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Originally Posted by Grant-53
Sven7, I understand your reservations but I am building these bikes successfully for the simple reason that I use sound engineering methods. We were taught to list our assumptions and then design to meet the lawful conditions needed to make the project work. My solid rig is a 2000 Jamis Aragon aluminum framed city bike. I paid $300 USD for it new. I added fenders, a horn, mirror, and LED lights. This bike came with spring seat post and stem. The V brakes are more than adequate even for towing. Winters here are similar to Michigan so I use 700C cyclo cross tires in the snow. The point I want to make is that how much you spend is no substitute for good planning.
As for mounting a fairing system all that is needed is a spar clamped to the head tube and one mounted on the seat tube. If you want to use a rear rack for hauling heavier cargo, that can be done also. The fairings can accommodate some wiggle room while covering from shoulder to calf. I am building three bikes, one to test each configuration so we can have some solid data for comparison. My coast down hill drops 30 ft in 0.1 mile so I can get repeatable data.
Will an upright beat the recumbents in the time traps? Not at all likely. A Toyota Corolla is not designed to beat a F1 racer. My efforts are toward the commuter market where 35-40 mph is plenty fast. Locally a mountain bike is the most popular commuter. We have more than our fair share of rough roads and pick up trucks even in town.
I hope states will allow for electric trikes up to 45 mph with a standard driver's license soon. Keep after the state legislators to update the e-bike rules where needed.
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Good info here. I will admit that I haven't yet attempted to streamline a bicycle, and maybe I should- the clamp system seems reasonable. It's possible to get a bike for cheap these days, but I've found that the features I want (rack
and fender mounts, for one) tend to dwindle the options or push the price up. Your bike would cost over $400 in 2015 dollars! My 700C commuter was $500 in January 2014. I've never ridden a bike that cost over $1000.
Of course there are improvements to be made but there is a big gap between a slightly faired mountain bike and a recumbent land speed bike. Can you go 35mph on your Jamis without an electric motor? I assume you're taking something else into account.
I still would like to see legislation and infrastructure improvements to accommodate a wider variety of vehicles. I partly resist because I can only go so fast on the sidewalks with blind driveways and many through-roads are off-limits in SE Michigan. If roads were opened up, a faster bike or trike would make sense and I might be more apt to experiment.
I don't have an issue going 10mph for daily local transport. I am building the recumbent to have a more expeditious option for longer trips (the hour or longer ride to downtown Detroit, for one), and I realize that other people have different expectations for their transportation options.
I probably shouldn't be so hard on you guys about aero DF bikes. Feel free to build, experiment and test. Have you done ABA tests down your 1/10th mile hill? That would be an interesting thread, and could be linked to in threads like this and the other few floating around the Alt Transport forum. I would enjoy doing stuff like that but am tied up a bit with off-road trains of thought, including making my fatbike amphibious to get to uninhabited islands or across rivers without a canoe. I've adapted to the slowed down lifestyle and at this point prefer to put my effort into
exploring nature.
PS- I also should note that I recently moved to be literally a mile away from work, not accidentally, to save myself trouble. Those of you who ride over 10 miles a day will have a different viewpoint on things.