theDude's Meridian build

[theDude]

I started on this Meridian build about a month ago but I've been sick for almost two weeks so it is taking forever to finish. There really isn't too much more to do; mostly just cleaning up my welds so I can paint it. I built it completely stock except for the seat and seat mount. The seat is mesh, will soon have adjustable recline, and is very comfortable to ride on. There is a temporary block of wood keeping the seat where I want it until I get some time to drill all the holes on the rear supports. The inner rod is a piece of aluminum with the end hammered flat and the outer is close-fitting steel tubing also with it's end hammered flat. I got the kickstand on sale. It was the longest one I could find but is still about two inches too short so I guess I'll add some steel tubing to the middle of it.

http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=163 (http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=161)

http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=167 (http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=165)

http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=170 (http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=168)

http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=173 (http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=171)

[Richie Rich]

Lookin' Good, 'the'.... :cheesy:

Sorry to hear you were ill....that sure cut into your building schedule. But you may still be able to get in a few more rides before the snow flies.

Be well....

....Richie....
.

[rickairmed]

Dude looks like your almost done looking good there .


Rick

[SirJoey]

Excellent lookin' ride, Dude!
Keep after it, & you should be able to wrap it up before Winter gets a good hold!

Good luck!


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

[jimFPU]

Impressive seat!! Is it from plans, or commercially built?

[Radical Brad]

So many great rides poppin' up around here! I wish it wasn't -40 in the garage.

Cheers!
Brad

[rickairmed]

Brad do I need to find you a hanging heater so you can play out in the garage :D . I guess thats one plus to having an attatched garage its in the low 30's outside and its 60* in here right now :D I live in my garage I only go into the house to eat ,sleep and visit the little boys room :D.


Rick

[Radical Brad]

Well it's not a total waste as I work on electronic projects in the winter. I am planning to release an educational embedded computer kit for mass production soon and that will take up most of the cold days.

Brad

[rickairmed]

That makes sense Brad you do varied projects and the electronic end of it can deffinately be done in a warm spare bedroom . I have a small baseboard type electric radiant heater in the garage to knock the chill off but it doesnt get nearly as cold here as it does there our worst weather yet this year had wind chills in the - teens . I still had temps in the garage above 50* at that point . We now return you from this Hijack to the Dudes build :D.


Rick

[pcorbett]

:builder2: Dude you have two new bikes? Love the seats, I've got to learn that one too SJ. How do you rate the ride compared to the HighRoller? Great rides both.

PC

[theDude]

:builder2: Dude you have two new bikes? Love the seats, I've got to learn that one too SJ. How do you rate the ride compared to the HighRoller? Great rides both.

PC

They're like night and day. My highracer has a 40" wheelbase and the bottom of the seat is 29" off the ground so it feels twitchy until you get used to it. The Meridian (I really need to come up with some names for these two) has a six foot wheelbase which combined with the sling style seat makes the ride as smooth as butter. When I get off one and immediately try to ride the other I feel very uncoordinated for the first 30 seconds or so as I swerve all over the place until my body remembers what it's supposed to be doing. The handlebars I decided to use on the Meridian give it a bit of steering tiller so that makes the transition even worse. It's kind of like going from riding my upright road bike all day and then trying to ride my stingray. I'm sure my neighbors get a kick out of the show :rolleyes4: .

BTW, the high-rise bars I used make it REALLY easy to get on and off the Meridian and I highly recommend them. I'll try to get a pic of me in the riding position tomorrow.

[theDude]

The seat is based on the recycledrecumbent.com design. I made the seat part a little longer and made the butt-bend 90 degrees instead of 80. Now that I have a couple under my belt I can bend all the tubes in about 15 minutes. I still need to make a welding jig since the alignment is kinda tricky. I made one a couple weeks ago that was so bad I had to cut it apart. I tried jumping on it, a 4 foot breaker bar, and a scissor jack but it couldn't be saved. I learned my lesson and now wait until there is plently of light before I weld one up. :furious:

[theDude]

Oh yeah, thanks for the kind words everybody!

~ just another Brad (how many do we have here now, this is getting kinda crazy)

[pcorbett]

Yeah, I get that feeling when I alternate between the two bikes. I wanted to see if someone else was having the same hallucinations. My daughters boyfriend pushes the HR faster than I care to take it. He likes it over the MERIDIAN. When your finished with your speed rides and want a real cushey ride, try the TourMaster. I went with the balloon tires and find it rolls down the road like a Caddy! More comfort than the Meridian. My chioce when I just want to go to town in style, for the longer trips I take the Meridian.

I'll check out that seat tip, thanks.

[John Lewis]

Nice ride you've got yourself there Dude.

The seat looks great much like the ones I do. They started on my recycled but have been extensively redesigned. I like them. They are light and comfortable and pretty easy after the first couple.

Sure hope you can get in some riding before the snow.

John Lewis

[trikeman]

Yeah, I get that feeling when I alternate between the two bikes. I wanted to see if someone else was having the same hallucinations. My daughters boyfriend pushes the HR faster than I care to take it. He likes it over the MERIDIAN. When your finished with your speed rides and want a real cushey ride, try the TourMaster. I went with the balloon tires and find it rolls down the rode like a Caddy! More comfort than the Meridian. My chioce when I just want to go to town in style, for the longer trips I take the Meridian.

I'll check out that seat tip, thanks.

Yeah that HR doesn't have much frontal area. Not as good as a low racer, but close

http://www.atlantamusclecars.com/DeltaWolf/FrontalArea.jpg

[theDude]

It got up to 45 degrees today with 25mph wind gusts so I decided to take it out for a ride. I put just over 20 miles on it and nothing broke or came loose :). Now it just needs to get cold enough I can't ride it so I have enough time to strip it down and paint it. I passed two upwrongs and another bent rider who were all headed the other way. The bent was leading the pack at the time so gave him a big thumbs-up. :beatnik2:

[theDude]

It's done! The paint is dry, everything is back together, and we took it out for a ride today since it got up to 64 degrees. I can't wait for summer to get here!

Here's a pic of my little helper waiting for me to get the show on the road:

http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=179 (http://www.projects.archersdad.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=177)

[MoeMac]

Hey Dude!

That is one SWEET Looking ride! The seat looks to be very comfy... I would love to do one like that but I am having a hard time with bending tubes... I seem to kinck them...

Man I wish I had your weather... We are still burried with over 10 feet of snow at places!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!

[SirJoey]

Man, that looks GREAT, Dude!
How 'bout a couple more pics? :)


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

[theDude]

We have a cold front moving through that brought a thunderstorm with it but it is supposed to get back up to 60 again today so I should be able to get some more pics. Tonight is is supposed to freeze again and then snow tomorrow. Missouri weather is crazy. We've only had about 4 inches of snow all winter.

[MoeMac]

We have a cold front moving through that brought a thunderstorm with it but it is supposed to get back up to 60 again today so I should be able to get some more pics. Tonight is is supposed to freeze again and then snow tomorrow. Missouri weather is crazy. We've only had about 4 inches of snow all winter.

4 inches????????

Lucky!!!! :xmas:

[theDude]

We usually have a couple snowfalls of at least a foot and a bunch of ice but it has been pretty mild so far.