People who could really enjoy the comfort, speed, safety, reliability, and easy load-carrying features of a velomobile often are put off by the cost. They are thinking of comparing the cost with a cheap bicycle, perhaps. But that is not the point. These VM's are the ticket to improved health and longer fruitful life! (But check with your doctor before embarking upon a new exercise regimen. The older and more out of shape you are, the more gradual and careful you have to be.) You can ride in comfort in almost any weather, not worry about falling over at stop signs, enjoy the protection of a vehicle body between you and the cars and trucks, steer where you want to go exactly and not worry about wobbling, carry $65 worth of groceries home from the supermarket, go on extended tours, ride with friends or by yourself and go fast without needing a peloton, laugh at headwinds, etc. If you use the VM almost every day, you may be able to cut your car expenses and make your car last twice as long. Short trips eat up engines as they don't have proper time to warm up. And you will lose weight and feel much more fit. Lois and I did just a 15 mile ride on our VMs and the next morning we weighed in 1 lb lighter each. We also felt great, and I was pedaling more strongly than usual on my way to work the next day. Good exercise is as close as you can get to the fountain of life, reducing illness, minimizing your medical costs, and feeling great. The only disadvantage is that you will likely outlive your friends and relatives, even your kids, but that is not your problem but theirs. We are working to reduce costs, but that involves major investments and development that can only happen when much larger numbers of VMs are demanded by the public.  

Introduction to the Quest

The Quest velomobile is the epitome of speed and luxury in a velomobile. Long manufactured by Velomobiel.nl in Dronten, the Netherlands, but with a 3-year waiting list, it is now also manufactured by Bluevelo in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. VMUSA is a dealer for the Bluevelo Quest in Texas. For details on prices and accessories see their web site, http://www.bluevelo.com/quest_velomobile.html . To the base price in Canada must be added the cost of any accessories plus crating and shipping. There is also a great deal of information, photos, and videos on the Quest on the web if you Google [Quest velomobile]. A strong Quest rider can do 35 or more mph on a level road, no wind. Even a less strong rider can profit greatly from the very low drag of this streamlined body. Even I, at 76 years, have gotten up to 33 mph for a long stretch on very smooth pavement.

While the Flevobike Alleweder Plus kit is a bargain for a low-priced velomobile with all the features needed, the Quest is the high-performance leader in the velomobile world.  The Bluevelo Quest is available with the accessories you might want for the style of VM riding you plan to do.

   VMUSA has provided the doctors at Hospitalists of El Paso with two new Quests that they use to visit Medicare patients. This is a first in the U.S. medical world. It is a win-win-win because the doctors get exercise, have reduced travel expenses, and get to ride a great velomobile as a business expense. These doctors are both strong riders, and often ride up to Los Cruces at very high speeds. They love their Quests!

   We now have one Quest rider in Austin, TX and one in Tucson, AZ.

  If you wish to order a Quest, please consult the Bluevelo website (above) and choose the accessories you want. Then contact us by phone: 432 683-5735 to discuss your order and assess a delivery schedule. We require 50% down when placing the order. The total price will include an estimated $300 for crating and perhaps $350 or more for shipping. We require a 50% deposit at the time of placing the order.

Introduction to the Alleweder I top I

The Alleweder velomobile is a fast, mostly-enclosed, fully suspended tadpole style (two steered wheels in front, 1 driven wheel in back) human powered recumbent tadpole tricycle. With the accessory cockpit cover it allows comfortable usage in a wider range of weather conditions than conventional bicycles. You can be comfortably dry in rain, and comfortably warm (due to body heat) in below-freezing weather. It is sold mainly as a kit, and fabricated in much the same way as many airplanes using riveted aircraft aluminum sheet metal. This body has considerable strength, which makes it safer than a standard bike in any collision. Trikes don't have to be balanced, and road rash is almost impossible. The AW's have a low center of gravity so are very stable. They are also easily repairable, like an airplane fuselage, so any part can be removed and replaced. Composite-bodied velomobiles are more difficult and much more expensive to repair. Aluminum is very resistant to corrosion, except near salt water, and all stainless steel hardware with metric bolts and nuts are used in our Alleweder. It may outlast you!

The Flevobike Alleweder I top I

The Flevobike Alleweder

The Flevobike Alleweder (FAW) is the result of over 10 years of refinement by the Dutch cycle company Flevobike. It features the distinctive "double hump" on the front deck which permits greater visibility of the roadway in front of the vehicle and directs cooling air over the pilot's upper body. The FAW is designed with all three 20" (406mm) wheels. The FAW is manufactured by Velomobile USA in Midland, TX. The current evolution of the FAW, named the FAW+, incorporates very significant improvements in strength, lower weight, and ease of construction.

   We have operated since 2003 as a small company, bootstrapping the business and selling direct to the public. This has enabled us to keep the prices down. For VMUSA to continue, we have to increase prices and reduce costs to enable development as more mature, profitable company. People have to realize that we sell only superior products, designed and produced with the rider's needs in mind, and so solid and reliable that they may outlast their owners. No other VM than the FAW+ allows easy replacement of body panels so that repairs after a crash can be made at minimal expense. Repairing non-aluminum VMs is very, very expensive, comparable to auto body repair and repainting. This is a very substantial advantage and gives our FAW+ a long life and a high resale value. With all the VMs that use our suspension struts, these struts are likely to be available for a very long time, even though they don't wear out fast anyway. As a result of the U.S. budget and trade deficits the dollar has declined to the point that it now costs about 48% more [as of 07-01-11] to import European goods than it did in 2003. We have recently had prices for aluminum and bike parts increase by up to 30 % . Our prices have to reflect these changes, and are subject to change without notice.

2. Modifications for large feet: If you wear very large shoes, you may not be able to get proper foot clearance.[Come visit Midland and try the FAW+!] It may still be possible for you to fit in the FAW+ by altering the foot area of the machine in a custom way, but it would be best to contact us and give your shoe dimensions to our staff to find out if such modifications can be made and how much they will cost. We will need the distances from the axis of your pedal to the front and to the rear edges of your shoe. If you build the kit you can make such modifications yourself.

Headrest Fairing

   VMUSA has developed a headrest-fairing that attaches behind your head. It smoothes the airflow behind your head (or helmet) to enable higher speeds, and also acts as a roll bar in case of a severe crash. It can be configured as an extra compartment for storage of small items. It is available, preformed, as a accessory for $150.

Relation to Alligt Ligfietsen

   We no longer stock the Alligt Alleweder. These kits are still available directly from Alligt Ligfietsen and can be shipped directly to you.

Alligt has a new models, such as the a4 and a6. The a4 is a smaller and lighter version of their V14, and uses the less expensive SRAM Dual Drive hub. This VM has roughly the same performance as our FAW+ and is in a similar price range, so opens the European market to AW kits again after a long absence. They now have new models, the a5 and the a6. U. S. buyers will be better off to order the FAW+.

For more information contact us at:

VelomobileUSA, LLC.
1605 West Tennessee
Midland, TX 79701

Telephone: 432-352-3681
Fax: 432-570-4956
info@pedalyourselfhealthy.org

last edited 7-03-2011