Done, time for vacation!

Today I've finished the paint job on the cardboard Solo. That means that as soon as the paint is dry and I've attached the normal accessories, that the bike is operational. I've done it!
I am quite pleased with the outcome, even though I have to admit that I did some bodging here and there because of the time pressure I was under. Nevertheless it is a good looking bike and it rides very promising.
I guess the only thing left for me to do is grow a mustache and move to Hawaii.
Have a nice vacation everybody! :)

Workshop dump...

By now the workshop looks like a dump, but there is no time to clean up, I need to finish the project before friday. Come on!

This is as far as I got today, the two halves are connected, even though not entirely yet. The wheel wells are in place and glued in, the luggage compartment is on its way to be finished and the manhole is being glued into place.

Have a look at the pictures. With a bit of luck I can show you some more tomorrow.

tic, tac, tic, tac,...

The clock is ticking. I only have four more days to complete the cardboard bike since I want to use it during my vacation. If it works it will be a very close call anyway. I have all cardboard parts by now, I still need to find a good way of connecting them. As soon as I found that one, I actually have to connect them, paint the whole bike a few times, assemble all bike parts and put on the normal gear like a bell, lights and mirrors...
Wish me luck and enjoy the picture of the bike to be!

update on cardboard project

Dear reader it's been a while since the last update and quite a lot has happened since then.
The card board body is taking shape. I've finally decided to make three outside pieces, left, right and top front. More pieces are being made for the wheel wells. Today I was able to take off the left half. I'm quite pleased with it even thoug it might not look like a lot to the untrained eye.

The hole in the front will become a wheel well later on in the process.
After taking that off and feeling pleased with myself the universe and everything else it was time to start the right half. It takes about a week to finish the drying process, with this weather maybe a bit less, so given the fact that I want it to be finished (as in the whole velomobile finished!) I have to work double time.
Here you can see the first three layers of paper on the mold for the right half

It dries quickly now, maybe I can already put on the second group of layers tomorrow.
But the best fairing is nothing without a good trio of wheels underneath. Here you can see the new frame. I'm still not too sure about the wheel angles, I will have to try them out as soon as the ordered parts have arrived.

Now you are up to date about what's going on in the Vrijwiel workshop. Since there will be more progress soon, keep an eye on the blog for the latest news.

First cardboard pieces

Today the first two pieces of paper maché finally got of the mold. A few days ago I've decided to make it easy for myself, I've used the plug as a positive mold for a first try out. I figured out that if this would work, I wouldn't have to make molds at all and could do with the plug as only mold. Safes a lot of work...
Here you can see the plug in red in it's, yet, final state.

I then fitted the paper maché (or should I say laminate?) on it, layer by layer.
This is the first layer.

After some more layers and 5 days of drying, I 've decided to make two pieces and remove them from the mold. See what made me happy today.

It feels good to see that the pieces came out quite nicely. Now the rest, I'll keep you updated.

The plug isn't finished yet...but almost

Let's call it a milestone in the Vrijwiel Solo cardboard project. The plug for the cardboard project is smooth. There are still some small scratches and little bumps here and there, but nothing too serious. It still needs to get one or two layers and some sanding but I already like the looks of it.

And the winner is...

... Puck Imants! Last week I was able to present her with her price.
Yes, she was happy, came all the way to the workshop by bus to be able to cycle home on it.

This bike is gone, but if you feel the urge to own one yourself, don't hesitate to contact me. As mentioned earlier in the blog, there are plans for producing it. The plans will become reality as soon as there is enough interest. When we will start, it will be a first run of 5 Vrijwiel City for an introduction price of €699,00.

We are also still producing the Vrijwiel Solo and the original Vrijwiel. Have a look at the website for more details. Hope to see you soon on
www.vrijwiel.nl