The $18 Recumbent Bicycle

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Next, I extended the seat post of the kid's bike to reach the handlebar stem of the woman's bike. You may need to find an extra-long seat post to make it reach. Make sure you have the right diameter; they come in many sizes. I then attached the seat post to the stem with the hardware from the kid's seat. I had to get a longer bolt to make this work. This connection would work better with some kind of Y-shaped adapter, since my solution left the handlebars (not the wheel) turned about 5 degrees from dead center.

I found I could use a long tapered padded seat back (from a discarded chair), but I still needed a seat. As if on cue, I soon found an old exercise bike for $6.95 that had a nice, padded, extra-large seat. To attach the seat back to the frame, I used an aluminum bike rack. The bottom of the seat back rests on the sloping top tube of the woman's bike frame. The seat back is inclined 45 degrees and rests against the top of the woman's frame's seat post. It is further supported by the bike rack. The cargo platform of the rack attaches to the back of the seat back with wood screws and U-brackets. The supports of the rack attach to the middle of the woman's frame's seat stays (the tubes that run from the seat to the rear axle). I was able to attach the exercise bicycle seat to the sloping tube of the woman's frame with the existing hardware. I replaced the woman's frame's handlebars with those from the exercise bike, which curved in. With a little grease and oil, voila, one cheap recumbent.

My first test ride was out in front of my apartment. Fortunately, not many people were around to see my pitiful initial attempts. I wove back and forth, nearly hitting parked cars on both sides of the street. I realized only later that you need a slight running start, a la Fred Flintstone, to get stable. Pedaling pushed the wheel one way, then the other. I wove down the street in disappointment. But after five minutes of this, I found that if I applied pressure to the opposing side of the handlebars, I could compensate for the force exerted by my legs. My arms tired of this after awhile, however. My wife saved the day again when she discovered that holding the outsides of the bars gave her a steadier ride. So the next day we went out again to the thrift stores and found a highrise handlebar with grips facing outward. This change made all the difference. I became confident enough to ride in traffic and experienced my first shocked looks. Kids chased me down the street, pointing.

We took the bike to our favorite bike path, my wife following me on a normal ten-speed. She got to see the surprised reactions and hear the admiring comments such as, "Very innovative!" and "Did you make that?"

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