Epod

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Oct 19, 2012
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A boot / truck can be added relatively easily and at little weight cost. Could be accessed either through an opening top or over the seat back which would save weight in not making the opening top and reduce leaks and rattles. The floor of the cargo area would be corrugated plastic with an expanded aluminium mesh over the top to take the weight. The drawing is close to scale though far from exact

 
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Any design is worth pursuing, even if it is to satisfy an urge for learning something new. The thing is, it is your's, to satisfy your needs, and may not suit anyone else. In the meantime you will have proved something.

Go for it. That is the only way it will come together - and adds more to this forum.
 
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I've always wanted to make a covered trike but until now have struggled to design something I was both happy with and could make. Once the fat trike is done I'm reasonably sure I'll crack on with this.
 
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A slight redesign of the front and giving it a bigger door and an alternative with a full length screen. The full screen offers no extra visibility and would add weight. I believe the first is more aesthetically pleasing.



 
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Feb 6, 2020
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Hi everyone, my name is Arne and I built the EcoCycle EPOD's you discuss. Really glad to see it is generating some interest from fellow enthusiasts around the globe! Anyhow, if you have any questions, please reach out! BTW, the frame is all aluminum, it weighs about 240lbs and it has up to 8" of suspension travel. It has been designed as a high performance, off roadable vehicle that should be driven hard! Currently version uses a Sturmey Archer mid transmission and a 3000W hub motor. The next version is already in the works, and i'm excited to see your reactions. I haven't been great at promoting the vehicles I've built, but by virtue of being here, you know how the passion can drive you. Stay tuned!
 
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Nice to see you here - welcome. I certainly like the overall design of your creation but......240lbs! That's a lot of mass. I suspect that anyone utilising that 3000W off-road is going to require a lot of strength in a design and is what a lot of that mass is doing (providing strength). I'm hoping (expecting?) to keep to around half that by taking a different design ethos of no front suspension and not expecting to take it off-road which will allow it to be built lighter. I'd also be using a 1000w motor giving me a further saving. Time will tell if I'm being unrealistic / optimistic / completely wrong about what lardiness I could keep this build to. Can I ask if you particularly tried to keep the weight down whilst designing and building it or was weight not a primary concern? I'm all to aware it's very easy to add an extra brace or ten and/or over-engineer parts rather than minimise matters and risk failure, particularly with aluminium as it usually fails quickly and spectacularly if it is going to do so.
Can I also ask how it corners on a flat surface as long suspension travel and good cornering almost always make poor bedfellows with their design requirements at direct odds with each other. I'd also love to know if the curved screen on the production model is better at moving rain that the flat prototype. I think a curved screen looks massively more professional but it does add design complexity to get it right and mate to it's surrounding panels. I think you've done an excellent job of achieving that.
 
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Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm glad to be here! I have been in pursuit of the most awesome pedal power vehicle I can make and this is where it's at after 24 concepts. The EPod is all about power to weight and suspension compliance. The stronger you are, the faster it goes! (I also like big watt motors) Been working a lot on suspension lately and its very confident in the bends. The sway bar really helped after going from FOX floats to Zero Pro's on the front. Its smooth as butter on both ends now and should only get better with P25. I appreciate all feedback, opinion has helped shape this vehicle.
 
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A little more thought gone into the design. The windscreen will overhang at the sides by half an inch or so to encourage wind and rain to go around the door / side and has a curve to also assist. It's only a small extra effort to have a curved screen over a flat one. I've opted for no front suspension to keep weight down and was initially planning on using aluminium angle for the body frame and door but I now doubt that's going to be rigid enough so it looks like 15mmx15mmx1.0mm aluminium box which will be soldered. This means longer and therefore heavier bolts for the panelling but plastic bolts can be used there to reclaim some of that. The roof panel will overhang the sides slightly to encourage water not to drip inside the door. The frame will hopefully come in at 5.0kg or so with 1.5kg of corrugated plastic panelling and 2.5kg of polycarbonate plus bolts, sealant and 1001 other things I can't think of yet. The current sticking point is the seat. A typical fibreglass recumbent seat is too laid back and tipping it forwards slopes the squab part too much. I have an aluminium race car seat shell and cover which is an ideal shape with oodles of lateral support but that comes in at 7.4kg versus about 1.5kg for a fibreglass recumbent type. I want something with some lateral support and being more upright than your typical recumbent will place a bigger requirement on the squab part to provide some comfort.


 
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What about a folding deck chair type seat ? two horizontal poles and some material very light and body forming ?

Lateral support could be a combination of sag into the seat material and strategic placing of body frame work ?
 
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What about a folding deck chair type seat ? two horizontal poles and some material very light and body forming ?

Lateral support could be a combination of sag into the seat material and strategic placing of body frame work ?
Yes I've been considering this (probably for far too long) :-


The mounting can be achieved by the butchering of the lower frame and I like the strap arrangement which will offer at least some lateral support and sets the relationship between the squab and upright. Maybe a bit of padding on the inside of the door and opposite bodywork near the shoulders too. It also ties in nicely with the orange correx I'm thinking of. On any bike / trike it's nice to be seen by car drivers and bright orange will help. It's not going to be down at the weight of a fibreglass seat but unless I can find such a seat without forking out a fortune for a car racing seat shell it may have to do.
I've never had anything but a solid seat before so have no idea if it'll resist pedalling pressure or I'll be wasting effort.
 
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No actually ?

I was thinking of just the 2 horizontal tubes from this ?



they can be dropped into cups in the body work and easily removed should you want access to storage area underneath ?

Can't see it being very heavy ?
 
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I see what you mean. I'd expect the lower of the two poles to bite into the legs though. I find it does so on a deck chair when you are merely sitting in it never mind pedalling. I'm unsure if that would still be the case on tipping the position more upright. The body frame is unlikely to take a fair portion of my weight being there solely to hold itself and keep the environment off the rider. It could be braced back to the conventional T shaped chassis but in doing that would be back to adding a lot of weight. I'm thinking that some sort of plastic / fibreglass / composite structure that requires only mounting at it's base and has sufficient strength to support itself and the rider higher up would be best. Perhaps the top part of this:-


About 3kg for the top part. Positives are it's structural, waterproof, has slight lateral support. Negatives will surface in summer with a vinyl seat and memories of 70's cars. Perhaps a bead mat will suffice to keep the heat and sweat at bay?

I've realised that a tall seat such as the aluminium race car seat I have will block access to the storage compartment. In itself that's get-aroundable by making the boot / trunk open from outside. That introduces more weight and sealing issues though so I think a lower back seat (60 cm or so max back height) would be best keeping storage access via the inside.
 
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It's planned to only mount the seat to the main chassis rail which will be 40x20x1.5 as per my usual chassis builds. A seat with sufficient strength to allow for only being mounted at the base will be needed.
 
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