Impressive Home-Built Velomobile

For those who have some degree of skill and time to spare the DIY route can significantly lower the costs of acquiring a velomobile.  The down side to this approach tends to be visible in a less than professional appearance of the finished product.  The following builder’s video of an electric assist velomobile from Norway demonstrates this need not be so.  Built in a style that echos the Trisled Avatar it displays a high quality of workmanship.

YouTube user bjofuruh describes his machine as follows:

This is my home made velomobile. It is constructed around a carbon fibre monocoque shell, moulded over a male plug. Front suspension is the same as Qest Velomobiel, rear suspension is a self made fork with a Risse Astro damper. Motor is a Golden Motor Smart Pie, controlled by a Cycle Analyst computer that also serve as a cycle computer, displaying a large amount of data. The velomobile is very stable and mnouverable, front wheels are 20″, rear wheel is 26″. Front brake is Sturmey Archer 90mm drum brake, and rear brake is standard disk brake. I have incorporated a kind of “force doubler” to the front brake lever to get adequat braking power. Battery is a 48V – 15Ah LiFePO4 battery, enabling a range of about 200 km in a relatively flat terrain.
I have tried to obtain low drag in combination with good stability and a low turning radius. The emphasize is on practicality combined with high performance.

The following  video, showing the same machine in it’s original paintwork, also gives a good demonstration of the electric assist on the local Norwegian hills.

One thought on “Impressive Home-Built Velomobile

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *