I have been very pleased with the Quest, however, the goal of my activities with Wildfire HPV is to make practical HPV's for daily usage more widely accessible to people, and as nice as the Quest is, that goal is not met by keeping the Quest for myself. So in order to proceed, I must sell it to fund the next steps. Driving the Quest has been very educational, though, as to what is possible with a well designed HPV.

The Quest velomobile is a Dutch machine manufactured by Velomobiel.nl, and is at present one of the most popular commercially available velomobiles, probably due to its very effective, well thought out design and its speed. The extreme aerodynamic effiiciency of the Quest design permits high cruising speeds over long periods of time with comparatively little effort. On level ground in the Quest I typically travel at between 20 and 25 mph, and with only a slight downgrade reaching 30 mph is fairly easy. In part because of the speed and because of the large cargo capacity, I've found that the Quest is great for running errands and commuting, and in fact I've carried 65 lbs of groceries without noticable adverse affect on the handling of the machine (although of course it was slower to accelerate). The Quest is designed for commuters, and in fact many owners use these machines to commute up to 25 miles. My own 6.5 mi commute in moderately hilly terrain has been quite pleasant with this machine - even after 12 hour shifts on my feet.

I am only an average cyclist, but in the Quest on my second try this past Summer I was able to obtain a time that would have gotten me second or third place in the Southern Maine Cycling club's 12 mile time trial course with an average speed of 26+ mph. The monster who placed first averaged 28+ mph! I also did my first ever century ride at the beginning of the Summer in the Quest when I cycled from Biddeford up to Freeport (Maine) and back when I visited Lincoln Canoe and Kayak as part of the Quest manufacturing feasibility study.

The thermoformed cockpit cover that comes with the Quest does a very good job of keeping the driver warm and dry for the warmer three seasons, and I am working on a Winter canopy for the Quest, based on the Nimbus Kayaks canopy (on their website, scroll down to "End of February results and pictures"). This would be included, although it might require some additional work before being completely functional.

Velomobiles attract a lot of attention on the road, and the streamlined looks of the Quest are particularly eyecatching. This trait has been made use of by many Quest and Mango owners to partially pay for their machines by selling advertising on the side. Chuck Hazzard, a Mango driver here in Maine arranged a $1000 dollar six month deal of this type with a single company, although others have arranged deals with multiple companies where smaller logos for each company were placed on the body - I would imagine for a smaller fee.

Quest 145 is designed to fit people from about 5-6" up to 6-0" and is adjustable by loosening two clamps and sliding the bottom bracket shell along the aluminum sub-frame. A differently shaped sub-frame and slightly different body shape was used in this version of the Quest for people taller than 6'0" to give them adequate knee clearance. My height is 5'-8", with an inseam of 29", and the bottom bracket shell could be moved rearward about another inch and forward at least 6".

Quest 145 is in excellent condition, with only some minor scratches to the body. To date, I've put 1637 miles on it.

The Quest and Velomobiel.nl's other design, the Mango are so popular that the current waiting list on their website is out over three years! This is an opportunity to obtain a Quest that is already in the US with almost no wait time. Price revised: I am looking for the best offer over $7000.

Sample shipping costs from Biddeford, ME are below :

Bradington, FL (middle of the State):$506.47
Beverly Hills, CA: $613

Shipping to the middle of the country would be intermediate in cost .

I will be accepting bids until Sunday, January 15, 2006 at 7:00 PM Eastern time. To bid, please send your offer to me by email, phone (207 284-7572), fax (same # as telephone - please call before faxing) , or surface mail (email or call for address). If you choose to bid by surface mail, please be sure to leave enough time for it to arrive by the deadline above. I will notify all bidders of the winning bid shortly after the January 15 bidding deadline.

Thanks for bidding!

• Length: 9'-4" (2.85 m)
• Width: 30" (0.765 m)
  
• Weight: 71 lbs (32 kg) including battery for lighting system
  
• Electric system: Sigma Sport Mirage X dual beam headlights (5/10 watt system) and tail light. Hella horn, and dashboard light on long cord to allow illumination while changing tires in the dark. Dashboard light is velcroed in position so that it will shine on the computer on left side of the cockpit.
  
• Sigma lead/acid 7Ah 6 volt battery and cygolight battery charger.
  
• Reflective decals on the front, and sides, and an ultra-retroreflective fluorescent orange decal on the rear.
  
• Eternalight ultra-bright LED flashlight with velcro for use as additonal tail light.
• Pedals: Shimano PDM 525 (spd)
  
• Main chain: Sachs/Sedis pc59 9sp
  
• Secondary chain: Sachs/Sedis pc48 8sp
  
• Sprockets: main chain Sram 9v 12-26
  
• Front derailler: Shimano 105
  
• Shifters: Sram Grip shift attack
  
• Freewheel rear second chain
  
• Shimano BMX race 18t
  
• Sprocket second chain: Ofmega 28t
  
• Mid drive: Shimano 9sp
  
• Brakes: Cable actuated SA Aluminum drumbrakes (single side mounted) on two front wheels controlled by single brake lever located on handlebar.
  
• Tires: Primo Comet 37-406 (2 spares) with reflective strips on the sidewalls
  
• Spokes front: Sapim strong butted 36pc/wheel
  
• Rims: Schothorst Alu 36g
  
• - material(s) of fairing: fiberglass partial monocoque with aluminum subframe.
  
• - Thermoformed foam cockpit cover included and neck hole cover included
  
• - luggage space: I've carried approximately 65 lbs of groceries in the Quest.
  
• - suspension system: McPherson shock-absorbing strut
  
• - Drivetrain fully enclosed within the Quest body providing greatly increased drivetrain life
  
• - turning circle: approx. 11.5 meters. This works fine for 90 degree turns. A U - turn within a normal width street would require a 3 point turn.

Side view	low front view	High front view
Low rear view	Rear right view	Front left
Overhead view	Dashboard light at the end of its cord.	Cockpit front view

Front left cockpit view (note computer, dashboard light, armrest)	Cockpit rear view (seat tipped forward)	Cockpit, rear left view (seat tipped forward)
Cockpit cover on	Cockpit cover on, head opening closed.	Cockpit cover on, head opening closed view 2
The steering joystick