Don Walker Cycles

[Don Walker]

Don,

You have a few trykes posted in your website galleries; more than anyone else on here for sure. Can you talk a little bit about how you got into them? Did you have a friend in need, as I do, that got you into making the first? What do you find to the hardest part of building one?

Thanks, yo.

Tony

Hey Tony,

As I was growing up my mother was handicapped and I very closely relate to folks who have any sort of physical impairment. I was approached a few years back by a kid who had been in a car accident at the age of 16. He suffered brain damage that caused his motor skills to be affected in such a way that his balance was off. He was the one that convinced me to start offering trikes. With hours upon hours of research and the help of my friends at Longstaff in the UK, I started making trikes. I am happy to take on such projects as I know it would make such a positive impact on the lives of the folks who want to ride a bike but have the physical limitations to be able to do so.

The hardest part about building trikes is the alignment of the transmission. It has to be level, inline and in phase in order to ride properly. The folks at Longstaff have special jigs and fixtures specifically for this, so it makes it a bit tough doing one-off's without these fixtures. Its very, very time consuming going back and taking all the measurements at each step of construction.

Thanks for your question!

Hope to see you in Austin!

DW

[Don Walker]

I've been out of touch for the last 6 weeks or so. I have been slammed preparing a small college's track program to compete @ Collegiate Track Nationals.

All in all, I am pleased with the results.

Lindsey Wilson College took 6 riders who had raced on the track 3 times or less in their lives and 3 who had 10 races or less under their belts and 3 who were cat 3 or better and ended up 8th out of 29 teams.

We had Pro BMX racer Danny Caluag competing in the 200m and he qualified for the sprint rounds, posting an 11.735 for his qualifying time, seeding him 15th out of 18. Whats amazing about this is the fact, it was only his 3rd 200m time trial ever. This kid has talent and has already been offered to be coached by former BMX Pro turned trackie, Jamie Staff.
Danny also clocked a 1:16 Kilometer for his first ever Kilo. He shows he can do it all, making him very, very desirable to have on your team.

We had Columbus Ohio native Brooke Crum place 12th in the women's points race, 6th in the sprints and 12th in the 500m tt. She is a DW "factory" rider.

The big surprise came from the 4 some of Kip Spaude, Filip Capala, Christopher Bogedin and William Gates Jr. who team pursuited their way to a Bronze Medal! I will pat myself on the back for coming up with their schedule and shouting out splits, but hey, who wouldn't?

Anyhow, with Collegiate Track Nationals over, I have decided to take my coaching and involvement in teaching the young riders to a new level. I have decided to pursue a USAC coaches certification. I think I have a lot of knowledge I can pass on to the next generation.

Anyhow, back to making bikes!

DW

[Don Walker]

Just a few pics of track nats.

DW

[Freddy]

Ron was magic even back the but so was Barry, ono of Barry's bikes is still a daily rider in So. Cal
I still prefer the perfect smooth fillet to any possible lug design.
When I carried it to mostly internal fillet the results opened up uses of designs no one had tried before.
As for what goes into a fillet, this list could not contain that.
Whenever you join to parent metals together with bronze as the bondo there are issues if that needs to go into a race and on a scale.
I don't see many doing it well, and it is so simple to do.
Don is prettygoodsofar

[Don Walker]

NAHBS bike....

DW

[54ny77]

Don--that's awesome you're contributing to collegiate cycling. Filip's a local kid from here in NYC, I often ride in CP with his dad & some other old guys when the weather's warm. They've been a mainstay of a cycling family here in town for as long as I've been here.

Cheers.

--Jim

I've been out of touch for the last 6 weeks or so. I have been slammed preparing a small college's track program to compete @ Collegiate Track Nationals.

All in all, I am pleased with the results.

Lindsey Wilson College took 6 riders who had raced on the track 3 times or less in their lives and 3 who had 10 races or less under their belts and 3 who were cat 3 or better and ended up 8th out of 29 teams.

We had Pro BMX racer Danny Caluag competing in the 200m and he qualified for the sprint rounds, posting an 11.735 for his qualifying time, seeding him 15th out of 18. Whats amazing about this is the fact, it was only his 3rd 200m time trial ever. This kid has talent and has already been offered to be coached by former BMX Pro turned trackie, Jamie Staff.
Danny also clocked a 1:16 Kilometer for his first ever Kilo. He shows he can do it all, making him very, very desirable to have on your team.

We had Columbus Ohio native Brooke Crum place 12th in the women's points race, 6th in the sprints and 12th in the 500m tt. She is a DW "factory" rider.

The big surprise came from the 4 some of Kip Spaude, Filip Capala, Christopher Bogedin and William Gates Jr. who team pursuited their way to a Bronze Medal! I will pat myself on the back for coming up with their schedule and shouting out splits, but hey, who wouldn't?

Anyhow, with Collegiate Track Nationals over, I have decided to take my coaching and involvement in teaching the young riders to a new level. I have decided to pursue a USAC coaches certification. I think I have a lot of knowledge I can pass on to the next generation.

Anyhow, back to making bikes!

DW

[Don Walker]

Here's an oldie but a goodie...

Shaun Wallace, 1994 Commonwealth Games.
If you look closely on the bike....

DW

[e-RICHIE]

Here's an oldie but a goodie...

Shaun Wallace, 1994 Commonwealth Games.
If you look closely on the bike....

DW

i loved him in my dinner with andre atmo.
seriously though, his use of your frame is when the brand made my radar for the first time.

[Don Walker]

i loved him in my dinner with andre atmo.
seriously though, his use of your frame is when the brand made my radar for the first time.

Thanks Yo. I appreciate that!

If I could only get the Dan/Ed chainring adaptor, I could bring it to NAHBS....

D

[Craig Ryan]

About now I think this thread needs a trip to the top of the board! Most of us are packed up and thinking about the trip to Austin. But imagine building bikes for a double booth, AND running the whole show. And through all this Don is a heck of a nice guy to deal with. I spent some time down at headquarters along with Tim yesterday helping Don get some details finished. Amongst all the emails and phone calls, trying to finish a couple of really tricky builds, I saw Don take time to invite in and talk to a girl selling girl scout cookies. Through all this his sense of humor hasn't let him down. Now he and Leslie are taking care of details before heading off to not only have a booth full of bikes to show, but to deal with all of US, exhibitors, showgoers, and press. This has got to be about as stressful as it gets. All so we can have the BEST BIKE SHOW ON THE PLANET! Thanks Don.

[hmbatrail]

Proud to have to as a neighbor and friend, Don. It was stressful for you but you got it all done.

Godspeed and I will see you in TX is a few days.

[Don Walker]

Just popped by while I am home illing.
Craig and Tim, THANKS for your help. I couldnt have pulled it off without you guys.
I really appreciate and value your friendships.

DW

[Don Walker]

Just a teaser for my NAHBS track bike pics...

D

[Don Walker]

Just got some ink from bike radar Cyclist Targets Paralympics After Losing Vision - BikeRadar

Rock on.

DW

[Don Walker]

NAHBS 2012 Stayer.









DW

[e-RICHIE]

Yo DW does that bicycle have an owner atmo?

NAHBS 2012 Stayer.









DW

[Don Walker]

Yes, unless someone else comes along with more $$ in hand....

DW

Yo DW does that bicycle have an owner atmo?

[progetto]

Hey Don,
I've been a asked by a friend to think about building him a track tandem for the London Paralympics. Can you shed some light on how your tandems vary in construction compared to a single, I have his existing track bike here for frame dimensions. Any insight into what I might get myself into would be handy.
Bill

[dashDustin]

wow. that makes me smile.

[Don Walker]

The most difficult thing about a track tandem is keeping the wheelbase as short as possible. You don't want to stretch out the stoker top tube like you would on a road tandem.

Keep it short. Minimal stem length. Best thing to do would be to do a mock up of the stoker position and then put it as close to the captain as comfort allows.

Don't be afraid to build it with big, long tubes. I.E., continual length top and lat tubes.

Good luck!

DW

Hey Don,
I've been a asked by a friend to think about building him a track tandem for the London Paralympics. Can you shed some light on how your tandems vary in construction compared to a single, I have his existing track bike here for frame dimensions. Any insight into what I might get myself into would be handy.
Bill