Committing To Building

I bought a welding machine, a handyman grade, solid state, gasless MIG welder, to be precise. I already have a mini oxy-acetylene rig, too, but I've never managed to get it alight. I think the bottles may have been empty from the start. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Yeah, I could spend 2 grand on a KMX Kolt and get a fully functioning 1x8 speed recumbent trike with a warranty, but I think I can spend a grand all up building something similar and get 2 items crossed off the bucket list - own a trike and build some sort of bike/trike thing. Maybe it won't be as good as the KMX, maybe it'll be better. It'll be better in one way, at the very least, "I built this."

Enter "Triceratops One." (That's it, up top, sitting on the baseboard for the jig I'll be building it on.) "Expense" is my main motivation. AU$2k isn't expensive as bikes and trikes go, but I'm a retiree on a "super" pension and I'd rather try and keep a bit of that cash in my pocket. I'd also rather keep on learning by doing. Attempting to design and build from scratch is a learning curve. I am now pretty happy to proceed with pulling stuff together from my bits, Bunnings Hardware, hard rubbish and Bicycle Recycle in Moorabbin.

I've already got a few parts in hand, mechanical disks, a "hydro" disk set, BMX rims, some M12 wheelchair axles compatible with 12mm thru-axle hubs, assorted other parts. I've ordered a couple of parts for the steering gear. I've earmaked a pair of old chromoly frames for cannibalisation of head tubes, bottom brackets and rear triangles. I'm planning to use square hollow high-tensile 40x1.6 tube for main frame parts.

The specs are...

  • Wheelbase: 900mm
  • Track: 710mm
  • Minimum Clearance: 127mm
  • LOA (approx): ~1750mm
  • Turning Radius (approx): ~2500mm
  • Estimated Weight: 17kg

Fast, tight and aggressive!

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