Trisled have brought out a new variant of the Rotovelo, their robust budget priced velomobile. The Rotovelo Carbon is, as it’s name suggests, is made in the same shape as the original Rotovelo but with a body of carbon fibre instead of the original roto-molded HDPE. We briefly mentioned the body material advantage of the original design in a post regarding the sale of the machine reviewed by Velovision Magazine (Issue 41 Jun 2011).
What was not mentioned was the bare-bones spec, which includes no installed suspension system and simple cruciform frame, since the body is not sufficiently capable of carrying load. The specification is justified as part of a design whose objective is robust simplicity and low cost. That this bare-bones spec has been translated directly to a machine with a costly and relatively fragile body has raised a lot of comment and questions along the lines of, “what are they thinking!?”
The following short video by Trisled illustrates the Rotovelo Carbon in action.
A typical velomobile can be expected to weight upward of 30 kg with the sporty machines weighing in the mid 20s. Perhaps the lightest of these is the Go-one Evo-Ks at 21.5 kg for the bare model. What Trisled have achieved with the Rotovelo Carbon is a low weight – obviously depending on component choice, as low as 19.5 kg (the same weight as my Claude Butler run-about bike!) Given the attractive weight there are some saying, if the Rotovelo Carbon came with suspension they would have one, and it is claimed to be the most asked for feature for the original Rotovelo, so what gives?
Firstly there is a weight saving by excluding active suspension, so the record low would not be possible otherwise. Secondly there is a helpful and fairly extensive rider report on the Rotovelo on the Bentrider Online forum by mikeatlbch which gives a more balanced perspective and argues that for most practical cases active suspension is not needed. One thing he highlights from his own experience is the passive suspension provided by the Rotovelo frame. While he still prefers the HDPE body for its ability to take the knocks he appreciates the value low weight would offer in a stop-and-go urban environment where ease of acceleration and therefore low weight is important.
So while the armchair velonaut, accustomed to ever increasing technical complexity, may be puzzled: what Trisled have produced is, from their perspective, a logical compromise; satisfied with the ride performance of the original Rotovelo, they have traded a robust body for easier acceleration. It remains to be seen whether there are buyers who agree with them.
157 velomobiles participated in the 2012 Oliebollentocht, upping the record from 149 in 2011. The day was clear and relatively warm for the time of year, which made for some good photography, and photos and videos from riders and others, are now appearing online. Several are linked to from the Ligfiets page.
The ride commenced in Zwolle and, after counting for the record, the velomobiles left in groups of about 50. Looking at the videos it is fair to say that the Quest and Strada velomobiles represented the largest group. However there is a surprisingly large selection of machines to be seen, these included: Flevobike Orca/Versatile; various iterations of Alligt and Flevo Alleweders; WAW; Milan; a couple of Go-One Evo Ks; Velayo; and even a Leiba Classic. The following video takes you on a wander round the parked velomobiles assembling for the ride. The Duo Quest with a trailer also participated and is featured early in the video. It is clear from what is shown, that at least three children could be transported in this way, though I read a report on the Strada 112 A blog that there were four children carried!
The following video also takes you around the assembling velomobiles but also includes some of the ride itself with a mixture of cockpit views and stills which all help to give a flavour of the day.
The next video is quite long at 24 minutes, but features an extensive cockpit eye view taken from a Quest equipped with a carbon race-cap. The view is not all from the cockpit as the rider gets out several times including after rolling onto the ferry at Genemuiden. It is amusing to see the small ferry overwhelmed by the number of velomobiles all trying to cross at the same time. I believe Andre Vrielink can be seen on the ferry with a similar, if not the same, Orca that I test-rode last September.
The following is a much shorter video but with rather flashy production including quite a number of shots in fast-play, which create their own effect and impression.
To conclude there follows a compilation of well-shot video of one group en-route and obviously enjoying themselves. David Hembrow of A View From the Cycle Path is featured smiling at the camera as he passes in his Mango.
A rather ingenious product that came to my attention while reading up on the ELF velomobile was the Cobra Linear Inner-tube by flybikes.
Rather than having a full anulus as in a normal inner-tube the Cobra is a stright length of tubing sealed at both ends with a small loop allowing the both ends to be joined into a circle at the valve point. I was not aware of the product before, but in hind sight it is really obvious and goes to show how one’s thinking can easily be limited by just doing things the way they have always been done.
This has several advantages. Besides the claimed improvement in the speed of changing a flat tyre, flats can also be easily changed without the need to remove the wheel. This obviously is of very significant use to most velomobiles. While velomobile wheels are often cantilever mounted allowing access for a traditional inner-tube there is usually at least one wheel which is more difficult to access. For example the the rear wheel in a tadpole based velomobile is usually mounted in a fork with the added complexity of a rear drive train and often partially or completely hidden within the body. In such a case the Cobra would be a life saver.
The following video on Vimeo demonstrates the tube changing process.
While designed for BMX, Flybikes supply many BMX components, it is not clear in what sizes the tube is available besides the 20″ 406 standard BMX wheel size however, since many velomobiles use this size, it should be possible to fit the tube to several models. It is interesting that Organic Transit explicitly recommend the use of a “Cobra or similar” tube for the ELF rear wheels which appear to be 26″.
Some questions remain as to how the tube performs both in the short and long term but assuming you can source a tube in your wheel size it would still be a good idea to keep one and a pair of scissors in your velomobile emergency kit.
If any readers have any experience with this or similar inner-tubes please let us know via the comments below.
The ELF is a relatively large electric assist velomobile currently being developed by Organic Transit in the US. Australian Tech Blog Gizmag recently posted an article highlighting the combined human and solar power sources utilised by the ELF, and also the proposed price of $4,000, which they compared favourably to two other North American produced velombiles, the Hornet ($5,700) and the Tripod ($7,450).
Organic Transit (OT) have adopted a somewhat different design approach to their velomobile, and that, combined with a Kickstarter campaign, is the secret to the relatively low cost. The campaign has been very successful so far, and, with more than 3 weeks still remaining, they have raised more than 125% of the original $100,000 goal. They have already produced several prototypes which have been used to refine the design and build process. Their plan is to release the first 100 production units through Kickstarter.
As is customary on Kickstarter a promotional video has been produced highlighting the proposed product. This can be viewed below. There is also a fairly extensive write up of the development process that OT has gone through to reach this stage on their Kickstarter page. It is particularly interesting that they plan to replace a hand-laid GRP process, that takes two hours to build a body panel, with a vacuum moulded ABS process that takes a mere 12 minutes!
From the above sources and the OT FAQ several interesting facts can be gleaned.
Orgainc Transit are primarily based in Durham, North Carolina but have team members in several states. The team behind the ELF are professional with strong connections to the US Human Powered Vehicle movement. Perhaps the most well known is C. Michael Lewis, who will be known to some as the artist behind numerous velomobile and HPV posters, such as those for Battle Mountain and ROAM.
While currently operating out of a former furniture store in downtown Durham, they have ambitions not only to sell the ELF, and it’s stable-mate the TruckIt, but more globally, to set up micro-factories producing the ELF in “every downtown.” To-date they have had enquiries from many places, including Europe, and they are seriously looking into ways to supply markets further afield than the US.
OT have followed the “Keep it simple” philosophy and are quite clear that they are not intending to compete with the more established, and more aerodynamic, velomobiles such as the Quest and the Mango. Their target is the thoroughly practical user who wants a highly visible vehicle with a large carrying capability and to whom speed is not a significant consideration. Hence the ELF is large – 8′ x 43″ x 5′ (2.4 x 1 x 1.5 m) and heavy – 100 lbs (45 kg).
To avoid the cost and complexity of suspension, OT have opted to use the standard MTB size of 26″ on all wheels, with large diameter tyres to smooth the ride. While simpler this does pose a concern as the front wheels will have to resist lateral forces not normally experienced by bicycle wheels and these forces are a function of the vehicle weight. The consensus so far on successful trikes and velomobiles has been to restrict the size of these wheels to not more than 20″.
The purist will reject the reliance on electric assist and there has been some perhaps unfair criticism of the ELF’s weight, but this should not be an undue problem for the intended user. However, as there is reference to options to add: doors, floor and other extras; one can see the weight rising as the design begins to bloat. One nice feature is the integrated solar panels which allow the batteries to be trickle charged during the day, assuming access to adequate sunlight. Otherwise the standard battery pack takes two hours to charge.
To conform to regulations, allowing the ELF to be classified as a bike, assisted top-speed is limited to 20 mph (32 km/h), but there is no reason why the rider can’t push the vehicle faster if they have the strength or gravity on their side. The following video is taken from an ELF driver’s eye view, about mid way through you hear a conversation between the ELF’s rider and a truck-driver about the potential speeds.
While the debate about “fast cycles” continues to rumble on, the current regulations, particularly those in Europe, that govern e-bikes and their classification impose relatively onerous requirements on vehicles that are classed as “more than a bike”. This makes it challenging to successfully develop and market a vehicle of this type. A recent article on the Low Tech Magazine blog, albeit featuring the highly aerodynamic WAW velomobile, argues the virtues of electric assisted velomobiles, much of which applies to the ELF, the second part of the article also goes into some of the issues with the current legislation.
One velomobile mentioned by the Low Tech article is the 55 kg Aerorider, developed in the mid 2000s. This vehicle with many similar attributes to the ELF failed to be commercially successful due to a combination of high cost, weight and the limitations imposed by regulation. It would be reasonable to say that if regulation had been favourable for a class of “fast bikes” the Aerorider would have done much better. As it stands the Aerorider was redesigned as the Sunrider which has now passed into the hands of Alligt, and Alligt are doing their part to lobby for a fast-bike class (snelfiets). As Alligt now have access to the moulds and tooling for the original Aerorider, should regulations change, one never knows, the Aerorider may ride again. Hopefully the ELF will continue to progress and, though lower cost, a different market and simplicity, be more successful than the Aerorider proved to be.
According to Ligtfiets.net Sinner is to stop producing the Demon and Spirit recumbent bikes, instead concentrating their efforts on the Comfort delta trike and the Mango velomobile. A quick review of the Sinner website turned up no information but Ligtfiets advise that existing stock of the Spirit and Demon will continue to be sold.
Mark 2 Sunrider is to be made available as a kit and branded the Alligt A9
Alligt have a photo of the new Sunrider body with the different elements highlighted in one of the three standard body colours. There is a caveat that the actual shade of yellow will be slightly different from that shown, but it gives a nice idea of how the finished machine is assembled. The most obvious changes are the the rear of the body with a squarer ending reminiscent of the Versatile/Orca but there are quite a number of other more subtle changes to the body which should improve water-tightness and sound.
What is not visible here are the substantial sub-frame and numerous standard Alligt components that have been incorporated into the design.
The particularly interesting news is that the Sunrider will be available as a self build kit along side the A4, A6, A7 and A8. Not too surprisingly the kit will be sold as the A9.
Prices in Euros are available via the Alligt website but to summarise, depending on options: the A9 kit will range from 4,195 to 7,395; and a completed Sunrider ranges from 6,595 to 8,895. A “Moped” class Sunrider is also available suitable for type-approval in Germany for 10,595.
The Roll Over America (ROAM) velomobile tour which took place in 2011 is now documented in book form. Available either as an iBook for iOS 5 or 210 Mb PDF from Google Docs, Josef Janning chronicles the story of the first ever velomobile tour across the United States from Oregon to Washington D.C. The 210 pages cover the 28 day, 5300 km journey in detail, together with additional material and comments from riders and observers.
As one would expect the opening chapter deals with the background and planning for the tour. The book also closes with a number of after thoughts and hints at possible future tours of a similar kind in both the US and other parts of the world.
It is good to see ROAM documented in this, more permanent, fashion as the original site at http://www.rolloveramerica.eu, while reserved, no longer has any content accessible, demonstrating the frustratingly short life cycle of too much of the information available on the internet.
It is the time of year in Holland in which Oliebollen are cooked and eaten. It is also about the time of year when a large number of velonauts gather for what is the world’s largest social velomobile ride – the Oliebollentocht.
Oliebollen are a spiced fruity dough-ball fried and traditionally eaten in Holland around the end of the year so in other words Oliebollentocht is Dutch Doughnut Time. The Oliebollentocht velomobile gatherings have been held yearly in various locations in the Netherlands, and the 17th such gathering is to be held on the last Saturday of December in Zwolle, about a week from now.
The following video produced by David Hembrow and available on his blog – A view from the cycle path – illustrates the experience from a velonaut’s eye view in the 2009 Oliebollentocht held in Utrecht.
Organised through the Dutch HPV site ligfiets.net there is a page with more details for those wishing to participate. This is strictly a velomobile-only event. This year the exclusivity perhaps takes on more significance, as velomobiles have been excluded for the first time from participating in a similar event, the Elfstedenfietstocht, despite participating without incident in previous years.
Last year there was a record number of 149 velomobiles in attendance and there will be high hopes to break that record next Saturday. The following video shows a selection of the assembled velomobiles presumably while most of the riders are inside consuming Oliebollen and coffee.
The following video is a Dutch TV report of the same event and contains some nice shots. There are also English subtitles which helps for those without Dutch.
All-in-all good promotion of the velomobile helping to raise the awareness of the concept in Holland and possibly elsewhere too.
Best known for developing the suspension system used on the original Mini and then designing the series of revolutionary small wheeled suspended bicycles that bear his name, which are still produced today, he also was active in contributing to the HPV comunity. He presented papers at two of the IHPVA international symposia and added comments in the columns of Human Power. He also authored or contributed to a number of books including a biographical interview with the cycle historian John Pinkerton and an excellent engineering reference book, the Moulton Formulae and Methods. As such his legacy will live on.
Active until the end he was a living demonstration of the benefits of regular cycling both to the individual and to society. The following short interview was taken earlier this year.
The following short “Made in Britain” film gives an overview of his work and the Moulton Bicycle company – a fitting tribute.
POSTSCRIPT:
While writing this post I spent some time looking for what I believe was an Open University lecture about Moulton covering the manufacture and the philosophy behind the design and it’s development. The page where I first saw it on Cozy Beehive points to a non-existent Google video. Does anyone know where to find it now?
After pulling out of the World Human Powered Speed Challenge last September due to an unready machine, Graeme has continued to work on his Beastie. Development has now reached a stage where fully faired trials can take place and a Scottish venue has been found. The Bicycle Design blog reported on trials that took place at Machrihanish in Argyle. The site is a former RAF airfield with a 10,000 ft or 3 km (1.8 mile) runway, though part is still used as Campbelltown Airport. Being both quiet and having the longest public runway in Scotland makes this ideal for Graeme’s attempt, given his self-imposed constraints. He will however loose all the advantage of altitude at Battle Mountain, as Machrihanish’s runway is very close to sea-level.
The trial itself was limited by weather in particular the inability to see through the spray landing on the fairing. This necessitated some surgery to the front to open a viewing port but Graeme reported that the Beastie handled very well.
Having confirmed the design there will be further tweaks, particularly to the fairing, and then a wait for ideal weather.
A much more full report with more images is available on Human’s Invent. Human’s iNvent are also to be credited for the above photos.
It has been some time since I posted anything, not because there has been nothing to write about, rather I have been too busy with other things working on the website back-end. The observant may have noted a few small changes which reflect this, and there is more to come, but more of that later. There are also a couple of posts I am working on that should be up shortly.
Mean while I thought I would link to this report via BikeBiz on the recent debate on “cycle safety” in the British parliament. It is depressing! It is particularly depressing that so much parliamentary time was wasted going round in circles, seemingly blind to the point, that it is high-speed heavy vehicles that are the danger, not cycling itself, and polystyrene helmets offer NO PROTECTION against such a danger. That blindness, a blindness which kills in an altogether more subtile way, is what makes cyclists/blogosphere/twitersphere so mad.
The unscientific, irrational, and too often bullying, level of debate is seriously distracting from real solutions to improve on road safety. Technology has become the god of our age. While I am most certainly not anti-technology, I find it very troubling that there is such blind faith in technology, and that the general public are too willing receive the claims that liars marketers make concerning their wares, especially when the wares “might” save the life, say of a child. This faith is dangerously miss-placed. Safety costs! and unfortunately helmets are viewed by too many as a simple and cheap solution. The parody video below and the cartoon at the start highlight, that there are many areas where real safety improvements could be made and, if the arguments of cycle helmet proponents were followed, would require mandatory wearing of PPE.
In an age driven by imagery, icons and what can be seen externally, the idea of a helmet as a guaranteed provider of protection, if not invincibility, is ingrained in the general public. Images of soldiers in bullet proof helmets, construction workers in hard hats, motorcyclists in crash helmets, all of which have saved lives, seem to prove that cycle helmets and compulsion to wear them MUST be a good thing. The following might just change your mind:
A couple of key points from this video:
Average speed of collision 40 km/h ( mph)
Maximum speed at which a cycle helmet offers any protection 20 km/h ( mph).
While proponents point to motorcycle helmets and seatbelts, there is a failure to understand the dynamic differences between, the way such safety devices work, and how a cycle helmet is supposed to work. Last night I did a simple experiment and broke a cycle helmet with my bare hands something I could not do to a human skull or a motorcycle helmet. I have made reference before to a cycle accident I was involved in, in 1988, in which a cycle helmet (which I was not wearing) did not save my life! – When I get time and energy I plan on writing up a more detailed account including some technical analysis – In that event my skull exceeded the performance requirements of a cycle helmet!
The “protection” provided by a cycle helmet – vertical impact between 12 & 15 mph – is artificial and highly contrived, you may note from the video above what part of the dummy’s head usually strikes the car, and I am sure many others could confirm the same from their own experience. As my experiment demonstrated a cycle helmet offers next to no protection in the case of side impact. My accident mentioned above was an exception as I hit a vehicle with what was essentially a vertical impact (my face was looking down) at about 20 mph. I have come off my bike a handful of times since, and on no occasion has my head recieved any injury. It should also be noted that the theoretical efficacy of helmets is very much dependent on the proper fitting and attachment of the helmet to the head of the rider. I think it would be safe to say that in most cases, outside of professional cycle sport, helmets are worn incorrectly.
The argument “if it saves a life” is disingenuous. The assumption is that they will do no harm even if they do no good. Evidence is mounting that statistically this is not the case. Thankfully the parliamentary debate attempted to recognize this, as cycling’s health and life benefits far exceed any risks; but also analytically, this assumption is not true. Helmets, like drugs and medicines, have side-effects:
They make your head bigger – thus increasing the chances of striking or being struck by another object
They alter the shape of your head – thus altering the natural way your body interacts with its environment – this can affect perception, balance and response in an accident
They, in most cases, cover your head in an array of convenient grab handles – thus increasing the chances of snagging, leading to the very kind of rotational head and brain injury which results in death or serious life impairment
They attach a hangman’s noose to your head – a fact tragically illustrated by the 14 documented case where little children died by strangulation while playing wearing a cycle helmet
If it saves 1 life but kills 20 it is not worth it! I recommend reviewing the scientific data available via cyclehelmets.org.
Legal compulsion sends a most unwanted message: generating a false sense of security, to both riders and drivers, leading directly to increased complacency and then injury and death when the “force-field” fails to protect in anaccident vehicle incident. It also criminalises, and therefore harms, those who recognize the physical dangers of helmet wearing as well as the limited protection they offer. The comments of Graeme King after the BikeBiz article are very pertinent.
Trisled have brought out a new variant of the Rotovelo, their robust budget priced velomobile. The Rotovelo Carbon is, as it’s name suggests, is made in the same shape as the original Rotovelo but with a body of carbon fibre instead of the original roto-molded HDPE. We briefly mentioned the body material advantage of the original design in a post regarding the sale of the machine reviewed by Velovision Magazine (Issue 41 Jun 2011).
