Beate's old Go-One 3

[beate]

Please let me introduce the old velomobile i bought just before the Corona lockdowns - a Go-One 3. Designed by Prof Goretzky who had also designed the Smart (car). That specific vehicle was been built in 2007 and had some major changes compared to te original version. To a large degree improvements.

The velomobile had been added a 36V motor which is not conforming to the current regulations (but must have been legal at its time). At least since 2013, probably earlier, it had been driven alost without maintenance and therefor needs to be restored. Unfortunately the wind screen was broken - but luckily outside the field of view.

Here some pics:







The last picture shows the state with a new back wheel, new cassette and new chain installed. There were still many problems, especially that not all gears could be used.

In this thread i will show a few general modifications NOT concerning the aerodynamics but of course making te vehicle usable again and improving its overall efficency. If there is interest. The aerodynamic specific questions - there are MANY, the GoOne 3 is the slowest of the fast looking velomobiles - will be discussed seperately, probably in the aerodynamics section.

BTW: test drives showed that both tops slowed down the bike, even compared to the full cabrio version.

[freebeard]

That first picture -- is it a flow-through ventilation system? Non-aero questions:

• What's the step-over height?
• How is Noise, Vibration and Harshness?
• How much front suspension travel?

[beate]

Step over height: i don't know exactly. Must be something close to 65cm (Max height without canopy is 95cm)

Air flow: the hole in the front is for the light and covered by a little pmma screen. It needs to be covered because of the fogging problems.

Below You see the bottom of the velomobile. In the front there is an air intake for an "air chamber" in the nose which acts as the reservoir for a fan keeping the screen free from fog. Which works quite well. This detail is not present in the older GoOnes. You also see the huge foot holes which may act as air intakes - but You don't notice much flow from them. (I think i'll need to refer to this picture as soon as it comes to some of the aerodynamic aspects, but i think I'll also need links to external pics for that).



Front suspension: internally the bike uses the standard technology of the dutch velomobiles (Quest, Strada, Mango) which has, AFAIK also been used in the first Milan's. That means something near 38mm total suspension travel and roughly 50% real. The other 50% act as negative travel under load.

Noise: pretty loud, but an old Opel Agila (Suzuki Wagon R) on the highway is louder. Over long distances, some ear protection is useful, but not strictly necessary. The main source of noise (on a flat and even road) comes from the back: both the large plate with the suspension and the chain idler are audible.

[freebeard]

It appears the brackets are bolted directly to the tub. Even a patch of bicycle inner tub sandwiched in there might help.

Next level might be 3D printed PLA brackets.

Is that a Macpherson strut suspension? It's hard to tell. Parallel arms where I'd expect an A-arm.

[beate]

I am not too knowledgeable in these details. Here the front suspension is defined - thats from the quest, but as i said, the GoOne uses that technology.

(https) en.velomobiel.nl/quest/wielophanging.php

And yes, the brackets are connected directly to the tub. I do not know how to remove them, and i would guess it'll be at least difficult after 15 years.

[beate]

A word to the rear bracket: they cannot be rebuilt any more in case of damage. And mine are damaged - i had to redrill the mount of the back deraillor. And they are the weakest part of the bike - to soft, can move sideward and are prone to deformation upon torqe.

As soon as it is getting warmer i need to loosen the screws of the steering - they are all a bit corroded and currently cannot be adjusted. But the current adjustment seems to be quite qood.

[beate]

A note to the steering geometry: it looks as if the Akkermann condition is mostly fulfilled

[freebeard]

That link is helpful. If you use the button you get a properly formatted hyperlink: Velomobiel.nl - Quest - Suspension

[Autobahnschleicher]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Is that a Macpherson strut suspension? It's hard to tell. Parallel arms where I'd expect an A-arm.

That's a Macpherson strut suspension indeed, allthough here the A-arm is replaced with individual suspension linkages.

I've got a somewhat simmilar setup on the rear axle of my car, although here 3 linkages are used and a change of camber and toe under compression is intentionaly designed into the suspension for better handling characteristics.

[beate]

Originally Posted by freebeard

That link is helpful. If you use the ...

Well, after my 15th contribution... If i try it just now, i cannot submit the message ;-) That's why i had to delete even the URL from the quotation ;-)