So, I want to start a school club
Printed From: BHPC Forum
Category: Public: Open to anyone
Forum Name: Building
Forum Description: Anything to do with building HPVs
URL: https://forum.bhpc.org.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=5184
Printed Date: 27 March 2026 at 3:18am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: So, I want to start a school club
Posted By: Ethan
Subject: So, I want to start a school club
Date Posted: 05 September 2015 at 10:23pm
|
School-based flu to build and the test hpvs. Will I need to know how to shape/solder metal, or can I do without? Anyone have any experience or know someone who does? Ta |
Replies:
Posted By: Yanto
Date Posted: 06 September 2015 at 7:35am
| Please explain in more detail what you trying to achieve, as that looks like a cryptic cipher to me. |
Posted By: Ethan
Date Posted: 06 September 2015 at 5:32pm
|
Bless, the joys of iPad predictive text. I am looking to start a club at my school, a build hpvs club. I know nothing about welding. How much of an issue will that be? Has anyone here got any experience of running a club to build hpvs? |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 06 September 2015 at 8:26pm
|
Hi Ethan. There are other ways of building frames to welding - foam wrapped in glassfibre is economical and fairly straightforward. Or riveting and bonding aluminium is another way. ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: Ethan
Date Posted: 06 September 2015 at 9:30pm
| Hi Geoff, my skills in DIY extend to ikea furniture (which apparently puts me in the top 2% of the country); how hopeless will it be for me to not only try this, but try to get 10/11 year olds to do it? |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 06 September 2015 at 11:06pm
|
Well wood is another frame material that has been used successfully although I don't think IKEA stock a recumbent frame. Would you envisage having a standard design that they would make or would you want to encourage creativity/chaos? ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: legs_larry
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 1:51am
|
"Wood is an excellent material for making trees but is otherwise not to be trusted" - LJK Setright ------------- ==================== a bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 10:22am
|
coincidentally, I was just reading the bit in Mike Burrows' book about wood - he doesn't like it much either! There are many examples of wood being used successfully, especially for monocoque structures. You have to be more careful with structures like frames, but, especially if ease of construction rather than minimum weight is what you want, then it could be a good option. Had a long chat with a guy at the York Rally who is making frames out of bamboo bonded with wrapped carbonfibre at the joints/'lugs'. ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: Yanto
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 11:33am
|
Isn't bamboo classed as a grass, not wood? Anyway, i've seen box section frames made out of plywood with internal bracing, all glued joints, I'm toying with the idea of making a high racer utilising this method. ETA (wasn't Jdub's low racer this construction?) Maybe a cruciform chassis for an HPV could utilise this method?
|
Posted By: Andrew S
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 12:10pm
Have a look at the Atomic Zombie site for plans and ideas for DIY HPV projects:http://www.atomiczombie.com" rel="nofollow - www.atomiczombie.com |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 12:37pm
|
Yanto wrote: Isn't bamboo classed as a grass, not wood? Perhaps marketing a bike frame as being 'made of grass' would appeal to the more hippyish cycling enthusiasts?  'fibregrass' (using woven grass as a composite reinforcement) has been around since the 70s although I think they are struggling to develop a naturally-derived, eco-friendly, matrix material (resin).
------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: Yanto
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 2:46pm
|
Bamboo has a higher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressive_strength" rel="nofollow - compressive strength than wood, brick or concrete and a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_strength" rel="nofollow - tensile strength that rivals steel. from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo" rel="nofollow - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo Maybe this is worth exploring a bit, and the chap at York Rally wasn't daft afterall.
|
Posted By: firedfromthecircus
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 3:04pm
|
If you are interested in a wooden build you might want to check out this page and follow some of the links. https://texasrecumbents.wordpress.com/wood-bikes/ The 'Mistress' especially is a beautiful bike but the site seems to be down at the moment. Hopefully it is just temporary and it will be back soon. http://carbonbent.bravehost.com/
|
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 07 September 2015 at 5:06pm
|
The bamboo frames at the York Show were very light and had been through the standard bike frame load cycle testing and passed easily. IIRC, bamboo has a lot of silicon in it, which is why you can make cutting implements out of it. ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: Wyndrake
Date Posted: 08 September 2015 at 7:03pm
Assuming Yanto and Tweakapeadia are correct, during the early 60's, I rode my track bike with grass wheels, on grass tracks, whilst I was partially powered by grass! I fell off a lot...... Nowadays, I just .. fall over for no apparent reason  Apologies to Ethan for hi-jacking his thread.... |
Yanto wrote:Posted By: NickM
Date Posted: 10 September 2015 at 10:42am
http://www.shop.bhpc.org.uk/products/138-so-you-want-to-build-an-hpv.aspx |
Posted By: AlanGoodman
Date Posted: 10 September 2015 at 5:18pm
 ------------- |
Posted By: atlas_shrugged
Date Posted: 10 September 2015 at 8:02pm
|
It is worth having a look at what they do in Australian schools. I believe these HPVs are based on a standard trike and then the pupils add their own fairings. This fairing could be made of corex which a few folks in BHPC have used to great effect. Check out Eric the half Bee he is a complete tearaway: |
Posted By: NickM
Date Posted: 16 September 2015 at 3:17pm
The machine weighs 60lb, apparently. Once he has wound it up to speed, he is NOT giving any away |
Posted By: Ethan
Date Posted: 29 March 2016 at 8:20am
|
Hi again, Bringing this up again in early planning for next year. I need to come up with a budget, any home builders got any suggestions? Thanks. |
Posted By: AlanGoodman
Date Posted: 29 March 2016 at 8:24am
|
This far ahead it could be done very cheaply by sourcing secondhand parts... I'd jump on Ebay and keep an eye on the local dump and hedgerows! ------------- |
Posted By: atlas_shrugged
Date Posted: 29 March 2016 at 12:50pm
|
Ethan, Buy a trike from a UK company like AVD or ICE Add a corex fairing Start racing - either with the Peddle Club or the BHPC See if you can get sponsorship from one of the many charities set up to help kids and sport - Branson has one. For advice you are welcome to come along to one of our BHPC races and speak to one of the many experts Regards Brian Trike UK THIS IS IT! THE OFFICIAL 2015 AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL PEDAL PRIX VIDEO |
Posted By: BarneyH
Date Posted: 29 March 2016 at 6:51pm
|
Ethan A simple appeal to friends and family soon nets you quite a haul of part broken bikes and then you suddenly have a stock of things from which you can start designing. As a scout leader we wanted to make soap boxes and just a discussion in the pub at a leaders meeting between 6 of us netted 8 broken bikes including an identical pair of bmx's. The most important thing do though is to get along to a race meeting or two this summer take plenty of photos and possibly have a go yourself. With regard budget there are club racers who can testify to working of tens of pounds - my current project is called £18.92 for a reason - its going be renamed "27 quid" if it ever emerges from the garage as a two wheeled streamliner. Come along and meet us we may be mad but we don't bite. Barney |
Posted By: Ethan
Date Posted: 30 March 2016 at 11:13am
|
Some really good advice and some good links to look into, thanks! I would love to come to an event (and I am hoping to get a basic laidback familiarity with a speedmachine ... No, I laugh at the idea of racing), but at the moment very small children prevent me from doing much at all (visiting the shops 10 min from home is a major enterprise; also the reason why the speedmachine is still unridden a year after purchase) and I don't drive so can only make very local meets, which have already been and gone. For costing, I would rather ask for more than run out part way through the year. I had thought that I could start with a bmx and spend a few weeks (1 hour a week) developing different fairings and then testing them. As a physics teacher testing them out and scientifically comparing them is just as interesting to me as building or racing them ... But then I don't think the kids will agree. |
Posted By: AlanGoodman
Date Posted: 30 March 2016 at 11:56am
|
The Pedal Car Club will be racing at Solihull in July which is in your neck of the woods I think? http://pedalcarracing.info/solihull/" rel="nofollow - http://pedalcarracing.info/solihull/ ------------- |