Day Thirteen

     After another day of riding, the weakest points on the cartbike failed. A crash knocked off the front handlebars, they were luckily going unused, but it just shows that zip ties aren't that strong. Also, the plastic that held the crank set away from the bottom bracket collapsed, leaving that back at square one. After two rides to and from the hardware store, Clydefrog and I got the right brass washers (cheaper than stainless steel, and thicker), and finally resolved this problem, though another spritz of lube was necessary. 

Back to square one.

Very Bad

Only one of these was the right size (it was the big one.) Measuring is important!

Fixed!

Maiden Voyage of Cartbike Mk. 1

If you wear safety goggles, you can say it's for science. 

Modelling the latest in Crash-Test Flannel

Day Ten

     Last night Jeffrey came over and we pulled an all-nighter (along with numerous trips to the shed, which is really scary at night!) to ready the cartbike Mk. 1 for road tests. It was incredibly intense, think every shop montage you've ever seen, we were using arc welders, and hammers, and circle saws, and scroll saws, and forklifts, and cranes, and jackhammers. We used none of those things. Some plaid duct tape on the seat, some zebra print rim (duct) tape, threw the tire on, then hose clamped the fork to the cart. In our case, the more you tightened the fork, the more the rear wheels of the shopping cart rose off the ground. Right now I've got it tightened so that the rear wheels aren't touching the ground, but with the added weight of a person (or two) they touch, and the connection to the bike is pretty stiff. 

     There is also a bit of bad news, the bolt that clamped the stem onto the handlebars was so rusty that I accidently stripped it. It's attached to the cart well, but it's kind of stuck that way...

     On the topic of handlebars, eight zip ties and the Mountain Bike's old handlebars make a very secure place for the passenger to hold on to.

Snazzy!

Another, less pretty angle.

Duct Tape worked as a rim tape substitute. Please note I am in no way recommending that you do this. If you can do anything on this blog better than I can, by all means, do. This is just on a No Dollar Budget.

The wheel inflated and ready to Roll. I'm sorry.

Jeffrey tightening the fork's hose clamps. Tight now there are only two, but eventually we'll have more, and more secure connections.

 



Passenger's bars/grips. I hadn't imagined how terrifying it would be to ride in the cart until after testing.

Day Nine

     Today was a productive day. I set up the shopping cart, got the handlebars off, took off the front brakes, and attached the bike to the cart.

     To ready the cart, I took off the handle's plastic guard. I did this by prying it with a solid flathead screwdriver, and it's fairly easy, once you get the right leverage. It helps if you pry it from the spots where the plastic knobs on it are, the parts that prevent the handle from rotating around the handle. Then, I cut off the seat belt part off of the cart with few deft hacksaw cuts. I don't plan on using the it at all, and if for some reason I pick up an infant (please don't let me do this), I will have better means of transporting it. However, the bumpers on the front are going to be good to keep on, seeing how dangerous shopping cart corners are. I'm also going to be keeping the folding piece of plastic on, so I can flip it up to keep stuff from falling out of the seat if and when I use it. Of course, there are a couple coats of spray paint in it's future. 

     Taking the brake lever off was a bit of a challenge. The shifter came off easily but I had to pry the ring open to get it off the handlebars, the same situation with the stem clamp. I had to pry it open to get the handlebar out, I didn't want to have to deal with getting the grips off and that nonsense. I got it on the cart, but the handle was too far open for the bolt that held it closed to reach, judicious use of a hammer solved that problem. When I was lining up the stem and the cart, there was a piece of wire bent over in the center of the cart, and that made it easier to have it centered. I put the shifter and brake lever on, and called it a day. 

I'll be keeping this, but painting it none the less.

For safety's sake, the bumpers will stay.

Prying off the handle's plastic cover, there was a gap at the bottom for me, which simplified things greatly.

The handle after having the plastic removed, those holes will eventually get covered up.

The "seat belt" that needs to be removed.













Sweet! Buckle!













Cleaner, and better.

The problem with this cart is that it's designed to be stacked in rows, I'll hold that closed either with zip ties, hose clamps, or rebar.

The Handlebars that need to be removed.

These two I'll be using on the Cartbike. I already took off the front derailleur.

The stem's bolt was rusted to near disintegration, so WD-40 and a mallet were needed.

Another angle of it.

I don't understand why GT had the cable go through the stem, and not go all the way through the fork, it made getting the front brake off unnecessarily complicated and destructive.

The brake lever and the shifter taken off.

The fork after taking off the front brake, sanding off the rust and giving it a clear coat.

The stem attached to the cart!

The shifter and brake lever, groovy right-handed operation!

The bike as of now. No where near finished, but I feel like I've hit a milestone, and damn it feels good.