Bricycles.com

Streamlining

I was fascinated by the streamlined bicycles and articles I stumbled upon on the Human Powered Vehicle Association website, http://www.hpva.us/, and also at
http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/home.asp?URL=wisil/main.asp.  The work that has been done by others in this area is truly amazing to me, particularly the machines designed for the World Human Powered Speed Challenge.  The Bricycle wouldn't stand a chance.  I make no claims regarding the streamlining of the Bricycle.  I do not have access to a wind tunnel or software to try to simulate the effects of air flow around a body.  I do feel the design offers a significant improvement over a conventional bicycle or tricycle.  I attempted to minimize the frontal area as much as possible given the width needed for steering the front wheel and the width needed for a functioning set of pedals.  I am able to pivot the front wheel about 35 degrees off center, and this should allow for a 19-foot steering circle, small enough to turn around completely on my street.  The width, pedal to pedal, is 14 inches, which is actually 1 inch narrower than the trike I purchased.  My only concern about the prototype shape is the large (about 9 square feet),  flat slab  sides.  They may become small sails in high winds.  I considered applying a soft convex curve or a hard edge through the center of the panel to break up and redirect the air flow from crosswinds.  Either would have required further lofting of the panels, and many more molds would be needed inside the building jig to set and hold a shape until the entire side was finished.  I'll keep you posted on this once the prototype is on the road.

Admittedly, the Bricycle and similar types of vehicles have limitations, two of which are a hilly terrain and higher daytime temperatures.

Terrain

There is only so much you can do with 750 watts, or 1 hp, to move a mass up an incline.  The change in elevation between my home and my workplace is approximately 200 feet; the downhill favors my trip to work.  That trip poses three challenges:  a short bridge with a rise of about 40 feet, a long uphill grade about a half mile long with a rise of about 80 feet, and a very long bridge with a rise of about 100 feet at the apex.  Not terribly hilly, but not flat either.  The trip home offers those same three challenges plus the total rise of 200 feet.  The hub motor and controller I purchased are capable of providing much more than 750 watts of usable power, providing the batteries can deliver it.  I have purchased an add-on to the controller from a bright group of young people in Canada, which will allow me to control and monitor my power usage.  This will allow me to evaluate the power requirements to overcome the grades I will encounter.

Heat

I had hoped to be rolling this summer. I have read that heat buildup and ventilation are major concerns in vehicles of this type.  The temperature here can top 90 degrees F in the summer; plus living near a large body of water makes for high humidity as well.  Seat design also  will be important.  The rear of the Bricycle, between the fender, will be entirely open, with a grill to keep large objects and small creatures from entering.  I plan to use this open area to gather air which can be directed into the shell.  Another option is to use small, low-powered cooling fans, the type used to cool your PC.  I mentioned elsewhere on these pages the option of removing the cowling--fun in the sun.

People living in Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Tuscon will have to wait for a better Bricycle.  I need to prove that this one will work reliably in Cleveland. 

Cyclists and safety (posted September 1, 2008)

A cycling enthusiast will take one look at the Bricycle and say, "here we go again."  It will be too heavy, too slow, too wide, too hot, and not nimble enough to appeal to the vast majority of cyclists.  Many cyclists probably like the feel of the wind in their faces when they’re riding and a certain sense of freedom, moving that fast on a minimal machine. Actually, the Bricycle would be well suited for a cyclist.  I feel a cyclist with better physical conditioning, having peddled more miles on the road than the average person and with that experience to draw from, could peddle the Bricycle to the design potential.

The Bricycle will be heavier than a conventional bicycle, even a very heavy bicycle.  The three biggest drawbacks to weight are getting it moving,  moving it up an incline, and trying to stop it.  Finding a good starting gear range should be fairly easy, and there is always the “granny” gear for hills.  Cruising on the flat, at around 12 mph to 14 mph, probably won’t require much more energy than I expend riding my open recumbent trike.  I am using decent quality sealed ball bearings on all the wheels, not the common open-cage bicycle type.  I had planned to use disc brakes on all three wheels, but I have been unable to mount a disc on the front wheel hub motor, so I’ll be using conventional lever or cam-type brakes on the front.  The rear wheels have 180 mm discs and cable-activated calipers.

The Bricycle prototype is 40 inches wide, across the rear fenders, but I intend to use the Bricycle on the street.  Ohio law has no restrictions on length, width, height or weight for a bicycle or tricycle.  At 40 inches, my prototype is only 12 inches wider than the handlebars on my wife’s street cruiser and not much wider than some of those  “kid” trailers I’ve seen.  I have a few ideas for a leaning version of the Bricycle that would allow for a narrower track.  Elsewhere, I mentioned concerns about heat, and I have a few ideas to address that issue.  The Bricycle won’t be as nimble as a low-slung tadpole trike or other delta types, but again, I designed it for street use, and I should be able to maneuver around the same obstacles that an automobile would encounter.

(posted September 5, 2008)

Safety issues cover a wide spectrum, from design to operation and survivability.

The Bricycle will definitely be visible.  With a length of nearly 9 feet and a height of 54 inches, in profile the Bricycle almost appears to be a small automobile, albeit an unusual automobile.  From the front or back, the Bricycle looks like nothing else on the road and certainly not like a bicycle, so being “seen” by pedestrians and motorists should not be a problem.  The prototype will have side-marker light directional signals, tail lights, stop lights and a headlight--all LED.  The seating height is nearly the same as our 1997 Honda.  A lower seating height would place eyesight at a dangerous height, causing temporary blindness from the headlights of a conventional automobile, let alone an SUV or pickup.

I mentioned earlier about the brakes used on the prototype, and in reviewing my design, the rear axle carriers can easily be adapted to accommodate a 200 mm rotor, inbound of the wheel well.  Mounting a disc brake rotor to the front hub motor would require a large 10 diameter disc, which would be custom made, but it is possible.  I will be using Kenda Kwest city tires on all wheels for normal driving, and I’ll switch to knobby tires when the snow starts to fly.  Yes folks, as crazy as it may sound, I will try to operate the prototype in snowy conditions.  After all, the Bricycle is three-wheel-drive capable.  I purchased an add-on to the motor controller, which allows you to plug in a top speed value while driving with the motor--in this case at 20 mph. This device also allows you to maintain that speed up an incline, provided the batteries and motor controller have the output capacity.

Survivability--the big question?  I mention on my “Services” page that I have had some experience with actual crash testing at a speed of 20 mph, and while this doesn’t sound very fast, it is amazing the amount of damage that this speed can generate.  I have read cyclist's concerns about safety and the hazards of riding on city streets, but cyclists accept the risks every day they ride, particularly on roads with a 35 mph speed limit.  First and foremost, wear a helmet.  I won’t like this, but I’ll have to get used to it.  The energy produced from a collision or impact has to be dissipated in some way.  In the case of a cyclist, it’s the human body. The rims and frame will give way, but the mass of the body contains most of the energy.  If you are thrown from a bike, the body coming in contact with the ground or other rigid object absorbs all the impact until it finally comes to rest.  I will at least be wearing a lap belt and probably a shoulder harness of some kind.  I want to stay with the vehicle and let the structure dissipate the energy.  Even without wearing a seat belt, I designed the inside of the Bricycle with no vertical members in front of the seat.  Placing the front derailer on a short vertical tube would have made the whole gear train design easier.  Also, having a steering system between the legs would have been much simpler to design and manufacture, but those are hard points that I would rather not come in contact with.  I liken “my” view on safety in this regard to that of an egg.   As perfect a shape as the egg is supposed to be, it doesn’t make it into your refrigerator on it’s own.  Friends and family have expressed their concern about my safety in the Bricycle, riding on city streets.  If you read the “me” page, you might understand “my” attitude.  We all have to go sometime; I just hope it doesn’t hurt very much.

The Bricycle has storage space behind the seat large enough to accommodate three bags of groceries, or a large backpack, or a briefcase. The front cowling will be removable, so that in better weather conditions you would be riding in a sort of convertible. The cowling has no real relevance to the structure of the Bricycle because the tub is the main structural element.

The name Bricycle came from one of the inspirations in life, my 89-year-old mother (for those of you who may have been curious).                          

Recumbents

A close friend asked me early on in this project if I had ever ridden a recumbent bike.  I finally bought one a couple of months ago. This one is very comfortable to ride compared to a conventional bike, even though it has no suspension other than the foam seat.  It is well thought out with components you'd expect to find in a bike shop.  The steering is very sensitive, particularly at higher speeds, but it moves easily enough and if you don't like the Bricycle, you might consider one of these.

Critics and skeptics (posted August 14, 2008)

I don’t care.  I spent months reading articles, forums and blogs.  I visited recumbent and velomobile manufactures' web sites to read about their product offerings and to glean whatever information I could from them.   There are some beautiful machines out there if you happen to be a cyclist,  which I am not.  I wanted to design something that I could actually use, with a minimum amount of government-imposed hassles.  I recently checked some of my drawing files and started the design process in June of 2007, which culminated in this design.  I started working on the prototype about one year ago.

If anyone has an idea or a potential project that interests them, I urge them to pursue it.  Innovation is not the sole property of corporations, universities, or product development companies.  During the “golden age of aviation,” some of the more successful aircraft designs were done on a shoestring budget, and one I know of, “Mr. Mulligan,” was not even put to paper; the layout was drawn on a hangar floor in chalk, and no plans ever existed.

I believe the world has room for a vehicle somewhere between a bicycle or motorcycle and an automobile.  No one asked me to do this. No one paid me to do this.  Whether the Bricycle is a success or not is entirely up to me; whether it is accepted or not will be left for others to decide.
 

Electric powered vehicles

Many people may not be aware of the fact that the first automobile to reach 60 mph was electric powered.  The Baker Electric was manufactured in my hometown for a few years early in the last century and was apparently a reliable and easy-to-operate vehicle.  About 30 years ago, I purchased plans for a home-built three-wheel automobile.  The shell was fiberglass over a foam core, and the power options were either an electric motor or motorcycle engine.  The plans are still available today, but at that time, I had neither the space nor the funds to pursue such an undertaking, and this is when my interest in electric vehicles began.  Some years ago, one of the Big Three auto makers launched a pilot program to test an electric car for everyday use. You can learn more about this automobile and what happened to the program in the documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/  Interesting stuff.  One problem I see in the future of battery-powered electrics is that “Big Oil” is more than likely to become “Big Battery.”

In my case, the SLA batteries that I’ll be using in the prototype Bricycle are fairly inexpensive and reliable, and the 48-volt charger will consume about the same power it takes to illuminate a 120 watt light bulb.  Even if I decide to carry a second battery pack, which the Bricycle can, and pay the price of carrying an extra 34 lbs of weight, I can make it to work and back with one charge at the cost of powering four 60-watt light bulbs for a few hours.  Would you notice any real appreciable difference in your monthly electric bill?