Oh boy, another fully enclosed trike. I had a tadpole version back in 1983 and planned to ride it from Colorado to California. In the winter the clear plastic cover I could see through frosted over and in the late spring I had serious heat stress problems passing through the Mojave Desert and the San Joaquin Valley. If I opened the hull to get ventilation the air drag wasted energy. The fiberglass fairing was half the weight (70 pounds) of the whole thing. I dumped the shell in NorCal. The fairing was 39 inches wide and caused problems on the San Gabriel River Trail, the Golden Gate Bridge, in Marin County, and near Georgetown in Colorado. Each time other cyclists helped me lift the thing over barriers. The most dangerous problem was inadequate brakes. Cut the weight, use a partial fairing with cloth side panels, and have serious brakes. Be sure the shape does not give you lift at high speeds, that nearly killed me twice.
Gears: With 16" rims I had a transfer gear or jack-shaft that gave me a 120" high and 30" low. Spun out at 40 MPH. With only the 30" low and a full touring load I damaged my right knee going over the Grapevine in SoCal.
Last edited by ken cummings; 08-31-08 at 01:00 PM.
Reason: gearing