Andy Van Herwynen's First Short Wheelbase Recumbent - 4/2007
Andy Van Herwynen sent in these photos of this, his first, recumbent and
is fired up! Here is what he had to say about this bike...
"This is my first SWB build, first put on
the road back in 2003. I welded it up from a scrapped Murray MTB
and thrift shop Timberline hybrid bike. I got real lucky on this bike as
it was not jigged at all. I laid it out on the garage floor, and after a
LOT of careful spacer placements and MANY measurements I welded it up.
HA! It actually tracks quite well."
"Last year I updated the derailleur, shifters, handlebar and seat after
riding the RAGBRAI and after attending the Recumbent Rally in Stevens
Point, WI. It rides on 20" front and 700 rear, 100psi tires. I have
maybe 300 miles on it, and maybe $200 in cost to build it. Now I'm
building my next bike, modeled after a Volae Expedition, and welded up
in a proper jig. The next bike will all scratch built, no scrap parts or
frame pieces."
"I'd be happy to share any info on my
bike and its development with other interested recumbenters.
I was really pleased at how well my bike did on the RAGBRAI last year
and I got some good comments on it. This inspired me to build another
bike from scratch, all new top end components, professionally welded and
painted.
I'll be posting that one as I go."
June 2010 - Andy's second short wheelbase recumbent, "Raggi II"
This looks
like a great bike ... and it has some tough miles on it to prove it!
Here's what Andy had to say about his latest creation:
"Now I am on my second season of riding my
first scratch-built SWB (his first was built
from a donor bike, ss), named
Raggi II. I completed the bike only two days before RAGBRAI 2009. With
only five test miles on it, I entered the first day of RAGBRAI with
maybe seven miles of seat time before the big long climb out of Council
Bluffs. Having a MUCH stiffer frame and seat mount made that long climb
much easier, though the bike was up to it much more than I!
Three days, and 215 miles later my new build never missed a beat!
I'm getting ready for RAGBRAI in July. Here are a few detail pictures of
the bike I built last year. The main tube is a flattened 2" OD Chromoly
.045" wall, so the tube shape is 1.38" wide by 2.5" high, the chain
stays are 1.125" Chromoly tube, rear drops are .187" flat-bar, hand cut
with a hacksaw. The seat mount is a UHMB plastic. Seat frame is 1/2 EMT,
covered in nylon mesh. Handlebar riser is an aluminum seat post, and the
post mount is a seat post clamp welded to a standard wedge block
handlebar mount. The mechanicals are mostly SRAM X9, Truvativ 52,
9-speed cassette 13 - 30, ABEC-5 disc/calipers, twist-grip shifters.
700cm rear and 520cm front on 100 psi tires. It rides great from a slow
walking pace (also known as uphill) to 45 mph (downhill of course!).
With a 52 tooth front max ring and 13 tooth small rear ring, on the flat
I can easily manage 15mph.
2010 RAGBRAI this year is pretty flat, so I should be able to report
almost 500 miles on this bike by the end of July. "
You can contact Andy at:
andyvh1959@juno.com