hamishbarker
Well-Known Member
My Conversion tips:
1. reversed stem to get handlebars away from my knees
2. bottom brack plugs to keep dirt out of old BB shell
3. basic backpack mounting to the seat
Reversed stem
I was struggling to get enough clearance for my knees - I was occasionally touching the bottoms of my gear shifters. I had even ordered a new handlebar (porteur style), as I thought that would provide more clearance. Then I had a brainwave and turned the headstem around 180 degrees to bring the handlebars closer to my chest and thus further from my knees! Actually it's the original very short stem which was fitted to the donor and I had moved to my mountain bike, but now is back on the donor.
If converters are having problems to get enough knee clearance, I'd definitely recommend trying this. Even though the handlebars are now closer, it's still quite comfortable riding, with my elbows now resting beside my ribs and forearms 45 degrees from the vertical.
Bottom Bracket Plugs
When I did the conversion, I was mystified by the presence of two big black plastic plugs in the parts supplied. There was no mention of their purpose in the instructions. It's been a bit wet this week, and yesterday I was looking at the dirt now building up in the old bottom bracket hole when I realised the purpose of the big plugs - to plug up the old BB shell!
Backpack
I saw the link to radical designs bags for recumbents. https://www.radicaldesign.nl/en/products/recumbent-bags/rear-bags
But there are way too many old backpacks clogging our cupboards to justify another bag purchase! So I found some old straps and fastex buckles to make a simple couple of straps mounted on the compression straps of an old daypack. I also sewed some velcro to the top handle of the backpack and mounted a bit of self adhesive velcro to the top front of the seat. This makes a medium seatbag which can be clipped off in seconds to become a normal backpack. Single thicknesses of 25mm webbing run across the seat cushion, no change to comfort. It's not perfect - I have to cinch the bottom of the bag small so that it doesn't rest on the mudguard. I have a seatpost mounted rack on order, but this solution avoids extra hardware so will try it for a while. At least I can carry lunch, water and the office shirt for work easily now!
Here's a photo with the current setup:
first showing the backpack and stem
1. reversed stem to get handlebars away from my knees
2. bottom brack plugs to keep dirt out of old BB shell
3. basic backpack mounting to the seat
Reversed stem
I was struggling to get enough clearance for my knees - I was occasionally touching the bottoms of my gear shifters. I had even ordered a new handlebar (porteur style), as I thought that would provide more clearance. Then I had a brainwave and turned the headstem around 180 degrees to bring the handlebars closer to my chest and thus further from my knees! Actually it's the original very short stem which was fitted to the donor and I had moved to my mountain bike, but now is back on the donor.
If converters are having problems to get enough knee clearance, I'd definitely recommend trying this. Even though the handlebars are now closer, it's still quite comfortable riding, with my elbows now resting beside my ribs and forearms 45 degrees from the vertical.
Bottom Bracket Plugs
When I did the conversion, I was mystified by the presence of two big black plastic plugs in the parts supplied. There was no mention of their purpose in the instructions. It's been a bit wet this week, and yesterday I was looking at the dirt now building up in the old bottom bracket hole when I realised the purpose of the big plugs - to plug up the old BB shell!
Backpack
I saw the link to radical designs bags for recumbents. https://www.radicaldesign.nl/en/products/recumbent-bags/rear-bags
But there are way too many old backpacks clogging our cupboards to justify another bag purchase! So I found some old straps and fastex buckles to make a simple couple of straps mounted on the compression straps of an old daypack. I also sewed some velcro to the top handle of the backpack and mounted a bit of self adhesive velcro to the top front of the seat. This makes a medium seatbag which can be clipped off in seconds to become a normal backpack. Single thicknesses of 25mm webbing run across the seat cushion, no change to comfort. It's not perfect - I have to cinch the bottom of the bag small so that it doesn't rest on the mudguard. I have a seatpost mounted rack on order, but this solution avoids extra hardware so will try it for a while. At least I can carry lunch, water and the office shirt for work easily now!
Here's a photo with the current setup:
first showing the backpack and stem
