Front Drive, Front Steer Recumbent Bike

Bikes Fun & Games

Andrew Saylor of Wichita, KS, converted a regular bike into a recumbent, and it looks great! I love the custom seat, nice touch.

16 thoughts on “Front Drive, Front Steer Recumbent Bike

  1. JamesW says:

    OK, so I would really like to take a look at this, being something of a bike-nerd. However, my employer blocks YouTube, so all I see is our generic message that the content is blocked.
    More frustrating is that this blog entry doesn’t even have a picture, or a link for more information. It’s just an embedded YouTube video. This has been growing on the Make: blog lately – to me it seems like it’s just turning into a You Tube link fest.
    /grouch

    1. Andrew Sayler says:

      I’ll get some photos and/or videos posted on an alternate website soon, since it seems like folks are interested.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Very nice. Well done.

    So, what’s it like with tight turns? I can see that in the cruise it’s looks might fine – your feet can accommodate a little misalignment to the pedals but don’t your feet get thrown off when you’re making a tight turn?

    1. Andrew Sayler says:

      If you use your momentum so your feet can remain fixed, tight turns are easy enough. It is not nearly as challenging to have your feet swing with the front wheel as you might imagine, it pretty natural after a few minutes of practice.

  3. Lief Zimmerman says:

    Nice work!
    For a bit less work with the same result – take a look at the Cruzbike conversion kit.
    Take a Y-Frame Mountain Bike and make it into a FWD MBB (Moving Bottom Bracket) recumbent – and if you don’t like it you can put the Mountain Bike back the way you had it.
    It even has a telescoping top tube that is both very stiff and adjustable for different leg lengths.

    http://www.cruzbike.com/use-our-conversion-kit-build-your-own-unique-recumbent

    1. Andrew Sayler says:

      Looks pretty snazzy. If Cruzbike was around, I didn’t find it while looking around the ‘net in 2004 when I built this monstrosity. I have thought occasionally about building a “Mark II” version of my bike, but maybe there are easier solutions these days. I am curious how comfortable the Cruzbike is to ride; it looks like the rider’s legs are positioned quite high compared to this design. Maybe it’s better. While my idea was not unique, it was independently conceived, so there is a lot about it that is sub-optimal, just because it’s a proof-of-concept build.

  4. Anonymous says:

    That can’t possibly be legal- you’re not burning any fossil fuels!

    Kids, this is what happens when communists steal your bicycles. ALWAYS lock your bike unless you want some pinko to turn it into this sort of monstrosity.

    Seriously, nice build! Ever consider an internally geared hub for the front wheel? Maybe with belt drive?

  5. Alan says:

    I like, i’ve been thinking of making a recumbent (ether delta or tadpole trike style), but I’ve been umm’ing and arr’ing about this style, but it seems to work well for you. I might think about doing this style.. or maybe a mix of this and a delta trike? Hmm :-?

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My interests include writing, electronics, RPGs, scifi, hackers & hackerspaces, 3D printing, building sets & toys. @johnbaichtal nerdage.net

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