mwalsh6
10-23-2009, 05:31 PM
:scooter:
After posting the completed Warrior photos many have requested a ride report. I am no author but here goes. I have been riding the Warrior for about a month now and have encountered only minor problems that were easily corrected.
First off I must say that I am completely satisfied with it's performace. As far as comfort goes I think it's important to adjust the seat height to suit your build. Following the plans, I found the top of the seat was right between my shoulder blades and caused a little discomfort. Just by adding a couple of inches to the top section solved that problem easily. I believe that is mentioned in the plans ,take it to heart before wasting material as I did.
The trike is most defineatly an attention getter, many have asked me where I purchased it and how much I paid for it. I am no expert builder but I took my time with the finish and it paid off. Many offered to buy it but honestly I'm having to much fun with it. The one thing about the trike is it's low silouette makes it had to see. I almost got hit by a SUV backing out of the driveway. The soloution is simple I added flags and a rear tail light and rear mirrior to become more visible and see whats comming up behind me as shown in the pic. It may take away from the sleak design but if you intend to ride in traffic I highly suggest you do the same.
The ride is great, turns are solid and it's low Center of gravity keeps it flat and tight abound corners and you don't get that tippy feeling about the trike. Speed is great, if my speedometer is right I got it up to 35km (slight downgrade)and it tracked like a dream, no shaking or vibration and it handled like it was on rails.
The biggest problem I had was getting the gears tweaked. It was fine on the test stand to adjust, but during actual riding you would get that clatter of the gears wanting to change. The more I adjusted, it wouldn't solve the problem. So I took it to the local bike shop (forgive me LOL)for them to adjust. They found 2 problems that my inexperience caused.
First I cheaped out with the cable and used normal brake cable. The amount of flex in a cable that long wasn't helping that little bit of extra flexing was about 20% of the problem according to them. The big problem was the pedals as shown in the pic. I never noticed that no matter how much I tightened the bolts the pedals were moving along the frame changing the chain lenght ever so slightly. I used a glossy paint and clear coated to cover the decals, this probably reduced the friction enough to allow slippage. I have decided to get the pedals where I want them and drill and bolt through the bottom brackets and the front boom tubing. I also found a better derailler and problem solved.
I'm sure you more experienced builders would have spotted these, but as I beginner I missed them. I'm sure you will not regret this build. The performance is great and it's an eye catcher. My compliments again to it's designer, the plans were well written and allowed an amature like me to complete the built with just a couple of boo-boo's.
Cheers
Mike
After posting the completed Warrior photos many have requested a ride report. I am no author but here goes. I have been riding the Warrior for about a month now and have encountered only minor problems that were easily corrected.
First off I must say that I am completely satisfied with it's performace. As far as comfort goes I think it's important to adjust the seat height to suit your build. Following the plans, I found the top of the seat was right between my shoulder blades and caused a little discomfort. Just by adding a couple of inches to the top section solved that problem easily. I believe that is mentioned in the plans ,take it to heart before wasting material as I did.
The trike is most defineatly an attention getter, many have asked me where I purchased it and how much I paid for it. I am no expert builder but I took my time with the finish and it paid off. Many offered to buy it but honestly I'm having to much fun with it. The one thing about the trike is it's low silouette makes it had to see. I almost got hit by a SUV backing out of the driveway. The soloution is simple I added flags and a rear tail light and rear mirrior to become more visible and see whats comming up behind me as shown in the pic. It may take away from the sleak design but if you intend to ride in traffic I highly suggest you do the same.
The ride is great, turns are solid and it's low Center of gravity keeps it flat and tight abound corners and you don't get that tippy feeling about the trike. Speed is great, if my speedometer is right I got it up to 35km (slight downgrade)and it tracked like a dream, no shaking or vibration and it handled like it was on rails.
The biggest problem I had was getting the gears tweaked. It was fine on the test stand to adjust, but during actual riding you would get that clatter of the gears wanting to change. The more I adjusted, it wouldn't solve the problem. So I took it to the local bike shop (forgive me LOL)for them to adjust. They found 2 problems that my inexperience caused.
First I cheaped out with the cable and used normal brake cable. The amount of flex in a cable that long wasn't helping that little bit of extra flexing was about 20% of the problem according to them. The big problem was the pedals as shown in the pic. I never noticed that no matter how much I tightened the bolts the pedals were moving along the frame changing the chain lenght ever so slightly. I used a glossy paint and clear coated to cover the decals, this probably reduced the friction enough to allow slippage. I have decided to get the pedals where I want them and drill and bolt through the bottom brackets and the front boom tubing. I also found a better derailler and problem solved.
I'm sure you more experienced builders would have spotted these, but as I beginner I missed them. I'm sure you will not regret this build. The performance is great and it's an eye catcher. My compliments again to it's designer, the plans were well written and allowed an amature like me to complete the built with just a couple of boo-boo's.
Cheers
Mike