Alleweder FWD project velomobile

Wisconsin roads could use a good front wheel drive velomobile – at least that’s what I think. So I acquired a used velomobile of the Alleweder variety from an individual in Colorado Springs in June of 2014 from a craigslist ad. The intent was to do a restomod of this velomobile as the price was right? and it was not operational. I thought this was an early FAW until I received an email from an individual in the Netherlands indicating this is a Bart Verhees Alleweder. The serial number on the chassis is 004A. I contacted Bart Verhees and he confirmed that he put this together in December of 1997 and was surprised that any first series Alleweders had made it to the USA.

Initial assessment

And as I was contemplating next steps, life got in the way. Retinal detachments in both eyes, helping our daughter with a fixing up her newly acquired used home, a few vacations, my north lakes tour around Lake Michigan. But fast forward to the start of 2018 and my 3D printer.

Stabilizing the body

One cannot start on the important front wheels until the rear wheel is established so the steering geometry can be defined. Here’s where the 3D printer starts to earn its keep.

The rear wheel

Then  came the hard stuff. I had acquired a nuvinci 360 before the donor velomobile and then acquired a samagaga differential sometime after 2014. As I was contemplating the universal joints and front wheels, http://www.samagaga.com added a universal joint option and wheels to their catalog (nuj-hc axle). I just needed to buy it and modify it slightly to fit a 32″ wheel track.

Front wheel setup

The only thing left was the bottom bracket and incorporating the nuvinci 360. The assembly is bolted to both wheel arches and the aluminum floor reinforcing plate to aid in structural stability.

Next steps are to fix the bodywork, test for failure and add some lighting. I have checked to make sure the old panels still fit, but I do see some changes to make storage more accessible and maintenance easier.

The body panels are now polished although it still has the scars of a few crashes. The front nose is comprised of a fixed lower half of aluminum and a removable top half so it can be used as storage. Turn signals, running lights and brake lights are installed and working. The LED lights are from suberbrightleds.com and are DOT approved.

the velomobile has its body panels

All set for winter with the flevo roof, coroplast fairing and snow tires. It now has 2 zefal mirrors as well.

winter tires, roof and fairing