Daniel,
I have ridden ordinary bikes, recumbent bike, recumbent trike and velomobile. They get better
attention from left to right. I feel most safe in the velomobile, not because of the shell but
because car drivers are most cautious around the velomobile. In spite of that, some people think
that I am not that visible (funny because they spotted me anyway).
Even though many mention a flag as a good thing to get visible, I have noticed that this is not
always enough on a recumbent. When I am out in the traffic I personally think that it is easiest to
spot bikes that use a light, even at daytime. It beats everything, even a flag.
I do not use a flag on my velomobile. Visibility from the rear is good because the rear end is
covered with a reflective material. It could be better at the front, especially as the front area
is pretty small and the vehicle is pretty low. I think that a light is a good idea in order to get
visible for other road users. The biggest problem is that car drivers "do not see you" because they
don't recognize the vehicle, but a light on it makes it more clearly a moving vehicle.
A velomobile that is to be used as a bicycle needs to be pretty narrow to fit bike lanes and not
obstruct traffic too much. The bodywork makes it possible to keep seat height pretty low (it is
around 150 mm on the Mango) and still pretty uprigth seating position for good vision and still
keep the air resistance low. The seat angle on the Mango is 35-40 degrees which makes it
pretty low overall. Still I don't think it is too low in traffic, however headlamps on cars can be a problem and I wish sometimes that I was seated more upright because of that. One tricky thing about seat angle is to get comfortable dimensions that not strain either your neck, nor your behind.
A larger velomobile does not fit very well at the road side, on bike lanes or in traffic.
However the Leitra is pretty wide (around 1 m) and still seems to be quite usable in the same way
as a bicycle. My Mango is 750 mm wide (total width) which makes it very good even on narrow paths.
A larger, heavier and more car-like, assisted velomobile needs to be fast to keep up with traffic,
and it will not be allowed on or will be too large for bike lanes and may still be an obstruction in traffic.
In order to get a more stable and still narrow velomobile, I have thought about quads, but I have been discouraged because of the added complexity and weight. Probably you can use up to 1000 mm total width to get a stable velomobile, however I prefer a maximum width of 750-850 mm in order to fit bike lanes.
/Bruno
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