Please tell me how you made that animation. I am working on (in my opinion) a far superior suspension system and it is messing with my head. I have got a working prototype but i need to see it in action. My idea uses one single suspension arm on each of the front tyres, in front of the suspension arm which will be a Cannondale Lefty MTB shock will be a drive shaft, this will run parallel with the shock. With the 26 inch by 3 inch tyres this will give me 26 inches of clearance.
The other problem I have found with most trikes nd now a quad that has front suspension is that the rider ends up sitting fairly high and hence a high CG. As always it's a compromise as if the double A arms are brought closer together the leverage forces on the frame drasticly increase, then back to the weight thing again. Anyway that aside amidesign please keep posting videos.
Yeah, the increase in center of gravity is an issue, which is another part of why you often end up having an easier time making a strong frame with a low center of gravity, than a fully suspended frame.
Hence why I usually go for a good seat instead of a real suspension, since most roads aren't that uneven, ad to really need a suspension in the first place. A nice foam seat with come gel pads, can go far towards a comfortable ride.
@Jesus45U yes very well said. A nice seat is under-rated and the same concept is used in almost all trucks to stop driver fatigue, they use an air suspension seat. The other option is to run large diameter tyres such as 20 x 2.5's and then lowering the tyre pressure when needed. I for traction reasons run about 15psi in my 19 x 2.5" creepy crawler when doing slippery off-road. The catch is of course extra drag but I guess you can adjust it for the type of riding your doing on the day.
@Jesus45U couldn't agree more, I use a 24T front + 34T mountain drive rear and a 19" wheel on my trike, so I have some good range. That's one of the neat things about our kind of bikes, we can go as slow as we want without having to balance. I look forward to your next video
@Jesus45U@Jesus45U couldn't agree more, I use a 24T front + 34T mountain drive rear and a 19" wheel on my trike, so I have some good range. That's one of the neat things about our kind of bikes, we can go as slow as we want without having to balance
Biggest problem is that suspension is generally heavy, and bicycles/tricycles work best is they are as light as possible.
So far, the most efficient version of front suspension on a trike I have seen, is basically make a very wide U and fit both front wheels to the vertical part of the "U", using them as kingpins with springs over them.
It's very much like a MacPherson Strut suspension.
The advantage is both frame, steering & suspension is one unit, which saves weight.
Velomobiles actually suffer less on rough surfaces than a normal bicycle, because the seat distributes the bumps over a lrger are of the body. So a lot can be done with a good seat. I recommend soft foam (like the stuff used in mattresses) combined with come gel pads in critical places.
The foam is elastic, cheap and lightweight.
The gel is good at adapting to a persons form, but it heavier.
@Jesus45U that's not necessarily true as with that design you need very strong cross booms going to either side to withstand all the weight and the forces of the suspension together. If you use something like a swingarm you can have all the suspension forces go straight into the center section of the frame. Also such a design needs tricky steering to avoid bumpsteer.
I partially agree, getting the forces centered is advantage, but I find it's often easier to build a simpler and stronger structure and make it lightweight, than one that is complex like a suspension would.
As for the bumpsteer, that's entirely a question about getting your angles and linkages right.
A simple McPherson suspension can have as little bumpsteer as a parallel a-arm suspension.
11 years of driving and building semi-professional RC cars taught me that much.
@Jesus45U if you have a low conrol arm linked to the bottom of the strut then you can just make the steering arm parallel to that, problem solved. However if it's just a sliding arrangment then it's a matter of picking your compromise. I would love to give the front suspension concept a go to see how light I could make it however I also have something very complex in the works, it's 3X3.
Nice animation. I'm no engineer, but there's no steering mechanism, and there's also no anti-roll bar, which could make for some very scary cornering.
Please tell me how you made that animation. I am working on (in my opinion) a far superior suspension system and it is messing with my head. I have got a working prototype but i need to see it in action. My idea uses one single suspension arm on each of the front tyres, in front of the suspension arm which will be a Cannondale Lefty MTB shock will be a drive shaft, this will run parallel with the shock. With the 26 inch by 3 inch tyres this will give me 26 inches of clearance.
TheGr8scott 1 month ago
@TheGr8scott Hi, I realized this video with "Blender" software. It is a free open source 3D content creation suite.
Best regards.
Aleksander.
amidesign 1 month ago
The other problem I have found with most trikes nd now a quad that has front suspension is that the rider ends up sitting fairly high and hence a high CG. As always it's a compromise as if the double A arms are brought closer together the leverage forces on the frame drasticly increase, then back to the weight thing again. Anyway that aside amidesign please keep posting videos.
Samqdf 11 months ago
@Samqdf
Yeah, the increase in center of gravity is an issue, which is another part of why you often end up having an easier time making a strong frame with a low center of gravity, than a fully suspended frame.
Hence why I usually go for a good seat instead of a real suspension, since most roads aren't that uneven, ad to really need a suspension in the first place. A nice foam seat with come gel pads, can go far towards a comfortable ride.
Jesus45U 11 months ago
@Jesus45U yes very well said. A nice seat is under-rated and the same concept is used in almost all trucks to stop driver fatigue, they use an air suspension seat. The other option is to run large diameter tyres such as 20 x 2.5's and then lowering the tyre pressure when needed. I for traction reasons run about 15psi in my 19 x 2.5" creepy crawler when doing slippery off-road. The catch is of course extra drag but I guess you can adjust it for the type of riding your doing on the day.
Samqdf 11 months ago
@Samqdf
Yeah, when I go serious mountain bike crawling, I will also lower the tire pressure.
But then, my speed also drops to a pace, where the added drag is insignificant.
Some of us use the lower 5 gears, y'know ? :)
Jesus45U 11 months ago
@Jesus45U couldn't agree more, I use a 24T front + 34T mountain drive rear and a 19" wheel on my trike, so I have some good range. That's one of the neat things about our kind of bikes, we can go as slow as we want without having to balance. I look forward to your next video
Samqdf 11 months ago
@Jesus45U @Jesus45U couldn't agree more, I use a 24T front + 34T mountain drive rear and a 19" wheel on my trike, so I have some good range. That's one of the neat things about our kind of bikes, we can go as slow as we want without having to balance
Samqdf 11 months ago
Biggest problem is that suspension is generally heavy, and bicycles/tricycles work best is they are as light as possible.
So far, the most efficient version of front suspension on a trike I have seen, is basically make a very wide U and fit both front wheels to the vertical part of the "U", using them as kingpins with springs over them.
It's very much like a MacPherson Strut suspension.
The advantage is both frame, steering & suspension is one unit, which saves weight.
Jesus45U 1 year ago
@Jesus45U
Tank you for your comment
My work on the four wheel velomobile is each day a race to save weight
Now for the first prototype I took the decision to do not have any kind of suspension
The velomobile is lighter but can not be driven on bad roads ...
Aleksander
amidesign 1 year ago
@amidesign
Velomobiles actually suffer less on rough surfaces than a normal bicycle, because the seat distributes the bumps over a lrger are of the body. So a lot can be done with a good seat. I recommend soft foam (like the stuff used in mattresses) combined with come gel pads in critical places.
The foam is elastic, cheap and lightweight.
The gel is good at adapting to a persons form, but it heavier.
Distributing the load really helps.
Look into it. :)
Jesus45U 1 year ago
@Jesus45U that's not necessarily true as with that design you need very strong cross booms going to either side to withstand all the weight and the forces of the suspension together. If you use something like a swingarm you can have all the suspension forces go straight into the center section of the frame. Also such a design needs tricky steering to avoid bumpsteer.
Samqdf 11 months ago
@Samqdf
I partially agree, getting the forces centered is advantage, but I find it's often easier to build a simpler and stronger structure and make it lightweight, than one that is complex like a suspension would.
As for the bumpsteer, that's entirely a question about getting your angles and linkages right.
A simple McPherson suspension can have as little bumpsteer as a parallel a-arm suspension.
11 years of driving and building semi-professional RC cars taught me that much.
Jesus45U 11 months ago
@Jesus45U if you have a low conrol arm linked to the bottom of the strut then you can just make the steering arm parallel to that, problem solved. However if it's just a sliding arrangment then it's a matter of picking your compromise. I would love to give the front suspension concept a go to see how light I could make it however I also have something very complex in the works, it's 3X3.
Samqdf 11 months ago
Hi, you have right, I do not design the steering mechanism
I have to study this problem to conserve correct toe angle
With this architecture I do not need anti-roll bar
In fact the rear suspension is not independent
It has only one axle and one shock absorber
In other hand, now the project uses four independent suspensions
But with only plus and minus 11 mm vertical displacement
An inch vertical total wheel travel
Tank you for your comment
Best regards
amidesign 1 year ago
Nice animation. I'm no engineer, but there's no steering mechanism, and there's also no anti-roll bar, which could make for some very scary cornering.
pseudotruth 1 year ago