Velomobile
Anyone familiar with these or experience with building a body for one?
https://i.ibb.co/MG8d58p/3290349-C-4...EAC3-FA1-C.jpg I know this is a bit of a departure from the normal kits/builds on here, but you may have seen my separate thread about building a reverse trike and MSVA question. As part of researching frame/body design I starting thinking about a stop-gap project to build on my electric bike experience using a recumbent trike frame. Seems Velomobiles are very popular in Germany and the Netherlands. Some of them are very odd looking things, others look rather neat. Due to the aerodynamic properties of the body of these, the amount of energy needed to cycle at say, 20 mph, is significantly less than on a normal bike or even a race bike. Couple this with an electric hub motor, even one rated at the legal 250w for pedal assisted bikes, and you can get some serious speed. https://i.ibb.co/1vzDLWF/1-F84-E170-...AB2-D49-D7.jpg I can source a recumbent trike relatively cheaply, but looking into the cost of the bodies for these from companies in Germany and the Netherlands I was really surprised how much they sell for ... cheapest I could find was around Euro 4,000! So I’ve started looking at what’s involved in building / fabricating a body similar to that shown above to fit over a recumbent trike frame like the one here.... https://i.ibb.co/PMW0XMM/E5-DBE62-B-...CAC5-DC6-F.jpg Key thing seems to be to keep it as light as possible but needs to be ridged enough at speeds up to around 30 - 35mph. I’ve done some simple GRP moulding before but never anything of this size/scale. Done some digging and there’s a couple of other options to building some form of buck and then taking a mould from it: - Coroplast sheeting (4mm) with some form of ally/plastic tube frame under neath - Balastic nylon fabric over a frame - Zote Foam Issue with all of these over GRP is trying to get compound curves - basically don’t think you can so it ends up looking somewhat angular! https://i.ibb.co/c6yWnDn/247194-C1-0...E24493-B89.jpg Any one got any bright ideas that might help me here? |
You could do a rebody on a Sinclair C5 !
Joking apart I can see electric bikes and trikes becoming more popular in the future especially in bigger towns and cities . I think the recumbent style bikes and trikes are a bit of a hazard on main roads, there are several owners near me. They are so low you hardly notice them until you are really close. |
I’ve looked at a C5 and actually restored one a couple of years ago. Not that stable with the single wheel at the front.
I know what you mean about viability of these - what I have seen though first hand is just how much the velo body painted in the right colours helps them stand out? |
SwiftyDS – Sorry, if I’m being thick here, but are you looking for an alternative to using fibreglass, or ideas on how to build the buck for a fibreglass body?
Alternative to fibreglass – Alloy sheet :cool: https://randygrubb.com/decopod-tri-pod/ Alternative to fibreglass – As above, but using Linen + ‘Dope’, as per Salvage Squad - Gypsy Moth – from 22 minutes in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tivUXdrA8zE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_dope Building a fibreglass buck: https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/ga...-project-83285 https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/ga...dy-buck-313330 https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/ga...tribute-538089 Plus, closer to home, lots of fibre glassing ideas here: andysharrock http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...ead.php?t=7302 http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...ead.php?t=7259 Mister Towed http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...ead.php?t=6672 Good luck, Paul. :) |
Thanks Paul L - exactly what I was looking for - both ideas on building a buck and alternatives.
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Thanks Lucky - I also found something earlier today similar to the cedar wood canoe where someone had built a pretty convincing velomobile shell with compound curves using thin aircraft ply.
I thought that would be too heavy but the YouTube video was comparing it to a GRP/carbon fibre shell of similar size and it was actually lighter! |
Some race car panels are thin fibreglass with balsa wood strengthening would keep it light
You have me thinking about a project Have you ever heard of these people ? https://www.miromax.lt/en/m-6/c-26/c...5__bonus#tog80 |
Link below shows a very simple shape for a velocycle but looks very nice in my opinion
https://www.blueskydsn.com/kit_aero.html Next link is for an original design which replicated the Messerschmitt KR200 They sell all the body parts for the cars. Phoenix classic autos also sell Messerschmitt body parts at reasonable prices. http://messerschmitt-werke.de/lang_en/index.php https://electricbikereview.com/forum...omobiles.3666/ Cascu make grp body parts for the kr200 http://https://m.facebook.com/classic.and.sports.cars.unlimited/?locale2=en_GB https://www.phoenixclassicautopanels.com/new-page-5 |
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I had thought about balsa strengthening but wasn’t sure it would be strong enough. Funnily enough this popped up on eBay last night ... think it’s marine or aircraft ply based. I’ve asked the seller what the weight is roughly of the shell... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133457921376 And then I found this ... seems it’s aluminium sheet over a frame .... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184354556577 Starting a trend :-) |
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I had seen the Morgan before when looking at CycleKarts for inspiration. Looks really neat but think the layout is more pedal car as most velomobiles are based on a recumbent trike chassis layout with the pedals ahead of the front axle. Lots of inspiration here to help me decide on what route to take...thanks again |
You can use Balsa ply strong and light
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Thanks for all the input and feedback folks. Decided this afternoon to go for the Alleweder A2 that was up on eBay.
https://i.ibb.co/T19Xq3g/E568-A47-D-...25-AB3-FD4.jpg It’s a full suspension monocoque structure out of aluminium - similar to air craft structure with bulkheads clad in thin ally sheet. https://i.ibb.co/dkRJmkp/2165-EABB-A...1-EB3-F206.jpg It’s also got a mid-mount motor fitted for pedal assist which will help with the hills. https://i.ibb.co/HHRtNd3/F2-A1-A4-AC...8-FCDAB3-F.jpg They are still made in the US and are available in kit form, but this one was an original European built model. Gives me a base to work from and it’s relatively light so can decide if I want to try to remodel parts of it or build a lightweight structure over the ally skin to make it a bit more attractive. https://i.ibb.co/qn1rn6Z/07-C5-B479-...-D59-E0865.jpg https://i.ibb.co/cCtjFgZ/B23-B29-AB-...A3-D3-AEFC.jpg Thanks again for all the input. |
Keep us updated we are all interested
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That looks good. As an aircraft designer I can appreciate this type of structure. Surprisingly there are very few kit or production road cars built this way. I can only think of the Robin Hood lightweight 7 they did a few years ago and the Berkeley cars had aluminium riveted to a fibreglass shell.
You could use this type of construction for you reverse trike. Somebody in the states fitted a motor bike engine and two front wheels to a Bede BD-5 kit aircraft to form a single seater car. The BD-5 was a popular kit aircraft constructed from aluminium sheets. Good luck and keep us posted. |
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The previous owner has had the Alleweder for 10 years plus so hopefully should be ok. Certainly looks a strong shell. |
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