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I got a chance to try a new version of the lighted flagpole made by Arizona Whip. It has all 20 of the LEDs at the top end of the clear lexan flagpole, just under the flag. This version has blinking lights on one side, with the yellow ones blinking alternately with the red ones. The other side is red and yellow LEDs, on all the time. My neighbors who see me on my commute say I look like a UFO on my Catrike Speed. Excellent, that is just what I was going for!
Arizona Whip on Catrike Speed Recumbent Trike 
The Arizona Whip in motion The pic below is more or less what the Whip looks like coming down the road, but with a long shutter speed the LED lights leave streaks across the picture.
Ths Whip from the rear.
The Wright brothers’ Van Cleve mark lives on in a modern namesake, the Van Cleve bike built by Cycles Gaansari of Springboro Ohio. Here is what Gary Boulanger of Cycles Gaansari adds:
Much is known about the Wright Brothers’ aviation results, but little has been told about how the men designed and tested their theories, and how big a role bicycle technology played in their research and development. Like most self-sufficient and frugal bicyclists, the brothers scrounged discarded bike components to make something useful out of something lying around the shop. In this case, it wasn’t a fixed gear or townie bike, but the airplane that was created, born from Wilbur’s vision for flight in the 1890s.
Cycles Gaansari was born from the need to provide reliable service, durable goods, and exciting products to the Greater Dayton cycling community. We’re housed in a former livery stable/barn built in Springboro in the 1850s, just three miles south of the Wright Brothers Airport, and across the street from the Jonathan Wright House, now a popular bed & breakfast, built by the founder of Springboro in 1815.
To many, the bicycle is a tool for transportation, adventure, freedom, and recreation. Little did the inventors of the bicycle know what impact they’d have on millions of people. Then again, little did two bicycle manufacturers from Dayton, Ohio realize where their dream of manned flight would catapult both them and the fruit of their labor.
Here is a rear suspension bike from 1891 which used springs in a tube to give some give to the rear wheel.
Catrike Maintenance and Repair topics are listed below. If I have a blog post on one of these topics, this contents list will serve as a link to each topic. These posts are authored by participants in the Catrike Message Board. Submissions of posts by any Catrike rider for inclusion here are welcomed. FYI, Catrikes are recumbent tricycles, with more information available at the Catrike Performance Trikes site.
Basic Setup and Maintenance”
Catrike Performance Trike Official 2004 Manual
Catrike Performance Trike Official 2005 Manual
Catrike Performance Trike Official 2006 Manual
Catrike Performance Trike Official 2007 Manual
removing the master link on the chain, and replacing it (page 18 of the above manual).
checklist of initial setup items
removing a front wheel
replacing front wheel bearings
replacing rear wheel bearings
adjusting rear derailer (link to Sheldon Brown’s instructions)
adjusting disk brakes (link to Park Tool page)
replacing disk brake pads (link to manufacturers or Park page)
Bruce’s advice on adjusting Avid BB7 brakes on Catrikes
installing front fenders
fixing a flat tire in front, rear wheels
installing teflon bushings
cleaning a chain, and lubrication
Troubleshooting section:
rear wheel squeek: lube rubber weather seal
Bottom bracket not horizontal when trike is on flat surface: loosen boom clamp, reorients boom, or file guide tooth
after removing a front wheel, my brake pad rubs: adjust brakes, per this link:___________
shimmy in steering: check x, y, and Z, and purchase teflon bushings from catrike
chain routing
brake cable routing
shifter cable routing
setting toe on front wheels of a trike
Upgrades:
Facing the bottom bracket edges
Discussion of After market items and FAQs:
Jerry’s flags
Locking brake levers. These are great!
What is Schlump and other drives?
what would Schlump or Roloff give me over the stock gearing?
Terracyle idlers discussion
Super bright (240 lumens) flashlight for use as headlight, tail light
what size bearings does my (year) (model) Catrike use in the front, rear wheel?
where does one get replacement steel or ceramic bearings (link, or part number)
ceramic bearing vs other bearing experience
options for mounting both a light and a speedometer
list of all tools needed
chain guards, bash guards: Purely Custom, with Catrike Logo available, and many colors, Trice (Utah Trikes) Chain Guard Ring
- Cables: how to order replacements, how to cut to length, how to install end pieces on housing and cable, what tools are needed
- Chains: how to order (how many chains needed/length), brand, types
- Articles on component upgrades (brakes, shifters, derailleurs, etc)
- Common accessories: what has worked well (lights, racks, bags, pedals, mirrors, etc)
- Arizona Whip lighted flagpole
- Tactical Flashlights for lighting system
James Starley’s Rover of 1885 was the first successful bike in which pedals and a crank drove the rear wheel with a chain, but he was not the first with that design. In 1879 Englishman Harry Lawson designed and patented a version of a large front wheeled bike with a smaller rear wheel driven by cranks and a chain. Lawson’s bike was not very well received, and he went on to design bikes using levers for power transmission. The Bicyclette was a commercial failure, but he had hit upon a superior design feature.
This artwork of the Bicyclette is a version featured on cigarette cards. This and other bicycle art is found at bicyclegifts.com. Framed versions of these beautiful cigarette cards, posters , cards, and other bicycle art recognize that brilliant design is art.
Bruce (trikebkdr) has started a new forum called Trike Doctor which specializes in trikes and their repair issues. This is the same Bruce who has authored several posts on this site, including the now famous Bad Case of Drillium post. Here is a picture of Bruce’s 22 lb 3 oz Catrike, which started life weighing 35 lbs! I like it! Looks like a seat, a chain, and cables will finish it. Plus helium in the tubing.
This morning I caught the first episode of MAKE: Television on PBS. The first half of the episode includes a piece on Cyclecide, “an inventive band of performance artists who build outrageous bicycle contraptions straight out of the dump.” It is beautifully entertaining piece on how creatives and “makers” are reusing what others view as trash.
Here is another candidate for the first rear suspension bicycle design, from 1891. Its modern counterpart is shown below.
Here is a very early version of front suspension on a bike. In this patent from 1891 there is a spring in the headset, and the fork assembly can move back and forth to absorb road shock.
Bruce went crazy with his drill press, and removed, if I read his notes correctly, about 13.7 pounds from the normally 30 pound Catrike Speed! This is Catrike #CS754, named Holey Spokes.
Now we need to see that thing assembled, a final weigh in, and a test ride to see if it whistles. Its just remotely possible that Bruce has too much time on his hands. One last picture:
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