This installment will cover the drivetrain AND building a wild new type of bike steering wheel. STEP ONE- Install your cranks,pedals,and chain. I am using 6 1'2" cheapo MTB cranks,a 32 tooth chainwheel, and an 18 tooth rear sprocket on a 3-speed hub. It may be necessary to grind away part of the top frames bottom bracket ( I had to do this on this one ),it depends on what type of chainwheel/sprocket combo you're using.STEP TWO-Cut a 1" long,1/8" slot in the front of each side of your upside down fork as shown. Now get a pair of dropdown bars and cut them in half. Using 2 frame seatpost clamps,loosely fit the bar halves into the fork as shown. STEP THREE-Get a 20" rim,tube,and tire and install the tire on the rim.Now,while sitting on the bike,hold the wheel up to the handlebar halves to get an idea of where it needs to be to be comfortable to you.
If it needs to be farther forward,rotate the bars in toward eachother,if it needs to be further back,rotate the bars outward,GET IT ??!! Now find a piece of tubing that fits snug over the bar ends. Cut it to fit the length of the gap between the bars PLUS an inch on either end to slide onto. Now put that tube in place and recheck the fit of the wheel. Does it touch the rounded edges of the bars like mine does in the picture ? If so tighten down the 2 seatpost clamps and move on to step 4. If not keep adjusting until you get it right like you want it. You may have to make several center pieces of different lengths to really dial it in. I had to use a bent tube for mine to fit,just keep at it !!!!! STEP FOUR-Now remove the tire and tube from the rim. Holding the rim in place ( make sure the valve stem hole is towards the front ), using a 1/4" drillbit, drill a hole from inside the rim through the handlebar where the 2 touch,like the picture of mine shows. Now get 4 bolts,nuts,and lockwashers ( 1 or 1 1/4" long shaft ),and install 1 in that hole and tighten it down just enough to keep the rim in place. Repeat on the other side. then go back to the first side and repeat,get it ?? Just do one at a time on each side until you have all 4 in place like mine.Tighten them all down,cut off the excess bolt ends and file them smooth. STEP FIVE-Now you will need to make a front brace or braces to finish it up. I used an old package rack and a kiddie sized chainwheel on mine. Feel free to improvise here,just keep in mind that you don't want to use any thing that's really heavy. Most of the strength is in the part you already made,so go light on the materials and you should be okay !!! I usually use the rear stays and dropouts off a cheapo MTB for this but I wanted to try something different this time.I have also used pieces of old crutches too. These work great and are very light. Let your imagination run wild here but make sure everything is tightened down and solid before you take it out on a test ride !!!!!!! Okay you're done with this part and hopefully you have a wacky wheel that you're happy with. You may have noticed the bungy cord attached to the steering coupler and the frame.This is an improvised "steering wheel return to center device " !!!! My wheel is offset so far forward that it would flop to the side when I parked the bike with the kickstand !! The bungy set up keeps it from doing that AND it doesn't effect the steering while riding,I'm kind of proud of this little innovation !!! I think I'll replace the bungy with 1 or 2 rusty metal springs once I find the right ones. That would definitely fit with the RUSTOMIZED look I'm going for here !!! PART F will be dealing with BRAKES !!!! Now that she is capable of GOING,we need to figger out how to STOP 'er !!!!!!!!!!! Any questions,comments,criticisms ( positive or negative ) please E-mail me at
omahgarsh@gmail.com I'd love to hear what you have to say !!!!!!!
If it needs to be farther forward,rotate the bars in toward eachother,if it needs to be further back,rotate the bars outward,GET IT ??!! Now find a piece of tubing that fits snug over the bar ends. Cut it to fit the length of the gap between the bars PLUS an inch on either end to slide onto. Now put that tube in place and recheck the fit of the wheel. Does it touch the rounded edges of the bars like mine does in the picture ? If so tighten down the 2 seatpost clamps and move on to step 4. If not keep adjusting until you get it right like you want it. You may have to make several center pieces of different lengths to really dial it in. I had to use a bent tube for mine to fit,just keep at it !!!!! STEP FOUR-Now remove the tire and tube from the rim. Holding the rim in place ( make sure the valve stem hole is towards the front ), using a 1/4" drillbit, drill a hole from inside the rim through the handlebar where the 2 touch,like the picture of mine shows. Now get 4 bolts,nuts,and lockwashers ( 1 or 1 1/4" long shaft ),and install 1 in that hole and tighten it down just enough to keep the rim in place. Repeat on the other side. then go back to the first side and repeat,get it ?? Just do one at a time on each side until you have all 4 in place like mine.Tighten them all down,cut off the excess bolt ends and file them smooth. STEP FIVE-Now you will need to make a front brace or braces to finish it up. I used an old package rack and a kiddie sized chainwheel on mine. Feel free to improvise here,just keep in mind that you don't want to use any thing that's really heavy. Most of the strength is in the part you already made,so go light on the materials and you should be okay !!! I usually use the rear stays and dropouts off a cheapo MTB for this but I wanted to try something different this time.I have also used pieces of old crutches too. These work great and are very light. Let your imagination run wild here but make sure everything is tightened down and solid before you take it out on a test ride !!!!!!! Okay you're done with this part and hopefully you have a wacky wheel that you're happy with. You may have noticed the bungy cord attached to the steering coupler and the frame.This is an improvised "steering wheel return to center device " !!!! My wheel is offset so far forward that it would flop to the side when I parked the bike with the kickstand !! The bungy set up keeps it from doing that AND it doesn't effect the steering while riding,I'm kind of proud of this little innovation !!! I think I'll replace the bungy with 1 or 2 rusty metal springs once I find the right ones. That would definitely fit with the RUSTOMIZED look I'm going for here !!! PART F will be dealing with BRAKES !!!! Now that she is capable of GOING,we need to figger out how to STOP 'er !!!!!!!!!!! Any questions,comments,criticisms ( positive or negative ) please E-mail me at omahgarsh@gmail.com I'd love to hear what you have to say !!!!!!!
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