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Why aren't we all riding velomobiles?
A freely-downloadable MSc thesis from Frederik Van De Walle proposes some answers...
The energetic Frederik Van De Walle is a former HPV unfiared world champion, designed the WAW velomobile and has also been studying for an MSc degree in environmental engineering and sustainable infrastructure at KTH Stockholm, Sweden.
Velo Vision readers will already have read a summary of Frederik's presentation in Issue 14, page 21, as part of Mary Arneson's report on the 5th Velomobile Seminar. But now you can download the whole thing. He writes:
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Hi velomobile enthusiasts around the world,
I finished my work, titled 'The Velomobile as a Vehicle for More Sustainable Transportation'. Earlier this year I also presented a paper at the 5th Velomobile Seminar based on my preliminary findings. I am glad to say that both were received well and that in fact another scientist came to similar novel insights independantly, Peter Cox from the UK.
Forcing myself to think a bit deeper about velomobiles and social theory of technology gave some interesting insights. This is not about velomobile design per se or deeper technical or design considerations, but in essence taking a step back, trying to undertand why we have so few velomobiles today and what we can do about it, besides actually building them of course.
Abstract and download on: http://users.pandora.be/fietser/FVDW.htm
More than ever, I am convinced that velomobiles can do something good in this world, and I hope to live to see that happening.
Best regards,
Frederik
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The document is certainly interesting reading, though non-broadband users beware: the full PDF file is about 21 Meg! UPDATE A smaller, 1.25 Meg version is now also available.
Posted on 12 July 2004
Your comments ...| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 29 June 2004 |
I am not ridding a "velomobile", because I gave up on recumbents 19 years ago.( I had build two Avartar 2000 copies, and then found a Raleigh Cirrus to be the more useful bike.
Give me my Pedersen/ Gazelle/ Neckerman/ Peugeot/Moulton, and they are all more useful bikes then an enclosed coffin, that I can not park in my flat, or my basement.
BTW Diamond frames rock!
And Aluminium is for the engineeringy challenged.
In 1982 there were predictions, that recumbents would be 90% of the bikes on the road.
Instead we have substandard Taiwanese outsorced crap running around.
Best regards.
Ralf Grosser
P.S.: Jack Taylor is God!
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| From: jes (@pedalcars.info) on 30 June 2004 |
Problem is, while a velomobile is the same price as a small car, people are going to buy the car!
Even a decent racing pedal car would be over £1000 if you had to buy one from new and source all the components at cost prices and they are totally impracticable for every day use (no luggage space, too low to the ground for use in traffic etc etc).
While you can pick up a third hand Fiesta for less than this price which will get you about the country quite happily for a couple of years... |
| From: Arch (@work) on 30 June 2004 |
| In this country (UK) there is also probably the problem that pedal powered transport that isn't a bike is linked in many people's minds with Butlins' holiday camp family quadricycles. And the apparent relative cheapness of a second hand car - which will carry more than one person if necessary, and involve little physical effort. Many people just don't have the imagination necessary to see the benefits of swapping to pedal power, or the benefits are too intangible and 'in the future' to care about. |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 30 June 2004 |
The money that you save on a ceap car is best spent on a quality standard bike, or on a folder like the Brompton for short distance use, or to take along in the trunk (boot).
The problem I have with a velomobile, is there is no place here for me to park it safely.I can put my other bikes in my basement(celler).
My recumbents only fit in my basement, if I first took the front wheel off.
Velomobiles are less practical to store or take along then a regular bike, and don^t have the speed, range, and loading capacity of a car, at a high cost.
I enjoy rideing a twowheeler in trafic better then if I would be riding a trike. if you run out of roadspace, you can allways continue on the sidewalk (pavement).
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| From: Andy Harrington ([email protected]) on 30 June 2004 |
| well done for Frederick for writing this and making it available. I think Velomobiles have their place in Green transport, especially in flattish windy places. They also make more sense for longer cycling commuting journeys rather than just popping down to the shops(the same applies t cars too) Make them a bit lighter and they would be good for me in hilly Aberdeenshire. That said there is already one in my area |
| From: Arch (@work) on 30 June 2004 |
| Naughty Ralf - riding on the pavement here gets you dirty looks from old ladies and is against the rules. Maybe Germany is different? Mind you, riding on the road, where you have every right to be, gets you dirty looks from some motorists. And the other day an old lady tutted when I walked past her in my 'skeleton on a mountain bike tee-shirt' (I think she was misinterpreting the skeleton's hand gesture - it is actually a peace/victory sign, not the rude one...) Still it made me feel like a teenager... |
| From: Seamus (etc) on 30 June 2004 |
I'd have one;
if I had the money,
lived somewhere flat,
lived in a country more tolerant of unusual cycles
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| From: Frederik ([email protected]) on 01 July 2004 |
Hej Ralf,
I invite you to 'read' what I wrote.
Then you would get one of the main points: a velomobile is *not* a bicycle. Nor is it ever going to *become* an automobile. And no, I have never heard anyone complain that they couldn't carry their car into their basement ('Mini' is an understatement) or that bicycles are slower than jetplanes. And yes, velomobiles still need to develop, both technically and in the minds of people. All (very subjective) evaluations/comparisons aside, a question: are you pleading that since you find no use for velomobiles, the whole concept must be useless for the whole of humanity, present and future and thus has no right to exist (e.g. deserve some grown-up attention for development)?
I hope you don't think so, yet this is very near the situation addressed: complete ignorance of the possibility of 'other than bicycle based HP transportation' in most of the world.
On second thought, no need to read, just stick with the bicycle. They have worked just fine in the 114 years it took to get to the present situation of 'taiwanese crap' bicycles...
Cheers, |
| From: Bjørn Gabrielsen ([email protected]) on 04 July 2004 |
| Goodness, what vehemence in this discussion! Surely no one is being forced to exchange their bicycles for a velocar? Van De Walle presents an interesting view on cycling history. I am reminded of Tony Wheelers assessment on the almost complete lack of evolution in the technology of pedicabs in Asia, in his book "Chasing Rickshaws" (Lonely Planet). Well-functioning technology, alas, does not automatically become available even to large segments of the population who really have very modest needs. This is one theme of Van De Walles thesis. It is not a manifesto to rid the world of bicyclists, for pete's sake. |
| From: Ralf Grosser (docreynolds [email protected]) on 04 July 2004 |
The point I was trying to make, is that one typ of bike is not a cure all for every kind of transportation need.
I own 6 different bikes for different uses.
And I have found in recumbents more drawbacks then advantages for my needs.
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| From: Antony (at pedalcars dot info) on 05 July 2004 |
> And Aluminium is for the engineeringy challenged.
I'm sure the workers at Hethel (Lotus) and Seattle (Boeing), amongst many others, would both be interested to know they're "engineeringy challenged"! |
| From: Frederik ([email protected]) on 05 July 2004 |
Ralf,
People who don't understand your point of 'different needs, different bikes' don't read Velovision, so I must perceive your comments as very conservative, ironically enough. You continue to talk about bicycles where the subject is velomobiles; your 'recumbent fix' misses the point. Keen on making parallel illustrations with motorised vehicles, then you would also have to regard Harley-Davidsons and automobiles as the same thing, 'recumbent motorcycles'. So, I don't regard 'recumbents' and 'velomobiles' as the same thing at all, although I of course understand your perception of the matter. Nevertheless, before making up your opinions and sending them out into the world, I would recommend you to take knowledge of the subject at hand.
Best regards |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 05 July 2004 |
Andy, no offence, but comparing Boeing aircraft aluminium with aluminium used in bikes is beyond the point.
Or lets say we do so.
Well how is an aluminium bike made? Most are welded tube construction , from low-grade alloyed aluminium. Aluminium, that is very soft, to work with, and has a very low tensile strength. ( a lot lower then high-grade Steel,)
Low grade aluminium with heat treatment afterwards this is weldable
The aluminium on an Airframe, is a different story. The sheet metal aluminium used for this is riveted, not welded, because the high-grade aluminium used for this would lose tensile strength if it is heated, that is, if it would bound at all, wail welding under inert gas.
(I have tried welding left over parts from a Beachcraft Bonanza, and they would not weld, but start to char on the ends instead. )
Bikes by Companies like Alan, Vitus and Giant, (Also Mike Burrows Windcheater) are bonded with epoxy because the grade of aluminium they use is not weldable without damaging the material
As far as knowing what I am writing about.
My qualification is, I am a tool-maker by profession, and have worked with aluminium on milling machines for two decades.
I am also trained and certified as a welder, and have worked in metallurgy/ quality control for more then a decade, in a company that worked with aircraft components.
I have moonlighted at bike shops, for the last 25 years.
Producers of welded bike frames, who claim thy are made of “aircraft-aluminium”, are not really lying, they are just not telling you that the grade of aluminium used is not from the airframe, but instead the type they wrap your in-flight meal with.
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| From: Pietro Majno ([email protected]) on 27 July 2004 |
Comment to Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) whose e-mail did not seem to work.
I read with interest your comments on the Velovision site, and - impressed by your credentials and knowledge- I wonder whether you cold explain me why you were disappointed by recumbents.
I am considering acquiring one because of the perineal discomfort and "masculine risks..." of the traditional racing roadbike I love, and the neck discomfort. I would be grateful if I could have the feedback from a non-enthusiast (to overcome what in the medical literature is called a "reporting bias". Thanks for your attention. |
| From: Mark Garvey ([email protected]) on 09 September 2004 |
| I own a number of "bicycles" DF bikes and recumbents. As well as two recumbent trkes. I have seen that the recumbent bikes are a bit longer over all and less convienent to drag indoors, but I have taken to riding my Trike (a Terra Trike, similar in concept to the windcheeta by burrows, though not quite as light or as fancy) But I keep them in my garage outside and that is a perfect solution to that problem. Using the Trike or the recumbent bike is absolutely zero problem for where I live (Midwest USA) which includes a good many hills and traffic, though our roads are a bit wider than most euro roads I think, but cars tend to be larger here. I am looking to build a weather body for the TT and possibly the Vision 2 wheel bike. The concept of a "Velomobile" seems to work well around here at least. But I am not a "fanatioc" have only ridden about 2000 miles so far this year. |
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