Well, it's built.

Now what?

You will have been doing basic tests all the way through building your vehicle, of course: Does this wheel fit? Will the handlebars get in the way of the rider's knees? Is this weld strong enough? Once the vehicle is more or less finished, then proper vehicle testing can happen.

Testing the Vehicle

You need to find a quiet place to do this, without traffic. Until you are sure about the handling, it's not a good idea to go on the street.

The first thing is to check out the handling:

Can you ride it in a straight line?
Can you ride it slowly in a straight line?
Can you do a full turn comfortably? How tightly will it turn? Can you control it during the turn?
Can you do a controlled slalom?

Then there is the braking:

Test each brake in turn. Each one shoud be able to stop the vehicle in a predictable way.

What about rider aspects:

Can you get into and out of it easily enough?
Can you adjust it for different sized riders quickly?

And then, there's the finishing work:

Have you capped any open ends of tubes?
Are there any sharp edges or ends on the frame that need smoothing off or protecting?

Roll Down Testing

If you have any hopes of having a vehicle with good aerodynamic performance, and especially if it has a fairing, you will need to do some tuning and trimming to get the best out of it.

The professionals use a wind tunnel and fancy measuring gear for aerodynamic testing, but most of us don't have access to this stuff.

The poor man's equivalent is roll down testing. This is where the rider and vehicle coast down a hill and along a flat road until the vehicle comes to a stop. If you know how high the hill is, and how fast the vehicle was going and how far it rolled, you can calculate the effective frontal area and the rolling resistance of the vehicle. After you make changes to the vehicle and re-run the test, you can see how much improvement you have made.

We have found a suitable roll down site near Halswell, and we have calibrated it so that it is straightforward to work out. Here is a PDF file with the instructions of how to use this site.

Riders

This is more a matter of training the riders to the vehicle. Your vehicle is probably different to any bike you have previously ridden, and you will need to spend some time getting used to it and developing slightly different muscles to your usual cycling muscles.

You can't hurry this process; it just takes time. The more you ride the vehicle the better you will perform on the day.

On race day

Think about glare, sunburn, thirst, overheating or chill factors on the riders.

Think about the strategy for rider changeovers. Infrequent changes mean less time lost, but riders will get more tired.

Think about communication between the pit team and the rider with information about lap times and rider changes, etc.