Adult Tricycle with double bench back seat

[arceyed]

Just wondered if any of the forum members who are into modifying bikes have made an adult tricycle, I want to make one using two or three old mountain bikes and make a trike to take my two boys out with us when we go out for a ride as a family, one of my lads is a toddler, & one has special needs & can't ride a bike.

thought this would be an ideal solution but wanted to see if anybody has done it, or if anybody has some pictures i could use as a base, not sure how i would hook up a derailier & mount the sprocket accurately enough to stop the chain keep coming off ?

never done anything like this before

any tips or advice would be appreciated

 

[Engineer1964]

Why don't you do a quad? Two bikes side by side and the seats in the middle, You'd need a way to ensure both wheels turned at the same time, then you could have 2 people peddling

 

[Engineer1964]

here is a picture of the trike you want

 

[breezer]

Mmmmmmm HBC!!!!!!!!!

 

[arceyed]

here is a picture of the trike you want

yep thats the sort of thing i want to make, bit more mountain-bikeish after all it has to have a bit of man-cred

but yes...bit confused how the hubs work, independently like a diff

 

[arceyed]

Why don't you do a quad? Two bikes side by side and the seats in the middle, You'd need a way to ensure both wheels turned at the same time, then you could have 2 people peddling

was looking on 'tinternet at quads, now that would be some engineering, not got a lathe or anything, the one i saw looked great, not sure what site i saw it on now but it was for some college project

far too complicated for me

 

[stuvy]

google image atomic zombie, youl see some great bikes for inspiration and they have a builders forum too.

by the look of it there a solid axle that would have a slight bind on really tight corners.

chunko' builds some cools bikes and a few others on here have a look in the project section

 

[DuncanM]

If you search images for Pashley Picador, you'll get a lot of pictures of a quality adult trike with a deraileur. Pashley do 3 or 4 different trikes (though they are not exactly cheap, and none have the child seat yoiu want on the back).
Cheers
Duncan

 

[FranV8]

Most trikes only drive one rear wheel, I wondered if they had a diff, but a go of a friend (who was a collector) on a campsite, showed that when cornering a trike (weird, it is totally different in technique and sensation to cornering a bicycle) - one wheel would just spin when lifted off the ground.

 

[chunkolini]

You can get a differential for a bike, some very expensive trikes have them.
It is more usual to drive just one wheel, seems weird but it works.
The ones I have ridden drive the near side wheel, I thin because of the camber in the road. I looked into making one and gave up as soon as I looked at it properly.
Note never try to wheelie a single wheel drive trike. They just spin round on the spot, rear up and throw you to the floor. Ahem, not me of course.

Arceyed, you are in Gloucestershire. Pop over to Pedalabikeaway near Cannop in The Forest Of Dean, they used to have a fleet of all sorts of adapted bikes and trikes including vehicles for people with special needs. Very nice people in charge and very helpful. http://www.pedalabikeaway.co.uk/leisurecycling.html
I used to take a group of people with special needs there weekly. I have a lot of experience of this game. In a previous existence I spent twenty plus years doing it.

Send me an email via my website and we can have a chat about your boy if you like; I am happy to get involved.

Chunko'.

 

[FranV8]

I need to find some pics of Chinese trikes I saw when I was working over there. They are commonly used as utility vehicles, oftern carrying steel stock twice the length of the bike.

They often featured a pick up style bed, and also often had leaf spring rear suspension! Very utilitarian in a sort of Pashley it'll go on forever type way. Often also in a fair state of disrepair...

 

[arceyed]

You can get a differential for a bike, some very expensive trikes have them.
It is more usual to drive just one wheel, seems weird but it works.
The ones I have ridden drive the near side wheel, I thin because of the camber in the road. I looked into making one and gave up as soon as I looked at it properly.
Note never try to wheelie a single wheel drive trike. They just spin round on the spot, rear up and throw you to the floor. Ahem, not me of course.

Arceyed, you are in Gloucestershire. Pop over to Pedalabikeaway near Cannop in The Forest Of Dean, they used to have a fleet of all sorts of adapted bikes and trikes including vehicles for people with special needs. Very nice people in charge and very helpful. http://www.pedalabikeaway.co.uk/leisurecycling.html
I used to take a group of people with special needs there weekly. I have a lot of experience of this game. In a previous existence I spent twenty plus years doing it.

Send me an email via my website and we can have a chat about your boy if you like; I am happy to get involved.

Chunko'.

Thanks Chunko, great advice...and thanks for the offer, very kind

and the rest of you that replied also thank you

keep up the replies, i am very determined to get something sorted, obviously not got a big wad of cash to throw at the project...but really want the lads to come out on the bikes with us and enjoy the rural area we live in, i gotta drop a few pounds & get fitter too

my lad did get a bike for xmas, but i was out trying to teach him to ride it, but he's got a co-ordination disorder amongst a few other probs he couldn't turn the pedals all the way round (just half way) so i thought a trike would be a good solution, he would never be able to ride a bike independent on a road so maybe the trike is the answer

 

[chunkolini]

Arceyed do get in touch, I have a few ideas and this is a matter that motivates me.
If you go to the bike place get onto me first as I know the gang there.
Getting people with different needs onto wheels is a worthy project.

 

[Windy Miller]

Arceyed do get in touch, I have a few ideas and this is a matter that motivates me.
If you go to the bike place get onto me first as I know the gang there.
Getting people with different needs onto wheels is a worthy project.

You are a true Gent Chunko!

 

[citizen kane]

Have a look at this, may be a possible solution.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-bike-build-with-a-difference

 

[chunkolini]

Regards juniors mobility issues.
I have taken quite a few folks with this kind of thing on ordinary tandems, or at least the ones with a very low back end so they can step through not over.
One guy is a 'stout' fellow aged about 50 and would not do owt for himself or anybody. A lovely guy though.
One day I got fed up with him yelling 'pedal pedal pedal' as I propelled him around on a wheelchair bike.
With the help of his carer we got him on the back of the tandem, feet strapped onto the pedals. He did not let go of the bars, I think he realised that he might die if he did. At first it was a struggle for him as his little legs went round and round.
Two laps of the carpark Result!!!
A few weeks later we were doing two miles and I could lift my feet off the pedals and yell pedal pedal pedal at him.
His carers loved it, his mum burst into tears when she saw the film footage.
My boss went nuts at the risks I had exposed him to, and banned the activity. His carer went nuts at my boss and we carried on.
I had an unorthodox approach to my old job.
We realised after wards talking to a physio that we had stumbled across a great way of excercising his legs and working on joint mobility with no real loads being applied.
The first trial involved a bit of 'encouragement' the second time he needed help to get on but was happy to do it.
The best thing I ever did in that line of work.

 

[hotrodder]

My boss went nuts at the risks I had exposed him to, and banned the activity.

Bloody typical

His carer went nuts at my boss and we carried on.

AFAIK 'the daddy' of trike drives is the twin freewheel... none of the handling weirdness of single or fixed 2wd and unlike the open diff type is less likely to leave you stranded on say wet grass by sending all the power to the wheel with no grip. They're kinda, sorta like the tricycle equivilant of a locking diff in that they'll send power to both wheels but if/when there's a difference in speed the faster side will freewheel.
There's at least one commercial version that's based around a custom freehub body called the trykit 2wd

 

[chunkolini]

That is why I dont build trikes.
Aligning all that tubework would be a nightmare.
but I lurve to see this stuff out and about.

 

[CRB]

Regards juniors mobility issues.
I have taken quite a few folks with this kind of thing on ordinary tandems, or at least the ones with a very low back end so they can step through not over.
One guy is a 'stout' fellow aged about 50 and would not do owt for himself or anybody. A lovely guy though.
One day I got fed up with him yelling 'pedal pedal pedal' as I propelled him around on a wheelchair bike.
With the help of his carer we got him on the back of the tandem, feet strapped onto the pedals. He did not let go of the bars, I think he realised that he might die if he did. At first it was a struggle for him as his little legs went round and round.
Two laps of the carpark Result!!!
A few weeks later we were doing two miles and I could lift my feet off the pedals and yell pedal pedal pedal at him.
His carers loved it, his mum burst into tears when she saw the film footage.
My boss went nuts at the risks I had exposed him to, and banned the activity. His carer went nuts at my boss and we carried on.
I had an unorthodox approach to my old job.
We realised after wards talking to a physio that we had stumbled across a great way of excercising his legs and working on joint mobility with no real loads being applied.
The first trial involved a bit of 'encouragement' the second time he needed help to get on but was happy to do it.
The best thing I ever did in that line of work.

I know this is a long time passed but I am just reading back through old posts. My Littl'un contracted meningitis when three weeks old and was in hospital for three weeks. Came out with Left-side Hemiplegia/CP. She is now, 18 and a 'well known' CP athlete, discus, 100m, and 200m when she can manage.

I was looking at trikes for her when she was younger, I preferred a recumbent since it would last her for much longer, Dearly Beloved did not, too low, so we got a standard Mission 20. She out grew that and has a 24" now, uses it on the road with me behind, and loves it. I only moved the brakes to the right and fitted flip-up pedals. Now we almost have a fully functioning camper, we will be getting out and about more often and further afield.

The 2WD looks a good idea, but Littl'un has to be careful on uneven ground anyway due to her lack of balance. I rode it a few times and frankly thought it far too tall for anything other than flat, good surfaces.

When she progressed from her training wheels, I took them off so the neighbours daughter could have the bike. As i was tidying up, Littl'un pinched the bike sans stabilisers and disappeared up the street !ON TWO WHEELS! She fell off soon after and returned to the trike. ?Maybe another time?

Would love to come and see your stuff Chunkolini when we are in the area.

 

[stuvy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBXMsfO-mT0&feature=fvwrel

ignore the crash at the start.

You could stick a front end on it like this then she wouldnt need to balance too much.
http://www.sitski.com/dhx1.htm

hope it gives you some inspiration