Cycle Power
(Page 2 of 3)
January/February 1981
By the Mother Earth News editors
We opted, instead, to weld a 31" length of 1" E.M.T. (electrical metallic tubing) to the conduit legs. The pipe should run through the cycle's steering head, and will eventually—once the assembly has been leveled—be bolted securely in place.
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The front legs of the frame are formed from a 29" length of 3/4" E.M.T. with a 6"-radius, 90° bend at each end. The same curves should be made on the rear legs of the base, but use a 76" piece of E.M.T. for these, and center the bends 28-1/4 inches from each end of the tubing. (You'll need a conduit bender to shape both the front and rear legs . . . or you could use an adjustable arc roller, such as the one detailed on page 154 of MOTHER NO. 65. )
Once you've prepared the leg assemblies, cut two 49" lengths of 1/2" E.M.T. to serve as connectors between the front and rear sections. Then drill 1/4" holes at points one inch from each end of both conduits . . . making sure that the bores are parallel. Continue by drilling corresponding 1/4"holes one inch from the base of each leg, and bolt the frame loosely together with 1/4" X 2" bolts, washers, and nuts. (After you've established just how the cycle will fit into the base, you can snug the four bolts down.)
Now lift the stripped bicycle chassis into position and "eyeball" the most convenient way to secure it to the conduit framework. In our case, a bracket that had been used to mount the rear brake lined up very well with the top of the back legs, so we just bolted the two assemblies together. (Bear in mind that there is a good deal of margin to work with, since the front of the bike can be raised or lowered—on the 1" E.M.T. for leveling purposes.) When you're satisfied with the fit, drill the appropriate holes . . . bolt the bicycle into place . . . and cinch up the 1/4" bolts on the E.M.T. framework.
The chassis should now be relatively steady, but-to add a little extra rigidity-we chose to run a 19-1/2" piece of 1/2" E.M.T. across the rear legs, 19-1/2 inches above the floor. This tube bolts both to the legs and to the rear fork of the bicycle, and helps keep the device from rocking forward.
THE PULLEY SYSTEM
Because the bicycle chain system is not compatible with the drive setup on most tools, we decided to run a jack shaft from the cycle's rear axle in order to make the change to a V-belt and pulley arrangement. Two 15-1/2"-long pieces of 1" angle iron were used to mount the 1/2" pillow blocks that support the pulley shaft. The bottoms of the angle iron sections bolt directly to the bicycle's rear axle, and the tops are attached to the horizontal section of the rear legs. The pulley itself is a 6" type A (the largest we could fit into the space available), and is driven by a 14tooth sprocket compatible with the bicycle's chain.
