Barrys News

VeMoo leaning tadpole trike

March 23, 2025 — BarryK

I'm always interested in new tadpole trike developments. At one time I looked around for enclosed or semi-enclosed tadpole trikes (or quads), and in 2023 posted this report on the Pedilio and Veemo:

Enclosed pedal-powered recumbent in production — November 22, 2023

So many of these startups claim to be starting production "soon", or to have started limited production. But then, years later, they have faded away. Just a quick glance at the Veemo site, it looks like they have reached production.

I recently discovered another startup, the VeMoo trike; this one is particularly interesting, as it is a leaning design and also full-suspension. It is partially enclosed. Here is the website:

https://www.vemoo.fr/en/home/

The VeMoo is intended to be in production in 2025. They are taking pre-orders, but I don't know the price.

I very much want to know how the steering and leaning works, but cannot find the precise details. There are videos, but they don't show much detail:

https://www.youtube.com/@VeMoo_Mobility/videos

However, I got a clue how the leaning works from this video by the "Laidback Bike Report" of the VeMoo at Spezi 2024 exhibition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf6iN0zQ8Aw

The guy showed how it tilted, just by pushing it sideways. This means that it is a weight-controlled leaning; so you shift your weight to the side and it will lean. This is a "Type 1" leaning mechanism, that I posted about recently:

Another look at tilting tadpole trike designs — February 25, 2025

However, the website describes it as a "pendulum suspension". From this I deduce that when sitting in it, it will have a natural tendency to stay vertical. But, lean to the side and it will tilt.

I cannot say how effective this leaning mechanism is; anyone who has ridden one, let me know! You can post in the comments section of my YouTube channel, or send me an email.

Tags: light

Meanderer trike project intro video

March 22, 2025 — BarryK

Previous blog post in the new "Meanderer" leaning full-suspension build-from-scratch DIY tadpole trike project:

Meanderer trike front suspension plates — March 19, 2025

The intention is to make videos on YouTube as the project progresses; to get the ball rolling, I have created a brief intro video, that outlines what the project is about.

Don't expect much though; this is the first time that I have video-ed myself. Used my phone selfie-camera, and when played back, realised two main faults; firstly that I should have been looking at the camera not at the screen, and secondly shouldn't have wobbled my head around so much.

Anyway, here it is:

"Meanderer leaning full-suspension tadpole trike PART1"
https://www.youtube.com/@meanderinglight/videos

I'm not bothered about my photogenic lack, nor faulty technique, as this is introducing a technical project, and in future videos most of the time the camera will be pointed at the work underway, rather than myself.

Did start to learn how to use Flowblade video editor, but haven't progressed very far.

Tags: light

Meanderer trike front suspension plates

March 19, 2025 — BarryK

Previous blog post in Meanderer trike project:

Front wheel hubs for tadpole trike — March 12, 2025

The front of the trike will have suspension, with swing-arms (also known as A-frame or wishbone arms) and shock-absorbers. The swing-arms will hinge on two plates attached to the frame of the trike. The frame is a 25x25mm square tube, 3mm wall thickness. The plates are 110x175mm sheet, 5mm thickness. There will be extra bracing with angle, as illustrated:

More construction details will be revealed, but for now, contructing just the two plates. They have holes and 50x50mm cutout:

...regarding those 6mm holes; in fact, I used a 4mm drill bit, the intention being to later tap a thread for m6 bolts.

In an earlier blog post, there is a link to where I purchased the 5mm thick sheet. However, in retrospect I would have bought 6mm sheet, as that is more common and discovered available locally at a reasonable price.

I marked out the holes and cutout, then cut the plates on a metal bandsaw:

...yes, I know this project is intended to be do-able by anyone in their home workshop; a handheld jigsaw does the job OK also. In fact, I found that a jigsaw was the best choice for the 50x50 cutout.

Then put the two plates together, firmly clamped on a block of wood, and drilled the holes with a hand drill (after centre-punching):

...took the precaution of driiling 2.5mm pilot holes first, for greater accuracy. For the 8mm holes, it would also be good practice to drill another intermediate hole, say 5.5mm. The reason is, large drill bits tend to wander off-centre, and a pilot hole keeps them centred.

The 50x50 cutout... expected that to be tricky. We started to do it on a large metal router at the Men's Shed:

...no, not appropriate for a DIY guy in the home workshop! Besides, we decided that it is a clumsy way to do it. Instead, used a hand jigsaw. Firstly, took off the protective plastic, then re-marked the 50x50 cutout:

...the four 8mm holes are the suspension hinges for the swing-arms, and the 50x50 cutout has to be symmetrical. I drew lines on the outside of the 8mm holes, to help with measuring symmetry.

I had previously drilled 3mm holes in the corners of the cutout, which we thought might be useful. But in retrospect, probably not. Or maybe just smaller, like 2mm.

Anyway, got the cutout re-marked, then drilled 10mm holes in opposite corners, as close to the marked lines as possible. Then used a square file to make the corners square, for insertion of the jigsaw blade. I used one of the jigsaws in the Men's Shed; it already had a blade in it, didn't know if for wood or metal, but it did have fine teeth, which I wanted:

...yes, nice cutout. Just cut one plate, then used that to re-mark the second.

A bit of fine-tune filing was required, then it was able to slide snuggly onto the 50x50 tube:

...notice those two holes in the bottom corners; countersunk. The two closer-in are the 8mm holes for the swing-arms, the two outer holes were supposed to be drilled with a 4mm drill bit, for later tapping for m6 bolts. However, a lapse in concentration and I drilled 6mm holes. So decided instead they will be countersunk bolts.

So, what's next...

Tags: light

EasyAPT launch from menu

March 17, 2025 — BarryK

I posted about EasyAPT, a simple substitute for the Debian APT 'apt' CLI utility:

NeoAPT simplified replacement for apt utility — March 16, 2025

To bring EasyAPT to the attention of users, I have added it to the "Setup" menu category:

Selecting which, will open a terminal, with the help information for using 'apt' displayed:

For now, very basic; will probably add more functionality later.

Tags: easy

NeoAPT simplified replacement for apt utility

March 16, 2025 — BarryK

The question came up in this forum thread:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=14004

It is a convenience to run the 'apt' or 'apt-get' utilities in a terminal, to perform various package-management functions. One of those conveniences is to specify multiple packages to be installed.

EasyOS has a package management system that is different from Debian. PKGget, the EasyOS GUI program, can, in the case of Easy Daedalus, install from the Devuan/Debian package respositories. However, the package database format is different from that of Devuan/Debian, which means that the 'apt' utility won't work.

There are some Puppy distros that attempt to get 'apt' to work with the Puppy Package Manager (PPM), but it is a hack.

Another approach is to write a replacement for 'apt', that is just a wrapper for PKGget. I have got the ball rolling, to show how this works. There is a new directory, /usr/local/neo-apt, for now with a simple 'apt' script that only implements the "install" commandline option:

What it does is call PKGget for each of the packages specified on the commandline. So for the first one, PKGget will run:

Which is a good thing, to have the GUI present you with all the required dependencies, rather than just blindly going ahead and installing a gazillion packages.

This is just a start; we could add "search", "update", "list", etc.

Note, this NeoAPT will work in Easy Scarthgap also. It has nothing to do with Debian package DBs, it is just a wrapper for PKGget.

Here are the github commits:

https://github.com/bkauler/woofq/commit/215a7417e87e8d4d0ce9593c9ca409715976f1de

https://github.com/bkauler/woofq/commit/5f6ac2782d43cbd92d88d1bf6b0fd72d044cf2a4

https://github.com/bkauler/woofq/commit/ea6241621a38cd9259b138865b9d3d4bbff91a19

As apt and related packages do not work in Easy Daedalus, have blacklisted them:

https://github.com/bkauler/woofq/commit/5a08374e6fa9d437ff925f34c9fc8c941068a2ff

Changing the subject, I have added some 'gvfs' packages to Easy Daedalus, as it seems needed by some filemanagers:

https://github.com/bkauler/woofq/commit/f11ede856b3405d580f0980403b92696cca2ec85

EDIT 2025-03-17:
Decided to change the name, from NeoAPT to EasyAPT.

Tags: easy

Kernel 6.12.19 compiled for Daedalus with AVS enabled

March 16, 2025 — BarryK

I have previously compiled the 6.12.x kernel in Easy Daedalus, but had problems with Xe video and AVS audio drivers, so turned them off:

Linux kernel 6.12.12 configured without AVS and Xe — February 03, 2025

Decided to have another go, compiled 6.12.19 with AVS enabled, and sub-category "Intel AVS machine drivers" all enabled as modules. The failed audio had previously only occurred on my Acer Aspire 1; this time, audio works.

Interesting, running "dmesg", although 'snd_soc_avs.ko' has loaded, it looks like the legacy audio driver has grabbed the audio first.

With Easy Scarthgap and Daedalus, I reverted to the 6.6.x kernel, specifically 6.6.67, and that's what is used in the latest releases. But now, for Easy Daedalus, plan to go back to using the 6.12.x kernel. Maybe Scarthgap also.

Tags: easy

Front wheel hubs for tadpole trike

March 12, 2025 — BarryK

Continuing the new "Meanderer" build-from-scratch recumbent full-suspension leaning tadpole trike project, here are recent posts:

Universal-joint for Meanderer trike — March 03, 2025
Progress planning The Meanderer — March 01, 2025
Steering swivel-coupling for new trike project — February 28, 2025
Another look at tilting tadpole trike designs — February 25, 2025
Planning a recumbent trike built from scratch — February 21, 2025

Using bicycle parts where possible, is good; however, there is a problem with the front wheels. A bicycle front wheel has support on both sides of the axle, whereas only on one side on a trike. This is a problem; we need a certain type of bicycle wheel hub, known as a "thru hub". This has a shaft, or axle, that goes right through, usually of 12mm, 15mm or 20mm diameter.

We really want the 15mm or 20mm axles, which is another problem, as they are only used in premium mountain bikes. So, finding that type of wheel secondhand might be difficult. Suitable wheels could probably be purchased from a bike shop, or maybe a cheap secondhand tadpole trike could be located.

My first trike project, now mostly completed, was a cheap trike that I modified, with front suspension, etc. I'll refer to it as my "current trike". It has wheel hubs for a 20mm thru-axle:

I got a bit confused, as this hub is only about 92mm wide, whereas looking online, available hubs are 100mm, 110mm, or 135mm wide. Nothing under 100mm. So I bought a couple, 15x100 and 20x110, to examine. After they arrived, I realised something; they are not "really" that wide.

To explain, here are photos of the hubs on my current trike:

And the inside:

...it looks very much like some extensions on both sides has been removed. The width of the inner alloy tube is only 82mm, and total width of the hub is 92mm.

Yes, the two hubs that I purchased have plastic extensions on both ends, extending the width to 100mm and 110mm. But, cut them off, and the with becomes 92mm and 84mm.

This is one that I purchased, 15x100, meaning 15mm diameter thru-axle and 100mm hub width, for AU$28.39 (plus 10% GST):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005254533680.html

The other, 20x110 32-hole, for AU$41.59 (plux GST):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008343824211.html

20mm axle hubs are somewhat rarer and much more expensive. Photo:

I reckon those plastic width-extenders could be cut shorter. So, I plan to build the axle length on the Meanderer wheel knuckle for a 92mm wide hub. That will handle all three of the above hubs. Maybe make the knuckle axle a bit longer, and washers can be used if required.

A note about a tadpole trike; we need to be careful about overall width. For the Meanderer, I want total width to be no more than 730mm, so as to fit through my front door, and motel doors when touring. So taking 10 - 15mm off the hub is important.

If you want to read more about mountain bicycle front wheel hub types:

https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/mtb-axle-standards

Should also mention, there are axle diameter reducers available. I bought this one to evaluate, 20x100 to 15x100:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006596535497.html

Plan to build the wheel knuckles soon, and there will be a blog post when that happens.

Tags: light