High performance & durability Cannondale Semi Recumbent

Yes , Absolutely !

I have looked at the two recumbent bikes you are trying to work with , for a very long time .
over 10 years at the Bike E, and for a few months for the Cannondale , ever since you started this thread on it.
I have found one Cannondale and several Bike-E's for sale

However , Every time I look at them I know I would have to modify most everything on the bike , so I keep waiting for ...

Someone here in the U.S. ( or Canada )

To build a very long wheel base recumbent and/or recumbent trike that is designed for back road vehicle speeds.
Read : very stable bike at high speeds for a bicycle.

With a fairing around it , and or some tubing on the outside of my hips extending up to around the feet in case of a crash or even lower speed lay down to save my legs and feet and even upper body from injury .


I have even tried for over a couple of years not to get a Machinist I know to Design and Make one but he is busy 12-15 hours a day on other work.

the Recumbent in the Vancouver area of B.C. that tigcross makes , ( Electrom V 2 ) keeps getting delayed .

Someday soon I will find , so that then I can link some designs that have been done in Europe to this thread so that you can get a basis for ideas for a simple , more upright seating velomobile type of recumbent .





neptronix said:
I think i should really be building my own frames at this point because working with others' designs is such a pain in the ass. Ah well, we will eventually make the cannondale into a dream machine.
 
If they would have made this one a tilting one I think it would have been a successful product .

This at least will give you an Idea of a more upright sitting and fairing protection design .

You can make a two wheel version , with streamlined fairing .

https://www.electricscooters.com/three-wheeled-electric-velomobile-making-comeback/
 
This is the best design I have seen so far, a lower cost more simple version of this . ( more upright seating version and more simple cheaper fairing , though )

Notice how simple of a Design the tilting rear wheels / swing arm , is .

https://gearjunkie.com/velotilt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxIL3hSwgJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT6cL3a20gE
 
ScooterMan101 said:
To build a very long wheel base recumbent and/or recumbent trike that is designed for back road vehicle speeds.
Read : very stable bike at high speeds for a bicycle.

With a fairing around it , and or some tubing on the outside of my hips extending up to around the feet in case of a crash or even lower speed lay down to save my legs and feet and even upper body from injury .

Someday soon I will find , so that then I can link some designs that have been done in Europe to this thread so that you can get a basis for ideas for a simple , more upright seating velomobile type of recumbent.

Sounds like we're thinking along the same lines.

Craig vetter is a really big inspiration to me, and i think his motorcycle chassis based rides hit the nail on the head for the safety - range - efficiency - speed balance that has been honed to near perfection in the automobile, but never really made it to series production on anything with 2 wheels.

SGKRVWRMMJBS7NNJGVKF6FJK7U.jpg


web-July-2-Vetter-Streamliner95.jpg


I think that very aerodynamic but not fully sealed designs like these are great. Add some bars on the sides that you can swing out of the way like doors, and you have protection from 90% of the impacts you'd encounter while dumping a 2 wheeler on the ground.

In no way could i create such a safe, clean looking, and aerodynamic bike on the cannondale's chassis. But if you built a CLWB frame up from scratch with the appropriate bars to hold fairings and side panels etc, you could have yourself a mini craig vetter ride.

The cannondale will be my best attempt at doing that, as i don't own a home and thus a very nice TIG welder to build such a ride out of chromoly or aluminum is out of arm's reach for me.
 
electric-velomobile.jpg


crying-gif.gif


I love this because it's easy to be seen on the road. Looks very safe. It looks very commanding. It loses some practicality points for being a wide-ish three wheeler, but the design is a good start to something great.

[youtube]nhv0jrsAW5w[/youtube]

This is cool but way too low. I like the narrow wheel track a lot because it would still allow you to ride in the bike lane. But being seen is a problem. I really like the 'mini aptera' look.
 
It's been a while since I have seen the Aptera .

The Velo Tilt I would make taller that would take care of much of the being seen problem with most velomobiles ( along with strobe and flag when on the street .

Also , I would make a more simple version of the Velotilt , one that has more angular tubes so that instead of an expensive plug for a fiberglass/carbon fiber shell, you could just cut up cloroplast or better yet get some plexiglass and rivet that to the angular frame. ( look at the front end of one of our Stealth Bombers the F-117 Nighthawk )

Here I found a great example of how to make an adjustable bottom bracket / crankset for a recumbent ...
at 12' 50 "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTO97ZqUsvA
 
ScooterMan101 said:
Also , I would make a more simple version of the Velotilt , one that has more angular tubes so that instead of an expensive plug for a fiberglass/carbon fiber shell, you could just cut up cloroplast or better yet get some plexiglass and rivet that to the angular frame. ( look at the front end of one of our Stealth Bombers the F-117 Nighthawk )

A nighthawk is a very high speed vehicle, so the forces on the body panels are quite high. Therefore, the aerodynamic bits need to be as strong as all the others, so you build the fairing holding into the frame.. well, that's an interesting idea.

However, a bicycle designed as sort of a unibody design so that the aerodynamic panels mount to the bike panels would be a strange and intricate design using lots of narrow tubes, i imagine. It might be constructed more like a canoe:

images


It likely makes more sense to build a regular lightweight frame and then add on a lighter structure to bolt aerodynamic panels to. For weight considerations.

( unless you post up a cool CAD drawing and prove me wrong :mrgreen: )


The cannondale itself is 41lbs because it's in the large size. Add a hub wheel, big em3ev battery, my 5lbs storage solution,a BMX handlebar and a new fat front tire and we're right at 80lbs.. :shock:

So consider that with a frame with an optimized strength to weight ratio ( which is strong compared to most recumbents ), i'm headed towards 100lbs really fast if i add more :lol:

I wish i knew more about frame design because a fairing-holders-built-into-the-frame style bicycle *could* be really freaking awesome. You just add cloroplast and screws..

It would be more like a car unibody design. :idea:
 
ScooterMan101 said:
Here is a great example of a vehicle with angular body panels .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dloH7zbn13g

That's effin' nuts :thumb:
 
Interesting, but being based on a lowracer is a big nono for visibility.
I have never seen a CLWB ( or something like it ) based velomobile. Taller.

Or something like what craig vetter designed. Tall, but still aerodynamic.
 
neptronix said:
ScooterMan101 said:
Here is a great example of a vehicle with angular body panels .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dloH7zbn13g

That's effin' nuts :thumb:
Remember Lowracer's angular velo?

I wish his pics and vids were still available...
 
www.recumbents.com said:
velomobiles.ca has something like what you are describing.

Yup. Getting closer :)

Lit_Motors


Lit motors C1 ticks the boxes for safe, fast, visible, and hopefully reliable :lol:
This in bike format would be roughly what this bike intends to be.
 
I have some bad news. Me and my wife of 10 years have split up a few days ago, after many years of failing to reconcile personal differences ( so, not a surprise to either of us ). At some point, the change in living situation results in me not having a garage or place to work on ebikes for a while. Although i might get frisky and get a storage unit and work in there.. :lol:

But basically, no promises on seeing anything interesting from me for a while.

I also had a pin in my leg partially separate from bone while hiking, so my leg has about ~15% less structural rigidity than it did before. This is actually kind of good for healing the bone, because less rigidity from the metal frame means that the bone building can only accelerate. But it means also that i have to take things easy fr a while and shouldn't be bike riding.

I'm going to forget about bikes for a while and focus on healing both my tibia and heart.
 
neptronix said:
I have some bad news. Me and my wife of 10 years have split up a few days ago, after many years of failing to reconcile personal differences ( so, not a surprise to either of us ). At some point, the change in living situation results in me not having a garage or place to work on ebikes for a while. Although i might get frisky and get a storage unit and work in there.. :lol:

But basically, no promises on seeing anything interesting from me for a while.

I also had a pin in my leg partially separate from bone while hiking, so my leg has about ~15% less structural rigidity than it did before. This is actually kind of good for healing the bone, because less rigidity from the metal frame means that the bone building can only accelerate. But it means also that i have to take things easy fr a while and shouldn't be bike riding.

I'm going to forget about bikes for a while and focus on healing both my tibia and heart.

Though times. I feel for you, man and hope you'll get back on your feet soon.
 
Thanks qwerkus. Luckily we have no shared property other than a television and costco account. And no kids. We both agreed going our own ways was best. It wasn't a dramatic blow up type thing.

It's still an emotional mess but i feel like compared to other people's divorces, i feel like i dodged some bullets most people hit by and am incredibly grateful for it..

image.jpg
 
thundercamel said:
Oh man... Sorry to hear! It's going to be one day at a time for a while.

As someone familiar with 12 steps... that is the perfect way to put it. 8)
 
Very sad and a rocky ride, best wishes. The bikes would help keep a focus on the future not the past. Two divorces don't think I can do another one so e-bike's keep me busy.
 
ZeroEm said:
Very sad and a rocky ride, best wishes. The bikes would help keep a focus on the future not the past. Two divorces don't think I can do another one so e-bike's keep me busy.

Thanks pal. Things would be a lot easier if i could ride. The exercise of riding a bike, even if it's electric, is one of those things that keeps my head straight so it's really hard to lose that at this time.

I signed back up for the gym today and started a journal again and reconnected to some old friends. The leg is solid enough to drive a car and walk on a flat surface, so i'm going to do what i can.
 
OK, doc went back and looked at my leg and adjusted the fixator and managed to get the painful movement out of it :bigthumb:
I'm up and running at 100%!!! time to build some shit!!

His assistant also said my daily hike up a ~20% grade to get home after bike riding is a bit much for the hardware holding my leg together anyway, so i might as well put a motor on to get up that hill and don't worry about using it as a bone building activity. :D

Motor time for the cannondale!
 
I have had injuries so had to park the non-e-bike/pedal only bike and just use electric in the past ,
for the last two weeks I had been working too hard on my non-electric bike going up hills trying to gain leg strength , but almost overworked my cardiovascular system in a permanent way .

So back on the E-bike today for a 26 mile lunch ride on the same roads as the Avid Rodies . It sure felt good going several times faster and not even stressing my heart and lungs and legs !

Forgetting about too much leg muscle usage and more motor usage will be a good Idea for you , and help
to prevent overuse so you can heal faster.

Forget about bikes ... Not a chance .

To keep your mind busy ... Designing the upright seating , long wheel base , half or 3/4 fairing recumbent will be great Therapy for you !



neptronix said:
I'm going to forget about bikes for a while and focus on healing both my tibia and heart.
 
For many years now, 10-20 ?

I have been wondering when we will get better recumbent frames .

Either 2 wheel or 3 wheel tadpole the designs had/have what I think is a , Major Flaw .

That is using a beam that a seat is attached to , resulting on any thing on the sides being flimsy ( body panels etc . )
and
Sitting up to high, to the point where tadpole designs lean the seat way back so much it hurts the neck and puts pressure
on the chest.
As another bad side result the designers have used small wheels 20 inch even 16 inch or 24 inch at the most .

We need to be riding with 27.5 and 29 er wheels for many good reasons , like since they are built for hard mountain riding they are strong, they roll over things better , etc.

The way to have a 2 ( or even 3 wheel recumbent ) is to make the frame on both sides of you , where you sit down inside the frame for lower center of gravity , the ability to use larger wheels , and to have a more upright sitting position while still aerodynamic .

For an example on how to do this look at the Common Dragster we have here in the States , now take off 2 of those wheels for a two wheel recumbent.

Here I will link to pictures of a Dragster frame.

https://www.equip-bid.com/auction/1018/item/1434

http://quarterscalelegends.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3318
 
by ScooterMan101 » Aug 21 2019 5:57pm
For many years now, 10-20 ?

I have been wondering when we will get better recumbent frames .

Either 2 wheel or 3 wheel tadpole the designs had/have what I think is a , Major Flaw .

That is using a beam that a seat is attached to , resulting on any thing on the sides being flimsy ( body panels etc . )
and
Sitting up to high, to the point where tadpole designs lean the seat way back so much it hurts the neck and puts pressure
on the chest.
As another bad side result the designers have used small wheels 20 inch even 16 inch or 24 inch at the most .

We need to be riding with 27.5 and 29 er wheels for many good reasons , like since they are built for hard mountain riding they are strong, they roll over things better , etc.

The way to have a 2 ( or even 3 wheel recumbent ) is to make the frame on both sides of you , where you sit down inside the frame for lower center of gravity , the ability to use larger wheels , and to have a more upright sitting position while still aerodynamic .
I like that idea. My trike is great but flexes to much. duo frame with room for the seat, battery and storage then to a point for pedaling and a nice wide rear forks for a wide motor with enough metal for trailer hitches. Would like 24" front 26" rear and full suspension.
 
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