Workshop #1 will concentrate on construction techniques for building front fairings using coroplast and aluminum framing. The  results can be lightweight, sturdy, and often more aerodynamic than the expensive Lexan kits that are commercially available. Coroplast fairings can be built to fit virtually any bicycle, whether recumbent or upright.

The objective of this workshop will be to familiarize you with techniques rather than provide you with a specific plan for building a specific design. With knowledge from this workshop, you should be able to build your own customized fairing at home.

What is Coroplast? Coroplast is a trademark name of Coroplast Corp. It is short for corrugated plastic, specifically corrugated polyethylene ester. It’s similar to the stuff of milk cartons, with a corrugated structure like a cardboard box. The color goes all the way through.  The material is highly resistant to UV. Unfortunately, it doesn’t glue well. Due to its structure, it is very strong when bent across the flutes, but tends to fold when bent along the flutes. A 4x8 foot sheet of standard 4mm Coroplast weighs about 4 pounds.

Why add a Fairing?  Fairings work to streamline your profile, resulting in a lower coefficient of drag (Cd.) They also protect against weather and bugs. A fairing won’t make a slow rider fast, but it will make a fast rider faster.

As a rule, recumbents have speed profiles similar to tandems, and adding a fairing will accentuate this characteristic. A faired recumbent will generally be slower going up but faster on the flats and much faster on the downhills.  Make sure you have good brakes! The degree to which these characteristics are apparent is related to the design and coverage of the fairing used. First, a brief summary of advantages and disadvantages of riding faired, and specifically for using coroplast.

Advantages:
 1. Speed advantage above 15 mph increases at a non-linear rate
 2. Weather protection; extend your season, laugh at light rain
 3. Keeps debris and bugs off you
 4. Coroplast keeps the sun off your legs - less sunburn!
 5. Increases visibility by “cagers”
 6. Custom designs possible with Coroplast

Disadvantages:
 1. Extra weight will affect hill climbing and handling
 2. Transporting - Coroplast won’t simply roll up like Lexan does
 3. Crosswinds may affect you more with a fairing
 4. Needing faster riding partners
 5. Increases visibility by dogs
 6. Geeky/Dorky looking? You decide...

At speeds over 15 mph, a well-designed fairing almost always represents a speed advantage. For those not into speed, that translates into less effort for a given speed.

Fairing design 101:
Coroplast is opaque, but windshields can be fabricated from films such as Vivac or Lexan. Unfortunately plastics scratch, therefore are not suitable to look through in everyday use. You will need to look over your fairing, not through it.

It’s easy to design a fairing that meets the objective of protection. To have that fairing handle well and provide a speed advantage requires attention to details, some of which conflict with each other! Here’s a short list or considerations.

For Speed:
 1.  Small frontal area
 2. Minimal “flat” area at the front
 3. Full frontal coverage
 4. Smooth airflow along surfaces
 5. Trailing edges and seams parallel to airflow
 6. Terminate trailing edge as close to rider as practicable
 7. Must be sturdy enough to be stable at speed

For handling:
 1. Light weight, use minimal material possible
 2. Avoid anything that resembles a wing from any angle
 3. Avoid handlebar, tire interference
 4. Channel air over and to the sides, not under.

Steps involved:
Applying the K.I.S.S. principle, building a fairing can be reduced to a few steps. How to actually accomplish these steps is what the workshop is all about. This is not rocket science. We will build an example fairing following these steps:
 1. Build the mounts
 2. Build the frame
 3. Build up the main fairing
 4. Finish seams/edges