(55 days until the 2011 WHPSC)
I originally used the old steel fork off my Motobecane 29er to hold the rear wheel in place on the mockup. The fork looks like it might be suitable for the actual fork on the streamliner, so I removed it, installing an old steel fork off my Schwinn Madison instead. I also mocked up a seat back.
I found a used 650 tubular Zipp 870 wheel on eBay, and made a holder for it as well as the crankset.
Then I took it for another test spin.
(63 days until the 2011 WHPSC)
I cut the chainstay arch out of the mockup bike frame in order to move the wheel closer to the bottom bracket.
Since this is just a fixture that will never actually be ridden, I kludged a couple of brackets rather than shorten the chainstays.
Since it would be impractical to have my legs surgically lengthened, I concluded that a 700c front wheel is too big. The floorboard also needs to be lowered.
I made a facsimile of a 650c wheel out of recycled OSB sheathing from my spa renovation.
The verdict: a 650c wheel provides sufficient clearance - not a lot of clearance, but enough.
(68 days until the 2011 WHPSC)
After thinking about this for years, I'm finally ready to start doing something. I figure a good place to start is with a wooden platform that I can actually attach parts to in order to figure out how I might fit. Next, I raided the swag box for some parts. Here's the platform with a mock floorboard.
I couldn't resist taking it for a test spin. I wore my helmet just in case I fell off the fixture.
I quickly identified a couple of problems. First, the cranks are too far forward and/or the 700c wheel is too big. Second, my heels hit the floorboard.