planning on building a modified meridian

[theTman]

I think i will build it like this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/2742680887_1bd0b7dc84_o.jpg





my idea is to align the lower bar of the rear fork with the main square bar. i then would use a pulley to keep the top of the chain away from the seat, and the bottom of the chain would no longer need a pulley. My concern is whether or not it would make the structure unsound. the lower bar on the rear fork being in line with the main bar would put more weight on the top bar of the rear fork i think. i am only 180lbs, and may be less once i get into shape, but may even out with muscle mass.

[trikeman]

That should be just fine structurally. My structural engineering skills are very rusty, but I don't think the top of the rear triangle will have any more weight on it with that design than with the stock Meridian. Even if it did, the old Marauder is basically the same design as the Meridian, only even lower than your mod, and it holds up just fine.

You probably know that you will lose a bit of efficiency and gain some pulley noise and hassle by not having a straight chain line, such as the stock Meridian has. Whether that will be offset by the slightly lower aerodynamic drag from tucking your legs up more even with your body, I can't say without some analysis. I have read that the efficiency loss for pulleys that do a relatively minor chain direction correction is about 5%. You can probably estimate the decrease in drag coefficient graphically by drawing the outline of what each design would look like with a rider from the front. Its a bit of a simplification, but probably not too bad for what we are doing here. Then, take the area of the bike and rider from this view and compare them. The drag coefficient is essentially directly proportional to this area. At speeds above 20 mph that drag coefficient is much more important that mechanical friction from the chain, gears, tires, and bearings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_coefficient

Zimmerman has pretty much taken the Meridian as low as it can go without pulleys in his build, and to my way of thinking designed the "optimal" Meridian in doing so. You might try a drag coefficient calculation (just take the areas of the front profiles and see how much larger one is than the other) with his design vs yours to see if the slightly lower drag justifies the pulley. My own sense is it won't.

http://www.atomiczombie.com/gallery/yehunda%20zimmerman/meridian.htm

You might see if you can pick up a copy of "Bicycling Science," if you don't already have one. I picked an older version than this one off eBay a few years ago for about $4. Its a great aid in sorting through what makes a bicycle fast or slow.

http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Science-David-Gordon-Wilson/dp/0262731541/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218192898&sr=8-1

[theTman]

i took another look at zimmerman's http://www.atomiczombie.com/gallery/yehunda%20zimmerman/meridian.htm
I think i like that setup. it looks good, and the difference between my idea and his meridian in aerodynamics i don't think is very significant. i didn't do any calculations as there are too many unknown variables. i just guessed by looking them. And if i want more aerodynamics i could always design a fairing, or better yet a body. how would you go about making a fairing without special machinery?

[trikeman]

I think you made a wise decision, especially since it will be a bit easier to build than if you have to put a pulley on it, and a good height and build difficulty compromise with your Dad. Be sure you tell him you have taken his wishes into account and modified your design somewhat. If one of the things that bothers you about the look of the Meridian is the square tube look, you might consider using a round or oval tube on the front, as I did on my DeltaWolf. It cuts a bit of the angularity off the look of the frame. Then again, maybe it just looks like a kludge, but I like it. I used a curved piece of tube from an old mountain bike frame, and liberal use of bondo to get that smooth look over my booger welds lol.

http://www.atlantamusclecars.com/Paint/Rolling2.jpg

http://www.atlantamusclecars.com/Paint/Front1.jpg

Of course the ultimate in round-tubedness is the look of Steve's fully oval and round-tubed Meridian, which looks really great, but building the whole bike with round tube is more difficult and probably not a good idea for your first build.

http://www.atomiczombie.com/gallery/stevejennings/meridian.htm

I also think shortening that front head tube the way Brad does on the StreetFox king pins leads to a less homemade look than leaving a long one full length, as I did.

[Locutus]

There's lots of information on fairings at http://www.recumbents.com . I'm planning on adding both electric assist and full fairing to my AZ bike. I'll probably use coroplast for the fairing.

i took another look at zimmerman's http://www.atomiczombie.com/gallery/yehunda%20zimmerman/meridian.htm
I think i like that setup. it looks good, and the difference between my idea and his meridian in aerodynamics i don't think is very significant. i didn't do any calculations as there are too many unknown variables. i just guessed by looking them. And if i want more aerodynamics i could always design a fairing, or better yet a body. how would you go about making a fairing without special machinery?

[theTman]

i think a fairing may be a bit too complex for me currently as i do not have the money or the means to make one. i found an article on how to make bubbles, but nothing on full body fairing making. if there was a way to make a good fairing for under 100$ that wasn't too complex i think i could do it. Maybe atomiczombie could make the full body fairing he showed concepts of for the marauder? then he could use that to make instructions to make your own. all i want is protection from percipitation (rain,snow,etc). I could find a way to make a vent that doesn't let water get blown in, although i probably would not need a vent when it rains as the temperatures get cooler. I will have a 360 degree bubble, and a mirror on my glasses. with one of those mirrors i can easily see anything behind me. i just need to figure out how to make a body. I wonder if a foam mold covered in fiberglass cloth and epoxy with a uv blocking varnish would work? i have heard of a few people building clear canoes like that. my concern is that it may be too heavy.

[SirJoey]

...maybe it just looks like a kludge, but I like it. I used a curved piece of tube from an old mountain bike frame....

Kludge? Are you kidding? That really looks sharp, TM! Good body work, too! :)

I also like the racey looks of everyone's DWs with the 26"-27" rear wheels better than
my own with the 24s, but the tall ones just make for too tall of gearing for me.

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7131/sirjoeysigmedij1.gif

[TheKid]

Put a 16" wheel in front, and you'll have the same look, only scaled down.

[SirJoey]

Put a 16" wheel in front, and you'll have the same look, only scaled down.

Then I'd be getting heel strike, though. Even though the bottom of my frame is exactly 11" high at the front, per the plans, I'm darn close to heel strike now.
In fact, if I point my heels downward just slightly, they'll hit. Fortunately, normal foot position clears, but just barely.
Must be because of my big ol' size 11 boxcars!

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7131/sirjoeysigmedij1.gif

[mkane53]

Yeah, no kidding. It looks REALLY sharp. Besides, "Kludge" is what we do. We're home builders. Some would call it a kludge; I prefer to think of it as an elegant, one-off solution to a vexing problem.

I bet if you could roll the calendar back a 100 years or so, the Wright brothers neighbors were sitting around in their living room and saying: "The neighbor guys, Orv & Wilbur have kludged together a flyin' thing. Those knuckleheads are gonna break there damned necks"

[trikeman]

Kludge? Are you kidding? That really looks sharp, TM! Good body work, too! :)

I also like the racey looks of everyone's DWs with the 26"-27" rear wheels better than
my own with the 24s, but the tall ones just make for too tall of gearing for me.

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7131/sirjoeysigmedij1.gif

To be honest, the reason I originally put that round tube on front was because I ran out of the square stuff at the wrong time. I looked through my parts bin of cut up frames and said, "hmmmmm." A few fish-mouths later and some welding and WaLa! Then I decided I liked it :D

Those pictures are now pretty old, and I still haven't replaced that front knobby tire with a nice skinny slick, which I think would go better with the rear skinny tires. There is almost no weight on the front of a DeltaWolf anyway, so you could run practically anything up there. Why is it that every bike sold to kids today has knobby tires?

[TheKid]

Then I'd be getting heel strike, though. Even though the bottom of my frame is exactly 11" high at the front, per the plans, I'm darn close to heel strike now.


"I see," said the blind man. Switching to a 16" front wheel would then require redoing the whole front end. I'd live with what I had, too. Unless of course, the heel striking became a problem, in which case there are easier mods for that.

[TheKid]

I'm still waiting for my second Kenda Kwest so I could put fenders on the Streetfox. (The Hookworms are too wide, so I'll use them on the Hauler.) They're 100 psi slicks that are IMHO, nothing short of superb. They aren't cheap, I paid 20 bucks apiece for them, but I think they're well worth it. I had one on the tadpole when I had the 20" rear on it, and noticed the gripping power immediately. I have a 26" Kwest on the Fox now.
The difference between the Hookworms and the knobbies I used while testing is also quite noticeable. There is a lot less drag, even when the Worms are inflated to only 40 lbs., the same as the max. psi for the knobbies. They also seem to grab better when braking.

[TheKid]

When the HW's are inflated to 85 psi and higher, they're not bad, but IMHO, the Kwests are better tires. I had Kwests on my Meridian, 65 psi on the rear, and 100psi on the front, and even with the lower pressure, I could ride faster and easier than another 100 psi tire I had on the rear. (I don't remember what it was). The next ime I need tires, I'll try the Metros. They look a lot like the Kwests, and are about the same price.
I rode a bike with Big Apples, and quite frankly, I came to the same conclusion you did. I thought they were good tires, but too expensive.

[mkane53]

Continental Contacts are also available in 20" (20 X 1.25) tire - 80 psi model. At $25 a tire they're not cheap, but I've run Contis for years on my Touring bike and they're some of the best tires made, IMHO. That's what I'm running on the front of my Meridian and I've got no complaints - though I'm only about 300 miles into the tires now so it's a little early to tell.

Here's a link to the Continentals: http://www.westernbikeworks.com/productdetail.asp?p=COCIT


I'm running Performance Bike's house brand (Forte') Fast City ST/K (26 X 1.25) 90 PSI tire on the back ($13) and frankly so far I'm pretty impressed with it. It feels good, holds the road great and I haven't had a flat yet - and all of my miles are on Suburban (Chicago) streets so there's lots of nasties along the road that I'm running over. Pretty good tire at a really good price.

[jimFPU]

i think a fairing may be a bit too complex for me currently as i do not have the money or the means to make one. i found an article on how to make bubbles, but nothing on full body fairing making. Check out the Frank-n-Liner here (http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/home.asp?URL=wisil/main.asp). It has a lot of what you are talking about with the fairing design. Moldless construction.

[theTman]

can the meridian handle towing a trailer with a 17 foot kayak on it. it would be about 45 lbs. i have heard of people doing this successfully with upright bikes, could a meridian handle this? i will possibly be building a boat of this size and a suitable trailer for it this winter.

[AtomicZombie]

If you can connect it, it can take it. Think of it this way...

whatever you can carry on a regular bike, you can certainly do it on the Meridian.

Brad

[n9viw]

A better question is, can YOU handle it? So long as you make the bike sturdy enough, and you have the leg power to haul it, it can be towed. Case in point: a friend of mine once made a trailer for his mountain bike out of the axle and suspension from a motorcycle trailer. Steel tubing for the frame and tongue, 1/2" plywood for the bed and sides, he used it to haul lawnmowers, gasoline, oil, and a weedwacker to various lawn mowing jobs he had. I'd estimate the entire thing, loaded (plus the grass he hauled away for the client) weighed between 100-200#. Drop it into deep low to get started, and once it's started, don't stop for anything!

I plan to run the same tires on my Meri (if I ever build the bloody thing...) as I'm running now: Schwalbe Marathon Slicks. 80psi, I've had this set for two or three years now, and have over 3k miles on them (no kidding!) I need to rotate them, as I've had to skid-stop a couple times, but coupled with Mr. Tuffy liners, I haven't had a flat since before I put the liners in.

Mkane, you said suburban Chi- where are you? I'm up in Rolling Meadows, and Pagan Wizard is in Arlington Heights, both in the NW 'burbs.

[theTman]

i will have no problem hauling that weight. i hauled a 60lb bag of cement mix in a trailer with no problems.

[mkane53]

A
Mkane, you said suburban Chi- where are you? I'm up in Rolling Meadows, and Pagan Wizard is in Arlington Heights, both in the NW 'burbs.

I'm in Lisle, Nick. Western Burbs - I can throw rocks into Naperville from where I live ... and sometimes do.

[n9viw]

Ah, as the bard wrote (about Naperville, I'd imagine), "Thou art a general offense, and all men should beat thee." :D My son's girlfriend hails from there (hail.. stones... rocks, whatever), and her mom still lives there, although how she can afford it I have no clue. Well met!

I got three more bikes the other day, the neighbor next door didn't think to give them to me even though she's likely seen my 'collection' bursting out the garage! Two BMX/trick bikes, and a woman's 80's cruiser, a Schwinn with the freewheeling crankset. Thinking about trying to incorporate that into an inline tandem for a friend of mine. One of the BMX bikes may make a nice WildKat or donate its fork for a Bandito. Or I may just fix them and resell them, they're not in bad shape but for some brake cables and a few spokes.