Agilo velomobile

[anotherkiwi]

Another day of torrential rain...

So I thought I would show you the control center:



The LCD and buttons are mounted to a section of 22 mm CF tube screwed to the post. The logic behind this choice:

- the screen is below direct eye level but still in view, it can be tilted down at night time because even on the lowest level the back-lighting is brighter than I would like
- you only need the buttons on the tiller if you are constantly changing assistance level, on a bicycle here you often are changing but on a vélomobile assistance level 3 will be chosen most of the time and 5 on steep climbs. You only need to reach forwards very rarely.
- the controller uses the aluminium tube as a heat sink, maybe I will add some heat transfer paste
- I will hang the Watt meter under the LCD, who needs a cycle analyst
- I will assemble a cable tidy box from scrap wood and place it between the aluminium tube and the post
- I will have a "dashboard" for switches

 

[anotherkiwi]

I know you are waiting on a driving report, I am too

I set out on a test drive earlier and the motor failed just 100 metres from the garage. Where I live no motor = no road test, it really is that steep. I got to cruise back down to the garage at up to 34 km/h (the controller speed sensor is not broken). My first task will be to learn tiller steering but Agilo has good road handling, my little learner steering mistakes were corrected automatically by the vélomobile coming back in line! I was braking much of the way down - the speed is limited to 30 km/h there.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Another update.

I made a mistake, I did not print out a modified page of the instructions that was sent to me (nor modify the existing page) and so I had a small drive train issue. This is 100% my fault but despite that, Bodo Sitko has improved even further this detail in the plan! I just got back from a very short test drive and the issue is closed - RTFM! (Read The Fine Manual) I should know better

Because my Agilo is not conventional in that I have 2 x chainrings mounted to my motor I need a chain tensioner, it has been ordered just now from Bike Discount along with a b+m LUMOTEC IQ-XS High Beam LED Front Light. Shimano only sell 18 and 20T sprockets and the tensioner doc says that it only works with those sprockets, I am trusting that it will work just fine with my 16T sprocket...

And now I just need to take my motor back out and see why it is not working again... Because it is not working I have discovered that I can climb (very slowly) the hill behind my apartment with the Alfine 8 first gear. So I have decided to mount a 42T low gear, this makes my Alfine 8 a 9 speed with one lower gear. Or if you look at it the other way (the 42T as primary gear) a 10 speed with 2 higher gears. For towing a trailer etc the ideal combination is probably 52-38 which gives a 1.25 ratio first gear.

I am now at just over 1 km driving a vélomobile!

 

[beate]

I am now at just over 1 km driving a vélomobile!

And we are still waiting for pics of the Agilo in the wilderness.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I can't drive for the moment because the chain jumps, I have a 15% gradient to get away from home. I am sitting digesting my pizza (yes, home made) and wondering if I should push it to the top of the hill then drive to my GFs place (downhill then flat). There I will have electricity for the soldering iron etc. to fix the motor. The chain tensioner will arrive next week. I think I will drive there after mounting that.

It is costing me as much as you, we are in the best part of fishing season!

 

[Cars10]

we are in the best part of fishing season!

The Agilo was build to replace your fishing boat?

 

[JKL]

RTFM! (Read The Fine Manual)

das dritte Wort hatte ich anders in Erinnerung

 

[beate]

Ist halt Neusprech und sogar Facebook-kompatibel.

 

[anotherkiwi]

The Agilo was build to replace your fishing boat?

No to carry boat stuff and fishing stuff to the harbour 6.5 km away. In the rain and cold.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Ist halt Neusprech und sogar Facebook-kompatibel.

What is this "facebook" of which you speak?

Geeks like me say fsck which is Unix for file system check

 

[beate]

Geeks like me say fsck which is Unix for file system check

And geeks like me are frustrated about the dead nvram batteries of their ancient sparc stations. And the lound fans and disk drives.

 

[Chouchen]

das dritte Wort hatte ich anders in Erinnerung

Famous? Fantastic? Formidable?

 

[Suedhesse]

Famous? Fantastic? Formidable?

Ich dachte da an "Fonderful" ...

 

[HenriP]

I did not follow this log, but I just heard, you are about finished. Great! I think I had advised you caution when deciding to take on this project, but seems younwere totally up for the task. (Again not having read the log and how troubled the process was ) I am often in awe and envious what people can and will make. It will probably be a nice feeling, to ride what you have bilt yourself. - But also I would always have a sharper focus on flaws in something, that was/is my own responsibility.

People always ask, if our velomobiles are self made. (Just had that the day before yesterday with my A7 and a Milan SL, the special edition from Henning with light strips built right into the chassis.) And I alwas say something like "Does that look like I built it!?" but seeing your's I would not have been too sure, it wasn't profesionally made. (Well okay, I don't remember, what your profession is. )

Oh my... Looks
a) like you were fed up and threw it to the ground
b) very nerve-wracking! Glad it didn't slip.

I wish you soon, happy, long lasting riding!

 

[anotherkiwi]

It drives!

Not far... The Alfine low gear is not low enough to allow me to escape from my street without a motor. So I climbed as high as I could and rolled back down without braking with the following observations:

- forcing like a mule on the pedals the structure is stiff, from what I read on the forum this is a good thing
- turning circle perfect, narrow street and a parking space so I estimate just over 6 metres diameter (my first time, I will improve)
- I drove over some bumps to learn how the tiller reacts, neutral with no unexpected movements (I need to learn a lot more about tiller steering though)
- I didn't brake, the other day I drove down a much shorter distance braking most of the way and reached 34 km/h so today 40? No motor = no speedometer, no wind in the face = no idea how fast... The brake pads need some more km to be seated of course

Globally I am very satisfied with the handling. I did mount the stiff springs at the front and I am glad I made that choice, there is very little body roll in corners and Agilo is quite tall. If you are building or considering building and you weigh >75 kg I would recommend you make that choice too. I have been doing lots of gymkhana driving in the parking lot with faster and faster tight corners and changes of direction. It handles better than the first generation A Class

At the rear I have an air damper which is set too hard (15% sag) compared to Rockshox documentation (25%) but their setting is for a MTB on rough terrain. As it is now in combination with the big fat Maxxis DTH it feels perfect for asphalt driving. Even with the huge pushes on the pedals I was giving near the top of the hill there was no suspension pumping. I think that is a good thing too and the ride was very comfortable over the sewer covers. The rebound is set halfway between the middle setting and "fast".

No strange noises! Near total silence when running down hill - of course Youtube videos of carbon fibre fast vélomobiles rolling downhill do not give the exact sound level the driver perceives inside but wood will be a much quieter material.

The seating is comfortable - to be confirmed on longer drives and the large interior volume is very comfortable. At the moment 100% of my attention is being focused on technical things and learning to drive (Again!) so I wouldn't say that I am relaxed but Agilo is a pleasant place to be.

Now to get the motor running again (...) and get out on the open road

 

[Schrau-Bär]

and get out on the open road

...and provide us with some pictures and footage !
Congratulations ! Your report sounds like you're on exactly the right track.
Don't stop testing other suspension setups. I was quite pleased with the first firm setup too but ended up with the contrary. It feels more like a sedan now and flies over gravel at speed. That's nice.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Time for a Bafang...

I took the motor out and it really is broken. In half...



Now I just happen to have an idea how that casting was cracked - I had a nasty brake hard, upside down over the handlebars, fold the rim accident with the upright a while ago. It was only held together by the velomobiel.nl Bafang motor mount during my test rides apparently.

Did I offend the vélomobile gods?

 

[anotherkiwi]

OK so I have asked the English pedelec shop that sold me the motor if they have any half motor castings left over from all those motors which fried their internal controller

If not I will get my first ever Bafang BBS01 because I have the chainring spider, my 165 mm cranks fit and it costs 295€ (yes she has already made nasty remarks about that...) and I know what can go wrong with it (the internal controller...). I would love to have a BBS02 48v 500W with a nice 250W sticker but I don't need the extra weight (the 314.50€ price tag I can handle). Problem - I have to learn to have a slow cadence when climbing hills. The BBS01 is 75 loaded RPM and the BBS02 which weighs 500 grams more has a loaded RPM of 118 RPM, a little faster than my 94-95 normal cadence. I have to move the extra 500 grams weight myself as soon as I go over 25 km/h If you are going to cheat with the law the BBS02 is the motor to choose, it will push you to 55 km/h with ease on the flat.

48v or 36v batteries are not a problem, I make my own. The advantage of my broken motor is that it ran on a 44v battery at 104 RPM which is near perfect correspondence to my cadence. When it was a 36v battery and 87 RPM we were not friends... So with the BBS01 I have the chance to weld up 2 x 4S6P batteries to go with the 6S6P ones which I already have and that gives me 1080 Wh total. 1/5th the Citroën Ami battery and 3.85 times the range I just need to learn to crank slowly on the hills.

I am very disappointed, earlier I saw the potential and I hoped to be driving tomorrow morning. Everywhere...

 

[tieflieger]

That is not nice, especialy since this is not an easy or cheap fixable problem. While learning to drive be very aware what happens after a sudden change in direction.

Greetings, Jeroen

 

[Schrau-Bär]

Okay, that's true.
In my case it doesn't matter much:

Gestatten...

runde Schminkspiegel oder ähnliches in einem Durchmesser von 60-75mm...

www.velomobilforum.de

Die Aufhängung hat ähnlich wie die Hinterachse vieler Kleinwagen einen eingebauten Stabilisator.
Das auf den Bildern zu erkennende Edelstahlrohr läuft einmal quer durch die Karosserie und lenkt mittig über einen Hebel einen Luftdämpfer an.
Wenn also das linke Rad einfedert, wird das rechte zum Teil mit hoch gezogen.