Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Monocoque or Hybrid??

Here is a photo of the structural reinforcing bits that go into the Milan SL.

The wheel well is in velomobiles with enclosed front wheels.  The other ribs are sort of borrowed from boat building where stringer systems are quite common.  They are made from two layers of carbon with some extra reinforcing and then secondarily bonded into the shell.  I have thought of infusing the parts with foam ribs but by the time you add in the weight of the foam you are at about the same weight as the bagged parts and secondary bonding(hollow ribs).  I have a bit more freedom in shaping the ribs with my present method.  The long S shaped rib could be shorter but the added 70 g or so is a worthwhile addition in stiffening the panel. 

I finally brought my Garmin along on one of the Wednesday night rides.  The ride ended up being about 50 km long with about 700 meters of climbing with an average speed of 26 kph.  I am faster when there are other riders along it seems.  Riding by myself doing the same sort of ride would be 3-4 kph slower. The first and last 5 km are slower than the average as I ride to the start and then back home again.  One interesting thing I noted was that the velo climbs better than an upright bike if the grade is low enough.  I'll keep track of at what sort of grade and speed at which this happens.  If it gets too steep like about 5% or more the extra weight of the velomobile really shows up.   One of these weeks we will do the Wednesday night ride out of Campbell River.  I am looking forward to the flatter terrain and smoother payment.   

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