# Build your own / Cheap recumbent



## RyanW (1 Jul 2010)

A recumbent bike would be something i would love to have / ride. Not only due to the fact no one where i live has one (never seen one) but also the comfort.

sadly the cheapest one i have seen is £1k+ which although im sure is good value is far too much for whats effectively some fun / something different.

Have any of you had an experience with either a self build (i have read a few guides) or know of a way to get a cheaper recumbent that is avalible out there.

Obviously second hand is an option but they are few and far between in term of what i have seen.


Thanks for any help

Ryan


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## ufkacbln (1 Jul 2010)

Speak to somewhere like DTek for cheaper second hand machines.


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## mark barker (1 Jul 2010)

Building a 2 wheeled recumbent isn't that hard, trikes take a little more thought and few machined parts. I'd recommend visiting the Atomic Zombie website, the guy that designs the plans really knows his stuff, and all the bikes are made from from scrap so cost very little (assuming you can weld). I'm yet to build an AZ bike, but the recumbents I have built from my own plans work fine, although I doubt they're to the standard of a production bike, they do just fine for me and I've never had one fall apart (yet!).

I'll post some pictures later...


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## Scoosh (1 Jul 2010)

Anyone know anything about this guy ? He appears to be making his own 'bents and selling them on fleabay at intervals.

(wonder if his member name is his (business) phone number ??)


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## Amanda P (1 Jul 2010)

Ryan, take a look here.

It's not as cheap an option as it was a couple of years ago when dollars were cheaper, but it's a sound design. That's me on the front page, having just ridden 1000 miles or so to Norway on one.


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## Fiona N (1 Jul 2010)

scoosh said:


> Anyone know anything about this guy ? He appears to be making his own 'bents and selling them on fleabay at intervals.
> 
> (wonder if his member name is his (business) phone number ??)



Looks like he's taken his ideas/parts from HPV - the back end looks very Speedmachine like


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## RyanW (1 Jul 2010)

Uncle Phil said:


> Ryan, take a look here.
> 
> It's not as cheap an option as it was a couple of years ago when dollars were cheaper, but it's a sound design. That's me on the front page, having just ridden 1000 miles or so to Norway on one.



So to clarify you just get the plans? Nothing else? Seems a pain as i dont know any TIG / MIG welders i was looking at a few pre-made frames you do the rest but it almost worked out cheaper to buy one, ie $500-800 + $100 postage. Is there no UK based frame maker, or better yet someone in a shed knocking out bent frames, well you know what i mean, frames for bent bikes, not literaly bending frames and selling them, that would be stupid.

Jessss i got a bit sidetracked there


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## Amanda P (1 Jul 2010)

For the Bentechs, you can have:
Plans only
Plans + pre-bent tube set for you to put together
Assembled frame + other unconventional bits

The only thing you can't have is a painted frameset or a built-up bike.

I went for a complete frame, and built it up with budget parts to start with. The plan was that if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have spent too much on it and I could sell it on. As it was, I did like, so I modified it lightly (narrower seat, extra braze-ons), had it powder coated and changed to decent parts.

Dom's a skilled welder and a nice guy to deal with. He'll modify a frame for you (e.g. to take a 700C rear wheel instead of 26"; no derailleur stem if you plan to use a dualdrive etc).

It's true it was a better deal when dollars were cheap...


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## RyanW (1 Jul 2010)

What was their shipping charge?


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## RyanW (1 Jul 2010)

Ah, you have to weld it as well.....


Anyone know a good / cheap welder in ashford, kent!!!!!!


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## Amanda P (1 Jul 2010)

No, you can have a pre-welded, ready-built frameset. You can even have it come powder-coated in the colour of your choice.

I don't remember what Dom charged for shipping - but you could always email him yourself and ask. I also had to pay some VAT and import duty. In any case, I've had my bike three or four years now, and prices change.

If you'd rather have a frame built yourself, take an evening class in metalwork, light engineering or welding. You'd have no trouble assembling one of these frames there. Or talk to the people who run these classes (or any metalwork teacher) about who there is local to you who does this sort of small welding job.

Most towns have one or two light engineering firms who do this sort of job. If in doubt, phone or call and ask if they'd do it.


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## currystomper (11 Oct 2010)

I built a Cruzbike recumbent (front wheel drive) last winter. 

No welding required!! Now done over 600 miles on it and loving it! 

Its a bit different, but great fun!!

Currystomp' 

see http://203.59.125.173/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2338&start=10&sid=2e1bf9cba479574a53b452f8a25338ca


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## egapt (3 Nov 2010)

try recycled recumbents , mine is nearly finished 
regards Egapt


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## fixedfixer (4 Nov 2010)

I've been looking at the plans on the recycled recumbent site and thought I'd have a go at building one. 

egapt - welcome to the forum, I've sent a PM ref the building project.


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## henshaw11 (4 Nov 2010)

I think the ebay link's a TW-Bent:

http://www.twbents.com.tw/HTM/amigo.htm

- various twbents are listed on ebay from time-to-time, tho' never/rarely with any description as to who makes them - have a search on bentrideronline.com, I think they're more common in the US so you might get some reviews/info there. 

FWIW, there's a guy on this forum (stainboy) who's just bought a TW of some variety.


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## the snail (8 Nov 2010)

lots of ideas out there, looks like self-build is realistic, although it looks challenging, and parts could be expensive if you can't salvage them. I like these builds, the carbon bike looks wicked.

http://www.blids.nl/gallery/Plywood-Recumbent-Building-workshop-2003
http://www.blids.nl/gallery/Carbon-Recumbent-Workshop-2005


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