At long last, i got some seat time on the used Catrike Speed I’m using as a development mule for the velomobile. Puttering around Patterson Park on an overcast day, I got plenty of stares and got in a few conversations with people curious about the contraption. I haven’t seen a trike in Baltimore for years so I imagine the staring kids playing in the fields might have never seen one.
Some impressions and things to remember:
-All the controls are quite sensitive and it takes some calibration to not feed “noise” into the bars. Otherwise you dart all over the place like a mosquito.
-The turning circle is nice and tight, but the wheels deform enough that the brake disks will rub on moderate speed turns, wasting energy.
-Cobbled surfaces send a lot of kickback through the controls and bump you around a bit.
-I’m a little annoyed at the laid back riding position as I like to be able to look straight ahead without my head tilted back much. The headrest is too low for that and even then since the upper back is inclined at the same angle as the lower back, all the bending would occur in the neck. Nauseating…
-The head is at bumper level with cars…
Visibility is going to be a big issue with a velomobile used on the streets.
-Ground clearance is inadequate to traverse speed humps. This and the visibility issue are pointing towards a tall and skinny design rather than a low and wide one.
-You will end up with chain grease somewhere on your skin or clothes, it’s inevitable.
-Stoppies are very easy to do, even with the low center of gravity. Reconciling this with the “taller, skinnier” requirement is going to be a challenge.
-The width and tight turning circle make navigating trails very easy, but the bike is as tall as I am so getting it through doorways and up stairs is clumsy. Putting a body on it won’t make it any easier. At least it’s not too heavy, it still feels lighter than the Raleigh mountain bike I used as a street beater for a while.
-The seat, though it looks too much like a lawn chair for my taste, works and feels fine.
-It appears the control sticks can be almost touching the rider’s legs and still not interfere with pedalling
-My legs never rubbed on a front tire even during sharp turns. In that way, the 16″ fronts are nicer than the 18″ fronts on the Road model.
The plan is to ride it a little more and then put on the Bion-X system and evaluate that.
dude I’m building a bike that is similar. I can show you all the parts if you like; lighting, indicators, gearing shrumpf high speed drive, and 600w motor etc. I’ve been collecting them for a while. I’m upto assembly now using a wood template for a metal frame. When you get a chance email me and I’ll fill you in on some of the problem areas I ran into, especially in the ackerman steering department.