Navigation
Crownring
Crown vs Oval
Q & A
Efficiency
Environment
Demo Bikes
Manufacture
Speed Bump
Timing
Stretch
Gemini AI
Progress Report
April 14, 2026
Tuesday, 11:30 PM
I'm still fighting with Linux on the network. Without Windows I have to update these logs manually, coded at the host as opposed to uploading a file composed in an inline editor.
I installed a Crownring on my wife's 7 speed. It dropped the chain in low and high. Neither are needed for her range, but if it's there it has to work. I designed a chain guide I like. It will replace the two that I don't like. Chain drop has been a concern as each stroke has chain float for five teeth. If alignment is off a little there goes the chain. But it's an easy fix.
The weather is finally better. I'll go to the local bike shop and see what's on the menue for group rides. The curious will have the chance to witness what 25% more rider power actually means.
Of course demo rides are always available.
April 3, 2026
Friday, 4:00 PM
I've been having discussions with ChatGPT. I don't know if it truly understands Crownring but it has had some good points. Crownring does not improve the efficiency of the bicycle. A bicycle is already as much as 97% efficient. It improves the efficiency of the rider. Semantics. Bike or rider, riding Crownring can be a near 40% improvement, depending on the crown size. A size two crown is about 25% improved. That's what most riders would choose.
I'm swapping my computers to CachyOS Linux. Windows 11 is basically spyware. It refuses my old computers anyway. The swap isn't the hard part. The hard part is going through all my Windows 10 storage devices finding what I want to keep and assuring my data will remain compatible.
As for the Crownring project, I still have two new Crownrings to fabricate for the demo bikes. The weather is improving. Maybe it will inspire me.
March 28, 2026
Saturday, 7:00 AM
With the trike on hold waiting for new frame material I've set focus on the upright bikes again. I just converted another bike. It's a 1x7 speed 26 inch. I simply bolted the Crownring to the existing chainring.
The round ring is 42T. I had a Crownring from a previous test, a 46T/42-54(2). The Crownring has the same low radius as the round ring. This was a good thing. I've been wanting to measure how much advantage the crown is to the following stroke. Now I have a bike that can demonstrate that. My expectation is the Crownring will be faster than the round ring without additional effort. Of course, being a 7 speed, I can shift lower and be easier and still be faster.
Running on the 14T the 42T round ring has a 3:1 ratio.
The low radius of the Crownring would be the same; 3:1. The high radius is 3.85:1. The draw is 3.28:1. The average ratio is 3.42:1.
If I drop the gear to the 16T then the low radius ratio is 2.62:1. The high radius is 3.37:1. The draw is 2.87:1. The average is 2.99:1.
What this all means is the 46T(2)/16 is faster than the 42T/14 while having the same average ratio and easier hill climb.
By timing the runs and comparing results from both rings over varied terrain I should be able to get the empirical difference between the drives.
Of course even with multiple runs the comparative effort will still be subjective until I can find a way to measure oxygen consumption. I'll be seeking people with that kind of experience over the summer.
Then, 25% easier is a simple observation. I am depending on that observation to get me with people that can extract definitive data which can be exchanged in reports. I can tell you it is easier, but without the data it's only an opinion.
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.