Originally Posted by
KC8QVO
Whos to say the wheels and brakes can't be enclosed behind panels or fairings? Like on non-retractable landing gear on some airplanes there are fairings hiding the wheels. That is just one idea. However, that would only work with a wide track width where there is still room for the body inside the track width so as not to be too narrow for the operator.
The wheel well is structural. You can't just casually blow holes in it.
There are streamliner designs that have used retractile landing gear, but those are hardly touring machines, which what I thought you were after. Streamliners are crosswind sensitive, and require great skill to pilot. A practical streamliner is a velo.
You need to study the state of the art and come to understand why things are the way they are before you try to innovate. People who skip that part and jump straight to innovation end up reinventing the wheel, and doing it more poorly at that.
Edited to Add: I'm out.