Utility Cycling - When is a Bike a Velomobile?

The Type 10 has gotten more stuff added to it's frame. Just to give a brief overview, it started as a 2000 model year Diamondback 6061 alloy BMX frame. A front platform was added in 2002, followed by a fiberglass seat post and banana seat. Then a Fairing was placed on the front of the front platform (recycled; from a 1982 Suzuki). The bike was converted to three speeds with a Sturmey Archer Hub.
Lights were installed, but had to be disconnected for the latest modifications. A set of rear panniers were made of Coroplast.
Now, a set of roll bars have been installed. There is a reflective triangle on the back, and another small plastic crate below the triangle.
Here we go with the pictures, which were taken with a mirrored wall back drop:

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/IMG_0039.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/IMG_0040.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/IMG_0036.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/IMG_0037.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/IMG_0038.jpg

If I missed any camera angle, look at the mirror in the background.
This bike is really a heavy hauler. The front platform is mounted to the head tube and can hold 100+ pounds, and now the bike has rear panniers. There is also a small set of Coroplast boxes in the front, which are new, so the lead/acid batteries don't need to be strapped down with "bungee cords" anymore.

To answer the question, "When is a Bike a Velomobile?"- I think in terms of perception, people would just think of this as a modified bike, because that's what it started out as. Similar to if you take a motorcycle and add two wheels, nobody's going to call it a car. Or put a fifth-wheel on a Corolla and nobody will call it a truck.

I recall reading in photography that perfection was not achieved when there was nothing else to add, but when there was nothing else to be taken away, and I think that motto could be applied here.

I don't when a bike is a Velomobile, but you pictures taken by that mirror are hurting my head.

I think you need 2 type 10's attached to each othe in parrallel to create a 4 wheel velo mobile

To me a velomobile has a something approaching a full fairing...but that is just my take on it.

Aaron :)

To me a velomobile has a something approaching a full fairing...but that is just my take on it.

Aaron :)

And can be operated on the street and without catchers (unlike streamliner HPVs which have to be used on a closed course).

This bike is really a heavy hauler. The front platform is mounted to the head tube and can hold 100+ pounds, and now the bike has rear panniers. There is also a small set of Coroplast boxes in the front, which are new, so the lead/acid batteries don't need to be strapped down with "bungee cords" anymore.

That is not a heavy hauler. This is a heavy hauler.

:)ensen.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2592/3930063075_7db54da278.jpg

That is not a heavy hauler. This is a heavy hauler.

:)ensen.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2592/3930063075_7db54da278.jpg

I like yours a lot better. Not sure of the purpose of some of the modifications I see on the OPs bike such as the roll bars as I have never seen a bicycle go upside down. They still provide no leg or side protection as motorcycle "safety" bars are intended to.

Based on the huge rear reflector and number of taillights it looks like the OP has been hit in the rear by a car. Will that stop a texting cell phone user from hitting him again? I doubt it.

That is not a heavy hauler. This is a heavy hauler.

:)ensen.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2592/3930063075_7db54da278.jpg

That definitely is a heavy hauler.

I am in between the OP and the heavy hauler.
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=141305&d=1268455484

I took the yellow velo for a ride, I rode it in the Saint Patricks Day Parade, Everyone loved it.

I took the yellow velo for a ride, I rode it in the Saint Patricks Day Parade, Everyone loved it.

Hotbike...isn't this kinda of like everyone likes the shriners in the little cars?

also did your daughter help in the design or her sixth cousin?

So, what's next for the yellow mutt?

Ya shoulda made the roll bars with a constant curvature and put a really powerful brake on the front wheel. Then you could do 360 degree endos and really be a crowd pleaser at the parade.

Ya shoulda made the roll bars with a constant curvature and put a really powerful brake on the front wheel. Then you could do 360 degree endos and really be a crowd pleaser at the parade.
You would need clipless pedals. :P

BTW if you say Velomobile this is what pops into my mind...in yellow of course.:lol:

Aaron :)

http://www.velomobiling.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=916&g2_serialNumber=3&g2_GALLERYSID=2a0600d8adebe27111b056da0cc1ed31

You would need clipless pedals. :P
Not if ya flip it fast enough for the inertia to hold you on the seat.

Not if ya flip it fast enough for the inertia to hold you on the seat.
Eh, in theory, maybe.

Not if ya flip it fast enough for the inertia to hold you on the seat.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/Type6Velomobile1990.jpg

Actually, one time, I was riding this previous velomobile (type 6), and the front tire blew out. The vehicle did indeed flip (pitch) 360 degrees over forward, and landed back on it's wheels.

In the newer design(type 10), I have moved the seat back a few inches, and lower, so it is less likely to do that.

I feel I'm doing something unique- all the other velomobiles are recumbents. I think I built the only upright velomobile.

I feel I'm doing something unique- all the other velomobiles are recumbents. I think I built the only upright velomobile.

Unusual, but not the first. The Moulton Streamliner holds the speed record for a faired bike pedalled in the upright riding position.

:)ensen.

http://www.the-bike.net/moulton-zerlegt/speedrecord.jpg

Unusual, but not the first. The Moulton Streamliner holds the speed record for a faired bike pedalled in the upright riding position.

:)ensen.

And as I recall, faired upright bikes go back at least to the First International Human Powered Speed contest at the Irwindale raceway in the 1974, I think that some of Chester Kyle's protege's were riding them.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/IMG_0002-2.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/IMG_0001-1.jpg

I found some more Fact Sheets, about my early Human Powered Vehicle. I hope the diagram enables someone to construct something similar (it's a "No-Weld" construction. It looks like the red bushings and the blue frame rails didn't line up perfectly in this print. You could do it without the bushings (skateboard bushings) . The important thing is to attach a couple of six-foot pipes to the top tube of a bike, which are the equivalant of Frame Rails. You could mount any kind of "body" on top. This was before I got good at fiberglass, and if you're not proficiant at fiberglass, this construction method might work for you. You could mount a coroplast (corrugated plastic) box or fairing on top, or mount milk crates. IMPORTANT NOTE: I switched to using U-bolts, with a piece of old inner tube around the tube, because the frame rails cracked where the bolt-hole was drilled though.

This method does not work with a Ladies Frame, on account the Frame Rails would be pointed upward on the front, and would contact the rear wheel on the rear. This problem was solved by my Daughter , Mellisa, who designed the Fiberglass Ladies Bicycle (Type 9), and I used her method also on the Type 10.

Type 9:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/00000024-4-1.jpg


Okay, for a recap, here are the other two flyers I handed out. I printed these because there was such a large number of people asking about the bike, that I did NOT have time to talk to them all. It's a free country and I have the Right to print anyting I like, right?
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/0000000115-54-43.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/OriginalNFA.jpg

Good luck building your HPV, Velomobile, or Utility Bike, I hope this post gives you some inspiration.

hotbike, you da man!

I've seen your bikes all over BF, and I salute you for your enormous cajones to ride them creations of yours.

is there an official VELOMOBILE thread here in BF ?