Comments on: Cycle Truck Finished

By: Alex Wetmore

Alex Wetmore — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 17:13:31 +0000

I mitered the top tube to fit the head tube nicely, that is necessary to get a good and safe joint. It is a lot easier to do this with a milling machine, but I did this cycle truck before owning a milling machine. I””m sure that I did the miters by hand using files. I probably lost about 1cm of top tube length.

You can see the mitered top tube here:
http://alexandchristine.smugmug.com/Bicycles/Framebuilding/Cycle-Truck/i-KJffsKQ/A

Rory’’s donor bike had a lug, so that makes it easy to see how little top tube was lost:
http://alexandchristine.smugmug.com/Bicycles/Framebuilding/Rorys-Fuji-Turdhauler-SL/i-8XmWDNP/A

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 00:26:58 +0000

Hi Alex,

Love the Cycle Truck.

I have an idea for something similar but I have no experience so I intend to start out the same way as you have, find an old steel Mt bike, cut the HT/DT off and go from there. When you cut the HT off, did you just use a hacksaw or grinder and go straight thru (vertical) or did you give a curve to it? I”m afraid of making the TT too short, but I may just be over thinking things.

Anyway thanks for the inspiration.

Jeff

By: Alex Wetmore

Alex Wetmore — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 15:55:13 +0000

On the first one I used 73.5 degree HTA and enough rake to get 40mm of trail. That one handles well, but the wheel isn”t far enough under the load.

On the second one I used 72 degree HTA and enough rake to get 30mm of trail. I prefer the 40mm of trail, the 30mm of trail is a little fast.

I helped Soma with the front end geometry for the Tradesman and think they ended up going with 72 degree HTA, 40mm of trail. That is an easy bike to get a test ride on.

Use the correct A-C to get clear your desired tire.

The cargo tube is 1.75″ and 0.058″ wall thickness. A rack that is about 20″ wide and 16″ deep seems to work quite well. The original rack that I made was 20″ deep and that allows the weight to get too far ahead of the front wheel.

Sorry about the late reply, I was on vacation and missed your comment.

By: miguel

miguel — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 22:52:51 +0000

hi alex,
thank you for the work.
can you tell me what HTA, fork A-C, and fork rake worked the best with this bike? how far does the support bar lead out in front of the bike? is the support bar a standard 35mm tube?

thanks,
mpp

By: Alex Wetmore: The Framebuilding Technical Wiz Who Loves to Ride Rough | The Bicycle Story

Wed, 11 May 2011 19:11:12 +0000

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By: schroepfer

schroepfer — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:44:22 +0000

Can I have you make one for me?

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:27:14 +0000

Sorry, Dan, I don”t know the color. If you go to Seattle Powder Coat (and happen to be in Seattle) it is the red in the upper left of their chart.

By: Dan S.

Dan S. — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:12:56 +0000

Alex — do you know the RAL code for the red color? I”m getting a frame powdered this winter and am looking for a good red. thanks, Dan

By: BrianB

BrianB — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:48:40 +0000

I”m glad the CT got posted on Bike Commuters (http://www.bikecommuters.com/2008/12/01/another-cool-front-loader/) because (1) it showed the bike I saw fleetingly as I was out biking a couple weeks back and (2) introduced me to this blog. Am now a subscriber via RSS. )

By: panji nushantara

panji nushantara — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:26:57 +0000

with this bike there’’s no excuse not to bike even with load of cargo. beautifully done.

It’’s not a truck it’’s a freighter.