Newbie in Belgium

This is the place where you can introduce yourself, and include a photo if so desired.

Newbie in Belgium

Postby Fastolfe » Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:03 am

Hello everybody,

My name is Peter, currently in Belgium. I'm building a bicycle camper trailer - that is, a camper that I'll pull behind my bicycle. I just found out about this here forum, and I wish I had known about it before starting. You guys are true specialists, and I could have planned my build better with your help no doubt.

So, I'm hoping to educate myself here, in order to finish my camper as best I can, and eventually, perhaps contribute whatever little experience I'll have gained building it :)
Fastolfe
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 7:07 am

Postby aggie79 » Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:51 am

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the forum! We look forward to your build. Please post pictures of your construction.

Take care,
Tom
Tom (& Linda)
For build info on our former Silver Beatle teardrop:
Build Thread

93503
User avatar
aggie79
Super Duper Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 5405
Images: 686
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:42 pm
Location: Watauga, Texas

Postby Fastolfe » Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:00 am

aggie79 wrote:Welcome to the forum! We look forward to your build. Please post pictures of your construction.


Thanks! I've already posted a few things in the Bicycle Travel Trailers subforum, but here are some additional photos:

Image

Image

Image

and a video of me pulling the frame and the bed when they were completed, to make sure the hitch was up to the job:

Image

It's not quite finished yet obviously :) You can find the entire history of the build here: http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=73397
Fastolfe
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 7:07 am
Top

Postby H@nk » Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:05 pm

Hi Peter,

Nice built, also a nice treamlined bicycle.
I also hope you speak vlaams or Nederlands

Greetings Henk
Old bread isn't hard, no bread, that's hard.
User avatar
H@nk
The 300 Club
 
Posts: 491
Images: 81
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:46 pm
Location: Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel, Nederland
Top

Postby Fastolfe » Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:50 pm

H@nk wrote:I also hope you speak vlaams or Nederlands


I'm afraid I don't, I'm not Belgian. I know just enough Dutch to be polite and order things at the restaurant when I travel to Flanders or the Netherlands.
Fastolfe
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 7:07 am
Top

RE: Bicycle TD

Postby mezmo » Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:23 pm

Hi Fastolfe,

Welcome to this great forum.

Your fared trike is sharp and the Bicycle TD is definitely interesting and
has a great profile.

I'm curious though why you didn't do the curvature ['streamlining']
on the vertical axis? It would match your fared bike shape better and
perhaps have less wind resistance[?]. It's a moot point now but I was
just curious on the decision process.

You're off to a great start. Good luck on the completion of the build.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo
If you have a house - you have a hobby.
User avatar
mezmo
1000 Club
1000 Club
 
Posts: 1817
Images: 194
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:11 am
Location: Columbia, SC
Top

Re: RE: Bicycle TD

Postby Fastolfe » Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:50 pm

mezmo wrote:I'm curious though why you didn't do the curvature ['streamlining'] on the vertical axis? It would match your fared bike shape better and perhaps have less wind resistance[?]. It's a moot point now but I was just curious on the decision process.


Well it's quite simple: the trailer need to be as small as possible. The horizontal dimensions are set by the bed base, which I wanted to be full size, and the vertical dimension is determined by my ability to sit fully erect inside, which is something I want.

If I had made the usual teardrop shape, with the round shape at the front and the receding profile at the back, the door would have had to be at the front, which means my head would be at the back where the profile is lowest. Or I'd have had to lengthen the trailer quite a bit to use the low profile space at the rear as a separate kitchen space or for storage, and leave the front space high enough to sit in.

But the trailer is already ginormous: the velomobile and the trailer behind are 18 ft in length, which I reckon is already barely reasonable for a human-powered vehicle. It really doesn't need an extra 3 feet just for the sake of a slightly more aerodynamic shape. What's more, given the weight of the thing, I'm not sure aerodynamics is a very important problem :)
Fastolfe
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 7:07 am
Top


Return to Newbies, Introduce yourselves

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests