ABSTRACT

Velomobiles, depicted as a specialist form of recumbent bicycle, are thus placed in an extremely marginal position as transport technologies. Velomobiles have been built in small but significant numbers since the 1920s and today there is a flourishing and growing niche market, with several designs currently in production. One might wonder whether the velomobile is a special, elite form of cycle, a kind of car without an engine, or something else entirely, and indeed, the velomobile disturbs and unsettles existing categories. The velomobile's current lack of an identity as a conceptually distinct vehicle category is evident in the legal limbo into which it, along with some light cars, falls. Unassisted velomobiles are legally just cycles, but dedicated cycling facilities are usually inappropriate for velomobiles. More velomobiles on the roads would certainly challenge both formally and informally existing conventions and hierarchies, and might increase respect and improve conditions for all modes of mobility attuned to the search for greater sustainability.