tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-129937832011-12-01T11:21:08.980+01:00What happens when one combines a fast and sporty velomobile like a Waw with the advanced electrical assist/generator like a BionX? Do they reinforce eachothers advantages or their disadvantages? Find out my and others experiences here. If you do not know what a velomobile or an electric assist is, check out the links first. (An electrical assist that helps up to only 25km/h and with power limited to 250W, remains a bicycle by EU law)Frederiknoreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-80135260776754379282008-01-10T20:59:00.000+01:002008-01-10T21:10:56.994+01:00

Waw001 is back on the road since a few months in a new colour: green. It got its new name from its new owner, our crash test dummy Peter H. ;-)Since I last wrote on this blog, prices of electrical assist engines have come down dramatically. Contrary to what some people thing, I am NOT an expert in the market, all I did in this blog was to share my experience with one system. I do not know much

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1159960619977316832006-10-04T13:02:00.000+02:002007-02-23T14:52:25.036+01:00

Well the Waw001 hasn't been on the road since late May 2006. I had loaned it to a friend who unfortunately came into a collision with an overtaking motorcycle which he somehow missed when making a left turn. No-one got hurt, but the Waw took some pretty serious damage to the nose and the structure on the left side. It took some time to get the insurance settled, and now with some more delay (

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1142849309832801462006-03-20T10:27:00.000+01:002006-11-23T08:49:17.743+01:00

I has been a while since the last post. I haven't been riding a lot for many reasons. Nr.1 is that I had my first immobilising velomobile mishap/accident in ten years of riding. Bit tired, in the dark, unfamiliar road, some snow cover and blinded by car lights, I rode the Waw straight onto a 10cm high curb at approx. 30-35km/h. From the tracks in the snow, one could see I had been "flying" about

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1131294966877108042005-11-06T17:31:00.000+01:002006-09-27T15:40:11.393+02:00

Instead of calling the BionX an assist engine or a hybrid assist engine, both of which confuse people who are not familiar with the velomobile concept, perhaps "Climb assist" of "Uphill assist" better describe the function of the bionX in a velomobile? Give me your vote and opinion on the best name in the comments!XXXXXXXXXXX UPDATE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX...Some explenation on the WHY of this name

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1130156461971389382005-10-24T14:11:00.000+02:002007-03-04T08:24:46.846+01:00

I got a comment by "Allewedertje" which is not an uncommon reaction - so I post my answers to clear things up:>Hmmm, I would not call an additional weight of 8kg "light" ! >Especially since the system does not work with speeds above >25 km/h, you drag along a lot of weight. Since I live in a >very flat area, it is certainly not on my wish list !Allewedertje, 8kg IS light for such a system. Either

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1129527765263480632005-10-17T07:37:00.000+02:002007-01-20T01:13:00.086+01:00

- 40% more range by using regeneration -IntroductionSince the BionX was mounted in the Waw for about six months ago, I wanted to do some kind of test to see how much the most unique feature of the system pays of: the possibility to use the assist engine as a generator charging the battery under braking/slowing down. A velomobile such as the Waw are practical yet very efficient machines due to the

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1126254040740095902005-09-09T10:12:00.000+02:002005-09-09T11:25:51.306+02:00

Finally some new stuff on this blog! Also redid the lay-out, hope it is a better read now (I learn!) Calle contacted me because he was intrested in the BionX. We met, had an interesting talk and he did a test drive. He liked the BionX, but I was just as interested on how this unexpected and unintended meeting with a velomobile was for him. So I asked him to write a short report on how he

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1124113546371911962005-08-15T15:43:00.000+02:002005-09-09T11:21:10.630+02:00

No news since a long time, just to note that some new stuff IS coming.When the weather is good and you have a holiday, you just don't sit inside behind you PC...In the mean time I upload a piccie showing that Waw can look very different from 001, here 009

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1117032701292349762005-05-25T16:51:00.000+02:002007-01-27T18:46:16.223+01:00

As it turns out, riding into town and back, a 50km roundtrip, is no problem at all. The first roundtrip, the battery indicator showed that about a third capacity was left, so that should result in approximate range of 70-80 km. Second ride was similar. The third charge I managed to empty completely in exactly 80km. And this with the assist level on level 3 (100% assist) and a few times on 4 on

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1117104198092804102005-05-22T12:40:00.000+02:002005-09-09T11:19:08.330+02:00

Per-Eric catches some attention on his test rideJust that you know, I've never really ridden a velomobile before.However, I ride other 'bents, so I'm propably am a bit easier to teach velomobiling than the average bike och car user.First impressive thing was the sturdiness of WAW. I've been warned that entering some velomobiles can be a bit acrobatic, because of the limited amount of places that

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1116658686615117832005-05-13T20:16:00.000+02:002006-07-25T04:54:44.973+02:00

Installment Installing the BionX in the Waw took a lot longer than 30 minutes. More like the better part of a whole day. Partly because Peter and I took some time to fix some other things. First issue to work out was if the BionX would fit with the standard-length electric wiring. Preferably I would have had the battery somewhere between the front wheels to have a lower centre of gravity and so

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1116567782559312592005-05-10T18:33:00.000+02:002005-09-09T11:22:40.503+02:00

Extensive lobbying of my friend Peter H. succeeded in making me enthusiastic in testing an electrical assist. After searching the internet and visiting a few cycle shops, it became clear that the system having the best chance to make a convincing case for the concept was the BionX. (I have testridden quite some bikeelecs before too). Even I - previously totally uninterested in the subject - found

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12993783.post-1116555742015464312005-05-05T16:22:00.000+02:002005-09-09T11:12:31.000+02:00

Welcome to this little blog.It is meant to report about my experiences with the electrical assist system BionX in combination with my velomobile, the Waw001. I'll start with posting a short introduction to the subject.VelomobileA velomobile is an advanced HPV - a "human powered vehicle". If a bicycle is a human powered motorcycle, then a velomobile is roughly a human powered automobile. Different

Frederiknoreply@blogger.com1