is AUTOMATIC - It folds down when you sit on it and folds up when you come off it. Locks down with a lever. It's frame is cut from carbon plate.
Front wheel is new "old school" 27 inch, 8 mm larger diameter rim than anything on new bikes. Lighter than HED front wheel. DT Revolution spokes, aluminum nipples, Panaracer folding 27X1. Shimano cup and cone, no sealed drag.
Bike has moved away from "chopper" and closer to stock Harley-Davidson. Wheelbase, laden seat height, rake, and, an exact match in front wheel diameter, are close to the H-D Night Train - just 660 lbs. lighter.
About 340 lbs. on each wheel. (Safety issue #1) - On the bicycle, there's only 10 lbs. on each wheel, and the weight bias is determined by rider position, which varries and is seldom perfectly balanced. Therefore, never ride this bicycle fast in the rain and be hyper aware of any water, oil or grit on the road when turning. The wheel with less body weight on it could slide out.
Safety issue #2 - You need a rear view mirror to safely see behind you when you are riding in the back seat. If you twist around to look, sometimes the steering veers. I put a 2x3 inch mirror on the back of my left glove so I can take my hand off the bar and see a steady image.
Safety issue #3 - In the back seat, if I veer off the pavement, and drop more than about an inch onto the dirt, or into a gap, the lack of weight on the front wheel might not be enough to let it to easily climb back onto the road.
2014
2019
19.7 lbs
2020
Bike feels safer now. I had to learn to come off the back of the seat. You normally come off the front of the seat at a stop, but the top frame tube is in the way.
The rear seat backrest is now locked down. I was always afraid it might be up when I thought it was down, and it was too easy to kick and damage. Also rattled all the time.
The middle seat is for going down rough hills with tight turns. It distributes weight more evenly for better handling. I can easily turn my head to check for traffic compared to being all the way back.
handlebars slide in Derlin linear bearings. Power Cordz fiber cables. 61 1/2 inch wheelbase.
Caution: I don't ride this in the rain and a sandy patch could also be a problem. A regular bike distributes your weight evenly over a short wheelbase. If a wheel starts to slide out you can shift your weight over it easily to get traction. In the front and back seat on these bikes you can't do much weight shifting.
Related, I have to be moving fast before the bike gains enough stability that I can safely pull the bars all the way back, or move all the way out on the aero handlebars.
Again, the bottom bracket needs to be high enough to make pedal grounding impossible.
