compact 3wheeler pedal powered concept

Hi all, I am just looking for some advice, i am working on a prototype for a very compact 3 wheel alternative pedal powered vehicle for city/metropolitan use, which will hopefully be small enoughto be taken into the office once it is completed. unfortunately i am a student and have very little in the way of funds to take this from a larger
prototype made of spare parts to the super compact custom prototype which i hope it will become. Because of this i was wondering if anyone could recommend someone who may be able to help me out with the final prototype in the interests of putting such a vehicle into production. if anyone has any recommendations i would greatly appreciate it.
thanks
Ryan

[ Edited on 28-6-2006 by baybuscamperkid ]

no suggestions? i have access and abilities to create a complete 3d computer model to go alongside the overscaled prototype but need some assistance moving on from there.

are you thinking about a recumbent?

http://www.greenspeed.com.au/

http://www.hotmover.com/

ive seen quite a few people around brisbane commuting on these, and they can go FAST!

if you have an idea for a super-compact one, why not go the whole way and just make a foldable one? i think thats one of the main reasons people turn away from recumbents, but if you could work a way around it (yes, it might be time consuming to pack up and unpack such a cycle) but at least you could store it under your desk or put it in the boot of your car if you needed to.

got any pics of your model (3d). might help in determining construction costs of a prototype. what are you thinking.... carbon fibre or ally or?

the whole thing will hopefully be only about 1 to 1.5m long and 30cm high, so no real need for it to fold, dont want to give away too much at the moment unless i am talking to someone serious, as far as consctuction, an aluminium frame would be fantastic, but i would even consider steel. the 3d model (using solidworks) is not yet up and running (software is at my university and i dont think it is open during holidays) but the large scale prototype should be rolling around the backyard by the end of the day.

sounds like fun should do a lowrider , to suit city fashion so from eco to fashion should get top marks for that

It'l be low alright, just measured the protorype up and it is currently 140cm long by 80cm wide by 40cm high, with the right components i recon i can get it easily to 100cm x 60cm x 25cm high, and judging by the very short test run just then it'l hop along OK, dont think 20kph would be out of the question (not bad for a single speed of those dimensions 😀).

Starbug wrote:if you have an idea for a super-compact one, why not go the whole way and just make a foldable one? i think thats one of the main reasons people turn away from recumbents, but if you could work a way around it (yes, it might be time consuming to pack up and unpack such a cycle) but at least you could store it under your desk or put it in the boot of your car if you needed to.

i recon at 90cm long by 60cm wide by 25cm high (dimensions that i recon i should easily be able to obtain) folding may not be so necessary, if you carried a backpack it would strap to the outside 😀