Recumbent - 20 pounds with front fairing?

Are there any bents around 20 pounds with a front fairing?

Seems like such a bike would be pretty ideal as a ride everywhere bike. The low weight would be good for hill climbing and the fairing would be good for high speed descents and weather protection.

No doubt such a bike would be priced through the roof, making titanium preferable to carbon fiber to guarantee that I'd only ever have to buy one.

So, what do you guys think? Titanium Rotator Tiger? Titanium Easyracers Javelin? Velocraft VK2? Any others?

One thing to bear in mind, front fairings work best with bikes that have a more upright seat. For a really laid-back bike, front fairings don't do much more than increase the frontal area and produce a bigger speed-sucking draft at the rear.

One thing to bear in mind, front fairings work best with bikes that have a more upright seat. For a really laid-back bike, front fairings don't do much more than increase the frontal area and produce a bigger speed-sucking draft at the rear.

Well, maybe so, but they're still good for all weather use.

I'm leaning towards the Easyracer Titanium Javelin. It's supposedly only 19 pounds with pedals and seat. A rollup removable carbon fairing should do the trick in bad weather and if I find that it makes me faster then I can upgrade to a lighter double bubble for permanent use. Either way it should remain in the 20 pound range with room for further weight weenieism.

I'm not sure what the price would be, but due to the simple monotube frame the steel Javelins are going for half the price of the popular steel Easyracers Gold Rush model. I think a test ride is in order. Although monotubes can be a bit flexy, at 130lbs with rocks in my pockets it could work for me.

The Velocraft VK2 makes me drool, but I hate to say that an Easyracer would probably be more appropriate for my utilitarian usage. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I find recumbents are really the most comfortable when you're very laid back. The problem with this position is that it's not conducive to a fairing: in order to ride, you'll be looking through the fairing which can distort your vision. Plus, they're unwieldy if you ever have to carry your bike around and can scratch easily.

The VK2 doesn't come with a fairing, I'm sure, but more importantly, there's a thread on 'BROL about a guy whose fork catastrophically failed.

One of the most comfortable looking 'bents I've seen around is the Street Machine (you can also attach a fairing), but it is heavier than you want.

Ehh, I find that front fairings are muchly overrated comparied to wheelfairings.

Ehh, I find that front fairings are muchly overrated comparied to wheelfairings.+1

Also the fact that wheel fairings look good and front fairings are ****ing ugly :o

Ehh, I find that front fairings are muchly overrated comparied to wheelfairings.

Yeah, but wheelcovers don't keep you dry.

Neither do front fairings

Neither do front fairings


I second that. full enclosed fairings don't even keep you dry in wet weather.

Neither do front fairings

Not everyone shares this opinion. Quite a few people in this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=138708) along with number of fairing manufacturers seem to think that a front fairing plus sock keeps you pretty darn dry.

I second that. full enclosed fairings don't even keep you dry in wet weather.

You look like your avatar is keeping dry, even out on a lake!

gotta say my front fairing on the catrike speed keeps me much dryer in seattle than before I put it on. Actually unless I stop alot at lights I often get to work and am only wet from the shoulders up.

My front fairing does a great job of keeping my feet and ankles dry. Getting your feet wet is the worst (IMO), so having that problem eliminated is nice. I mostly use mine to keep the cold air off my body when I'm commuting in the winter.

You might be able to pull off a 25 lb faired bike, but not 20.

I second that. full enclosed fairings don't even keep you dry in wet weather.

In my experience they don't keep out anything other than the breeze. The dirtiest person I've seen on a bike (cross excluded) was watching Frank Geyer get out of the Frank-n-Liner at Casa Grande.

They're no fun in crosswind!

I don't find a Ti Javelin on cursory search, but find it difficult to believe
they can take 9 # off the 28# steel Javelin, even using the highest zoot
components. I would expect a weight in the 21-23# range. I also find
it strange they still use a 456+ size fork and a 406 wheel. Form factor
resembles the Rotator Pursuit, which's Ti version is 7-8# lighter than the
steel version. Fairings, in my experience add about 3# to the bike weight.
Full frontal fairings require fenders to deflect road spray as those 406 wheels
throw impressive rooster tails. When I had a fairing on mine, there was some restriction
in turning radius as the fairing would hit the foot in low speed turns such as 180D
turns in the road. That is highly likely with the Javelin as well.

Rotators' Tiger and Pursuit bikes are 31 lb - steel. Not near 20 pounds. Steve Delaire AKA Rotator runs around town with a faired bike. Ask him about fairings. I met him in Denver once when he had ridden a fully metal (:eek:)faired recumbent from Santa Rosa. He almost got to Indy before the machine had a final break-down. I've also followed a fully faired Easy Racer from SF to LA in the officials' car. I have a pix of that thing doing 62 MPH down the south side of the Grapevine into LA. Oh, just over 21 hours to do the 400 miles.

First post here...

I just wanted to chime in that I have a Rans Tailwind with a Zzipper Fairing and a Mueller mount I got used. Keeps me MUCH drier and cleaner than riding without it or riding my upright.

Doesn't help speed much (but did seem to give some... hard to quantify as I'm still getting used to riding bent), but gives an enormous help with the weather though, leaving me much more comfortable and faster on long rides by breaking the cold and wet... keeps pretty much everything below my shoulders dry as long as I'm moving.

Tacoma area... so without it I'm generally soaked to the bone in a matter of minutes without it, I've done 20+ mile rides in a downpour with it and stayed relatively dry... only issue becomes seeing since I wear glasses and the water/fog ruins my vision. Combined with an AeroTrunk from Anglelake Cyclery and I saw a significant speed increase. Haven't run with the trunk and without the fairing so don't know if it's additive.

Also as far as sidewinds... I did my daily commute with it a couple of weeks ago in 30mph winds with 50mph gusts. Bike was more controllable than I think my upright would have been... heck, I think I'd have called my wife to come get me if I had to suffer that wind hitting me from head on to directly from the side on that bike. I could feel it on my face pounding me at freezing temperatures as hard as I've ever felt going all out down a hill... but I was climbing an approximately 8-10% grade at about 4-5mph with it trying to blow me back down the hill. Behind the fairing I could concentrate on pedaling with most of my body in relative comfort. Then I got to continue riding directly into the wind at about 12-15mph... I suspect I'd have been down to about 8mph on my upright and wearing myself out.

I don't think I'd still be riding in January (I've done about 250 miles this month, all on my bent) without it. I lost about 100 miles this week because I blew a rim out Friday before last coming home and had to build a new wheel which I got done with this last Friday and put 33 miles on yesterday... about 8 in the rain that was attempting to be snow... Hey it's Western Washington. :)

...the popular steel Easyracers Gold Rush model.

STEEL would be the Tour Easy model. Gold Rush is aluminum. Ti Rush is ... ;)


I think a test ride is in order.
Come on DOWN! :D

If you were planning a test ride at the factory, that is. I'm about 20 minutes from Fast Freddie & the gang. I have a Tour Easy with the full front fairing and a couple of other interesting bents, in case you want to compare/contrast a few while you're in town.

I am about to build a front fairing for my VK2. I will be using a stealth like design with angles and a wedge shape. The whole thing will not weigh more than 3 pounds. It will swivel up and down on the front post and the rear of the fairing will anchor to the handle bars. I have the telescope handle bars and so just merely twisting the bars will give me enough clearance for turning. I will be using lexan sheets and coroplast. If I need the bike to be lighter, I will simply lose weight. I am also going to look for a bolt on electric motor to mount on the idler pulley assembly so I can convert the bike into an e-bike and compete in this new class in the Human Power Challenge 2009 in Portland, Oregon. I constructed a large tailbox for my VK2 last year. It put about 10 to 15 mph increase on my performance. Each year, I slowly put more fairing on this bike. I don't want to crash it. It is a beautiful bike. If I were in better shape, I would not need any fairing at all. I just don't like all the wind blast in my face when I cruise above 30 mph. Tried a full face motorcycle helmet and that was cumbersome. I found that an old aluminum bike rack works well to mount your tailbox assembly to the VK2. You can use one set of those rear bolts that hold the rear wheels on the bike to fasten the rack and then drill a hole through your back seat or through the head rest post to mount the upper part. Then you can use tie ties to fasten your tailbox to the bike rack. It works quite well. I can mount and dismount my tailbox in 30 seconds. I built a nose cone like a three sided pyramid and used some aluminum straps and hose clamps to attach it to the front of the VK2. It look like a jet fighter. Had minor improvement with this nose cone assembly. This time, I will make a full dam like construction like the indy 500 cars. If I need side panels, I will use coroplast sheets for each side and velcro that on. All this may put 8 pounds on the bike. It may be worth it since racing in Portland, Oregon each year is like racing out in the ocean in a rainstorm. It always rains in Portland, Oregon.

you are a brave brave sole.

Oops, hang on; I have to reset my BS alarm.

(don't feed the troll)

I am quite impressed. You must be a professional alarm maker. You seem to know a lot about BS. Is this your strength? When your alarm goes off, I am curious on how you reset it. Does the BS you make increase the speed on your bike? Do you use a partial BS system or full BS system? I would venture to say you make a lot of these BS system and your garage is full of BS. Wow!

What is a troll? How does effect the dynamics of your bike? Do you go biking with trolls or is this how your system operates? Does feeding your troll make you go faster in a race? I am not sure about your post. Maybe you are on the wrong website. You might want to ask your parents to put you on the right website or just read a good Doctor Seuss book little boy. This website is for men who ride bicycles. We talk about bikes, not trolls...okay little boy. Have a good day.

You said something about feeding trolls?
Do you know a lot about trolls?

What is a troll? How does effect the dynamics of your bike? Do you go biking with trolls or is this how your system operates? Does feeding your troll make you go faster in a race? I am not sure about your post. Maybe you are on the wrong website. You might want to ask your parents to put you on the right website or just read a good Doctor Seuss book little boy. This website is for men who ride bicycles. We talk about bikes, not trolls...okay little boy. Have a good day.

Really? Exclusionary, are we?

East Hill

You said something about feeding trolls?
Do you know a lot about trolls?

You know you are being a troll as well?

East Hill

I am quite impressed. You must be a professional alarm maker. You seem to know a lot about BS. Is this your strength? When your alarm goes off, I am curious on how you reset it. Does the BS you make increase the speed on your bike? Do you use a partial BS system or full BS system? I would venture to say you make a lot of these BS system and your garage is full of BS. Wow!

Actually, my BS alarm went off too. 10-15mph increase? You're full of it, dude.

Whoop, whoop, whoop! Full BS alert!

BTW, I own a VK2 and find your posts asinine.

If I were in better shape, I would not need any fairing at all. I just don't like all the wind blast in my face when I cruise above 30 mph.

Spuds? Is that you? :roflmao2:

"If I need the bike to be lighter, I will simply lose weight."

By golly, he could be on to something there!

Spuds? Is that you? :roflmao2:

I hope it is. If so, we're in for a fun ride. :beer:

Are there any bents around 20 pounds with a front fairing?

If you mean total weight then I doubt it. The size of the fairing needed and the rigidity of the framework needed to attach it to the bike and keep it away from your feet, front wheel, handlebars and whatever else it may foul, overall puts a fairing in the 'exotic' category. It adds too much weight generally to be practical for everyday use. Here I'm talking about SWBs. I have seen some tiny fairings on LWBs (as like will appear on the LWB that Cruzbikes is working on) that give some benefit and don't cost too much weight-wise, also incorporate some sort of stowage compartment.

I have experimented with a fairing on my Greenspeed trike (and should get back to trying this out again someday when I'm fit again), this was a Mueller trike fairing for which I had to make my own mounts. Trike fairings are generally long than for SWBs and therefore a bit more cumbersome. I found that even with the folding/telescoping rear mount the fairing still interfered with my getting in and out of the trike and 'trike stops' were impossible. The extra weight you don't notice much, it is on a trike after all, however performance-wise it only mattered at speeds of 40km/h or more and I generally didn't take my trike that high.

I had one memorable try out on a favourite long hill that I liked to bomb down. (think: " I feel the need for speed"). This is 6km long but generally I'd take a turn at about 4km from the bottom and head back down. My highest speed down this, on three occasions including this one, was 84.5 km/h, mostly done with the cranks turning at some blurry rpm. On this occasion I got to the turnabout, checked for traffic coming the other way down the hill, crossed the road to start the drop, unfortunately bumped a catseye reflector lanemarker as I was doing this and the chain fell off. The fairing stopped me reaching forward to put the chain back on (I didn't have a front derailleur as I had a Schlumpf drive) and although I could have pivoted it forward to fix things I saw a barrage of cars swing around the bend above me so I could only get properly into my lane and sit tight. With no chain on I could only coast down, still did 84.5 km/h when normally I'd have to pedal furiously on my timetrial bike (while hanging over the bike like superman) to get this. So the fairing worked at this speed and noticeably. But would I carry a fairing on the trike for just in case of these odd occasions? No.

One day I'll have to get back to that hill with fairing, 63T chainring, Schlumpf Speeddrive and no crosswind and see what speed I can really do.


If the OP perhaps could consider a tailbox instead of front fairing? Weight issues can be a lot less, they have a practical stowage value and perhaps a safer aerodynamic package for those times of crosswind.

Easy Racers is now taking orders on a carbon fiber version of the Gold Rush. I think it is in the low 20's depending on the options.

Today, I went out to cruise down the Los Angeles River. I was cruising at about 28 to 32 mph. Last week the same ride was a weak 15 to 18 mph. What made the difference? It was the fairing I built. Wow! What a big difference. I have seen Fast Freddy and his family race at the Hellyer Velodrome. He has a nice speedbike fully enclosed. His daughter races it and runs laps around some of the best competitors. One time, she had a spill on the track. I think she was not getting enough air. So she did some laps without the canopy on. Wow, without a canopy, the speeds significantly decreased. She became a mere mortal on the track and we were able to keep and in some instances pass her. Aerodynamics is very important. My little frontal fairing is doing a lot of work. I had a 10 to 15 mph increase on my bike ride. Today was an extremely hot day, so I was only able to go 20 miles. I know I can go a lot faster but I am looking at the attachment hardware right now and seeing how this bike handles in moderate side winds. Just a little each day and hopefully I may have something here. If anybody else has designed a frontal fairing for a VK2, lets chat about it.

I am a VK2 rider. I have not seen anybody with a front fairing on this bike. One guy I race with has a fabric fairing but it does not cover his legs, just the bike. I am playing around with a design that mounts on the front post of the VK2. It sticks up about 8 inches or so. Just enough o grab on to. The derrailleur
is also attached to that post. I also use the bolts that clamp down the front extendable boom. Oh yeah, the VK2 as an extendable boom to adjust to your optimum pedal stroke. I am using tinted lexan sheets for my front fairing. Lexan is expensive, but strong and very transparent. I can see through it with no problem and with little distortion. The rear on my fairing clamps to the t-steering posts just before the
shifter mechanisms. I am in the tweeking mode right now. Give me a month or so and I will send a pic. I have found out something else. In all my races, I have lost weight. I weigh about 200 but on race day, I am 160. That is really light, but I lose a lot of strength. I am finding out if I keep the weight and just spin each day and do squats, I ride a lot faster and longer. Last weekend, I rode a 50 mile course. I weighed about 195. This is 25 miles and back. I have not been on my VK2 in months due to all the rain here. Well I finished my first leg in about 40 minutes and the 2nd leg back in 35 minutes. It was a pretty slow and leisurely pace but the amazing thing was I was not tired. No cramps! Today was a very windy day. Same route out in about 50 minutes and almost the same back. I could barely maintain 30 mphs. I was fighting the wind and my fairing was doing all kind of dances. I got some issues to solve and ponder over tonight. If I see anybody with a fairing that is light and workable, I will send you a post. I am thinking a tailbox may be more efficient since it cuts down on your drag. I have built a pretty large tailbox using coroplast and duct tape for my VK2. I can really fly with this set up. However, I get uncomfortable at speeds
over 40 mph because the VK2 is so light, I can not feel it. I have this telescopic t-steering bar that is made out of composite material. It reminds me of a fishing pole and I can see the darn thing snapping. Also, this who think clamps on to the front steering tube with 2 small pressure clamps. If you torque the front wheel out of alignment or hit a rock or something at speed, you are in a bad situation cause you have to try to straightened out a front wheel you can not see, and pitch your arms left or right to accommodate for alignment, like doing the mackaraina, and it is nothing but spillsville, roadrash, and the agony of the street hitting you at 30 and 40 mph. I broke both my arms....not on a VK2, but on other lowracers and it aint fun. I dont want this fairing that I am building to get loose and decapitate me in a spill. I would love to do a full fairing for a VK2 as my buddy Larry is doing out here on his bike, but my truck bed is not long enough to transport it. I do not have the time and genius and talent like Larry to build fantastic bikes and race them at speeds of 70 and 80 mph at Battle Mountain. Those guys are incredible.

If you mean total weight then I doubt it. The size of the fairing needed and the rigidity of the framework needed to attach it to the bike and keep it away from your feet, front wheel, handlebars and whatever else it may foul, overall puts a fairing in the 'exotic' category.

Pretty exotic, yep. This one is a claimed 11.5kg (25 pounds) complete:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhpclub/sets/72157604828238682/

There's several threads about this bike on the Recumbents.com forum, including this one:
http://www.recumbents.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2200

So building the new front fairing gave the same speed increase as the tailbox? What if you use them at the same time?

One recumbent I have seen on some local rides:

No, it doesn't. Please ignore anything that wmarti1 says, because it's plain he knows less than nothing. Let's call it active misinformation.

Stephen are you a bent rider? We have a local active bent forum.


So building the new front fairing gave the same speed increase as the tailbox? What if you use them at the same time?

One recumbent I have seen on some local rides:

No, I'm not a bent rider, I just drop in on occasion. :)

Well, we usually welcome anyone and anything, so you're still a-ight. ;)

One recumbent I have seen on some local rides:
I've seem that bike at the HHH the past few years. He was with someone on a bike with a matching red fairing.

I want to apologize for the past couple of posts here. Since I am a Junior Member I have to earn the respect of the rest of you guys out there. What I said was childish and insensitive because I perceived replies to me to be belligerent. I am sorry. Can you accept my apologies? For some people out there that know me, my life is similar to my cousin Major Taylor. We both have gone through the same things in life. If you like to read about my cousin, google in Major Taylor. I presently ride for the Major Taylor Society. Recumbents are something new to me and I find them fascinating. Hope to join you guys one day in a few races. Once again, my sincere apologies and it will never happen again. Thank you gentlemen.

omg what drivel.