On 13/04/15 22:43, F Murtz wrote:
news13 wrote:
Geez, I posted that months ago, didn't see anything come through until
tonight. I thought my post had wound up in /dev/null.
I'll have to dig up where else this newsgroup is archived in order to
get an idea of what replies there were.
In the meantime, I've been getting some advice he
http://www.bikeforums.net/living-car...e-touring.html
So I have two Shimano MT35 wheels now with centre-lock disc brake
rotors. I've done some preliminary mounting brackets for the wheels to
test a few ideas out and have an idea how some of it will fit together.
I apologise if people thought I was rude asking then not replying, I
literally only just saw the replies.
On Sat, 14 Feb 2015 14:47:47 +1000, Stuart Longland wrote:
Intended terrain would be mostly "on-road", where "road" can vary from
good quality bitumen through to state forest fire trails, etc.
I have a Croozer cargo trailer which is mostly okay, but I'm concerned
about a few things:
The two basic designs are single wheel like the bob style or double wheel
like all the kiddie trailers, which you've got.
Single wheel styles are useful as there is only one track, so you can
minimise bumps, rocks, punctures, etc. If you want a standard wheel in
the trailer, then it is a custom build. You can build the bnob/jack
london sytle flatbed style or you can build a "chinese wheel barrow style
with low rider panniers on either side.
Indeed, did consider the single-wheel option. They're a more
complicated hitch arrangement since the hitch has to connect to both
sides of the trailer for it to tilt with the bike.
My big concern here is in fitting some of the gear I have. In particular:
- my solar panel (40W Jaycar jobbie) for charging batteries (I won't
have mains power at the places where I'll be going)
- my tent (OzTrail SwitchBack 2; folds up into a bag the same size as
one of my 29" wheels)
- food and water storage
- spare wheelset (insurance policy in case I break a spoke)
It'll be awkward to fit this on a single-wheel type trailer. I
appreciate the advantages they offer, but also appreciate some of the
limitations. Not that a dual-wheel design is without its flaws.
- the wheels are a small less-common size and so getting tubes and tyres
will be a pain.
- it has a 30kg load limit: I'll want to carry water and food along with
some camping gear.
My 2c is to invest in solid rack front and back with loaw rider bits and
have four panniers. The lower the weight the more stable your bicycle and
the easier to keep it upright. I always preferred to carry the weight on
the bicycle first for touring. If it didn't fit, then you had too much.
On long dry trips, I've carried 2x5L bottles in medium size panniers on
the front rack and picked up best water as we went along. These days, I'd
strongly suggest a good filter pump for all water collected.
I had the advantage of being able to sew up my own with old domestic
sewing machines. They wore out fast but were relatively cheap. I don't
know how you'd get on with the plastic gears they use these days.
Indeed. Finding a good strong rack is easier said than done. I thought
I had one with the Topeak racks. I've broken two of them in the exact
same spot carrying 16kg, they're supposedly rated to 25kg.
http://www.longlandclan.yi.org/~stua...2711-360px.jpg
Unfortunately that's the better of the two I can source locally. For
this reason, I'm now researching the design of a rack that will better
fulfil my needs.
Does anyone know places in Australia that sell 29" front-wheels at a
reasonable price? Any places sell used wheels?
Sigh, the world has moved on yet again. My mum and dad rode on 28" tyres,
I road on 27' and used 26" for touring. Now they are up to 29".
I've now sourced the wheels. The ones I wound up getting are
centre-lock rather than 6-bolt style like my bike, and they also use a
9mm quick-release mechanism. So looks like I won't be using these as a
stand-in if my front wheel gets damaged.
On the actual trailer design, I've been fiddling around in OpenSCAD
modelling various aspects. At the moment I'm thinking of doing it with
box-section aluminium, as 20-25mm section is pretty common and seems to
have quite a bit of strength.
Can you weld? A few years prior, I'd recommend going to tafe and learning
TIG welding and doing a few foreign orders. No idea how you'd get on now.
at one stage, various AID agency had plans for easy to build bicycle
trailers on the web. I don't know if they are still around, but they were
all two wheel trailers largely of the tea chest carrying design.
Sadly, no, no access to a welder and no knowledge of how to use one.
As for plans for building a trailer, I did see some plans for building
one using a bamboo frame.
but can be fixed with a minimum
of tools if things break.
In Australia, you'd just use aluminium. If you were going elsewhere and
in really remote, you'd make it out of steel as they use car batteries
for welding.
I think British Steels was the supplier of bicycle frame quality steel in
Australia, but i believe they have closed down.
Aluminium seems like my best bet in terms of general availability and
also weight. 1" box section can be bought just about anywhere it seems
which is a plus.
I had also considered PVC, but I hear it gets brittle over time and thus
might fail without warning.
For this reason I'm looking at bolting the sections together.
Fiddly and requires experience to do properly and not tear out.
I note places like Bunnings sell 25mm section and a range of plastic
joiners (QubeLock/Connect-IT brands): does anyone know how strong these
are
You can test them buy buying two long section(1m) of box section and
fastening one end and putting full force on the other and see what fails
first. I'm not impressed by tyhem. YMMV.
This indeed looks to be the best plan of attack: get a sample and test
to destruction. The construction techniques used in this rear rack
seems to suggest it can be made to be fairly rugged.
http://www.bikeforums.net/living-car...itch-rack.html
Bonus points here for not needing bolt holes near the rear axle: a
feature that most full-suspension mountain bikes lack.
Having thought about the problem some more, those joiners might work for
initially aligning everything, but then should be reinforced with
suitable plates/braces to ensure nothing comes adrift.
Anyway, I appreciate the input there, apologies for not getting back to
people, and I'll try to keep a closer eye on this newsgroup.