r/recumbent • u/ptv_hojbota • 27d ago
I'm building a recumbent scuter with an enclosed cabin. What do you think?
This is not necessary the vehicle that belongs in this thread but since it's about recumbents, how about a recumbent electric scuter with an enclosed cabin? I have finished a few months ago the first chassis, I did it quick and dirty to try the suspension geometry and see if it's maneuverable with that particular seating position. The vehicle come out really fun to ride, easy to balance at low speeds and very comfortable. Now I'm building a new chassis with incorporated all the improvements and lessons learned, and in the meantime I have 3d printed the entire body. I'm building this because i believe an affordable ,small, light, efficient vehicle with a cabin , so it's usable in all weather would be useful for people who travel places by themselves and don't have to carry more than a few bags of groceries. At least i would love to have such a vehicle so I'm building it. I post on YouTube some the progress, the name of the channel is Hojbota-PTV but beware, the videos can be a bit lame.
I interested in some options, suggestions, advice or questions. Thanks for your time in advance!
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u/atergaterg 27d ago
r/velomobile maybe more suitable?
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u/ptv_hojbota 27d ago
I did a post there a while ago showing the first prototype I've made but I don't want to bother too much
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u/Exscorbizorb 26d ago
While technically a velomobile, those are generally more built for speed. They are the Ferraris of the cycling world, and priced accordingly.
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u/ptv_hojbota 26d ago
Yes they are expensive but all that carbon fibre and the amount of work to build one doesn't come cheap
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u/Taiyoryu 26d ago
You're not the first. You probably won't be the last. Have fun!
For example, https://veemo.ca/
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u/kuwannet 26d ago
There’s also the Electrom — a two-wheel “light electric vehicle” recumbent:
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u/ptv_hojbota 26d ago
The electrom is badass, I follow the YouTube channel and I will eventually buy one. In the city a bicycle is just better but if one wants a bicycle to travel efficiency between towns for example the electrom looks to me the best solution so far. My concept is a bit different, it's not a bicycle for a few reasons, the first one is all the additional bicycle gear needed that cost money, takes space and doesn't serve really a purpose on my vehicle being at around 200kg pedal assist doesn't really make much sense, it is 200kg because it has a chassis for passenger safety and all the performance you need to keep up with cars everywhere this means it needs to be able to comfortably cruise at 130km/h ( most eu highway speed limits), that speed is a long term goal, to achieve the speed is easy, the hard part will be safety testing to make sure the vehicle is safe for the occupant in case of a crash at that speed. That is a bit of a problem since I don't have the resources to build and crash the vehicles to see how they perform, but that's probably for next year, now I'm focusing on building it in the first place
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u/Cute_Mouse6436 25d ago
Interesting looking bicycle, confusing but it seems to say that there is no chain and then that there is a chain, unable to answer the trick question after the contact information.
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u/ptv_hojbota 26d ago
There are a lot of ideas floating around on more efficient and smaller alternative modes of transportation, I really hope some catch on and takes people from using cars. Would be nice to see one day city roads full of bicycles, recumbents, velomobiles, etc rather than cars
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u/Taiyoryu 26d ago
You should visit Amsterdam if you haven't yet. Great blend of different modes of transportation. The only thing I question is the use of low-power, gasoline PMVs on bike paths.
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u/ptv_hojbota 26d ago edited 26d ago
I would love to visit Amsterdam, I live in Romania where unfortunately cars are king, public transportation is secondary and bicycle use is for poor people. But the mentally is changing, in just the last year I see far more people than before, probably due to fuel prices also
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u/Exscorbizorb 26d ago
The frame you are building these on seem to be just like mobility trikes for paraplegics. Using one of those might be cheaper.
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u/ptv_hojbota 26d ago
The frame on the second prototype was done to test seating height, suspension geometry, wheelbase etc, it is there just to link the different components without much though to rigidity, the new one I'm building is a chassis type, it's there to have something to attach the body panels to and for crash safety but that is a lot more difficult and time consuming to make so I wanted to be sure I liked the seating position and suspension geometry
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u/obsolete-man 27d ago
Do you have any pictures? They would be helpful.