Full Steam Ahead

Okay, so the Brass Lion still isn't steam powered. There are certain legal requirements regarding the bike path that prevent that. But! Here's a short video of the Brass Lion passing by at a decent clip.

Sexy In Black

The white show tires are great for well, show. I still much prefer the look of white tires on the trike. Like a certain rug that brings the room together, the white tires help bring home the old school feel.

Saying that, these new black tires I bought for a faster ride are easy on the eyes are they not? The front tires are Primo Comets. The 1.3 and 1.5 Comets are in common use but Primo also manufactures the Comet in 1.95 and 2.1 sizes. The 1.95 is shown on my sweet sweet trike. The rear tire is a Schwalbe Big Apple. I may eventually try the cushioned ride of the Big Apple on all three wheels. Even with centerpoint steering the fat Comets make turning slightly more effort. All three tires are considerably heavier than the white tires, but at the same time provide a faster ride.

NuVinci Lust

I so want one of these. At about $350 it's no $1400 Rohloff hub so maybe for Christmas. ^_o



The gear ratio changes smoothly. You can shift while standing still and shift dynamically for the smallest of road changes. It seems to me those qualities would be ideal on a trike.

The idea stems from some plans Leonardo DaVinci cooked up in about 1490.

Juggernaut

For every squirrel I run over I put one of these on my fender.



I kid I kid.

Pathfinding

We rode a bit this past weekend on a proper trail instead of our usual testing grounds. The Brass Lion had a flat at one point ( I suspect a pinch flat with the front tires being only 35 psi), but that afforded an opportunity to get some experience fixing a flat on a 7 foot 7 inch 60 pound trike. We received many offers of help though we didn't need it. The local bike club patrols the trail with zeal, which makes a geezer very happy indeed.

Average speed was 10 miles per hour. Eight mph uphill, and I topped out somewhere over 17 miles per hour (the person with the gps was going 17 mph and fell behind me).
Not exactly record shattering but I'll take it. Ten miles per hour is pretty much where I want to be on a relaxing jaunt through deer country (or is it hawk country? We saw about a dozen).

Spore Creature Creator

Here's my first attempt at creating something resembling a tadpole trike in the Spore Creature Creator.

Nevermind.

Old Bean

Brass Lion: The Essential Collection

Here is the essential collection of images of the Brass Lion, including photos which debuted in the Steampunk Workshop coverage of the Brass Lion.

Conspicuously missing are photos of me riding the trike in period dress. I'll post those together with one or two additions in a day or two.

Outtakes

Here are a handful of photographs taken at the same time as the photos on Steampunk Workshop.

I will soon be including all the photos on Steampunk Workshop here for completeness.

The Steampunk Workshop Article

Mister Jake Von Slatt over at the rightly revered Steampunk Workshop has a nice overview of the Brass Lion including many new photographs and a short video that are making their debut there. So check it out!

If you are coming from there, welcome! Put on some tea and delve into the history of the bike build and see how it was done in all its unseemly glory.

Addendum: Also boingboing.net and the Makezine blog.

Addendum 2: Gizmodo

The Brass Oil Lamps In Operation

We photographed the brass oil lamps in operation at twilight. Darkness came quickly so the lighting actually varies from photo to photo and video snippet to video snippet. If the video is too dark don't worry I'll shoot more video. But remember the subject here is the lamps and the very pleasing warm flickering glow they give off. The scent of the paraffin carries quite far.

Photographs:











Video:



We have no ride video just yet as we're experiencing a major heat wave here. The temperature on the Ninth of June was 99 degrees fahrenheit and very humid! I'm not hardcore enough to go riding on a day like that, much less in anything resembling period costume.

Ladies And Gentlemen, I Present The Brass Lion!

It's June and I want to ride! So yeah the rear rim could use painting and such, but darnit we started this in February. We'll continue to improve the trike but we're going to call her done. Riding photos and video will be forthcoming.