Basket for trike luggage rack

Continuing the custom trike project, here is the previous post:

• Planning to pack panniers in custom trike — January 03, 2025

Have now built a "basket" to go on the luggage-rack. It has to be fairly narrow, due to the panniers either side -- although they are below the luggage-rack, they open and expand upward.

Made it from some 25x25x1.4 mm angle that already had, and some scrap masonite for sides and bottom. First photo:

Pretty simple. The side panels are laminated so have water protection. End and bottom panels are raw masonite, so coated them with Bondcrete to weatherseal. Another photo:

If rain protection is required, could make a fabric cover.

Hmmm, wondering when the trike will be ready for a first short tour. Keep thinking of more things to do. Soon...   

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Planning to pack panniers in custom trike

The custom solar-assisted tadpole trike project continues, now planning to outfit the trike for a first tour. The previous blog post:

• Install auxiliary solar panel in custom trike — January 02, 2025

Awhile back, purchased four panniers, Rockbros AS-002. Rockbros has a website in Australia, selling these:

https://www.rockbros.com.au/products/rock-bros-rockbros-waterproof-bicycle-rear-seat-trunk-bag-multifunctional-road-mountain-bike-package-pack-pannier

They can also be purchased off eBay, Amazon and Aliexpress. Example of the latter:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007887951403.html

Want to learn a lesson from previous experience camping in my car; everything got thrown into the back of the car, ad hoc. Then while camping, would want one particular item, and not know where it is, so would hunt through all the gear. This time, want to be highly organised, everything neatly packed in separate containers and logically stored in the panniers.

So, went shopping for clear plastic containers that would fit inside the panniers and could be stacked. At first, the plastic containers that I found were too large to fit inside the panniers. But found one in Bunnings that is a nice fit, then later discovered some in BigW. Bought this from BigW:

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/brilliant-basics-clip-lock-food-container-4-5l/p/248435

...also a couple of others from BigW, but not quite sure which ones from looking at the website. The main requirement was lid dimensions about 18x25 cm so as to fit into the pannier.

Started to pack the containers and allocate to which pannier, in a hopefully very logical fashion:

On the left, throw-over tent, tent to sleep in, sleeping bag, mattress, ground sheet. They will mostly go into the basket that I am building to sit on top of the luggage-rack. That is not very big, so some of those items are going to have to into the panniers.

Leftmost pannier; two 4-litre water bottles, container on top for food. If need to carry more water, bought these:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007175786335.html

...great, they store very flat, and when filled hold 5 litres each and can be hung anywhere. That gives a total water capacity of 23 litres.

Second-left pannier has tools. These are general tools, as well as trike maintenance parts. Also various tent parts, such as pegs and rope. Those two left-most panniers are the heaviest and will be mounted on opposite sides, low-down.

Moving right, the next pannier has toiletries in lowest container, others are food and cooking gear. The pannier on the right is set aside for electrical and electronic stuff. Quite a collection, including mains battery charger, AC inverter, MPPT controller. Hoping ultimately to be able to slide a small laptop into the pannier also.

It is going to be a tight squeeze, might have to compromise.     

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Install auxiliary solar panel in custom trike

Continuing the solar-assisted custom recumbent tadpole trike project, I am now at the stage of outfitting it for a proposed first tour. The previous blog post in this project, introducing the auxiliary solar panel:

• Testing auxiliary solar panel with custom trike — December 30, 2024

The challenge was to find somewhere to put it on the trike. The folded panel is 340x525 mm, which is just right, and the reason why I chose this particular panel. Pop-riveted some angle for it to sit on:

...however, had to remove the head-rest, which solved one problem but introduced another. If I had the forethought that an auxiliary solar panel had to be accommodated, back when designing the trike framework, could have placed those vertical black poles supporting the overhead solar panel back a bit. But, have to live with the current situation and remove the head-rest.

The auxiliary panel fits nicely:

There are constraints above and below. Below, there are panniers that require sufficient room to open and put stuff in and out. And above, there will be a relocated head-rest; also the eye-height must be above the auxiliary panel for looking backwards.

There is aluminium tube just behind the auxiliary panel, to which the head-rest will now be attached; however, the diameter is too small. Needed to manufacture a "pipe-shim", and it just so happens that I have a very short piece of aluminium tube with ID that matches; just need to bulk it out to the required OD. Manufactured the shim with epoxy resin:

...two concentric rings, tipped-in epoxy resin, afterward cut it down the middle with a hacksaw. Note that I used "Utility" brand epoxy from Bunnings, as it is very slow setting. Also considerably cheaper than the other brands. Needs to be mixed thoroughly beforehand, and sets very hard. This Utility product does have a downside; it leaks after usage:

...24 hours after usage, a puddle is forming. Lots of complaints about this on the Bunnings website. I haven't tried storing it flipped with nozzles at bottom.

Anyway, here are the two pieces of the shim:

...why not make the shim entirely out of epoxy? My reasoning at the time is the aluminium inner makes it easier to grip in the vice, for sawing in half. Yes, that went well.

Wrapped a couple of layers of wide electric tape around the aluminium tube, to give the shim something to grip onto, then mounted the head-rest:

The auxiliary solar panel fits nicely:

...there is also enough room in front of the solar panel for the extension cable. I've got a 5.5 metre length that fits in there nicely also. Using "6mm auto" cable, described in blog posts in 2020:

• Cable and soldering guidelines — April 27, 2020
• Cable sizes for battery camping system — April 11, 2020

Tomorrow, intend to build a box to sit on the rear luggage rack. It has to be narrow, so that the panniers either side can be fully loaded.    

Tags: light

Testing auxiliary solar panel with custom trike

Briliant blue sky this morning, 10.15am, December 30, mid-summer here in Perth, Western Australia. As mentioned in the previous blog post, the intention when at a camp-site is to keep the trike under shade (if available), with the throw-over tent. There will be a cable to small solar panel in the sun to keep the battery topped-up. Previous post:

• Throw-over tent for custom trike — December 29, 2024

The problem, though, is where to mount an extra solar panel on the trike? Found a place where a folding panel could fit, then looked around for one that will be within those dimensions. So, selected a panel based on restricted size, not capacity. But, it turned out remarkably well. This is what I purchased, for AU$169:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/294677489161

Ha ha, what a joke; it is advertised as "300W". I was amused in one of the comments, someone complained that they bought it because they expected 300W or near. Naive! You have to know that many vendors tell lies, and estimate power output from surface area of the panel. The vendor also claimed "grade-A monocrystalline", which I also doubted, but after testing the panel; yes, high-efficiency cells.

To connect the auxiliary solar panel, an MPPT controller is required (I threw away the PWM controller that came with the solar panel). Instead of unplugging one that is used for the main solar panel, used the extra one that I had purchased, this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007612832046.html

...it was AU$48 when I purchased it, now gone up a bit; but the AU Dollar has fallen compared with US Dollar. The reason I purchased this was due to curiosity, after having purchased the Lensun MPPT controller:

• MPPT controller for custom trike — September 13, 2024

...the MPPT controller direct from China was less than half the price. Today, finally tested it, and it works great. I attached Anderson connectors:

Plugged into the "48V" lithium battery:

Good result; 86W, more than I expected!

Also useful while touring and stopped for awhile, can get out the auxiliary solar panel and have two panels charging the battery, while eating lunch or whatever.

EDIT:
Found another alternative to the Lensun MPPT controller. This is a brand-name product, with English printed on the controller (and the User Manual is probably in English also). Also cheaper, AU$48 postage-free:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008269117932.html

Looking around on Aliexpress, also discovered there is another variant with a maximum input voltage of 65V (the above is 50V).    

Tags: light

Throw-over tent for custom trike

Continuing the custom recumbent trike project, here are recent posts:

• Safety fixture for trike pedals — December 26, 2024
• Custom trike project front page — December 21, 2024
• Trike test elejoy MPPT controller — December 10, 2024

Currently planning the details for going touring with the trike.

It is envisaged at a campsite, the trike will be parked in the shade, and I will use a small folding solar panel to keep the battery topped up -- more on that in a future blog post. While at a campsite, or for whenever there is rain, I constructed a throw-over tent. I have left-over 10D ripstop silnylon fabric from the tent-making days in 2021, and one long piece of orange fabric:

This tent is contructed entirely by glueing, no sewing. Sewing 10D silnylon is a nightmare; so incredibly stretchy and slippery.

I described the glueing technique back in 2021, for example here:

"TreeHugger 1P tarp weighs only 178g"
https://bkhome.org/light/treehugger-1p-tarp-weighs-only-178g.html

Proceeded to add sides and tie-outs:

...photo taken in my loungeroom. At a campsite, the area required for pegging is large but that is not usually a problem. Pulling it out with pegs is important for a couple of reasons. One, so that wind will tend to flow over. Two, to give some room inside.

The 10D silnylon is translucent, so put an extra layer on top to cut down light getting through to the solar cells. 10D is very thin, a tent specialist fabric. I bought most of it in 2021 off Aliexpress, but that vendor is no longer in business. Searched Aliexpress, could not find silicone both-sides ripstop nylon fabric -- the closest is silicone one side, PU the other.

Silnylon is very special. It is silicone impregnated, right through, not just a coating on the sides. It bonds extremely well to silicone sealant. PU does not. It looks like tent manufacturers are not using silnylon anymore; the main reason, if I recall rightly, is that is stretches when wet.

Back in 2021, I did buy some pure 10D silnylon from a company in Europe, and I just now checked; yes, they still have it:

https://www.adventurexpert.com/product/10d-silnylon-fabric/

For anyone thinking of building a tent, 10D is a bit fragile; I would recommend go for fabric a bit stronger, say 20D. Unless you need the lightest possible weight and small size.

I manufactured the tie-outs the same way as the mark-3 tent in 2021:

• TreeHugger Mark-3 tent hem tie-outs — August 29, 2021

And used 30x5 (30mm OD, 20mm ID) silicone o-rings, from Aliexpress:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001460667252.html

The tent might need some further construction, but for now ok to use on the first tour.    

Tags: light

Safety fixture for trike pedals

I have posted previously about the dreaded "leg suck", when a foot falls off a pedal onto the road surface while travelling. Knowing me, this is a potential issue, as when touring, hour after hour, I will tend to become dreamy, lose attention. Most recumbent trike riders don't bother with pedal safety fixtures, but I want them, and that has been a bit of a saga.

I posted about bicycle shoes with cleats, that clip onto the pedals. This also requires special pedals. That post was in May 2023

• How to be safe on a recumbent trike — May 18, 2023

So, I bought mountain bike pedals and special shoes with cleats.

I'm a beginner at all of this, and after further research, discovered that there is a fundamental difference how the feet should be placed on the pedals when riding a recumbent bike/trike compared to an upright bicycle. To look after the tendons in the feet, and for long distance comfort, on a recumbent trike the central shaft of the pedal should be in the arch of the foot. On bicycles, it is more toward the front of the foot, the ball.

There is lots of online advice about foot placement on the pedal, for example, here.

This means that the cleat on bicycle shoes is in the wrong place. This is important for long distance touring, so abandoned cleats and those shoes and pedals are now stored in a closet.

After further online research, I discovered what could be called the "Rolls Royce" of safety pedals for recumbent trikes. Which I purchased, see post July 2024:

• Foot and leg safety on a recumbent trike — July 10, 2024

...terrible price!

Unfortunately, these also ended up in the closet. They are very big, designed to take very large shoes, which is a serious problem on my trike. My customized trike has the wheels moved closer together, with total trike width now only 740mm. This imposes a restriction on the turning radius, and those safety pedals are just too wide. I have considered a future project to replace the front 20 inch wheels with 16 inch, but for now have to live with the current situation.

Yes, can turn with the pedals in a certain position to allow a sharper turn, and I could probably train myself to do that when cornering.

Another problem with those pedals is they are very heavy. They have weights underneath, so when your foot is not inserted, they stay upright. Each pedal weighs just under 1kg. I recently thought about selling them, but saw on a local trike Facebook group, someone else has them for sale, asking AU$50. Hey, I paid AU$245! For now, they are also residing in the closet.

I purchased some straps, that can be fitted to ordinary pedals. Actually, intended for a certain type of pedal. Actually bought a couple of different types:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002192895075.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005528714005.html

...still the fundamental problem that they are designed for a bicycle, with pedal shaft more forward under the foot. However, ended up using the leather straps of that last purchase.

Enough throwing money at trying to find a solution. Yesterday, looked at the original pedals that came with the trike, and figured out a simple foot restraint system. Today went to the men's shed and built it...

Very simple, a short length of 30x3 mm aluminium strap with some angle on the bottom end:

That is a snug fit into the bumps underneath the pedal:

And a bracket to stop it from falling off:

When touring, there is never a need to put the feet on the ground. Unlike a bicycle, where you can get into serious trouble with cleats if they don't unclip reliably. So, I can go one step further, and optionally restrain the feet with straps (the ones purchased earlier from Aliexpress):

...the strap is a quick-release type, and there are various places it can be fed through the pedal to secure the shoe.

Simple DIY solution.   

Tags: light

Custom trike project front page

I have created a "front page" for the custom solar-assisted full-suspension tadpole recumbent trike project:

https://bkhome.org/nomad/solar-powered-recumbent-trike.html

As noted at the bottom of that page, this is likely to be an ongoing project. Depends on my motivation of course, whether to keep working on it. Right now, as-is, it is usable, and I would like to get it outfitted for a multi-day tour. Depending on the level of satisfaction of the first tour will determine whether motivated enough to keep working on it.

It sure has been a fascinating project. I joined a "men's shed" which has been a great experience. There are over 1,200 men's sheds in Australia, see here.  

Tags: light