Thanks for the post about our website! We have been steadily working hard this summer and will continue. Here is an update on the recent status:
Over the past few weeks, we have carried out finite element analysis on our frame using ProMechanica to verify the design and ensure a safety factor of 4. On Monday, it was verified by our professor.
We acquired Danny Savitzky of Cycle Genius as an industry adviser, so we are thrilled to have him on-board for advise and design review. Already we are seeing the benefits of his involvement
Also, we have gotten in touch with Eric Bittner of Houston's Team Bent and U of H. He will hopefully be able to meet with the team soon to give more input.
RBENT's own Doug Davis met with our member, Cory, about two weeks ago and will be making a generous donation to the team of a Rotator Super 7 and nice trailer to carry it and our final design. We are still working out the details surrounding the trailer and hope to make a trip to the Dallas area again soon.
Wednesday, the team spent hours in the machine shop to make a frame mock-up out of PVC with plywood wheels. Everything worked out well with no major modifications. Very soon (hopefully next week) we will be ordering our Chromoly 4130 to have our frame complete in about a month or less.
We are still actively searching for sponsorship, but are having very little luck. We have contacted over 100 companies already and continue to search. So far we have received two monetary donations. Many seeds have been planted with companies like Mustage Engineering and ENSCO International, so hopefully we hear some good news back soon! If anyone has any suggestions on who to contact, what businesses might be interested in our project, and maybe an approach to take that would be very helpful.
Our most recent design can be found at
www.teamrecumbent.com/design . The cargo storage and fairing are pictured to get a general design idea, but the details of these parts and the exact designs will be worked on after the frame, transmission, steering, brakes, etc. are worked out.
Thanks! We will continue to update the design page as we progress as well as other sections like the gallery, sponsors, and budget.
Everyone have a safe and happy 4th!
Lesley and Team Recumbent