Project Rollers - Take 5

When I get close to finishing a project, I get giddy like Christmas morning. I stayed up until midnight on Wednesday to assemble my rollers. I tested them at that time by putting my bike on and cranking by hand, but it wasn't enough, so I strung several rubberbands together for a makeshift drive belt. (Remember, it was midnight...) That worked for the bike alone, but when I got on it just slipped and eventually snapped. I didn't really expect that to work.

Here's a shot of the conventional roller assembly sans belt.

I will next build a wood frame that the angle iron rails will sit in. The roller frame will rest on the rails via the skateboard wheels (note that the skateboard wheel axle bolts will have to be trimmed). It will look roughly like this.


Last night I convinced Sarah to come down and help me for a few minutes. Sticking with my recycling theme, I cut up an old bike tube to make a belt. It was a bit long, so I just strung it around all three rollers instead of just the closest two. This worked great!

Sarah was really giving me the wary eye as I mounted my new ride. I balanced against her for a minute and then put both hands on the bars. At this point she grabbed the camera. It was like the first time riding a bike...awesome! I immediately felt the difference between riding and training, and recognized that my forward and backward motion was restricted. Within a couple of seconds my mind compensated for the restricted movement and my balance came back. (The free floating frame will restore forward and backward motion, and create the real ride feeling.) For the next minute or so I rode with only one scare (at about 12 seconds on the video), and I was really stoked that my creation worked!

Now I really can't wait to add the frame and complete this project! IT WORKS!!!