Tall Bike Build: Day 3

The least eventful and most productive session unfolded on the day 3. I set out with a mission to fully affix the second frame to the first, attach a steering tube, and maintain excellent geometry. All goals were reached.

The first step was to create a steering tube so that the frames could be properly aligned. To do so I welded two desk legs together. This created a longer than necessary tube that was almost exactly the same diameter as the original tube attached to the forks. Placing part of a smaller tube, taken from a broom, I was able to align the tube through the head tubes on both frames. As I slid the top frame down the steering tube I temporarily affixed it into place just as it came in contact with the lower frame. This connection roughly an intersection the pedal assembly on the top frame and the seat tube is on the lower frame. It is not a perfect match, as I suspected. There is just about half an inch of connection because the top frame sits slightly forward of the lower frame's seat tube. I tacked the frames in place and added a small bracket to the back of the petal assembly area on the top frame make the connection more rigid.

As an intermission, there was a knock at the door. Let me interject that I am currently wearing a grey leather jacket, gloves with the fingers cut off, dirty jeans, and white tennis shoes. Welding in flip flops and shorts wasn't working too well so I decided to gear up even though it was 80 degrees outside. So instead of answering the door I stuck my head out the window. There were two spindly guys with glasses and an awkward girl with a backpack. They wanted to know if my roommate lived here. My immediate response was, "Why?" They explained they were supposed to meet up with him to buy a linksys router. Long story short, I sold the geeky trio a router for 40 bucks and my roommate strolled in 45 minutes later. He had a friend with him and she did not seem to understand my tallbike endeavor. She wanted to know why I was making a tall bike. I just grinned and said, "because tallbikes are awesome." I don't think she will ever get it.

Getting back to work, I removed the temporary steering tube and started making the final steering tube. I cut down the temporary tube to the correct length. using a hack saw to rough cut it and a grinder to smooth out the ends to the proper length, the tube was ready for placement. At this point I reinstalled the front forks on the upper frame. The forks, and wheel for that matter, are still attached to the lower frame. I welded the tube into place and it all started to look like a tall bike. My welds are not real pretty but they are getting better. So, I did some grinding and welding until I was satisfied that the bike was sufficiently strong to hold my weight. And, just because I was itching to try it out, I tacked on some handlebars and put a seat on it.

I was so excited that I forgot it had two flat tires so I had to inflate the tires. Surprisingly they seemed to hold pressure. Next, I walked the bike through the house and out the front door so I could lean it against my truck. I hoped on top and pushed myself away. I was pretty nervous about the handlebar tack welds breaking, but they sufficed. It was dark, and the neighbors were looking wide eyed as I took a few coasts on the bike. It was an invigorating feeling. Tallbikes are awesome.