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this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2025
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Not lighter, it has much less air resistance because of aerodynamic design.
The human torso on a regular bicycle is basically a wall. If you've ever ridden a bicycle on a windy day, you should know the agony. It's like continuously riding up a slope.
You're talking about efficiency, but in the chart the velomobile is marked as lighter than a bicycle. Why?
It's denoted as being only slightly lighter, which I guess might be doable if you're optimal about the construction. It is indeed a bit weird though, on average a bicycle should be possible to build lighter than a velomobile
It is much lighter in the graph though! And this is even on a log scale
Yeah, I didn't think of the graph when responding.
Though I believe it's wrong.
How is a bicycle supposed to weigh 100 kg with a rider? The average bike is certainly less than 20 kg so the rider would have to weigh 80 kg or more - which seems like a lot for the average human. I mean, it's overweight even for the average man.
According to the German Wikipedia page, velomobiles weigh between 20 to 40 kg. And the former seems to be only achievable with a full carbon fiber build. That's definitely more than your average bicycle.
Yes, I also believe it's wrong. Doesn't make me trust in the rest the graph is showing...