Open Cockpit vs. Tiller (preying mantis) Steering.

One of the debates about recumbents is which type of steering is best. Lately Open Cockpit aka superman style steering is getting all the attention. The other common alternative is tiller steering aka preying mantis style steering. Open Cockpit tends to be more comfortable and less twitchy. Tiller steering tends to be more aerodynamic, less comfortable and more twitchy. But that is only the broad strokes of the differences.

Here is an example of an high bottom bracket open cockpit design, the Bacchetta Corsa:

Corsa - Open Cockpit steering

Now as you can see the rider pictured here (myself) has fat sausages for legs. Because of the high bottom bracket (the height of the pedals from the ground basically) and the reclined position the thighs get in the way of the handlebars during turns. This means that when I want to make a tight turn I have to drop the inside leg off of the pedals so I can get the angle needed. This becomes annoying and prevents me from pedaling during turns, which means if I am going slow or uphill the turn is not easy.

Raptobike - tiller steering

Above is the Raptobike, with tiller steering. It also has a high BB relative to the seat height but the tiller steering won't hit my inside thigh. I have a Rans Vivo with tiller steering and I find it very easy to use. Though my elbows are in a closed position with the Vivo. This isn't as comfortable and my elbows sweat a bit over time. For a picture of how this looks, here is a rider on an M5.

Anja on M5 Shockproof in Norway

This can be changed by cutting down the stem, moving the handle bars closer to the legs and increasing the reach needed. There are pros and cons of this approach as the stem also moves in the direction opposite of the turn like a boat tiller. So by increasing the reach you also limit the final angle of the turn available due to reaching the limits of a given persons reach.

The net result of all of this verbiage is that due to my desire for high BB recumbents and my sausage legs, I find tiller steering more to my liking. But like all things in recumbent land, adjusting the particular steering to my own fit and expected usage is key to satisfaction.

Cool Video and Song

Enjoy

GOP revels in powerlessness

The House Republicans was very proud of being the party of NO yesterday. They decided their leader, Rush Limbaugh, had it right. The US Economy should fail, since Americans had the bad taste to vote Democratic for President, for Congress and for the Senate. Since Republicans are the minority party though, they couldn't actually stop the Stimulus bill or the Nadler amendment. But that didn't stop them from celebrating.

I made sure to call my Congressman and thank him for his vote for the stimulus and the Nadler amendment. I also called my Senators and asked them to support the stimulus and infrastructure spending as it now goes to the Senate.

The video linked above is Colbert being Colbert. He is amazing.

Lowracer

Raptobike

I was speaking to Kristin today about the Raptobike. I need to sell the Vivo and the trike, after that I have a green light to proceed on the Raptobike lowracer. I think I will go light on the options, just a Rohloff, carbon seat and Stelvio tires. The Schwalbe Stelvio are being discontinued but until their replacements are in the dealer chain, they are still available. I will order the bike with them since Raptobike has them in stock and I don't end up with a tire that I will just be replacing later. The wheels may also be a place to get some weight off the bike but I can have that done locally and save me the import tax.

I am hoping to hear from some of the shops that talked about importing the raptobike if there was enough interest. Garrie Hill was considering it since he also does low volume M5 imports. Both M5 and Raptobike are Dutch companies and sell lowracers, so it might make sense for him. I haven't heard yet what his decision is.

I believe the ride will be pretty smooth given that the tires will be about 5mm wider than my 23mm tires on the Corsa and the wheelbase is also longer by about 6". This should smooth out chipseal, and other miscellaneous bumps. I also have the option of going to 38mm (1.5") tires which should make a big difference. That flexibility is nice as the Corsa has pretty tight clearance and 25mm (measured, not marketing values) is the max I can go.

If everything goes well I will be able to take the Raptobike to the Idaho TOT in June and the Recumbent Rally in August, and maybe even the OHPV event in May. Lets see how it all turns out.

Jessica Alba pwns BillO

Now I know that pwning BillO isn't a lifetime achievement or anything but check out this story and accompanying video from C&L.

Basically BillO was upset that when Jessica Abla was ambush interviewed by his "reporters" she said some unpleasant things about him. During the exchange she called BillO an asshole. So a week after said event he has a story calling Jessica Alba a "pinhead". He sent another ambush crew over:

Well, when Alba was again cornered by one of Fox's ambush-squad camera crews, she turned the tables by getting out her camera and asking questions of her inquisitor. When he refused to answer because he's a "journalist" (note: this is a fake excuse) she asked, "Why not? Be neutral. Be Sweden about it."

BillO then tried to pounce on air on the Sweden comment. Saying it is Switzerland who is famous for its neutrality. Jessica replies via a Myspace post:

I want to clear some things up that have been bothering me lately. I find it depressing that in the midst of perhaps the most salient time in our country's history, individuals are taking it upon themselves to encourage negativity and stupidity. Last week, Mr. Bill O'Reilly and some really classy sites (i.e.TMZ) insinuated I was dumb by claiming Sweden was a neutral country. I appreciate the fact that he is a news anchor and that gossip sites are inundated with intelligent reporting, but seriously people...it's so sad to me that you think the only neutral country during WWII was Switzerland. Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_during_World_War_II if you want to see what I was referring to. I appreciate the name calling and the accurate reporting. Keep it up!!

Poor BillO, he really should be careful attacking people who are smarter than he is.

Good quotes

What did Gandalf tell Grima?

Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm.

Great quote, I should remember it.

Cute Video

Cute video. I would never have known about it except BillO decided it was bad and hate-filled. Now that it has national attention it will go viral in a big way. That makes me quite happy.

Velomobiles

Quest Velomobile

I have been looking at my traffic and which pages get hits. What I find very interesting is that my readers seem to really like Velomobiles. Any post that have velomobile pictures, information or video does very well. I can understand that, my own interest is piqued by velomobiles as well.

One very interesting project that I have seen is John Tetz's foamshell Velomobile project.

From Foamshell Velomobile by John Tetz

The image is linked to his design documents and project info for the Velo. I love this project though making the trike itself is outside my skill set. But you can see the process of making a streamliner shell for a trike or bike. It is really amazing what people can make with limited facilities. There are also coroplast fairings that people make, there are even kits for various trikes.

I have to admit these home built projects are very alluring. The idea of doing my own work and making a fairing is pretty cool. Any time I build something, even as simple as a hack to fix my fenders, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I like to work with my hands, and the garage has been given to me as my domain. Additionally making a fairing is cheaper than buying a velo, though the process of prototyping and acquiring various tools will surely have the cost approach that of a velomobile. I do believe that having the skills is of itself valuable and the fairing will be lighter than a velomobile. So for myself I think I would strongly consider a homebuilt project vs a finished product such as the quest. One final point is that John Tetz's Velomobile is ~40lbs vs 75lbs for a Quest. But I think it is something that everyone needs to decide for themselves. And if there was a kit for a lowracer, or one of my trikes, then I would strongly consider it. I do wish that there were some US Velomobile manufacturers. Having them all in Europe makes the costs pretty high.

Lucy on Flickr

IMG_1373, originally uploaded by Watson House.

Lately I have been trying to decide which photo site I prefer, Flickr or Picasa. Picasa has nicer photo editing and makes it easy to get the pictures off of my camera, flickr has better web features. I really like the various flickr features.
1- The photostream concept is great.
2- Moxi integration, so my DVR can be my slideshow.
3- Great sharing via groups and adding to other photostreams.
4- Nice support for embedding and blogging.

I think I will give Flickr a try for the next month or so to see how I like using it.

Ultimate Cycle Commuter

EcoVelo has a nice article up on Bicycle Design’s “Commuter Bike for the Masses” design competition. A recumbent design won the competition and I do like that a recumbent won, I am not a huge fan of the winner. Go take a look at ecovelo for the winning entry.

Quest Velomobile

Personally I would recommend a velomobile for the ultimate cycle commuting vehicle for the masses. Something like the Quest would be great for many people. Sure it weighs 70 lbs give or take but the carrying capacity is huge and it flies on the flats, 25-30MPH by non-athletes. The stability of three wheels is also very user friendly.

John Tetz Streamliner

Now for myself and anyone wanting 2 wheels and less weight, I would go with something like John Tetz's streamliner design. His zote-foam fairing adds 7.2 lbs (3.3 kg) give or take to the bike underneath. This is a heck of a lot less than the 70lbs total you see in the commercial velomobiles. It comes at a cost, less durability, not quite as finished appearance and the need for home repairs. But the foam designs he has are relatively easy to repair and pretty durable. John accidentally experienced a 40mph crash in a previous iteration of his design. Here is his report from that crash:

How does it hold up to high speed crashes? A few months ago I crashed at the end of a 40 mph (64 km/h) grade with the first foam shell, when the Sachs 3x7 hub locked up after hitting a high-speed bump (one of the pawls jammed). The bike slid for about 75 feet (22 m) flipping back and forth until wearing the tire flat, I lost it to the right hitting the ground hard. But interestingly I got out of the vehicle on the left side! It must have done a complete roll-over. Also, it did not slide very far - another advantage over slippery hard shells.

An after crash inspection showed a deep scar in the foam on the right side where the seat frame was located along with several scratches and a scatter of deeper scars. The left side also had scratches and a couple of deeper scrapes, evidence that it must have rolled. Basically nothing happened to me. No loss of precious skin, except my little finger must have been bent in a way that a tiny bone in my hand was sprained, possibly fractured. Not bad for a high speed crash. I shudder to think what I would look like on a unfaired bike. This foam can indeed make a light fairing and still have reasonable crash protection. I have a seat belt in the hard shell - I need to add this in the foamshell to stay inside when crashing.

If I had the time and willingness to make a few prototypes I would love to put a streamliner shell around a raptobike using John Tetz's design as a guildline. I would absolutely love a streamliner. In fact I suspect streamliner kits to put around a raptobike would be a reasonable small side business for some entrepreneur. For me a streamliner would be an incredible commuter machine. There is decent storage available in the one above. Check out the storage compartment

Streamliner storage