When you take them off and transfer them to the other side you discovery that the sides are quite different. It is quite easy to make the first side but matching the second side is always a lot more work.
Here is a bit more progress on the other side. The front is starting to take shape. It's hard to tell from the picture but there is a slight peak down the center of the nose that defines the shape quite nicely. The bumps for the feet and the knees will cause lots of grief. Getting them similar on both sides will be more work that the whole back end. Anyway the usual thing has happened, I like the second side a bit better than the first. This is particularly true in the shoulder area. The area where it is the least defined is the door opening where I still have to figure how it will be done. I am leaning towards having a fixed size opening without a door, just a foam lid like the Quest etc. For access to the front chain ring I am considering a removeable hatch that is bolted in place. You do need good access when assembling the velo but after that's done you rarely need to service this area. This will be particularly important if there are no footholes. I don't like the head bump yet. It ended up being a bit out of line as I just shaped it by eye without doing any measuring. I will most likey cut it off and stick it back on measuring carefully this time.
Just in case you are wondering why the second side is a different colour its because I ran out of the blue gelcoat which was custom colour match for a repair we did. So I switched to a green we have and rarely use.
I still don't like having the multiple bumps for knees and toes. It just looks like an invitation for separated flow and doesn't reduce frontal area by that much. Too bad you don't have the ability to make a small model and test it in a water tunnel to check for separated flow around the bumps.
ReplyDeleteThe big plus with the separate bumps is your visibilty to the side improves quite a bit. They could end up disappearing if they are too much trouble. I also doubt the the flow is actually attached except for the first foot or so. Once it is a bit smoother I may just take it outside on a windy day and attach some tufts to it to see what happens. I have a spot next to the house that acts much like a wind tunnel in a storng southeaster.
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