After a long chat with Paul this morning I had a think on the adjustable width issue and the work involved etc. etc.
As ever, Paul's pragmatism and common-sense was countering my headlong rush to build stuff (because we can
)
I can (obviously) make a 24” track (28” total width) rear X-beam to fit the existing Python frame that allows the trike to be wheeled down the side of the house.
I can also make a common QR/Bolt-on rack/carrier to fit the current rear end AND any future rear end to allow me to take it shopping and for weekend (or longer) trips.
Something else that occurred to me was that with the QR attached Sturmey wheels & hubs the rear wheels are very easy to swap over from 20" to 24".
Now, my rushing ahead has been all about making use of those 24" wheels with the fat tyres possibly on a whole new frame, and Paul was questioning the need for yet another trike when I have storage issues already.
The upshot is that I could have a common frame and swap the back wheels over between 20/24".......But what about the front end?
Then I remembered that my existing PPP provides a common carrier to which a “front-end” frame gets bolted.
So all (
yes of course “all” is a small word for a lot of work) I have to do is make a 24” front section to bolt onto my PPP (4-Bolts correctly spaced in the right places).
Talking of a 24" front frame; I rummaged around in the workshop roof-space and found a suspension bike rear frame for a 24" wheel.
So here is the PPP area of my Python in the picture below (parked vertically against the wall of my tiny workshop.
My silly mistake was to mount the handlebars to the front removable section that is part of the front forks/frame (instead of the rear permanent PPP section).
That is fairly easy to fix I think.
So I need to make another bolt-on framework that attaches to the PPP frame and then weld my 24” front wheel’s frame to that.
At least that’s how it looks to me right now.
Taking the Python apart to prove it can all be done may reveal something else entirely and WILL take the Python out of commission for a while.
But like the old BT advert used to say... "It's good to talk" because it makes you think about "other options".
Later folks!