Originally Posted by Mars
Nice to see that people are back on the road again. It's been 2 weeks since my surgery. Four more weeks until I can ride again.
To pass the time, I have been toying with building a tailbox for my recumbent. A tailbox is fairing that attaches to the back of the bike to increase aerodynamic efficiency. Apparently, streamlining the rear of a recumbent like mine will produce more speed than fairing on the front. Have any of you seen a recumbent with a tailbox before? What did you think?
Good to hear that you're on the road to recovery. yeah, I've seen a few 'bents with tailboxes, I've seen some really ordinary homemade jobs that I wouldn't bother with and some really nice ones too, if you don't do it right you could actually create more drag so if you're going to do it, do it right.
I would talk to someone that knows composites and someone who knows aerodynamics, I would definitely aim to produce an aerodynamically efficient carbonfiber fairing. Yes, fairing the rear gives proportionately much greater efficiency gains than fairing the front, it's all about leaving the air behind you as undisturbed and eddy-free as possible. While you're at it, why not do both ends?