I have this feeling that three-wheelers with the lone wheel at the back must be more stable. The ones with the lone wheel at the front and to the side are utterly bizzare.
Not to disagree, but I believe many of the problems with three-wheeled vehicles are solved by putting the single wheel at the BACK. e.g. the Peugeot HyMotion3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9ZT8adga1E
In my experience with my two three wheeled go-karts, having the single wheel at the back is much more stable. I’ve never worked out exactly why that’s the case though.
It's worth noting that the Reliant Robin has its single wheel in the front, rather than in the back as the PEBL does. I think having two wheels in front should be much more stable. Frankly I don't understand why any three-wheel vehicles ever put the single wheel in the front, is it so they can turn easier?
> ... Reliant Robin- at least the single-wheel-in-front variety.
To be clear, this is because the single-wheel in front vehicles will roll over if turned sharply or at too high a speed. The single-wheel in back designs are much more dynamically stable.
1 wheel in back with 2 wheels in front (like the Bucky car has) is actually pretty stable. 2 wheels in the back with one in front (like the Robin) is not.
>Two wheels in front or even 4 wheels doesn't magically make things safer (4 wheel ATV's are still plenty dangerous).
It isn't magic, it's physics. See this post for a breakdown of the two configurations. [0] The Twike uses the delta configuration, which is know to have issues.
Looks like they're just building a Reliant Robin [1] with the wheels reversed (so 2 in front 1 rear). Unless you're desperate to save on tax (3 wheelers are taxed as motorcycle rates) I don't see the appeal.
> Either 2 wheels or 3 wheels (1 front and 2 rear).
this is backwards thinking, two wheel in front is the safer design. decelerating shifts center of gravity forward. turning shifts it to the side . having a wheel there to support it lets you slow down going into a corner (as I am want to do)
A three wheeled design was a comical trope in Mr Bean where he frequently topples a three wheeler. And how good are the low profile tires and suspension in imperfect roads and runways (video depicts no shock absorbtion on landing)?
There's something I don't understand, perhaps someone knows and can explain.
Why have the chosen to build it with only two wheels? It's clearly unstable and has to constantly adjust it's position and counterweight to stay balanced. Sure, it's super clever and I think it looks amazing. But surely it would have been far cheaper and easier to build it with three of four wheels so it naturally stable. It would have looked less cool, but I feel like that can't be the only reason.
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