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This is a cross post more or less from BROL that I made. Sorry for the post in English. Spanish is the only other language I can speak or write in.
For the past couple of years I've had issues with the tires of my WAW making contact with the wheel well during high speed turns. Weight transfer was the problem. I use to run Primo Comets but in a raffle last year at the HPC I won a set of Schwalbe tires. I picked the Marathon Plus since I use the velomobile for commuting. The Marathon Plus tires were a little taller and I had even more tire contact issues.
Like some people, I started to research springs with a higher load rating. I didn't understand much of the lingo. Another forum user, RATWATER set me a PM offering to assist me with some enhancements I was working on. With his help and guidance, I began to grasp an understanding of spring specs. Several days into emailing back and forth I had a revelation. I had just installed the strut without the spring to measure the travel distance I needed. What I saw and then understood was that my problem was not in the spring load rating. I only had tire contact in turns. I realized that if I installed a higher rated spring the ride would be rougher. The problem was in the strut travel length. There was no bumper to prevent the tire from contacting the wheel well. When I emailed RATWATER what I was thinking the response I got was "...now we're both on the same page" He had patiently allowed me to learn so I could see the bigger issue. What I wanted was a bumper that stopped the wheel from contacting the wheel well and also soft enough to add a little bit of total spring weight rate.
I think I've found a material that will work. Yesterday at work, I noticed a mechanic had on his tool box a kneeling pad. It compresses well and is made of closed cell foam.
This morning I went to the store and purchased a kneeling pad for $5.00. I cut out four donuts that would cover the exposed end of the strut shaft and installed the strut. With me sitting over the wheel and pulling up on the rim I still had at least a half an inch of room between the tire and wheel well. Then I tried the same on the other wheel that didn't have the donut stack on it. With just me sitting over the wheel it had less than a quarter of an inch to spare.
I added a large washer that sits on the strut tube to support the kneeling pad donuts. I need to get a plastic sleeve or something to go between the strut shaft and the washer to prevent wear on the strut shaft.
It has been since suggested by RATWATER to use a hard plastic such as Delrin or an aluminum washer to prevent wear on the strut shaft.
The only other velomobile I've seen a Go-One and didn't give the suspension much thought at the time. Knowing that the struts are common on many velomobiles it may be that this idea could help someone else.
For the past couple of years I've had issues with the tires of my WAW making contact with the wheel well during high speed turns. Weight transfer was the problem. I use to run Primo Comets but in a raffle last year at the HPC I won a set of Schwalbe tires. I picked the Marathon Plus since I use the velomobile for commuting. The Marathon Plus tires were a little taller and I had even more tire contact issues.
Like some people, I started to research springs with a higher load rating. I didn't understand much of the lingo. Another forum user, RATWATER set me a PM offering to assist me with some enhancements I was working on. With his help and guidance, I began to grasp an understanding of spring specs. Several days into emailing back and forth I had a revelation. I had just installed the strut without the spring to measure the travel distance I needed. What I saw and then understood was that my problem was not in the spring load rating. I only had tire contact in turns. I realized that if I installed a higher rated spring the ride would be rougher. The problem was in the strut travel length. There was no bumper to prevent the tire from contacting the wheel well. When I emailed RATWATER what I was thinking the response I got was "...now we're both on the same page" He had patiently allowed me to learn so I could see the bigger issue. What I wanted was a bumper that stopped the wheel from contacting the wheel well and also soft enough to add a little bit of total spring weight rate.
I think I've found a material that will work. Yesterday at work, I noticed a mechanic had on his tool box a kneeling pad. It compresses well and is made of closed cell foam.
This morning I went to the store and purchased a kneeling pad for $5.00. I cut out four donuts that would cover the exposed end of the strut shaft and installed the strut. With me sitting over the wheel and pulling up on the rim I still had at least a half an inch of room between the tire and wheel well. Then I tried the same on the other wheel that didn't have the donut stack on it. With just me sitting over the wheel it had less than a quarter of an inch to spare.
I added a large washer that sits on the strut tube to support the kneeling pad donuts. I need to get a plastic sleeve or something to go between the strut shaft and the washer to prevent wear on the strut shaft.
It has been since suggested by RATWATER to use a hard plastic such as Delrin or an aluminum washer to prevent wear on the strut shaft.
The only other velomobile I've seen a Go-One and didn't give the suspension much thought at the time. Knowing that the struts are common on many velomobiles it may be that this idea could help someone else.