2014-01-03

I'm building a recumbent bike

Since I was a boy, I'm fascinated with recumbent bikes. When cycling to school, I sometimes met the guys of M5. They had their workshop nearby, just like Derk Thijs. As I told earlier, I now own a recumbent myself, an Optima Orca.

The Orca is a nice bike. I use it for touring and commuting. I even climbed Mt. Ventoux on it! It's very comfortable. As it's a high bike, I'm visible in traffic. But, there are many other good designs. Each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

On sites like ihpva.org, bhpc.org.uk and ligfiets.net I read about people self building bikes. It seemed cool! Not every design and/or build seemed good, practical or whatever. But I liked the people building amazing bikes with simple tools.

So I started researching the web and bought some books like Atomic Zombie's Bicycle Builder's BonanzaSo You Want To Build An HPVBicycle Design: The Search for the Perfect Machine and Bicycling Science.

In the meanwhile I rode several World Randonneur Brevets. Although I liked it, I thought of the ideal bike for it. Of course that doesn't exist. Every design is a comprise with its own strenghts and weaknesses. I decided to build a sportive bike for randonneuring and light weight touring.

In the posts to come, I'll tell about my experiende building my own recumbent bike. We'll start with choosing a design.

Keep on cycling!