The $18 Recumbent Bicycle

Enlarge Image Image Gallery The riding position and large seat back allow longer, more enjoyable rides and put an end to back discomfort. JON REISS/PHOTOLINK

The beauty of the bicycle has always been in the simplicity and seemingly unchanging perfection of its original design — a design that has changed remarkably little in a hundred years. Truly new bicycle designs are very rare. But one that rethought the bicycle from the ground up was the recumbent. You've probably seen at least one of these eccentric contraptions whiz by, its rider practically flat on his back. They are stable, fast, and shock the back and stress the midsection far less than traditional bikes. The only fly in the ointment is that they are complicated and start at about $1,200 for a stripped-down model.

When you look at the elaborate design of a manufactured recumbent bike, you'd never think you could build a better one, much less build one for almost nothing. Yet that's exactly what Jeff Setaro did. His ingenious idea is beautiful, both in its simplicity and its economy. This is the story of how Jeff came to build his $18 recumbent bicycle.

My search for a low-cost recumbent bike began after reading an article on the health problems that conventional bicycle seats can cause. (Recumbent seats pose little or no health risk). I tried different models of commercial recumbents, including the E-Bike, a mountain-style recumbent with shocks, retailing for $1,200. I discovered that the demand for recumbents is still limited — only 3 percent of the market — making the bikes so pricey that they were way out of my budget. Many of the bike shops I visited had barely heard of them.

I am a nontraditional technology major at Buffalo State and will graduate this summer. One thing I learned in school is to problem-solve my way out of anything. Though I had an idea for a recumbent made from a woman's bike frame, I could not figure out how to move the drive train forward to get more legroom. My wife's suggestion — that I try some kind of front-wheel drive — set the gears in motion.

My initial attitude was that front-wheel drive was fine for tricycles, but that it couldn't get a two-wheeler moving fast enough in direct-drive mode. It also seemed that steering would be impossible or at least hindered, with your legs on the front wheel. Somehow, I got the notion that if you took the back end of a kid's bike and stuck it on the front end of an adult bike, you could pedal normally and avoid the long chain to the rear wheel that is used by many commercial recumbents.

I already had an old woman's bike frame and went to search the thrift shops for a kid's bike. I found a nice blue one with three speeds and a coaster brake, the kind you pedal backwards to activate what is actually a drum brake inside the rear hub around the axle. With a hacksaw, I cut off the whole front of the kid's bike frame as well as the seat stays (the two tubes that connect the top of the seat post to the rear axle) so that all that was left was the V formed by the rear wheel, the bottom bracket (including pedals, cranks, chainrings and chain), and the seat tube.

I then removed the front wheel of the woman's bike and replaced it with the rear wheel of the kid's bike. I had to widen the fork a little to allow the rear wheel to fit (but not enough to weaken it). It was a little tricky spreading the fork and bolting it at the same time. I also removed the pedals, cranks, cassette and chain from the woman's frame.