Past Projects

RECUMBENTS
I’ve always loved pedal power, in whatever guise it may appear. Although I do very little cycling these days (due to having knee problems in the past. The knees, touch wood, have now been sorted out.) I hope to get back into this most enjoyable and environmentally friendly of pass times.

One day I decided to make an “unusual” cycle, something totally different to the norm, but was unable to find inspiration so I sallied forth to Cyclefest in, I think, ’94 with an open mind. There was a plethora of cycles in every configuration imaginable but the one that caught my eye was “The Grasshopper” by Izzi Urieli. His cycle is front wheel drive and steer. In other words, its a recumbent that drives the front wheel with the cranks moving from side to side in line with the front wheel! I had a good look at all the other cycles, uni, bi, tri and quad, and decided that Izzi’s was the most unusual and something I could build relatively easily, cheaply and to my own specification. At the College campus cycle enthusiasts gathered with their steeds and allowed each the chance to ride the others’. I asked Izzi if I could try his Grasshopper. It was pretty obvious that it was not an easy machine to ride! as most who sat on it could go no further. Although adjusted to suit Izzi’s six foot frame, which caused me to sit forward on the saddle, I persevered and eventually made a circuit of the campus. Once you realise that you have to start “softly softly” when pushing with the feet it proved easy and a pleasure to ride. Back home I set to it, in my Father’s workshop (shed at the top of the garden) with his tools and gas welding equipment at Taylor Cycles till I produced White Knuckles.

(Cyclefest is an excellent gathering of HPV owners (Human Powered Vehicles) and is held at St Martin’s College Lancaster. Just search the web and you’ll find plenty of write ups from participants. Well recommended and, I hope, to make the gathering again after quite some years absence.)

WHITE KNUCKLES

White Knuckles Mk.1 at Cyclefest ’95 (with Me)

My friend Dicky trying to ride White Knuckles Mk.I. Note he had to keep his knees outside of the handlebars. The problem was rectified in the MkII. (Moira is looking on in disbelief!)

MORE PHOTOS

The Manufacture
As you can see from the photo, the rear half was from a racer, the frame in front of the seat tube being replaced with the frame from a 406 wheeled kid’s bike. The front forks were widened with fillets of tubing to take the wider seven-speed wheel. The bottom bracket (I hate to hear it called that as it is actually the front bracket on a recumbent!) was placed out in front on a buttressed outrigger and attached to the forks. The saddle consisted of two “cheek” pads and a back pad attached to the original seat tube. Handlebars were aluminium racer bars turned up and attached to an extra long bar stem. This was held in the fork top by two rolled steel pins. The rear wheel is actually a 700 racer’s front wheel.

Conclusion
Good Points:
Not many! Great fun watching folks try and master a) Riding a recumbent and b) Trying to pedal and steer with the feet! Great head turner and conversation piece.

Most importantly I started to have ideas about White Knuckles II…….

Bad Points:
Seat position not adjustable so I had to build the bike to fit me. The saddle and backrest were made of vinyl and was thus very sweaty! Not enough gears and the forks and head angle made for very quick steering! I began to develop strong arm muscles to counteract this. (And white knuckles!)

White Knuckles II

“Cowineck! How’m I spos’d to ride this thing!” My close friend Richard “Dicky” Hull attempting, and failing, to master White Knuckles MkII

White Knuckles was great fun but a bit amateurish. I had ideas for a folding front wheel drive/steering recumbent with the use of Richard Cresswell’s saddle (used to be used on his Rapide recumbent).

The Design:
The main frame under the saddle consisted of a 2 1/4” tube which, just behind the saddle, came to a folding joint. (Can just be seen behind Dicky’s left wrist.) From here the tubing went down to a stub axle on the rear wheel. The front forks had castor geometry of about 2”. Pedal “bottom bracket” was set out in front on buttressed outrigger. Handle bars were attached to the underside of the saddle and operated a steering rod attached to the fork head. Drive was through a Sachs’ 3 x 7 with hydraulic disk brake on 406 aluminium rims. To fold the cycle firstly the steering rod needed to be removed from the fork head by undoing a wing nut. The handle bars could then be laid parallel to the main frame and the forks turned through 180 degrees so the chain wheel lay under the saddle. Then the frame could be folded bringing the rear wheel under the saddle. Last of all the saddle back could be folded down. I also designed a quick release pannier rack. The whole process of folding took less than 30 seconds and the bike fitted easily into the boot of my Rover Metro.

Conclusion

Good Points:
As with Mk I but also:
Looked good and professionally made.
Very manoeuvrable.
Folded neatly.
Much more comfortable than Mk I.
Better steering geometry.
“White Knuckle” effect not quite so pronounced as Mk I
Better range of gears,
Better brakes.

Bad Points:
Individuals need to learn to ride the bike. (Some can’t! Ask Dicky)
Still hard work over distances.

What would I change? I’d put a steering damper on as advised by Izzi. His is much more user friendly with “Hands off steering” take a look at the photos and you’ll see the evidence!

White Knuckles III

To try and make front wheel drive easier for others to ride, save weight and create a compact cycle I propose to build a recumbent with 406 wheels, the turning wheel at the back and the front drive wheel fixed. (Some say that rear wheel steer should be relegated to dumper and fork-lift trucks only (Mike Burrows said it to me and was quite adamant about it!) but some have made a success of rear wheel steer.) The steering will be by the use of two handles attached to the ends of the seat arms. Connection to the steering head will be via cables. A folding joint and seat back will allow the cycle to be folded to a compact size. Panniers would probably go either side of the main frame under the seat, providing they do not foul the rider’s heels. Handling should be fine and a turning circle would be very small. Swing out of the rear end at low speeds could be a problem in traffic when turning into junctions.

The Victorian

My father, Peter Taylor, was self-employed producing a variety of cycles and attachments including the Victorian tricycle tandem, the Tagga trailer cycle and the Discoverer bicycle/wheel chair combination. I helped in the designs and the Discoverer was indeed my idea. But it took Dad’s previous experience at BSA motorcycles and engineering skills to bring the machine to production. He sold the business some years back to Roger Taft (Logic Engineering, Bellbroughton, West Midlands). Victorians can still be found in regular use.

Victorian Tandem

Right: A young lady on one of Dad’s
Taga trailer bikes and two men on his
Discoverer.

Above: Dad and me on the first Victorian he made. This was taken by The Advertiser at my school fate in 1982.

Left: Jacky and I on our Victorian at Dymchurch. It was a very cold November day. This tandem is one of the few 700c wheeled specimens Dad produced. (Through the middle wheel you can see Dungeness nuclear power station.) HOME