# Look at this cutie I spotted in Ipswich this morning!



## Andrew_Culture (2 Aug 2017)

View: https://youtu.be/ve7LS5BbUI4


He wazzed past me and I had trouble catching up! I was expecting some young whipper snapper in the thing for it to be going so fast, but when I caught up there was a fella in there who was older than me!


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## glasgowcyclist (2 Aug 2017)

From the back it looks like a traffic cone being pulled along on a wire.


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## Cheddar George (2 Aug 2017)

Very cool.

Off topic - did you get a mention on Radio 6 yesterday ?


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## Milkfloat (2 Aug 2017)

Having never been in one - how does one indicate? Plus - do they get involved in more filtering incidents than uprights?


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## RoubaixCube (2 Aug 2017)

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♫♪We all live in the yellow submarine♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♫♪


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## LCpl Boiled Egg (2 Aug 2017)

I saw a white one of those going through Hunstanton on Sunday. It left the cars for dust filtering through the traffic.


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## MontyVeda (2 Aug 2017)

Cheddar George said:


> Very cool.
> 
> Off topic - did you get a mention on Radio 6 yesterday ?


another one?

(I asked the same thing a few months back)


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## fixedfixer (2 Aug 2017)

That looks wicked. However I don't have the bottle to ride one in traffic. Credit due to keeping up with him.


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## glasgowcyclist (2 Aug 2017)

Would be better to get the idiot drivers off the roads rather than the velomobilist (if that's how they're known).
I think most folk would definitely see him and with a WTF?! expression on their faces.


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## FishFright (2 Aug 2017)

[QUOTE 4904224, member: 9609"]it blends in well at the bus stops and above the double yellows
can't imagine that been even remotely safe with all the idiots driving cars and trucks, most folk will never see him. Looks fun but not for the road.[/QUOTE]

I reckon its many times more visible then a conventional bike.


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## ianrauk (2 Aug 2017)

FishFright said:


> I reckon its many times more visible then a conventional bike.




....and some.
They are much bigger then it looks in the picture. Car drivers cant help but see them. 

It's also what I found when I was riding a recumbent, car drivers seemed to take a wider pass then with a normal bike.


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## Smokin Joe (2 Aug 2017)

[QUOTE 4904224, member: 9609"]it blends in well at the bus stops and above the double yellows
can't imagine that been even remotely safe with all the idiots driving cars and trucks, some folk will never see him. Looks fun but not for the road.

[/QUOTE]
How the bleedin' hell would you not see that?


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## Milkfloat (2 Aug 2017)

I understand in normal traffic there will be the WTF visibility but I do wonder when filtering when hidden behind and alongside other vehicles.


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## Drago (2 Aug 2017)

Blimey, you weren't hanging about either. Might he have bought it off the mysterious unnamed supplier to Italian Amateur Racers?


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## Smokin Joe (2 Aug 2017)

[QUOTE 4904283, member: 9609"]i


I would hope I would see it as I try to be as observant as possible, but not everyone drivers with my attention. Being so low down it won't be where some are looking, it will also get lost behind other vehicles. I'm sure that will get lost in the blind spot of large 4x4s let alone lorries.[/QUOTE]
The only way you could miss that is by looking up at the sky and not at the road ahead.


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## Drago (2 Aug 2017)

It doesn't matter. Painting yourself with fluoro doesn't make you statistically any less likely to get augured by a car, such efforts to k crease ones conspicuity bring no proven benefit. If someone's looking, they'll see it - if they ain't they simply won't.


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## simongt (2 Aug 2017)

Smokin Joe said:


> How the bleedin' hell would you not see that?



Probably the same way that when you are cruising and wearing hi-viz clothing & have enough lights to challenge Blackpool illuminations, a car pulls out in front of you  and the driver says - 'Oh sorry pal, I didn't see you'.


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## Smokin Joe (2 Aug 2017)

simongt said:


> Probably the same way that when you are cruising and wearing hi-viz clothing & have enough lights to challenge Blackpool illuminations, a car pulls out in front of you  and the driver says - 'Oh sorry pal, I didn't see you'.


But that hardly makes a recumbent more dangerous than any other bike, does it?

And in answer to Reiver, if they were skywatching or updating their Facebook status they'd be just as likely to hit another car as any bike. And I think that cycle would stand out a bit more than a yellow road marking.


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## FishFright (2 Aug 2017)

[QUOTE 4904424, member: 9609"]but that is the problem, they could be looking at the Sky, or updating their arsebook profile, there are plenty who drive with only cursory glances ahead, you need to stay big, obvious and right in their line of vision. I would fear the [whateveritwas] may just look like some yellow road markings[/QUOTE]
You sound like you're terrified to leave the house.


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## growingvegetables (2 Aug 2017)

[QUOTE 4904224, member: 9609"]... some folk will never see him. ...[/QUOTE]
Really?

How many people would NOT notice ... damn it, looks like Donald Duck doing a runner! Methinks a real problem would be people seeing him, and whipping out their mobile phones. [Not you, @Andrew_Culture ]


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## StuAff (2 Aug 2017)

Milkfloat said:


> Having never been in one - how does one indicate? Plus - do they get involved in more filtering incidents than uprights?


Indicators as standard on velomobiel.nl bikes (the Quest, the one in the vid, Strada and Quattrovelo) & either standard or optional on those from other manufacturers.


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## Drago (3 Aug 2017)

[QUOTE 4904782, member: 9609"]

so why do police put blue flashing lights on ?[/QUOTE]

Because they're told to. Having said that, their behaviour is so unusual, so different to prevailing traffic flow, that it doesn't bear comparison 

Much like the EU tells car manufacturers to install DRLs right across Europe, despite there being no evidence it makes any safety improvement outside of a sub arctic climate.

Like the EU nearly introduced mandatory leg protection for new motorcycles in the Eighties, despite evidence showing that in severe collisions they tore riders in half at the hip. It was only frantic efforts of the manufacturers that stopped this at the 11th hour. In fact, it was later discovered that the EU mandarin responsible for this, and other, attempts at introducing oppressive motorcycling legislation had suffered the indignity of his wife having an affair with a biker, hence his rabid efforts at ridiculous and unproven safety legislation. His personal vendetta against everything two wheeled was quietly coveted up.

Like the regulations that dictate people wear hardhats in certain perceived high risk environments, despite their being no physical means by which anything could fall upon their heads. Such as walking round a building site on day one before any work has actually begun.

We are told to do many things in the name of safety, but in surprisingly few cases is there any actual science that proves a safety benefit. The bulk is based upon perceived wisdom, which usually contains very little actual wisdom at all.

Perceived wisdom misguides, misdirects, and misinforms. Do not give it credence.


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## Rickshaw Phil (3 Aug 2017)

*Mod note:*

Guys, start your own thread if you want to discuss whether visibility aids work on bikes.  Don't hijack this one.


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## Rickshaw Phil (3 Aug 2017)

Why so? The thread appears to have been started for discussion of an interesting and unusual machine but seems to have been steered into discussion of camoflage and daytime running lights which is more of a topic for the Safety and Advocacy section.


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## Andrew_Culture (3 Aug 2017)

Cheddar George said:


> Very cool.
> 
> Off topic - did you get a mention on Radio 6 yesterday ?



Ha ha, yes I did  You're the first person to mention it!


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## Andrew_Culture (3 Aug 2017)

MontyVeda said:


> another one?
> 
> (I asked the same thing a few months back)



Yup. This was in Rad Mac. I think the other was Tom Ravenscroft, but if you say you're from Ipswich you stand a good chance of Tom mentioning you as he's a local lad.


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## Andrew_Culture (3 Aug 2017)

Drago said:


> Blimey, you weren't hanging about either. Might he have bought it off the mysterious unnamed supplier to Italian Amateur Racers?



There was a decent tailwind


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## fixedfixer (3 Aug 2017)

I do rather like these velo's. I saw some examples of using something called coroplastic (that may not be the correct name) that a guy had used to make a fairing for a trike. Maybe we'll see @voyager adding this type of thing to one of her builds.


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## Andrew_Culture (3 Aug 2017)

fixedfixer said:


> I do rather like these velo's. I saw some examples of using something called coroplastic (that may not be the correct name) that a guy had used to make a fairing for a trike. Maybe we'll see @voyager adding this type of thing to one of her builds.



I looked up the price of these cool things. Ouch...


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## MontyVeda (3 Aug 2017)

Andrew_Culture said:


> Yup. This was in Rad Mac. I think the other was Tom Ravenscroft, but if you say you're from Ipswich you stand a good chance of Tom mentioning you as he's a local lad.


I've had Jarvis and Rad Mac reading out my correspondence .... but was livid a couple of weeks ago when Guy Garvey didn't play my Song for Guy recommendation  Elbow are shyte anyway


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## Andrew_Culture (3 Aug 2017)

MontyVeda said:


> I've had Jarvis and Rad Mac reading out my correspondence .... but was livid a couple of weeks ago when Guy Garvey didn't play my Song for Guy recommendation  Elbow are shyte anyway



ha ha, brilliant!


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## voyager (3 Aug 2017)

fixedfixer said:


> I do rather like these velo's. I saw some examples of using something called coroplastic (that may not be the correct name) that a guy had used to make a fairing for a trike. Maybe we'll see @voyager adding this type of thing to one of her builds.


don't like coroplast , looking at depron and resin skin over a spaceframe , no room for a velo yet !
built like a model aircraft fuselage.

Later's Emma


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## fixedfixer (4 Aug 2017)

voyager said:


> don't like coroplast , looking at depron and resin skin over a spaceframe , no room for a velo yet !
> built like a model aircraft fuselage.
> 
> Later's Emma



I'll be looking out for your new thread about that project when you start it........


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