Velomobiles are basically an aerodynamic bicycle enclosed from the elements. Wikipedia says its one of the most efficient forms of transportation. An electric petal-assist velomobile seems like a great solution so why are they so difficult and expensive to purchase? Why haven’t many people heard of them?
It’s better than a car, but one of the main appeals of a bike is that it takes up so little space. Most people, if they were going to abandon their cars, would opt for a regular or electric bike.
Just watched this video, these things seem pretty sweet.
IMO, the biggest issue is that it’s way slower (and less crash-safe) than a car, and way less flexible than a regular two-wheel bike. So it’s kind of the worst of both worlds from a practicality standpoint.
Unless you are on a highway a velomobile is not slower than a car. Especially in cities where bikes can overtake cars at traffic lights and take shortcuts that are closed to cars.
Another consideration is hills. Pedaling up even a modest 10% incline (which isn’t exactly uncommon in mountainous cities) is already kind of hard unless you’re a sport cyclist, and on really steep hills your best bet might actually be to walk while pushing the bike (speaking from experience living in a mountainous city). This is just on a regular bike, where you can stand up to pedal in order to get more power. The Velo designs I’ve seen are such that you have to pedal in a full sitting position with your legs pushing something in front of your centre mass, instead of directly below it. I can’t imagine you can get a lot of power with that design. You also can’t easily push a Velo while walking like you can a bike, and a bike also has the benefit of allowling seemlessly connect to public transit using bike racks on busses and bike spaces on trains.
I can’t imagine you can get a lot of power with that design
It’s the opposite. All recumbent bikes allow for higher power output.
Huh. TIL.
Bikes and velomobiles have the same issue and the same solution: electrification. Ebikes with pedal assist exist, just as velomobiles with pedal assist could exist. Velomobiles are just bicycles with an enclosure for aerodynamics and harsh weather protection.
