Wishbone Original Rear-Axle Conversion: Check the Parts Before Removing a Wheel

A Wishbone Original rear-axle conversion is not simply a decision to leave one wheel off. The historical wooden-bike handbook specifies different rear hardware for trike and bicycle configurations. Before starting, identify the bike, find its matching instructions and check that the intended kit is complete. This guide is a preparation checklist, not a substitute assembly sequence.

Original rear-axle conversion: recognise the two kits

Printed page 4 of the 2009-copyright English handbook labels the trike rear kit with a long axle tube, a threaded rod, washers, long capping nuts and three spacers: two long and one medium. The bicycle rear kit has a short axle tube and two mini spacers, alongside its rod, washers and capping nuts.

Those names let an owner describe what is missing accurately. They do not establish that an unlabelled rod from another edition is interchangeable. Keep the trike and bicycle components grouped according to their documented roles instead of creating a mixed pile in which similar-looking pieces lose their identity.

Use the right rear-wheel diagrams

The manual gives the trike sequence on printed pages 6–7 and the bicycle rear-wheel sequence on pages 8–9. The latter places the axle tube through the rear wheel and shows mini spacers at its ends. That is a different assembly from the trike diagram with its middle spacer and outboard wheels.

Read the complete matched sequence before dismantling anything. If your components cannot be reconciled with it, pause rather than omit a spacer or improvise a substitute. The handbook's tightening instructions do not supply a numerical torque here; no universal torque is inferred from a fastener's appearance.

What the current short-axle listing confirms

Wishbone's short rear-axle product page describes two-wheel use and says the kit is supplied with both its two-in-one and three-in-one Bike models. That helps explain why an owner should look for a retained short kit. It does not independently identify the generation of a second-hand bike or certify a newly purchased component for that example.

For a support enquiry, record the existing configuration, photograph the loose hardware and identify the manual edition. If deciding what a sale should contain, the configuration comparison addresses that purchasing question. Find the other wooden-family guides under Wishbone Bikes.

Rear-kit FAQ

Can I reuse every trike spacer in bicycle mode?

Do not assume that; the historical handbook specifies a separate bicycle-kit arrangement.

Is the front-wheel kit the same as the rear kit?

The handbook lists it separately, so its hardware must not be identified by guesswork.

Does this photograph show a finished conversion?

No. It shows the historical three-wheel starting form, not an assembled two-wheel result.