HIGH RACER CLONE
The big stir that Bacchetta caused in the bent community resulted in me getting interested in the High Racer design. I would have called this project the “Bacchetta Clone” but then, along came Volae.
Differences from Bacchetta:
1. I’m tall enough that I decided to go with 700C wheels.
2. The rear chainstays I decided to use are the fork blades from a Mountain Bike.
I like how they look. In this picture, the front dropouts have been removed and the new rear dropouts have been trimmed and put in position.
I ordered head tube, rear drop outs and bottom bracket from PowerOn Cycling. (Sales@poweroncycling.com) and the main beam from Dillsberg Aeroplane Supply. The Main Beam I selected was 4130 2”ODx .035 wall. For phase 1, I will use the components from my DF Road bike. Shimano 600 Group, 6 speed. If I love it, I will open the purse strings.
The parts for the frame weighed in at 6 or 7 pounds, before cutting to size, using the bathroom scale method. I estimate the bare frame (without forks) will weigh 5 pounds.
Using a new to me resource, Recumbent CAD, by Bike Forest, I roughed out the design.
I have a friend, Sal, who is a retired machinist from Pratt Whitney. He has a mill in his garage. He agreed to machine the holes.
Step one was the Bottom Bracket. He machined it perfectly. The mill helps, but I’m sure a career of making jet engine parts helped too. There was no more than a thickness of a piece of paper space when the bottom bracket was prefit.
I brazed it in place today.
Next, Sal bored the hole for the steerer tube and I brazed it in place. Again, Sal’s skill at getting the hole the exact size made the brazing easy.
Now I have to build a fixture, fit the chainstays and braze them in place.
The fixture is made from a 4x4 timber. I know the wheel base is 47 inches and the head tube angle is 73 degrees.
I routered “V” shaped grooves in the 4x4 the proper distance apart and cut the head tube complement angle (17 degrees) in a 13 inch piece of beam.
Then I installed the forks in the head tube and tried out the fixture. Here’s what it looked like.
Now I have to fit the rear stays to the main tube, check everything repeatedly
for squareness by measuring all the diagonal distances and braze/weld things
together.
I added a second, shorter piece of beam, cut off at 17 degrees. And I put ¾ inch guides on the slanted cut to provide a 2 inch wide guide for the main tube. This locates everything pretty well.
July 15, 2003,
Last week I fitted the rear chain stays to the main tube. Today I brazed it together. After brazing, I had to grind some clearance in the end of the main tube for tire clearance.
Next, I tested for tracking.
(Here in Florida, this time of year, it always “just” rained.) I wheeled the bike through a puddle. The front and back tracks were way off. I inverted the frame and fork assembly and, using long sections of “all thread “ in the drop outs, I checked for alignment. Things were many degrees out of wack. A bit of cold setting (read prybar) and things looked right.
A second trip to the puddle showed things are right now.
Et viola!!
Some things remain constant, such as my photography skills. Live with it.
The weight of the frame and wheels, as you see it is 13 pounds +/- 1, using the bathroom scale method.
The frame, including the fork and headset, weighs 7 pound, using a fish scale.
July 18.
Today, I fitted the seat. Thanks to Gabriel Devault (sp??,) for the hose clamp through the seat idea. Seems to be a good one. I still have to finish the seat braces. (I need aluminum tubing and Mark won’t answer his phone L). I also installed a flip-it stem I fabricated a few bents ago. (recycling is good!! Cheap too. J). The big picture begins to emerge.
I think I’m going to go with evolution/ Burley type bars first. When I sit on Bacchettas, their bars feel odd. I know the claims, but will start with what I have on hand as a base line.
July 28, 2003:
“Oh! So that’s what they were talking about!!”
The handlebar set up I was going to use won’t work. My knees hit the handlebars unless I put them so high they are in my line of sight. It turns out, your knees have to come behind the bars, not under them. There are very few pictures on the web of people riding these bikes. Now I understand the ergonomics of the high racer design. I’m going to use the Volae design.. It seems simpler and lighter. I need another trip to PowerOn Cycling for parts.
When I stack all the pieces in the seat, weight is nearing 30 lbs. CURSES!!! Sub 30, on the cheap, is a hard goal.
July 30, 2003
Went to Poweron Cyling yesterday and bought everything I could for bars. Fabricated some as close as I could come to the Volae look.
Not bad, if I do say so myself.
Back to weight: It’s time to start rationalizing!! It’s going to weigh over 30 lbs. Reasons:
1. larger wheels have to weigh more. How much??
2. Steel fork vs. Aluminum or carbon.
3. Homemade fiberglass seat is at least 1 lb heavier than store bought. (Next one would be lighter, due to less “whittling”)
4. My weight includes pedals. I don’t think theirs does. Pictures don’t show any (Volae).
Anyways, Tough S---!! When it’s done, it weighs what it weighs.
Time for chain, cables and a test ride.
August 16, 2003:
During the last week or so, I have brazed on the front Derailleur tube and the cable stops. If everything works right, I am done fabricating. Hallelujah!!!
I forgot to mention that sometime back I bought a Dotek Triple Crankset, 155 mm, from Mark Stonich (mark@bikesmithdesign.com). He buys Dotek BMX double cranksets and modifies them for a third chainring. This is a way to get affordable short cranks. (I’m personally sold on the concept of shorter crank length for recumbent bikes.)
I also bought a Deore rear derailleur from Bike Nashbar. The darn things sell for more on eBay than Nashbar sells them for.
This marks the first time I’ve had decent quality driveline parts. I have to say that shifting is much more positive and effortless.
I have ridden about 50 to 75 miles now. The big wheels sure roll nice. I feel more secure around traffic in the higher riding position. The potential for speed is there, but, as always, “IT’S THE ENGINE”
I will post some pictures of me riding the bike as soon as I recruit a photographer. (Have you noticed that no one does that? Must be a shortage of photographers.)
Last week, I had the frame painted gloss black. Wouldn’t you know it??? While reassembling it, it fell over, against an outside corner of the wall and put a 1” scrape through to the metal. By a supreme effort of will, I avoided Hari-Kari to atone for the shame. A little touch up paint and I guess I’ll live
Still no photographers, so I remain the mystery man.
Still need to sew up a seat cover. I bought some black spandex for that. Then a seat bag and it’s done.
September 11, 2003:
I got tired of looking at the naked foam, so I cut a piece of spandex to approximate size and then stretched and tied it on. Worked out great.
Next, I bought a $5 back pack at Wally World (WalMart) I cut off the straps and sewed a sleeve to it that wraps around the bike seat. I had to dig out the old sewing machine and teach myself to run it. It seems to work. I’m going to test ride it in a few minutes. Life is good!!
December 6,2003
Almost three months riding the HRC now. I’ve added goodies as follows:
1. New wheelset. Alex DA28 rims and Novatec sealed bearing hubs. 16 spokes front and 24 spokes rear. They look killer, weight 1900 grams, total AND seem to ride better.
2. I just installed a Carbon Fiber Fork. It weighs 515 grams and saves about ½ pound. The threadless design allowed me to eliminate the Fork Tube Extender that the steering mast mounts on. It weighed ½ pound.
3. I changed pedals to double sided ATB units (SPD) This saved about 100 grams.
4.
NOW: TAAAAA DAAAAA!
Weight of the bike is below thirty pounds. Repeated weigh ins show 28 or 29 pounds. I may remake the seat. I know I can save 1 pound there. Call me weight-weeny if you will. <G>
I’m still a mile or two per hour short of the 20 mph cruise goal. I’m working on the legs with increased mileage and a longer long ride. I also just turned 63. These are opposing factors. Stay tuned to see what happens.
I saw a high racer with a full Varna fairing (ref. Encino races a month or two back) HMMMMMMM???
Please send feedback and comment to: teblum@gate.net