How to Build Recumbent Bicycles
- 1). Disassemble one of the old bicycles. Remove all the components and save the pieces you will need for the new bicycle. Carefully remove the rear triangle (minus the seat tube), and set it aside for later. Cut the first piece of your new frame (Section A) along the top tube, nine inches from the seat tube and at the seat tube where it meets the bottom bracket. Be sure to clean all cut edges with the file.
- 2). Disassemble the second bicycle. Cut off the steerer tube, 9 inches along the down tube, and along the top tube where it meets the seat tube (Section B). Cut out the bottom bracket, 1.5 inches along the down tube, 1.5 inches along the chain stays, and 12 inches along the seat tube (Section C). File off the cut edges to clean them.
- 3). Begin to assemble the new frame. Connect the down tube end of Section C to the down tube end of Section B, then make a fish mouth cut on the seat tube of Section C to connect it to the top tube of Section B. Next, connect the seat tube portion of Section A to the top tube end of Section B by inserting one into the other. This overlap will allow you to adjust the size of the frame for your height.
- 4). Complete the frame assembly. Heat up the seat stays of the rear triangle you saved earlier near the rear dropouts, and bend them until they are 9 inches from the chain stays. Attach the seat stays to where the seat and top tubes of Section A meet, and attach the chain stays to the top tube end of Section A. Connect the latter end to the chain stays of Section C using the aircraft tubing.
- 5). Weld the frame. Braze each of the joints and make sure that they are stable when cooled.
- 6). Add seat stays to the new top tube. The larger seat will require more support than just a top tube. These should be brazed on, along with some supports between the tube and the seat stays.
- 7). Add components from the old bike and attach the new seat and handlebars. Bend a fork from the old bike with a conduit bender until there is enough rake to allow for proper steering. From the old bike, reuse the stem, brakes, crank set, rear derailleur, and shifters and brake levers. You can connect both old chains together to create one long enough for the new bike. Use a rear wheel from the old bikes for your new rear wheel and the small wheel for your front wheel.