Thursday, October 22, 2015

Bracket issue resolved


Bracket issue resolved
I finally received the brackets for the crank yesterday and installed them today.  They were lost in the mail because, based on the postmark, the package took 11 days to arrive.  After I installed the brackets I went for a short ride to test the velomobile,.  I stayed close to home to ensure I was not too far in case of any trouble.

I’m happy to report that the DF appears to be in good working order, no more squeaks when I pedal, shifting is good.  I did not go for a longer ride as we have very strong wind with wind gusts so I will go tomorrow for my longer ride.

When I was replacing the brackets, I noticed that the two brackets that failed were those that were not threaded.  I don’t know if it means anything but I’m curious because it may be something that the designer may have to take into account.

A few days ago Paolo Miranda posted a comment here; he said that Theo at Velomobiel told him that there may be a bad batch of brackets where the wrong aluminum was apparently used to produce those brackets.  Since these have no production code on them, it is hard to determine if a particular bracket is part of that batch or not.

I also heard from Randy that he did not yet get confirmation of shipment for the hoods that were ordered by Bluevelo… maybe I will have to wait for the spring to try mine as the winter is fast approaching and unless I travel south, it is not safe to ride here in the winter.

Velomobiel

Velomobiel has posted an update on the QuattroVelo project.  The project a pparently is more complex than first anticipated.  There is more work required before the velomobile is ready to hit the road.  I hope this extra complexity will not have a major affect the final price.


Velomobiel has posted on Facebook some videos of the first day on the road. https://www.facebook.com/velomobiel.nl/videos/1198567883492191/

It seems that parts have been made to make the prototype QuattroVelo rideable.  In the video you can see the rear internal wheel well is not installed so it is not yet a finished product and road testing will probably result in some changes of the different mechanical and body components.  The QuattroVelo is probably one if not the most complex velomobile yet developed so Velomobiel is navigating in uncharted waters.

Velomobile Seminar

This is a reminder that the 8th International Velomobile Seminar 2015 is taking place on 30 October to November 1st at the Kulturhaus in Dornbirn, Austria.  The program is now available in German.

The paper presented cover a wide rage of subjects such as suspensions, lighting, aerodynamics, brakes, rolling resistance measurements, biomechanics and even autonomous driving.  Werner Klomp will moderate the sessions.

The seminar has one and half days of technical lectures.  On Saturday afternoon, the doors are open to the public. Seminars are will be held in German and English, some also in Dutch. Manufacturers are the opportunity to present at an exhibition. There will be a "Meet the Expert" corner where the speakers and manufacturers will have an opportunity to share information.

On Sunday, the club will take participants on a choice of several cycling tours through the beautiful region of Vorarlberg.

I find it unfortunate that non-Europeans involved with velomobiles are not able to participate, I think there would be a lot to share.  Maybe the next velomobile seminar could make an effort to seek external participation as we have much to gain from growing the industry, the sport and mode of transportation and in my opinion, there is a lot to learn from sharing experience and lessons learned.

Raderwerk

There is much to report from Raderwerk.  First, after months of waiting, Raderwerk has finally launched its new website.  The website is also found at a new address velomobil.eu The information on the site is currently only available in German but will eventually also be available in English too.  The site still a work in progress but it also has an on-line store, and a blog.

Not only will you find a new website but you will also see new models that were not available or unannounced before like the Milan RS (Race) and the 2 seat Milan 4.1 and the previous unannounced Milan 1+ a slightly larger version (30cm/1ft longer) of the 2 seat Milan 4.2 with electric assist and it has more luggage space.    The Milan RS is an improved version of the Milan SL; it is smaller and more aerodynamic than the SL.  While no production 4.2 velomobiles have been produced yet, Raderwerk appears to be taking orders but the Milan1+ and the RS are still under development. 

Raderwerk now sells not only the family of Milan but they also sell velomobiles from Velomobiel, ICB, and Sinner and this is reflected on their website.  Some of the things that are missing from the pages are the complete specs for the velomobiles, in particular those for the Milan.

One final interesting tidbit is the offer to finance the purchase through a lease involving progressive employers leveraging purchasing power, work conditions and taxation to put more affordable velomobiles on the road.  You can read the details in German on Raderwer’s website.

6 comments:

  1. Well crap Luc,we at Bent Rider should have taken up a few month long collection for funds.That away you could have gone to the Velomobile Seminar.I think somebody like yourself who is very detail oriented would have been our best choice.

    Maybe next year? Lets work on that with BentRider and maybe even Velo dealers etc.

    Thanx for this web site dude!

    Tim.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tim for your vote of confidenc The Velomobile Seminar is not necessarily an annual event so it may not be happening next year, we'll have to see if it will happen next year. Personally I would like to get people from the non-European industry to attend such as Bluevelo, Marvelo, Rainforest Design (Velomobiles.ca), Trisled, Trump Trikes and those involved in other aspects like the folks in charge of the Pedal Prix and maybe people like team Aerovelo who are pushing the envelope of faired bikes. I would certainly like to attend and maybe provide like I do here an independent overview. Attending such an event would help forge better relationships between participant and this could lead to better collaboration. It may be difficult for some to attend in person and this is why I suggested virtual participation through a live webcast and while not ideal, it would help disseminate information.

      I would hope that an event attended by most involved would certainly provide a better forum to exchange and re-energize the industry participants so they can return to their region with enthusiasm, new ideas, better information and more energy to expand the use around the world.

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  2. Maybe its just me but when I watched the QuattroVelo video,the QV looked glued to the pavement when Allert turned fairly fast.If correct were talking a WIN for a 4 wheel Velomobile!

    Tim

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    Replies
    1. This is the subject of a lot of comments on the German forum. Of course the QV is less "tippy" than a 3 wheel velomobile and this contributes to the road handling. I guess we'll need to put the QV and other velomobiles to the slalom test to see how they compare.

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    ReplyDelete