Aerodynamics

[veloman]

Teklektic, great explanation.

I'm still interested in testing the fairings, just because I like to try out new ideas.

 

[Modbikemax]

I'd like a fairing because it's been bloody cold lately and a fairing will help reduce wind chill but I don't want to strap a barn door onto the front of my bike either.
If fairings were allowed in racing I am not sure they would even use them but we would see some very interesting designs tried out and we would have tons of data. But alas the best I can get from my bike shop is a set of $300 handle bars not to mention the racks of Lycra. ( no way am I wearing Lycra)

 

[teklektik]

I'd like a fairing because it's been bloody cold lately and a fairing will help reduce wind chill

Brush guards, electric gloves/vest, full face shield....

 

[Modbikemax]

I'd like a fairing because it's been bloody cold lately and a fairing will help reduce wind chill

Brush guards, electric gloves/vest, full face shield....

Yes I already do some of that but I also like to pedal so you end up sweating too much and it stays with you.
I might try a Zipper fairing

http://www.zzipper.com/Products/prod_upright.php

Seems to be the only commercial product around although it does Look a bit 'barn doorish'.

 

[Marc S.]

I'd like a fairing because it's been bloody cold lately and a fairing will help reduce wind chill

Brush guards, electric gloves/vest, full face shield....

Yes I already do some of that but I also like to pedal so you end up sweating too much and it stays with you.
I might try a Zipper fairing

http://www.zzipper.com/Products/prod_upright.php

Seems to be the only commercial product around although it does Look a bit 'barn doorish'.

What kind of bike do you ride?
Zzipper offers fairings for the widest range of bikes.
TerraCycle's Windwrap fairings are for recumbents only, I think: http://t-cycle.com/windwrap-fairings-c-68/complete-fairing-kits-c-68_67/?zenid=mo45ofr3a8cjn85lvuce6rak71

 

[Modbikemax]

Thanks mate.

 

[LockH]

Ya know... Maybe I've said already GREAT THREAD here? Plenty of examples over time about how to slip through the air at high speeds:
Camille Jenatzy in 1899:


This 1910 Bédélia 2-seater was shortened to one, for racing (but still looking rather "aero"):


A four-wheeler, but those styling Italians... In 1914 milanese count Marco Ricotti commissioned the A.L.F.A. (later Alfa Romeo) 40/60 HP "Aerodinamica". A replica of that car created in the 70s:


I'm not sure the Leyat Helica of 1922 EVen HAD any driven wheels, but the body at least was pretty "aero":


So I say again, FREE ENERGY re "aero" and "dynamics".

The Dunkley "Pramotor", 1924:


The Curry "Landskiff", about 1925:


French industrial designer Paul Arzens designed "La Baleine" (the whale), a one-of car in 1938:


(Looking very "aero", built around the chassis of an old Buick.)


...and he designed and built in 1942 a sphere of plexiglas mounted on aluminum; "L'Oeuf électrique" (The electric egg):


The Fend Flitzer from about 1948 LOOKED sorta "aero":


Wikipedia re the Flitzer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fend_Flitzer

The Ariel Leader British motorcycle (1958-1965). Fully enclosed with an integral windscreen:


Some old sailors might snicker at landlubbers? They're quite used to slipping around on the boundary layer between TWO fluids? And one fluid much thinner/lighter ("air") that can travel MUCH faster than the other, (think the force of a tiny bullet travelling VERY fast) so sailors use this as a source of FREE ENERGY for their travels (may or may not even HAVE a motor on board their vehicle ("vessel")).

If Homer were a sailor he might say:


The American catamaran sailboat "Stars and Stripes" in 1988:


But EVen landlubber ebikers might go "yachting" and get "aero":

 

[Marc S.]

Ok, here is mine:
A ICE Sprint FS 26 with a Kingcycle nose fairing (new for £45 + shipping at Ebay)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LIGHTWEIG...=100011&prg=10165&rk=1&rkt=10&sd=261489148111

I haven't mounted the front wheel covers on the new set of wheels (the polished 47mm wide rims look too pretty) and didn't order rear wheel covers yet.

 

[LockH]

Ermmm... Hope nobuddy here objects if I throw these images into this thread?

 

[mclark999]

Ermmm... Hope nobuddy here objects if I throw these images into this thread?

I'm thinking of covering a tadpole trike with a sock like stretch fabric in a shape like this. Need to get some ideas on best stretch fabric to use.

 

[made_in_the_alps_legacy]

Ermmm... Hope nobuddy here objects if I throw these images into this thread?

colorfull painting, is it ?

 

[LockH]

colorfull painting, is it ?

Hehe... I *believe* those images taken by thermographic camera to point out area of changing aerodynamics over changing surfaces?

 

[tahustvedt]

The images look like computational flow dynamics simulations with clors indicating pressures at various places. Google CFD.

 

[LockH]

Ohhh... Watt he said.

 

[made_in_the_alps_legacy]

would even guess the red models are showing the same quantities as the rainbow models, just on a different scale,
first rainbow model : "total pressure" distribution, second and last rainbow model : "static pressure" distribution
who knowes...

 

[Marc S.]

I'm thinking of covering a tadpole trike with a sock like stretch fabric in a shape like this. Need to get some ideas on best stretch fabric to use.

Like this?
The Azub Dryve

http://etrike.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/azub-dryve-fabric-fairing
Unfortunately the Azb Dryve fabric fairing newer made it into production.


The SpearHead coroplast fairing kit designed to fit the ICE Sprint on the other hand was available for a while ($750)

Here is the SpearHead thread at BROL: http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=102957

 

[LockH]

And of course PEP ("Phoenix Ebike Promotions") and that modifiable large cardboard box option...:

 

[John in CR]

I'm thinking of covering a tadpole trike with a sock like stretch fabric in a shape like this. Need to get some ideas on best stretch fabric to use.

Like this?
The Azub Dryve

http://etrike.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/azub-dryve-fabric-fairing
Unfortunately the Azb Dryve fabric fairing newer made it into production.


The SpearHead coroplast fairing kit designed to fit the ICE Sprint on the other hand was available for a while ($750)

Here is the SpearHead thread at BROL: http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=102957

Combine either of the above with the construction method here http://gaboats.com/, and you've got what's be percolating in my head for a few years. Balsa is a junk tree here often used to make shipping pallets, so use that for ribs and bulkheads. Once you tie the wood together with the Kevlar roving and shrink the Dacron on, it would be so much lighter and rigid that colorplast farings would be a joke in comparison.

 

[LockH]

"ribs and bulkheads."
Hehe... possible sailor talking here. Sooo... Welsh coracle style anyone?

 

[John in CR]

"ribs and bulkheads."
Hehe... possible sailor talking here. Sooo... Welsh coracle style anyone?

But if I wanted to loft one of these upside down hulls for use as a velo, shouldn't I be talking about "stringers and stations" if I was any good? 8)

If I was really any good then the access hole would have a watertight hatch. Then I could haul a$$ thru traffic to the lake. Put the hatch on. Flip it upside down. Put it in the water and take off as an eboat. To make that actually work decently would probably require foils, which could pull double duty....help keep the wheels on the ground, and make it a hydrofoil in the water. I'm liking where this is heading...call it the VeloFoil.

 

[LockH]

Hehe..."if I was any good?". Join the 6 or 7-million persons "Club" of human existance. OK. a "watertight hatch"??? For a land lubber???? (Extra exclamation mark there.) Again maybe, tappity-tap here all about "harvesting".

EDIT: Sorry if misunderstood "aerodynamics" title of thread.

 

[John in CR]

Aerodynamics is just part of fluid dynamics, and the VeloFoil covers it all. . I got no lake nearby and the wifey is such a landlubber that I may never get to live at the beach.

 

[LockH]

ACK. Can only say, "aerodynamics" word brings "FREE work" phrase to mind. (Otta bring Wifey-Unit "around" re "free")

 

[Kai]

I just wanted to let you know, that the same motor and battery I had on my upright, gives me a lot higher average speed and 2.6 times longer battery range now that it is installed on my Quest velomobile.

 

[Chalo]

I'm guessing you live somewhere pretty flat.