Living with a velomobile

[Vicfarmer3]

Any one have a velomobile for sale? Possibly a Mango.

vicfarmer3

[opik_bidin]

Any one have a velomobile for sale? Possibly a Mango.

vicfarmer3

ask here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OzHPV

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1868550136802056

[Gwheel21]

Hi guys, just a quick question or few. Is it any harder to get a rotovelo up a hill than a normal bike? Does the body position hinder output much? Is it worthwhile trying to use one almost daily for the normal grind sorta stuff or are they good but cumbersome in daily practice?
I apologise if it has been asked somewhere before.
Thanks

[Rhubarb]

Hi guys, just a quick question or few. Is it any harder to get a rotovelo up a hill than a normal bike? Does the body position hinder output much? Is it worthwhile trying to use one almost daily for the normal grind sorta stuff or are they good but cumbersome in daily practice?
I apologise if it has been asked somewhere before.
Thanks

Hills - once you're into a steady climb then a velo just becomes a heavy bike. My DF is relatively light for a velo but still weighs 24kg. A RV would weigh 30-ish I'm guessing. Velo gearing is generally much wider ranging then road bikes for this exact reason. I currently run 61/33 front rings mated to a 11-40T cassette. Rolling hills are another thing all together, since a velo holds its speed on the downhill and carries its momentum up the hill so you are considerably faster. See this video here as an example (Rolling hills (AT) 2mins. Flats v long hills (AT) 7 min mark):



Here's another video that shows where velos are faster and where road bikes are faster over a 100km ride:



As a further comparison, I rode the Brisbane to Gold Coast 100km ride in 2017 and was the first finisher by several minutes despite the police escort continually slowing me down. I then rode home again, making 230km for the day. I did the same the next year but ride organisers told me I was too fast and so not to pass the lead group. I did a lot of coasting and riding the brakes down hills to finish with the lead 3 riders. I don't say this to brag, but just to point out the speed advantage of the velo over such a route. I am actually a relatively weak rider and 53 years old. Its only the speed and comfort advantages of the velo that make this possible.

I've been using my velomobile as a daily commuter for 9 years. I think its super practical, with weather protection, speed, safety and luggage. But you do need somewhere secure to park it etc. I often stop by the shops on my way home and pick up some groceries or wine or whatever, and have no problem leaving it unattended just outside the shops for short periods but I wouldn't leave it all day somewhere.
Ultimately its an expensive bike thats only a few minutes faster on most commutes, but its the fun factor for me too.

You need the right route for a velo too though. If your commute was full of stop start, lane splitting, jumping gutters, hairpins turns etc, then a road bike will be faster. But anything on longer open paths or roads, the velo is king

[zebee]

Generally recumbents aren't suitable for things that need hard power. So sprints and fast hill climbing. Even a light one like my Encore is going to be slower than the same weight diamond frame as the power delivery just isn't there. Not that the 'bent position is powerless, it just isn't as powerful.

What they are good for is looong rides and work on the flats and rolling hills.

A velo is a heavy bike so will be slower up hills than a roadbike. And probably slower up hills than an equal weight diamond frame. IF speed up hills is what you want don't get one. If your daily grind is a lot of climbing and tight corners and darting between cars don't get one.

If your commute is reasonable local roads with more flat than climb then do get one!

[TrikeTragic]

Hi guys, just a quick question or few. Is it any harder to get a rotovelo up a hill than a normal bike? Does the body position hinder output much? Is it worthwhile trying to use one almost daily for the normal grind sorta stuff or are they good but cumbersome in daily practice?
I apologise if it has been asked somewhere before.
Thanks

I concur with Rhubard and Zeebee. I ride a trike (a TW Bents / Flying Furniture 20-26) that weighs about 14 kg "bare" and about 18 kg with panier containing spare tubes, bike tools, wet weather gear etc. The Rotovelo is 32 kg unless you go the carbon fibre version....To put that in context, I'm 105-ish kg.....I've has the trike since 2006 and love it.
Your questions:

Hills: Both Rhubard & Zeebee nail it: If you have momentum, on shorter hills you carry your speed due to the extra mass, but an upright would probably beat you to the top. On longer hills, it's not so much harder as just slower. You find a gear where you can spin comfortably, and enjoy the view. On the decent, you get quite a bit more speed than anyone on an upright, perhaps with the exception of a serious roadie tucked right down. I've done several Around the Bay rides and GVBRs, I find I'm around the same average pace as riders on decent hybrids.

Power: Mainly because you can't stand and drive into the pedals, you're pushing from the fixed position of the seat against your torso, you can't develop the same power as you can on an upright. I'd guess that difference reduces as pedal rpm increases. I've ridden the same routes on my trike and an upright, interestingly my average heart rate is about 10 or 12 bpm lower on the trike, and my time spent in the upper 25 % of heart rate is lower also. Maybe pumping the blood around is a reclining body is less work for the heart than one that's near vertical.

Ride environment: I live in more outer suburbia Melbourne and have easy access to quieter roads than the heavier traffic of inner suburbs. I have taken the trike into heavier traffic, as Zeebee commented, you cannot easily (or perhaps safely) split lanes or roll up the left hand side of stopped city traffic as you can on bikes. I have seen a Rotovelo in traffic near the CBD, he was having no trouble matching vehicle traffic speed on some undulating road, so clearly some felt OK with it!

Cumbersome? Yep, heavier and bigger footprint than a bike. Don't handle stairs too well. On the other hand, free standing! A Rotovelo might be a tight fit through standard doorways. If you've got access to "end of trip" storage or parking at work, you just have to be able to manage security, and assess the entry / exit points etc.

Cheers

[John Lewis]

Not good news for Mango and Hilgo owners.
Drymer the manufacturer is going out of business.

I've been waiting for the store that closed due Covid to open as I needed a few replacement parts parts. Will be fun trying to find elsewhere I suspect.

Anyway here is a link to the news.

https://www.recumbent.news/2022/01/05/d ... -business/

And Sinner Bikes announcement.

https://www.sinnerbikes.com/en/

[Rhubarb]

Contact Harry direct John. I understand he intends to continue servicing the mangos from his home but not a lot of detail in that yet.

Velomobiel.nl might also sell spares through their store.

Its a shame how things have turned out. I thought the Hilgo was pretty good actually but I think the Drymer service put a few people off. Harry seems to have carried the whole organisation for so long, but he can't do it on his own.

I wish you all the best.

[Bargo]

i regularly commute with my Rotovelo. yes it is slow up hills, it weighs in somewhere around 35 kg. gear down, spin the pedals and you will get up any hill, but at speeds like 10-12 km/hr depending on how steep the hill is. going down hills is awesomely fast, on the flat and into the wind i am faster than the pretty much any road bike except the strongest riders. i can keep pace with people half my age and half my system weight (bike plus rider) and leave them standing into the wind. i am faster on the flat than any road legal ebike (which cut out at 25 km/hr). my RV commute is around 20% less time than an upright bike as while i am slow on the hills i am faster on the flats. it will depend on your riding terrain. rolling hills are awesome fun. the comfort, not having to unclip and not getting wet make the RV a great choice. mine comfortably fits through the standard size door on the bikelocker in my office building. i have done over 20,000 km in my RV since around 2014 and it is still going strong with no issues. its a great bit of kit. i am in perth and it is hot here. its like an old fashioned car with no aircon, when you are moving, the heat is no problem, once you stop at traffic lights or are grinding up a hill, it can get warm, but not having the sun burning your arms and legs is better than the short periods where i feel hot. plus its easy to store water bottles beside you so i dont find the heat a real issue.

[Bartek]

I haven't been on here for a long time, I'm thinking of selling my Velomobile,- Sinner Mango Sport. Is there much interest in Velomobiles and where would be the best place to advertise?

[skyblot]

OzHPV have a facebook "for sale" page, that would be a good start. Otherwise Gumtree seems to work. Anything there is quickly picked up and shared on the various recumbent pages.

[Vicfarmer3]

I haven't been on here for a long time, I'm thinking of selling my Velomobile,- Sinner Mango Sport. Is there much interest in Velomobiles and where would be the best place to advertise?

Hi Bartek
I would be interested in some details of your mango. Be really interested if you were in Victoria.
Gerard

[Bargo]

Bartek, did you sell your mango, i would be interested in having a look and i am in perth

[Peter A]

A question about fluoro flags on velos, how necessary are they?
Have a friend who is using a flashing tailight but would like to see him safer(?) with flag(s)?

[find_bruce]

As far as I am aware there is no legal requirement for a flag anywhere in Australia.

In most circumstances a velo is highly visible - if you ride with your friend you will notice that every tom, dick and harriet stops & gawps and or waves, kids yell excitedly.

At least in my experience the only time visibility is an issue is in traffic when a velo can completely disappear beside many vehicles - the problem is that I'm not sure that a flag at the back of the velo will cure that - it is unlikely to be high enough to be seen over an urban assault vehicle.

If it makes someone feel safer to have a flag I wouldn't try to talk them out of it - I used to tow my son on a wee hoo & I had a flag - it did no harm

[skyblot]

As far as I am aware there is no legal requirement for a flag anywhere in Australia.

In most circumstances a velo is highly visible - if you ride with your friend you will notice that every tom, dick and harriet stops & gawps and or waves, kids yell excitedly.

At least in my experience the only time visibility is an issue is in traffic when a velo can completely disappear beside many vehicles - the problem is that I'm not sure that a flag at the back of the velo will cure that - it is unlikely to be high enough to be seen over an urban assault vehicle.

If it makes someone feel safer to have a flag I wouldn't try to talk them out of it - I used to tow my son on a wee hoo & I had a flag - it did no harm

Flags are good for 2 things:
Keeping Magpies away; and
Keeping away people who insist on telling you that you need a flag.

Flags have negligible effect on cars etc...

I'll agree they may have benefit while transiting through crowded shopping centre car parks, they can be one of the most frightening areas to ride through.

[Peter A]

OK, thanks, most of friends mates reckon he'd be safer with one or more fluttering bright flags giving height over the approx 1M high velo.
At car highway speeds the tail light certainly helps ID the "thing on the road" to a car driver, hope he stays safe.

[zebee]

I tried various things.

Flags seem to be useless unless quite large and those droop. The "spinner" things are a bit better but still have to be large.
The best so far is the kayak canopy which is a big orange canopy over the top of the trike at about sedan driver eye height. Very obvious and gives them a way to see how big the trike is.

I can't see the point of a flag for a velo. Why do they need to be seen from around cars? THe velo itself is big enough and obvious enough. A little flag doesn't say "hey, big cigar shaped thing here" it says "small fulttery thing, who knows what it is, not interesting, just ignore me".

Drivers have learned to ignore almost everything on the road and beside it because there are so many distractions. A flag only says "bike here' to other recumbent riders and they have already noticed.

[recumbenteer]

Time to say goodbye to my old faithful Rotovelo Mk1 (AKA the Green Rocket) (2009 prototype) with close to 70,000km on the dial..



https://www.instagram.com/p/CnK3HE2pYaj/



....and take the new kid out for a good time

Rotovelo Mk2 ...

"the Jaffa"?