Critique this velomobile body

[Bicycle Bob]

Originally Posted by arcosine

Just my experience is all, not mumbo jumbo.

"Mumbo Jumbo" is the language of Engineers' treasure maps. Like math, it packs a lot of information into little space. Longer terms slow down communication and idea combinations, which has to be pretty sharp for jobs like virtual surfaces. I'm not trying to write for everyone here, even the OPs.

[The Toecutter]

Mumbo jumbo or not, I may get a chance to put mine in a wind tunnel. I spoke to a professor I used to learn under as an engineering stuent and he mentioned the idea of using the university's wind tunnel to test my design.

I need to talk to some other professors and see if I can get their blessing.

In the mean time, I'm about to go on another 20+ mile ride.

BTW, the Carp is a thing of beauty. 40 mph is seriously hauling ass when you're without a motor. How does it perform in strong crosswinds?

[freebeard]

"Mumbo Jumbo" is the language of Engineers' treasure maps. Like math, it packs a lot of information into little space. Longer terms slow down communication and idea combinations, which has to be pretty sharp for jobs like virtual surfaces. I'm not trying to write for everyone here, even the OPs.

I once read a description of a conversation between two programmers. To paraphrase, they started with English for handshaking, then dropped to pseudocode, then dropped to assembler.

[The Toecutter]

I got pulled over today by a police officer. I wasn't doing anything illegal and it doesn't even have a motor, but the officer kept insisting I can't ride this on a public street. I was in a bike lane, and this is indeed a bicycle of sorts.

I've been riding this with a body shell for almost 5 months now and this is the first time I've ever been pulled over in it.

[arcosine]

That Carp would wiggle through air currents, no other bike I've built since has done this. It does better in cross winds with the top on. Yes, it would sail. I won the Calvin's 12 hour challenge race in 2009, I rode 278 miles in 12 hours. There a question, which is better in cross winds, swb or lwb? Lwb has the wheel out front, but the fairing is longer with little weight in the nose. Swb has the wheel further back, so there some leverage effect, but the nose is shorter and FWD has the drive weight in the front. For cross winds a LWB with and open front wheel is probably the best, but some speed is lost.. Conclusion: Sense of speed is greater in the swb, 20 mph seems fast where in the lwb 20 mph is just smoothing out. With gusting side winds, I keep the swb under 25 mph on the down hills, never know when gust will hit. Climbing is easier in the swb, as it is easier to balance under 5 mph. Swb is moer maneuverable and better in town. On the open road the LWB is better. After riding the SWB for a thousand miles, I will build another Carp.

Ive been stopped but never told that I couldn't ride it, if they did I would ignore it.

See what you problem is that by LAW motorized bicycles are limited to 20 mph and it is illegal to modify them to go faster. Me, with no motor, am not limited to 20 mph. So I think that you'll need a motorcycle plate and registration to legally exceed 20 mph on your motorized bicycle.

[The Toecutter]

Originally Posted by arcosine

That Carp would wiggle through air currents, no other bike I've built since has done this. It does better in cross winds with the top on. Yes, it would sail. I won the Calvin's 12 hour challenge race in 2009, I rode 278 miles in 12 hours. There a question, which is better in cross winds, swb or lwb? Lwb has the wheel out front, but the fairing is longer with little weight in the nose. Swb has the wheel further back, so there some leverage effect, but the nose is shorter and FWD has the drive weight in the front. For cross winds a LWB with and open front wheel is probably the best, but some speed is lost.. Conclusion: Sense of speed is greater in the swb, 20 mph seems fast where in the lwb 20 mph is just smoothing out. With gusting side winds, I keep the swb under 25 mph on the down hills, never know when gust will hit. Climbing is easier in the swb, as it is easier to balance under 5 mph. Swb is moer maneuverable and better in town. On the open road the LWB is better. After riding the SWB for a thousand miles, I will build another Carp.

Thanks for sharing this. If I ever build a two-wheeler, this is something I will have to keep in mind. I like the static stability of at least three wheels and probably won't be giving that up.

278 miles in 12 hours is more than double my own personal record(I ride on public roads in traffic for long rides though), so I'm quite curious what all it took to make that possible(other than a low-frontal area streamliner like the Carp). That's an impressive distance in such a short period of time for not using a motor. Was it a set course or was this done on public roads?

Ive been stopped but never told that I couldn't ride it, if they did I would ignore it.

I've had bad experiences with cops when I was doing nothing wrong before, and I currently live about 1 mile from where Michael Brown was shot and some riots occurred, so I will need to be extremely careful.

See what you problem is that by LAW motorized bicycles are limited to 20 mph and it is illegal to modify them to go faster. Me, with no motor, am not limited to 20 mph. So I think that you'll need a motorcycle plate and registration to legally exceed 20 mph on your motorized bicycle.

It varies from state to state.

In Texas, 20 mph is the limit for an electric bicycle without the application of human power, but as long as human power is applied, you're legally allowed to go faster and remain an electric bicycle.

In Missouri, if the vehicle's top speed on flat ground doesn't exceed 30 mph and as long as it has an "automatic transmission", it is a "motor-assisted bicycle" and requires a driver's license, but no registration or insurance, even though it will be treated as an automobile for household insurance purposes. This applies even if you have a kids' BMX bike with a 250W setup geared to do 10 mph.

I flew by that same cop doing roughly 35 mph downhill with low effort and I think that made him upset. 35 mph was the speed limit though.

[jjackstone]

You should probably do what most velonauts do and get a laminated copy of the vehicle code showing that your vehicle is considered a bicycle. Next time you get stopped, whip it out. Maybe mount a video camera to the bike to record encounters as others have done. The one time I was pulled over the officer tried to tell me I was unsafe because I didn't have standard car equipment like mirrors and lights as I pointed out each one of them along with the six large red reflectors on the sides. Then she said that if my velo wasn't so bright that drivers wouldn't be able to see me. I told her "well, now you know why it's so bright". She was actually reasonably polite once she realized that I was complying with the law and that she wasn't aware of it because she had never seen a velomobile before. I tried to get her to sit in it but she wasn't having any of that. JJ

[arcosine]

Calvin's Challenge Road race.

[Grant-53]

Definitely know the law in your state and county. Without a motor, bicycle law applies. Lights, mirrors, and helmets are a good idea even if not required. Most police are not up on bicycle law because it is not a priority. Having a copy of the pertinent statues and a positive attitude go a long way. Who knows, that officer or judge might want to join in the fun some day. My neighbor is a former sheriff and town judge who likes his recumbent trike.

[The Toecutter]

Someone took some videos of it going down the street:

https://vimeo.com/284616898

https://vimeo.com/284616919

The aluminum body I started working on is halted due to temporary lack of access to a friend's shop. I'm working on a more streamlined plastic body shell now. The money I set aside for the electric drive system was used to save my mother's house from foreclosure, so until I get that back or can get enough work to save up the money I need again, I won't be putting the electric motor/battery/controller/other stuff in it.