SimpleSimon
Active Member
As some of you will know, I've been working on a trike conversion of a 24 inch ladies Huffy frame. That project is progressing slowly due to medical issues/expenses, but I am making progress. I've run into a problem, and need some good source suggestions to deal with it.
The problem is this - I am installing an HT engine in the rear triangle of the frame, ahead of the rear axle/trike conversion unit, and running two seperate chain lines - one from the pedal side, a seperate one from the engine side. On the pedal side I have a Shimano 3 speed hub going in as a mid-drive, then back to the (solid) rear axle. On the power side I am running a chain loop straight from the engine to the rear axle. I want power delivered through both rear wheels to the ground, but I also want to avoid wheel scrub in cornering, which means the wheels each need to be mounted so as to act like there is a differential in the "circuit".
On paper this is doable, by seperating the axle into two half axles with a final driven sprocket on a free wheel for each. The old Schwinn"differential" drive to power both sides of the trike rear end works just that way.
My question is two-fold, really - 1) what would you reccomend I do; a) jackshaft across to bring the pedal and engine drives together in front of the mid-drive, and spoke flange mount sprockets to drive final driven sprockets on the axle halves, or b) build a short jackshaft parallel to the axle to bridge the gap between the axle halves, then very short chain loops to a free wheel sprocket on each axle stub end, with an outboard sprocket on each end of that jackshaft to bring the engine and pedal sides together?, and 2) any reccomendations for component sources (particularly left side free wheels) and disc capable heavy duty wheel hubs for all three wheels?
I realize the above might be a bit hard to follow, so I'll post later today an illustration of how I see both options. In the meanwhile, I am soliciting advice. Thanks in advance.
The problem is this - I am installing an HT engine in the rear triangle of the frame, ahead of the rear axle/trike conversion unit, and running two seperate chain lines - one from the pedal side, a seperate one from the engine side. On the pedal side I have a Shimano 3 speed hub going in as a mid-drive, then back to the (solid) rear axle. On the power side I am running a chain loop straight from the engine to the rear axle. I want power delivered through both rear wheels to the ground, but I also want to avoid wheel scrub in cornering, which means the wheels each need to be mounted so as to act like there is a differential in the "circuit".
On paper this is doable, by seperating the axle into two half axles with a final driven sprocket on a free wheel for each. The old Schwinn"differential" drive to power both sides of the trike rear end works just that way.
My question is two-fold, really - 1) what would you reccomend I do; a) jackshaft across to bring the pedal and engine drives together in front of the mid-drive, and spoke flange mount sprockets to drive final driven sprockets on the axle halves, or b) build a short jackshaft parallel to the axle to bridge the gap between the axle halves, then very short chain loops to a free wheel sprocket on each axle stub end, with an outboard sprocket on each end of that jackshaft to bring the engine and pedal sides together?, and 2) any reccomendations for component sources (particularly left side free wheels) and disc capable heavy duty wheel hubs for all three wheels?
I realize the above might be a bit hard to follow, so I'll post later today an illustration of how I see both options. In the meanwhile, I am soliciting advice. Thanks in advance.