Bricycles.com

Home

I will admit that I have not worked on this project for almost one year, but I am back. I have gone back to the "GREEN" in view of our current president's views on the environment, I will write more about this later. 3/17

OK, it has been awhile. I am working on a new design, my homage to the great American street rod. My second prototype will be a tadpole trike velomobile, this time with 22 inch "Fatboy" tires. So far the design will include a steel frame, a suspended beam front axle, a suspended swing arm rear end with disc brakes all around. A mid drive electric motor with 7 speeds available, much better for climbing hills, 48 or possibly 60 volt lithium battery pack, unfortunately this time it looks like a "Flinstone" reverse will be necessary. A fiberglass over foam shell which will pivot up from the front. The steering may be either a hydraulic push/pull system or a servo controlled system. The renderings below are just my first attempt to put a package together using my ideas, I'm still working out some of the mechanical and size issues.

I have added a link at the top of the About Us page to my Flickr account with more construction photos of the first prototype.

Thanks for stopping by.

Start with an idea.

http://youtu.be/Cp9OtARTnYo

The idea: A compact, reasonably lightweight, single-occupant vehicle. The idea is the same in a different configuration.

first rendering of the new prototype

still working out details

rendering of the first prototype

I have a video on YouTube, "under power"

and also this one, "stopping"

I just added another video on YouTube, "lights"

I shot this shortly after a light snow

Another design for a tadpole trike

It is hard to believe I started the working drawings for this idea of mine nearly nine years ago. My thoughts and goals for this excercise are still the same, move a body around town in something less than thouhsands of pounds of steel, plastic and rubber. So what has changed? Not much. More of everything, more cars, more polution, more toxic waste to dispose of and not just here in the USA. Now that China, the country that has used electric bikes for years, has a growing middle class, everyone wants a Buick. I walk more now, and I still see all these good folks heading to work, by themselves, sitting in all this material, four or five seats for one rider. Most of the independent electric car ideas under developement in the last ten years have gone belly up. The major auto makers offer some type of electric vehicle but at a pretty hefty price, and then there is still the use of vast amounts of material used in their production.

More of my thoughts regarding this project are located on the ABOUT US page. Thanks for taking the time to view my site.