Where is global warming when you need it?! It's been in
the teens or less for weeks. It's forecast to be 29° F today…a
regular heat wave.
Groundhog day. Once again Punxsutawney
Phil will delight us with his prediction. Please Phil, give us an early spring.
I wonder how many are going to spend the evening with
Bill Murry.
I've decided the website can stay as it is. I'll do some clean up,
but as for a complete rewrite for mobile I don't see that as time
conducive.
I had a long talk with Neo AI yesterday. We isolated why Crownring
seems to be twice as easy up a hill as a standard chainring. A
chainring has an infinite ratio increase at the end of the power
stroke. The problem it raises is two fold. Force input is
overwhelmed. Without force input momentum is reduced.
Crownring holds a constant ratio providing power well past what a
chainring can provide. I knew this, but the factor that is most
significant is that Crownring does not lose momentum. My
observation that Crownring is twice as easy uphill seems all the
more plausable. After all, it is momentum that gets a bicycle up a
hill, not pedal force. Force only maintains momentum.
That is good news for recumbents.
The cross member of the trike is my current hurdle. I don't have
enough scrap bicycles. Sure, I could order aluminum for it, but I
finally got the charge card paid off from back when I bought the
red bike. All those interest charges take away from my budget in a
big way. I'll try to avoid expenses for a while, if for no other
reason just to feel I have a period of financial security.
One day at a time.
January 30, 2026
Friday, noon.
Not much physical progress on the trike. I've altered plans. I've
dropped expansion steering and 10-2 steering from the list.
They'll go in the next build. Design on steering is nearly
complete. To conclude the plan I need other features in place.
Mostly I'd like to fabricate and mount the seat. That will give me
positioning for the cross member. Fiberglass does not cure in cold
weather. It's on hold.
Meanwhile, my website was criticized as being too retro (2004). I
am developing a new site to accommodate mobile devices.
Next week starts February. I am wondering what happened to
January. If I can't make better use of the time the trike will not
be ready to go in May. I don't need it to debut Crownring. My demo
bikes suffice for that. A recumbent with its uphill deficit would
be a bigger impact if a Crownring recumbent can pass upright bikes
on the hills.
I'm hoping the cold breaks soon so I can get on with the recumbent
build.
January 18, 2026
Sunday, 11:30 AM
The weather has provided several days of snow. My shop is small. I
prefer to work outside, but I can't if the weather is inclement.
Everything slows down in winter. With a small shop, power tools
are on a sort of timeshare. I have to put the band saw back on the
shelf to use the belt sander and then put it up to use the band
saw again…the chop saw, the lathe…fabrication is tedious.
The website has lost traffic since I stopped sending invites.
These progress updates are more about providing a history than
informing the curious. The weather has forced me to cope with the
small work area, but I am moving forward little by little.
My goal to debut the Crownring in its many forms is May. I have
the recumbent to build to show it needn't be an uphill struggle. I
have two Crownrings to make to showcase the stretch method (see
opposite panel) and the universal mount.
Progress? Just this entry.
January 8, 2026.
Thuresday, 5:45 PM
Moving forward. The recumbent wheel is built. Next it is on to the
the frame. I have a design for a custom derailleur to allow for
the extreme gap between gears, and for the reverse. Reverse won't
work with a slack chain and tensioner. The frame has to
accommodate the derailleur.
As I am building from scrap parts I'm on the lookout for old
bikes. So soon after Christmas I'm sure many bikes have been
donated to thrift stores. It wouldn't be unusual to need
pieces-parts from several old frames.
January 1, 2026
Wednesday, Noon
No progress yet this year. But I have ambition and a plan.
Crownring will be coming out in 2026.
