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Progress Report
March 17, 2026
Monday, 10:30 AM
I dropped a comment yesterday to a bicycle personality. No reaction yet.
I've drafted a letter to a celebrity bicycle enthusiast. I'll mail it today. We'll see if they respond. Anyone that rides a Crownring will confirm its superiority. I just have to get influential people to try it. I can only make contact and hope.
We've had a couple warmer days. I got out to ride a little. Another month and I'll look for group rides. Seeing Crownring in action is a different experience than just reading it on my website. The thinking is, after I've convinced a few locals then their reports of its performance will slowly make their way up the grapevine.
March 8, 2026
Sunday, 10:00 PM
A lot of project interference. The plumbing issue took a week to resolve. There is really no way to have know the air gauge I used to charge the tank is 10 pounds to the high side. Not until performing a bladder dump and pressure monitor did it come to light. Finally resolved.
I had oral surgery and was ordered to not exert myself.
I am finally able to do some light lifting and I am hit with an antibiotic reaction. Rashes and itching.
I did manage to cut the seat post to inspect it. It is quite heavy duty. It should weld nicely. The triangle frame Will flex enough to close the gap.
Lovely weather expected. I'm hoping to get the triangle ready to weld before I lose the "work outside" weather.
The May reveal is still hopeful. My feature list is for my convenience. They can be added after the trike is operational. It is the Crownring power uphill, and the 4 speed wheel that I need to test. The features are not prototype examples.
Tomorrow will be my first real work on the trike in weeks.
I solved the problem with the red bike. It seems it was half price because it had been assembled with a crank axle that was a half inch or so too short. That let the pedal wobble off. The crank axle being hollow let me put a rod through it and tighten the pedals together thus preventing stem travel. I don't expect to lose my pedal on group rides this summer.
The battery in van went bad. Not a long job, but still time on something else. I'll need the van to transport the bikes, and trike if it gets finished.
I need to work on the website. There are things to be done to make it more phone friendly. I don't know when I'll have time.
I still have two Crownrings to make. That will take the better part of 4 days. But they will provide every conceivable demonstration to highlight all that Crownring is.
I need a clone.
Second week of March already. Time is fugit.
February 18, 2026
Wednesday, 4:00 PM
Plumbing emergency. Being the all-around handyman of the house my efforts are often divided. Installing a new well tank is going to take the better part of a day.
We had a few nice days. I got to ride the red bike yesterday. The snow melted some but is still pretty deep in the yard. And now it's wet.
The recumbent build had a surge forward by conceiving the best frame mod I've had yet. I spoke with Neo AI. All I have is AI. But it doesn't decide my work. It only gives me a way to work out my own ideas. Live thought rather than the mental loops I make when by myself. AI is a tool, not a solution.
February 2, 2026
Monday, 8:00 AM
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.