Velomobile commuter
 

I was riding along today in a bike lane when I heard a rattly, rumbly sound behind me, looked around but saw nothing. Suddenly an 8' long torpedo whipped past my feet. Quite a surprise! The driver's head was little more than two feet above the ground and he was really moving. As the velomobile faded from view he swerved into the traffic a couple of times (apparently to get his three tiny tires around a crack or bump in the road). When he did this he completely vanished from view amidst the cars. Anyhow it was a remarkable vehicle but I think it will soon be squashed like a big flourescent beetle if the driver continues his driving style. And it looks like it would be hard to jump off in a pinch. And very wide, too. Cool but not for me.

Has anyone else encountered one of these things on their commute?

I think it was tis one: http://www.bluevelo.com/quest_velomobile.html

A friend of mine bought an older one a few years back that needed a little work. It was really cool but apparently some (maybe all of them) have an electric assist motor for hills. He's got a couple monster hills in and out of his neighborhood and the assist motor was useless on those so he sold it.

Other than that one I have not seen any around here.

I've seen a few in the Seattle area but the ones I've seen all have gone reaaaaaalllly slow...for some reason I only ever see them stopped or going up hills...

Well, up a hill and starting from a stop is where an unassisted velomobile has the most trouble. And, most of them are Dutch designs, where hills are a non-issue, so weight is often treated as a non-concern - we're talking in the 70 pound area unladen. Assist just makes that worse.

Mind you, Trisled managed to get one under 41 lbs, and that's with a CrMo frame and CF shell. (Meanwhile, a Carbon Quest, which is CF monocoque, is like 65 lbs.) I've got some ideas for one using a CrMo frame and a hybrid dacron/coroplast shell, with target weight under 50 lbs.

In any case, once you get it rolling, and you're on level ground or downhill, things really get moving.

Haven't seen one while commuting but used to see one similar while walking around work. It didn't appear to have any problems accelerating into traffic. Looked cool but I'm too cheap to buy one.

Very cool looking. Won't it be great when we finally run out of oil and we can trade in our cars for one of those to ride on cold or wet days?

I think it would be perfect for a decent motor, not just electric assist. A couple of KW, at least 1000 watts motor and decent capacity battery bank. That starts to get pricey though.

cogdriven: Or on hot days (they shelter from the sun quite effectively, especially with a hood), and they can also achieve much, MUCH higher speeds on level ground and downhills (and if you take a hill at speed, they can make it over without too much trouble, the main problem is starting on a hill).

in Denmark / Holland they seem somewhat popular, because of the absence of hills. also, it seems not so uncommon to average 45+kph on them (or 30+mph) without the electric assist. in fact, most people recommend against the electric assist (in DK/NL).

I have toyed with the idea of getting one, but I always get stumped with how I would park/secure at the train station where I would be leaving it during the day

couple summers ago a group of velomobiles did a US transcontinental run, from PDX east,
so I didnt see them , on the Coast, .. DHL sponsored the trans Atlantic Shipping..

Now that I've had my recumbent for about a year and a half, I really want to upgrade to a ful velo, but they're pricey. There's one for sale a couple hour's drive from here, but it's 7 grand. I would hardly ever drive my car again, though, if I had a velo. I'd probably sell it and get a good size diesel truck for towing my motorcycle trailer, but it would only get driven 10 times/year. :)

I've only ever seen two in Seattle, both about a decade ago when I worked as a courier downtown. One was this grimy white one that was pretty aerodynamic, the other one looked like it was cobbled together from different 1' sections at home.

I can't imagine commuting on one between the lack of visibility out of out of it (can't see over parked cars etc) and the lack of visibility to the cars you are sharing the road with.

Awesome! i'd get one if they were cheaper.

The thing with velomobiles and recumbent trikes is, yes, there's a visibility issue due to them being low, and traffic not having much of a chance to see you in certain situations. Those situations are usually parking lots.

But, as soon as other traffic has a chance to see you, especially if you're in a velomobile, they will notice you unless they're so oblivious that they wouldn't notice a naked clown dancing in the street. That's how much they stand out.

the only Velomobiles I've seen were in France, riding PBP. They reallly move on downhills and flats, it doesn't take much of an uphill to slow them to a crawl. There is a guy here in town with an electric recumbent trike, he pulls all sorts of dangerous stunts in traffic, but then again he's going at least as fast as everyone else.

With these velomobiles you can reach high speeds:


I thought about getting one of these for my commute, but they were too pricey for my taste (even second hand). So I chose a regular unfaired recumbent bike instead (a high racer with dual 700C wheels and disc brakes). So far it's been excellent. I still get some aero benefits and commuting is very comfortable for me (it's about an hour ride one way) no saddle pain whatsoever. :)

It's called a velomobile . Trying to find a store that has them

There's a whole group of guys up in New England who get together for Velomobile rides. Fraser Supersport on YouTube in SoCal has one, also. One of the main problems is getting pulled over by cops. I know of several guys who have been pulled over 20, 30, 40 times or more because cops think it's a motorized vehicle with no license plate, etc. Then they have to be explained what they really are, human powered or whatever. For some people it can be a lot of hassle. But if you used it around town I'm sure after awhile the local PD would get accustomed to seeing you around.

I see them quite often in Copenhagen.

They usually drew attention due to the LED-based rear turn indicator.

Also, I can't really blame the officers in the videos, they're probably super uncommon in the states and it's probably the first time they've seen one ever.

Also, just but a little flag on the back if the local PD has an issue.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ve...ZcVUc-uvX3PFM:

My daily commute goes by this guy's house

www. Velo Rambler .com | Musings of a bicycle tourer

We see him around town now and then

That might have been easier four years ago.

When this thread was a current topic of discussion.

I commute in my Quest XS Velomobile regularly. They may be pricey by some bicyclist standards but the comfort and speed is addicting. Another big advantage is you are out of the elements which is a big plus when riding in rainy or cold weather. I do an 18 mile one way commute in 45-50 minutes average, and about an hour for returning home (36 miles round trip).

I would really miss it if I did not have it as its so much fun to ride as well! I always tell people a Velomobile is the fastest human power vehicle and they still ask "what kind of a motor does it have". Another thing is when I tell them I ride down in the single digits and the say "do you have a heater" I tell them you are looking at it. People are amazed when seeing it and it draws allot of attention!

The shell/fairing protects you far better than a bike without a fairing if in a crash! I have had 2 deer run into me at about 30 mph. Both times I was able to keep on going. The first deer did allot of damage in the front end that needed some repair. They are very efficient vehicles! Although I have a car I rarely drive it. With no problems I will be logging over 21,000 miles in 3 years of owning it on Nov 11, most of which are commuting miles.