At this time of the year, find as many reasons as possible to turn off your smartphone and let yourself go outside. [Rich Olson's] The latest excuse is that he made a recumbent bicycle using at least three donated bicycles. Of course, we have seen many bicycle modifications over the years (tall bicycles with integrated ladders to climb the saddle have always held a special place in our hearts), but [Rich] has left us a good bread road on how to Enter the breadcrumbs of this field by yourself without breaking the bank.

He started working with a set of open source projects and made additional notes in the Bike Hacking series on the Hacker Public Radio podcast [Brian, Ohio]. We learned in the first issue that you can use a flashlight that uses oxygen and MAP gas to braze pipe joints-a quick search for Duck Duck Go can find a kit that contains a flashlight and two gases, and the price is about $80. Ask your neighbors and you may find that some bike racks come from abandoned and damaged bike racks lurking in the corners of the dark garage. The first podcast page even has images to show you how to arrange the fish mouth cuts where the tubes meet.

But what really caught our attention was the elbow of the horizontal seat. This is a special part that you cannot save from a traditional bicycle. [Rich's] project shows an image of this curved template and the two main rails he uses on the seat; but how did he make these bends? [Brian, Ohio] The third episode of the series covers a simple trick that electricians don’t want you to know. These rails are made of electrical conduits, and you can easily buy/rent/borrow common conduit bending tools, which have convenient advantages including angled rails.

You will find [Rich's] video after the break, which starts with a slide show and ends with a demonstration ride. This allows us to see the lacing on the back of the seat fabric, which keeps teaching and is comfortable in a way that a standard bicycle saddle cannot.

If this still does not convince you to pick up a flashlight, you can also build a recliner with a wooden frame.

There is a Facebook group devoted to homemade sleepers. Not everyone has a good video, but there are everything from first-class builds to things that fall apart after a rain...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/homebuiltbents

I started collecting debris to build a horizontal type, and then found it was cheaper and easier to buy second-hand. Now I just need to find things related to all the bike frames I have collected (maybe still lying down)

I have never understood why you should put your body on a comfortable seat and then place the steering wheel where your hands must support the weight of your arms. It's as if people want to drive a car instead of riding a bicycle.

Put the steering wheel in a natural place in your hands-how about putting it beside you?

When you inevitably hit a bicycle, where will those handlebars (and stems!) end up? Ouch!

The tiller steering, long wheelbase and no pedal clearance on the front wheels are a bad combination for me, especially at low speeds, such as when you are trying to step on a hillside.

This is what the old Sinclair C5 did, put the handlebars under the legs, so your arms and hands are placed on top naturally.

This is how I established bed rest. Short wheelbase, under-seat steering, full suspension. I wrapped the foam core with carbon fiber cloth and epoxy resin.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o-W96H4L9x8/W70EvuYberI/AAAAAAAAXf0/F5UMSivlx4kezD_obsg0Xw3JPcigw-0BQCLcBGAs/s1600/my_new_ride.jpg

I hit it a few times, and finally my feet stood up, and my ribs and genitals were not injured.

That's the problem with the picture here. My memory of recliners 40 years ago is that they look like you.

I do not think so. In those days, long-wheelbase bicycles with horizontal shoulder steering were the most popular, but recent bicycles seem to favor short wheelbases and still have horizontal shoulder steering. Many short-wheelbase bikes have a steering tube between the rider's legs (it hurts to think about it!) to ensure that your favorite organ is damaged in the event of a collision.

Based on the reactions of hundreds of people who have tried to ride it over the years, what scares them the most is the under-seat steering, which seems "unnatural". People think it will be difficult to ride a bike before they try. I think people who are new to recumbent bikes will feel safer with their hands and arms in front of them.

I went to this rabbit hole several times! This is a blast. I like to build bicycles. I even made my first welding machine, and I used it to make my first bicycle. There are articles and information on my website:

https://miscdotgeek.com/category/recumbent/

Also, if you want to go to this rabbit hole by yourself, I can't recommend https://AtomicZombie.com! There is good information there, and it is worth spending a few bucks to buy a plan to build the ultimate bike/tricycle/thing.

Thanks for the link, I have never heard of AtomicZombie. I will definitely consider this issue seriously.

Question: I realize that we have turned "Google" into an adjective, but if we get rid of this, isn't "web search" easier than "Duck Duck Go search"? Or even just "search".

"I escaped". The premise is that you first gave a duck.

Afaik, you can bend almost any pipe with a pipe bender. If you have dry sand or springs, you don't even need bending tools.

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