Gomier tricycle rebuild

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ldrcycles
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Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:25 pm

An exciting project this one, my wife has wanted a Gomier tricycle for years and the other day I finally got my hands on one!

It's just in uh, slightly less than A1 condition...


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I've got it stripped down now but the first stumbling block has presented itself in the rear axle assembly. I have no idea how it's supposed to come apart, so i'll be taking it in to work tomorrow to see if the bloke in the workshop can work it out. Then it's just a matter of sorting out the bent axle and giving everything else a good dose of elbow grease.
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foo on patrol
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby foo on patrol » Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:59 am

Come on Idry, tell the truth. It's your pub bike project, you really can't fall off it and you can carry a carton home with you. :lol:

Foo
Last edited by foo on patrol on Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Marto
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby Marto » Mon Jun 03, 2013 7:35 am

So, it's second hand, right?

Wouldn't want to make those cables any longer :P

A guy at work has one of these (or similar) in red, with a very handy large basket, and it is converted to an e-trike. Looks like fun.
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John Lewis
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby John Lewis » Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:10 pm

I have one here in pieces waiting to be done up for a disabled person.
I should have finished it ages ago but have procrastinated because I need to get new spokes and rims and relace them. The rims may be OK with some work but the spokes are definitely shot.

John

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:19 pm

Not particularly good news. Gary in the workshop straightened out the axle for me so then it needed to be pressed out. That seemed to go reasonably well until it became apparent that one of the inboard bearings was stuck on the axle and was bulldozing it's way through the axle housing tube, which is now bulged out.

I took it round to my LBS to bounce some ideas off them and I now have a few things to try, one way or another I will get there :) .
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WyvernRH
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby WyvernRH » Tue Jun 04, 2013 8:25 am

I suppose my first question is WHY :? ?
I have ridden racing trikes back in the UK and that was hard enough, this just looks like very hard work both to fix and ride....(except downhill possibly...) :)
Look like it would take a bit of stopping too once it got going!
Cheers
Richard

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Jun 04, 2013 3:00 pm

Ah Richard we are dealing with a woman here, so first of all "why?" is not an acceptable question, and should you be silly enough to ask, the answer will inevitably be "because it looks pretty!"

She envisages using it for going to the corner store, down to the beach etc, which should be pretty easy on the flat roads/paths around here. If she doesn't like it, it shouldn't be hard to sell it for quite a handy sum, these things cost a fortune new! (Although mentioning the S word is also unacceptable behaviour :lol: ).

I was watching some videos of racing trikes in the UK on youtube while looking for info on stripping the rear axle assembly on this thing, and it looks like a whole lot of fun! Some of the descriptions of the difficulty of getting the things to go where you want sound a little scary but hey a little fear can be fun :) .
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby WyvernRH » Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:28 pm

ldrcycles wrote:Ah Richard we are dealing with a woman here,
Yes point taken....
ldrcycles wrote:I was watching some videos of racing trikes in the UK on youtube while looking for info on stripping the rear axle assembly on this thing, and it looks like a whole lot of fun! Some of the descriptions of the difficulty of getting the things to go where you want sound a little scary but hey a little fear can be fun :) .
Yes.. I 'inherited' a Holdsworth trike conversion with a diff rear axle for a year or so while the owner was overseas OHMS on the condition I turned out when requested by his club... Although the diff axle made it a LOT easier to control than the single wheel drive trikes on a camber I still quickly discovered the true meaning of fear - especially steep downhills in the South Downs with only two sidepull brakes on the front wheel and a 90 deg bend at the bottom of the hill.... Did you know Hawthorn hedges actually really do have thorns? I was a revelation to me I can assure you :wink:
However if you wish to see total madness try and find videos of tandem tricycle racing... very frightening....
Cheers
Richard

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:43 am

Good news and bad news, the bad news is I tried pressing the axle back the other way to release that bearing but of course the axle is moving freely through it now so no luck. The good news is that means I don't have any choices to make anymore, just cut that tube out and replace it. A bit of mucking about but not all that difficult really.

EDIT: picture showing the bulge from that bearing.

Image
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:42 pm

Ok we have progress! Turns out the 'bloke in the workshop' is actually a qualified fitter and turner, isn't that handy!

After cutting out the bulged tube and then removing the axle and bearings, he popped the axle in the lathe and got it arrow straight for me.

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This is what that unhelpful bearing looked like

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And this is what the whole assembly looked like

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Tomorrow i'm getting a bit of tubing from a mate to replace the section I cut out, then I just need to machine the ends to the required ID, weld it back in place, press in the new bearings and refit the axle. Then I can get cracking on the rest of the trike.
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WyvernRH
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby WyvernRH » Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:48 am

You probably know this already but when you braze up the rear axle assembly make REALLY sure everything is aligned as perfectly as possible.
Being even slightly out of line will cause rough running when it is all assembled and in extremes weird handling and vibration. Tho there is a fair bit of mass there to soak that up :)
Cheers
Richard

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:14 am

WyvernRH wrote:You probably know this already but when you braze up the rear axle assembly make REALLY sure everything is aligned as perfectly as possible.
Being even slightly out of line will cause rough running when it is all assembled and in extremes weird handling and vibration. Tho there is a fair bit of mass there to soak that up :)
Cheers
Richard
Yep, there's going to be quite a bit of time spent getting everything lined up properly. No point in replacing these bearings if I don't get things straight and the new bearings chew themselves to pieces in a few weeks. You're spot on about the weight though, this thing is unbelievably heavy!

It was one heck of a workout getting it into my car when I found it :shock: .
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Fri Sep 20, 2013 9:56 pm

Progress at last! The axle assembly has been sitting in a box in the workshop since June just waiting for a chance to get things moving again, and that chance finally reared it's head today :) .

A big thank you to my boss Steve for his very generous help in machining the new axle housing, and a wonderful job he did of it too. It was too dark by the time it was done for my phone to get pics so i'll get them tomorrow but it looks good and should go together nicely (so long as I do a damn good job of lining things up!)

Shouldn't take more than another couple of months to get it finished, once the axle assembly is sorted out the rest is easy peasy.
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby foo on patrol » Sat Sep 21, 2013 7:33 am

Then we can expect to see you doing pub runs on it Idry? :mrgreen:

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Sat Sep 21, 2013 4:30 pm

Well I am going to have to test ride it first to make sure it's safe, 'twould be irresponsible not to :D .
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Dec 17, 2013 6:52 pm

It's been a long while but things are finally happening with this one again. I still haven't got round to welding the rear axle assembly, but that will be happening within a matter of days.

Yesterday I took the wheels into work and to my surprise all the spokes came out without any trouble and should be reusable, bonus! I've sandblasted the hubs and one rim and i'm about to get the primer on the 2 rear hubs now. The really cool thing is the rear hubs take 2 x 6202 cartridge bearings each, and what is one of the most common bearing sizes in swimming pool pumps? :mrgreen:
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John Lewis
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby John Lewis » Wed Dec 18, 2013 12:27 am

The one I have here is still waiting patiently for me to get to work on it.
Good to know about the bearings.
We can't rush these things.

John

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:57 am

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby find_bruce » Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:01 pm

:D

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:42 pm

A big milestone this evening, the new axle housing section is welded in place! No photos as aside from there not being enough light for my phone camera, it's been quite a while since I've done any welding and good heavens :shock: . But it's on there, it's straight, and it shouldn't break in a hurry. Now I just need to do some measuring of the frame to position and weld the dropout.

Sandblasted another rim too, if all goes according to plan the 2 rims I've done so far will be in primer tomorrow along with the front hub, and the rear hubs will get their first coat of colour.

By the way john, I double checked and the axle sub frame bearings are 6202 as well, so you need 8 in total.
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:02 pm

Still quite some way off completion, but you can't rush these things you know :) .

The forks and frame have been painted in a spectacular Dupli-Colour metallic purple, just need another coat and then clear to finish them off. The rear axle assembly has the "groundcoat" (a metallic silver that goes on before the purple to make it "pop") and then it just needs the purple and clear before the bearing get pressed in. I've started lacing one wheel (the spokes cleaned up well) and all the rest is pretty straightforward. With any luck I may be able to get it all finished within another month or so (being realistic!).
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby marty_one » Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:10 pm

could you post some pic's anyway. Im interested in seeing how it is coming along.
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:11 pm

Sure thing, i'll try and get some pics up in the morning, the purple is absolutely amazing, you would never believe it came from a rattlecan :D .
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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby John Lewis » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:22 am

Thanks for the bearing info ldr.
Looking forward to the pics.

John

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Re: Gomier tricycle rebuild

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:05 pm

Awful mobile phone photo time! :)

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(and don't even think of asking for a closer less blurry photo of that part :) ).


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