SideHacked! Epilogue

[JoKeR63]

It's Back!
May 1st, and time once again to assemble some mildly usefull two wheeled (or three, as in this case) machinery.
I'm building a sidecar bike this time around and it has a purpose. By contest end, my one and only Grand daughter will be one year old, and ready for some new adventures. Even before she was born, I was dreamin' up ideas on how I'd haul her around.

My first thought was a trailer, but I find myself not enjoying the idea of dragging her 6 feet behind me. They're hard to monitor and it's kind of impersonal. The second idea was a trike with a front mounted kiddy seat but that meant frame mods that were out of the scope of the contest. So I've settled on the side car idea, it's kinda' like a sociable tandem, but one person isn't capable of helping with purpulsion. To get down to the level of the sidecar, I need a low bike, and one of the easiest ways to do that is 20" wheels.
I took a solemn oath to never build another 20" bike for the buildoff, but this isn't being built just for me. Safety has to be part of the formula and low helps stability. Which leads to my choice of;

"The Bike everyone Loves to Hate",



The Schwinn OCC Chopper!

First off, these things are terrible, they're too heavy, and they're sized for kids. So I'm once again goin' to take the rulebook to the woodshed and stretch the frame with extentions (bolt-on of course!) and a lay-back seat post. The next issue is gearing, or more like the lack thereof. With the rear wheel moved back 6", there will be room for a jack shaft. I've got parts for a 5 spd cluster and an outboard brake disk (aka, the Veg-o-Matic!). I'll be putting it on a diet as well, I can reduce some weight here and there. And i'll keep track of any weight savings. Most components of the side car are aluminum. And I'm hopin' to build the body out of coroplast.

I'm going with my "Build first, get it working, then strip apart and paint" construction technique again this time around as this with be the most complicated build-off bike to date. I really like to keep things simple, but that just wouln't cut it for this.

Challenges;
1 The baby enjoys riding in it.
2 Keeping the weight down.
3 Safety.
4 See #3
5 Transportability.

Some of these I have plans for, some will be blind luck. For #1, I plan to use a regular infant car seat in the sidecar, the idea being I can take the seat out of the car baby and all and strap it in the sidecar for the least amount of baby stress. This will help with #'s 3 & 4, and eliminate the need for a helmet, which doesn't work good on babies anyhow. When she gets older, I'll install a bench in the car and then graduate her up to a helmet.

Well I don't want to give every detail away, it's time to get to buildin'!

The Pile O Parts;

[yoothgeye]

Who shall be the winner in the FIRST ANNUAL SIDECAR SUB-BUILD-OFF!

[Peatbog]

You are right about the trailer. I hauled my youngest around in a trailer and it just wasn't that much fun. I needed her beside me so we could talk easier.

I might have to get myself another kid just to do it all over again.*



*Don't tell my wife. She was 40 years old when we had the last kid. Hint: The "patch" doesn't always work.

[JoKeR63]

I might have to get myself another kid just to do it all over again.*



*Don't tell my wife. She was 40 years old when we had the last kid. Hint: The "patch" doesn't always work.

That's why I'm diggin' the grandparent thing, all the fun, much less responsibility.

[dragnusa]

I like number 2 keep weight down, your behind the 8 ball already

[JoKeR63]

I like number 2 keep weight down, your behind the 8 ball already

Yea, it's still gonna' be heavy. But just removing the kickstand is close to 2 lbs. At this level of complexity every little bit helps.

[yoothgeye]

Keeping weight down means you need speed holes.

I bought the bike MONTHS ago that will solve my gearing problems, so weight shouldn't matter to me. I will be using steel to my sidecar.

[JoKeR63]

Keeping weight down means you need speed holes.

I bought the bike MONTHS ago that will solve my gearing problems, so weight shouldn't matter to me. I will be using steel (for) my sidecar.

I was going to holesaw out the headtube brace but feel it's pushing the rules a bit too far. Might do it after the contest. Engineers shave 5 grams on a part of an F250 to save weight, it's all about the sum total. If I end up with a bike that weights 80 lbs versus 100 lbs I've accomplished my goal.

[yoothgeye]

I was going to holesaw out the headtube brace but feel it's pushing the rules a bit too far. Might do it after the contest. Engineers shave 5 grams on a part of an F250 to save weight, it's all about the sum total. If I end up with a bike that weights 80 lbs versus 100 lbs I've accomplished my goal.

That's not pushing the rules, look at Roland from last year: viewtopic.php?f=60&t=43611

Amazing bike with speed holes in the seat tube, that is not a major design change on the frame and nobody here would say so.

Roland got a lot of votes too!

[JoKeR63]

I was going to holesaw out the headtube brace but feel it's pushing the rules a bit too far. Might do it after the contest. Engineers shave 5 grams on a part of an F250 to save weight, it's all about the sum total. If I end up with a bike that weights 80 lbs versus 100 lbs I've accomplished my goal.

That's not pushing the rules, look at Roland from last year: viewtopic.php?f=60&t=43611

Amazing bike with speed holes in the seat tube, that is not a major design change on the frame and nobody here would say so.

Roland got a lot of votes too!

Well, you may see some after all. But Roland may be a bit too "Swiss Cheesy" for me.

[yoothgeye]

Well, you may see some after all. But Roland may be a bit too "Swiss Cheesy" for me.

I loved the look of his speed holes, but I was concerned about strength, don't know how much he rode it, I've ridden my bike from last year lots, so it was important to me for it to be strong.

[JoKeR63]

Well, you may see some after all. But Roland may be a bit too "Swiss Cheesy" for me.

I loved the look of his speed holes, but I was concerned about strength, don't know how much he rode it, I've ridden my bike from last year lots, so it was important to me for it to be strong.

His seat tube is in stretch/crush so the holes shouldn't affect it much, plus I don't see a seat post.

[Brentley]

Challenges;
1 The baby enjoys riding in it.
2 Keeping the weight down.
3 Safety.
4 See #3
5 Transportability.

Just like we like to say at my workplace, "Safety third!"

[JoKeR63]

Challenges;
1 The baby enjoys riding in it.
2 Keeping the weight down.
3 Safety.
4 See #3
5 Transportability.

Just like we like to say at my workplace, "Safety third!"

Opps!, looks like I need to add "not necessarely in that order". BUT, if she dosen't like it, the safety priority goes down.

[char]

That cool! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!