Now i know there's a strong juvenile essence to the subject,but really,I'm serious - I'm gonna build a proper pedal car.

I need pictures,information,experience.

It may sound like a toy project,but this is serious transportation going on here - I'm talking up to 50mph and weatherproof,a pint sized Caterham,not a Kettacar.

I've no experience of butted tubing,it'll be thin-wall rolled tubular steel framed,but it should still be light enough. Commuter/racer gearing,not sure on the wheels yet but they'll be discs all round.

This may not seem like a good idea in most places,but here in Milton Keynes we have a seperate pedestrian/cycleway to the roads - and they make cycling fantastic. A pedal car would be ace,here.

I nearly entered the Red Bull soapbox race a few years ago with a plastic euro pallet as a chassis,and having watched a programme yesterday featuring a pedal car race,I'm back well into interest. It'd be great for commuting to work,and would have some carrying capacity. Not to mention Greenpeace's views.

So,any experiences? Opinions? Ideas?

50 mph?from a pedal car? i highly doubt it maybe 20-30 mph if your lucky and build a light enough frame!

but still in saying that it would be a great idea if you did give it a go

I've done 40mph on my urban-mountain bike.

But being so high up,aerodynamics are terrible,and body weight restricts pedal pressure - especially leaning forward.

Laying in a bathtub position,in something representing an upturned bathtub but chopped at the back,both those issues are addressed - and with the gearing available to travel the car over 35ft in just one pedal revolution,the 50mph target is conservative.

Not that id often reach that,or that it'd be right to do so on a footpath,and i may yet consider further a terrain route instead. But as it stands,a racer over a buggy is favorite.

It could even have a cup holder.

Sounds like a good plan, but don't forget that if you wanted to achieve speeds of 50mph you would have to run wheels of a similar size as a normal MTB or road bike, as obviously the wheel size is really what determines the final gear ratio rather than the gears themselves.

Got any pictures of examples Mikey as i have no idea what this would look like..??

good luck fella sounds like fun , i would love to see a pedal car doing 50 lol .

have you seen some of the pedal cars from the past , jag xk120 , rolls royce , austin 7`s . and not to forget all the pedal cars in that bugsy malone film . youve made me smile hope you build one !

50 mph?from a pedal car? i highly doubt it maybe 20-30 mph if your lucky and build a light enough frame!

but still in saying that it would be a great idea if you did give it a go

It's just about having the right gears to go up through. My racing bike's good for the scary side of 40 (should see people's faces when I overtake ), not bad when you think it was made mainly from skip dives.

can see mikey awoke this morning bolt up right at 5.24 with the idea to make a pedal car

50mph is achievable

Either that or he staggered in thinking "I've got an amaaaaaaaaaaaaashing idea...."

Thats a top idea

I've seen those 3 wheeler things, and they funking fly

Build thread is a must

Theres a new 3 wheeled pedal car out from morgan :), i'll put the link up when i find the site

Great stuff - lovin the hot rod,that'd pull the ladies for sure..

Yeah,i was in bed. That's where i get my best ideas.

I realise I'm gonna struggle with rear wheel size. First thing i should face is the reality that they wont be 700's,but likely 26's,due to the side forces. Front wheels certainly smaller,20's max,and I've yet to design the brakes.

I've yet to design any of it,and i dont have any pictures but i wanna create my own ideas first before looking too much into how others have done it.

I wont be starting on it for a couple of months,i wanna do some homework first.

You need something like this.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pSwig1tgUtY#

what a car full of 4 dumb shits?

i mean come on, it is a death trap, they should be arrested for being retarded

but i love your idea, you have nothing to lose, give it a go

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9081226.010/mo...al-car-revealed

Found the link :)

Very interesting idea Mikey, and would deffinatly be great for travelling around MK!

Good luck with it.

3 wheels is the answer, 1 driven wheel behind, 2 steering up front. leant back bucket style seat in the middle.

i think 50mph under your own steam on the flat is a little optimistic, for a 26" wheel, with 52:11 gearing (thats the biggest commonly available chainring ratio) your legs are still going to be doing 135-140rpm thats quite alot. unless you built a back wheel with an internal hub to increase the ratios, or ran a 2nd deralliuer setup i dont think you'll hit 50, with gearing much higher than 52:11 you'll need legs like chris hoy to even contemplate pushing that.

the roadbike cycling position is pretty aero-dynamic as it is, factor in more weight and more rolling resistance from extra wheels and it becomes tricky.

i think you could see 40 with a tail wind.

^^ agree with that, you could get 40 maybe, but only for a short period!

mmm, seems a not too bad idea. I suppose you could pedal something to power a dynamo, which in turn powered up a motor,blah,blah,blah......

The other alternative is the flintstomes car.

http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-conte...flintstones.jpg

mmm, seems a not too bad idea. I suppose you could pedal something to power a dynamo, which in turn powered up a motor,blah,blah,blah......

Regen braking could work, I have it turned on on the scoot'elec and it gives a fair bit of extra range, but for what you'd gain vs the weight of the cells and the motor, it probably wouldn't be worthwhile.

The Chuckle Brothers had it down!

^^ rofl first hting into my head when i read this thread

This lamborghini is mad!

I want a mk2 coupe version

Edited 29 December, 200817 yr by randombadger69