With TTTT coming up, there seems to be a fair amount of interest in wheel covers like the ones I made last year (in the photo below). They are very light and do add some speed on flats and downhills.
 

 
I've committed to making a couple of covers, and have the material for a couple more than that, but if there are many others wanting them, I won't have time and material to make them all, but I don't mind helping. There are lots of ways to make wheel covers. Here are instructions on recumbents.com for making them several different ways. These are made out of coroplast like mine, but mine are even lighter. If you want professional looking ones, and don't mind paying more, and a bit more weight, these are nice.
 
The coroplast covers mentioned above are made out of 2mm coroplast, which I wasn't able to find locally at all. If you order coroplast anywhere else, the shipping cost kills you. So, I used 4mm coroplast that I found locally, and split it with a letter opener. This worked well, and made some of the lightest wheel covers around. You can secure it to the wheel either with tape or tie wraps. Tape looks the best, but doesn't much like time spent in a 130 degree garage. I don't mind giving some instruction (a wheel cover making party, maybe?), but if many people want covers, we'll need more material. The only local place I found with a stock of 4mm coroplast at a reasonable price was Regal Plastics. I paid $18 (~$20 after tax) for each 4' x 8' sheet of coroplast, and they have a $50 minimum order. A 4' x 8' sheet would make either either 4 or 8 sets of covers, depending on whether or not you split the material. So, anyone who wants to buy a sheet will probably have a lifetime supply of cover building material for $20, and it would only take three of us buying one sheet each to make the minimum order.  
 
Regal Plastics' Fort Worth facility isn't that far from where I work, so if anyone would like to buy a sheet of coroplast, I don't mind paying and picking it up. So, I'll ask the question: If I make a trip to Regal Plastics, who wants to buy a sheet of 4mm black coroplast for $20 (I'll have to make sure that price is still good)?

Quote from Bud_Bent on Jul 22^nd, 2008, 10:00pm:

 
 
I do! I do! I'll take one(Peggy doesn't think she would use hers. We could always share).

I'm in for a sheet.

A wheelcover making party...  I love it....    Count me in!

I'd be glad to swap someone for just enough to get the rear wheel done on my Corsa by getting all the heavier duty type coroplast you need for projects like tailboxes etc.   DJ      

Quote from Rawhide on Jul 23^rd, 2008, 11:52am:

 
Are you saying you have a source for heavier coroplast? Alright, come clean!

Posted by: Bud_Bent Posted on: Today at 1:52pm  
Quote from Rawhide on Today at 11:52am:
I'd be glad to swap someone for just enough to get the rear wheel done on my Corsa by getting all the heavier duty type coroplast you need for projects like tailboxes etc. DJ  
 
Are you saying you have a source for heavier coroplast? Alright, come clean!  
 
 
Why Bud, how astute you are!  Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.  I'd guess it's heavier than what you're talking about using on the wheels.  Maybe I should bring some out to the Goatneck for perusal/distribution?
                                                                                                                            DJ

Quote from Rawhide on Jul 23^rd, 2008, 2:42pm:

 
Yes, bring a piece to Goatneck. Because I split it, thicker might work ok. I'd like to see what a piece looks like after I split it.

I do want one if it doesn't  make the bike to unstable in a cross winds. I get  blown all over the road as it is.Is Steve looking for more advantages he is all ready a lot faster then me. ( no he said he would share, would that work at the TT)
                                                          Peggy

I'd like to split a sheet with someone if that's ok.

Hi Bud,
 
  Let me know if you need prepayment.  That's quite a large order.  I've been meaning to buy some coroplast for forever, seems I always miss harvesting one of the election signs.  I really appreciate it.  I may end up making covers for my 26" wheelset.  I have the Renn disk in 650C.
 
Take Care,
Nelson.

Ok, 1 sheet to be divided by Greg and Brad. Anyone else want to make a change?

Paul I think Steve and I will enough left over, we bought one sheet and only need to make 2 covers out of it. I'll check with Steve.
                                                   Peggy

d'yall wanna do the coroplast party after our trial run of the TTTT - Aug 9?

Ok, the revised list:
 
1 sheet for Steve and Peggy and Paul
1 sheet for Greg and Brad
1 sheet for Nelson
1 sheet for Mark
1 sheet for Steve Barlow
 
That's just 5 sheets, and I've already been paid for one, so I think I can float enough cash to pay for the rest and let everyone pay me when they get theirs. I'm planning on making the purchase Thursday.
 
As for when and where to get together for cover building, that's a good question. If indoors, we'll need a fair amount of table space. If outdoors, I think it needs to be in the morning before it gets hot. Anyone have ideas?
 
 

LOL ......... does that mean we'd have to limit our cursing while making the wheel covers?

I probably should restock my first aid kit on my bike if I'm going to have a sharp object anywhere near me. I didn't want to put too many band aids in there for goatneck because the weight would slow me down.  

I picked up the coroplast today. It turns out that Regal Plastics gives a better price to any organization than it does an individual. No one told me last time, because I only bought two sheets, which is technically less than their minimum purchase ($50) anyway. This time, using rbent as the organization, I got the sheets for $14.00 each. So, anyone who wants coroplast for a project later should remember to give them rbent as the organization making the purchase, for the better price.

HHH is the weekend after this coming one, so if you want wheel covers by then, time is running out. Steve and I are planning on stopping by my house after our ride Saturday to make Peggy's wheel cover. I figure by the time we do 100 miles, eat a sandwich, and get to my house, it will probably be 3:30 to 4:00. If there are others who would like to join us, Rose has offered the use of her shop, which is within a couple of miles of the ride start. If you are interested, pm me, and I'll give you my phone number. If it's just Steve and I, we'll just do it on my kitchen table, but if there are several people, we'll gather at the shop.
 
Also, I have no plans for Sunday, so if we have a group that would rather meet then, we could also use the shop. Let me know.

I may not need it, but I want to cover both my tica front and rear of the carbent when it gets here, which won't be for another couple weeks still.  So I might take some of brad's half if necessary.  since I'm joining y'all for the ride I'll join the wheelcover party as well, if that's ok.

It looks like we'll have enough people Saturday to meet at my wife's shop after the ride. It's a beauty shop, and there will be people working until 3:30 or so, so we can't have it until then. Let's meet at the Subway near the ride start, right after the ride. I'll need a sandwich anyway, and when the shop clears out, we can all caravan over to it. It's only a couple of miles from the Subway.
 
Anyone who's planning on going who doesn't have my cell phone number, pm me for it. It there's serious rain Saturday (and they are starting to call for it), ride plans might change. Better bring your jacket, too. They're calling for a high of 85 degrees.

Not sure why, but I was thinking of the wrong ride start. Tomorrow's ride starts in Burleson, there's no Subway close by, and it's more than a couple of miles to my wife's shop. If the weather lets us ride, we'll figure out at the start where we want to meet afterward.

Quote from aikigreg on Aug 15^th, 2008, 10:34pm:

 
Yeah, there's bound to be something near the ride start. It's only a few blocks off I-35W. I figure we can check you or Steve's gps and see what's close. It looks like they've lowered the chance of rain, so maybe we'll get the ride in.

Guess I'm gonna want one o' them fancy wheel covers...  

let me borrow it - I'll do a run on the tica before and after and make a cover for it.

Quote from aikigreg on Aug 31^st, 2008, 1:45pm:

 
It's a campy 10 speed freehub. It would work best on the road bike.

Paul - I was just looking at the picture of you on the XS.  Man, it sure looks like at least 80% of your weight is on the rear wheel.  Randy told me that the production version would be stretched out some.  Even with that, I'll probably order an even longer XL size to more equally distribute the weight.

Quote from FlyingLaZBoy on Sep 8^th, 2008, 6:52pm:

 
You'd best hurry...Peggy & I are going to California(just like the Zep song). We leave Friday. We return on 9/21.  
 
PM me & we can make arrangements. Good thing Peggy mentioned something to me about this post. I didn't even see it.