#1
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
I am a 58 year old amputee (Front of left foot) and have spent the last four years building up my endurance to ride more than 100 Km per day on a trip. I hope to be able to spend at least four days in a row doing this mileage. To do this I will need to take some gear with me. The idea of a trailer has been going through my mind and am wondering what sort, as in single rear wheel, or twin wheeled type. Any suggestions welcomed. Ro P.S My son-in-law owns an engineering business so he will be building it, just want him to build only one if possible.Rather than a back yard full of mistakes! |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
In article ,
writes: P.S My son-in-law owns an engineering business so he will be building it, just want him to build only one if possible.Rather than a back yard full of mistakes! Maybe this site would be of interest to you? http://www.biketrailers.20m.com/MAIN.htm Detailed plans, descriptions & explanations, and lots of pictures, for a DIY trailer. cheers, Tom -- -- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
Trailers slow you down a lot. Factor that in to your desires.
An empty trailer isn't bad, and carrying lots of weight on the bike isn't bad, but the combination of wind resistance from the trailer and from the weight it carries tips the impression over the top that you're really being slowed down. So if you need gear, put a milk crate on a sturdy rear luggage rack and do it that way. (I recommend a conventional rack with legs PLUS the core innards of a seat-post rack under it, so it's stabilized as firmly to the frame as possible; the latter prevents sway and the former bears the weight.) I have a no-longer-made Tanjor trailer, which is streamlined as much as possible, and it lets me ride with one higher gear than my boxy Burley, from reduced wind drag; but it's still slower than no trailer when empty. Keeping all the tires pumped up hard helps a lot, reducing some drag that you normally put up with in compensation. -- Ron Hardin On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 08:15:47 GMT, Ron Hardin wrote:
Trailers slow you down a lot. Factor that in to your desires. An empty trailer isn't bad, and carrying lots of weight on the bike isn't bad, but the combination of wind resistance from the trailer and from the weight it carries tips the impression over the top that you're really being slowed down. So if you need gear, put a milk crate on a sturdy rear luggage rack and do it that way. (I recommend a conventional rack with legs PLUS the core innards of a seat-post rack under it, so it's stabilized as firmly to the frame as possible; the latter prevents sway and the former bears the weight.) I have a no-longer-made Tanjor trailer, which is streamlined as much as possible, and it lets me ride with one higher gear than my boxy Burley, from reduced wind drag; but it's still slower than no trailer when empty. Keeping all the tires pumped up hard helps a lot, reducing some drag that you normally put up with in compensation. I ride with the BOB trailer and I can bear out that it will slow you down (typically I'll lose 1 to 2 mph over a non-flat route). Not only that but it feels weird. It's like driving an 18 wheeler. It will be difficult to stand with the trailer. You will need to take turns a little wider. Your speed up hills will decrease. You won't be able to fly down hills as too much speed is a bad thing (jack knife and high speed instability). Having said all that I find it to be no worse than carrying a fully load back pack. The trailer does have 2 advantages. First I tend to throw everything into it so nothing is forgotten. Second it's much better in my trailer than on my back. I already ride with a fully loaded Camelback and I've found it difficult to combine that with the back pack. One thing to note: make sure you have a good sturdy 36 spoke back wheel. The typical racing wheel doesn't hold up wheel to road abuse and the extra weight of ether a pack or trailer. Given a choice between the trailer and the back back for loads better than 20 lbs I'd stay with the trailer. On my commute I tend to ride with about 30 - 40 lbs in the trailer but I've gone with more. BTW, the BOB is a single wheel design. I haven't had any experience with a 2 wheel design. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only) http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge) http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II) |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
Ron Hardin wrote:
Trailers slow you down a lot. Factor that in to your desires. An empty trailer isn't bad, and carrying lots of weight on the bike isn't bad, but the combination of wind resistance from the trailer and from the weight it carries tips the impression over the top that you're really being slowed down. So if you need gear, put a milk crate on a sturdy rear luggage rack and do it that way. (I recommend a conventional rack with legs PLUS the core innards of a seat-post rack under it, so it's stabilized as firmly to the frame as possible; the latter prevents sway and the former bears the weight.) why on earth would you put a milk crate on your rack instead of pannier bags? |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
=v= I very recently threw together a trailers web page:
http://www.things.org/~jym/bicycles/trailers.html Here's another page discussing a completely different set of trailers: http://www.ucolick.org/~de/AltTrans/trailers.html _Jym_ |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
The Queen of Cans and Jars wrote:
Ron Hardin wrote: Trailers slow you down a lot. Factor that in to your desires. An empty trailer isn't bad, and carrying lots of weight on the bike isn't bad, but the combination of wind resistance from the trailer and from the weight it carries tips the impression over the top that you're really being slowed down. So if you need gear, put a milk crate on a sturdy rear luggage rack and do it that way. (I recommend a conventional rack with legs PLUS the core innards of a seat-post rack under it, so it's stabilized as firmly to the frame as possible; the latter prevents sway and the former bears the weight.) why on earth would you put a milk crate on your rack instead of pannier bags? It holds more, you can hang excess on the side, or drape over the thing; when not in use it's out of the wind and rigid on the frame. I've never bought more than I could carry, ever, using one. The extreme is using my 6' cable lock as a 3' loop looped through shopping bags, and sling the whole thing over the top of what's in the milk crate. It's completely waterproof if you simply put everything in a garbage bag and twisty tie it shut, on days when you want it waterproof. It beats panniers by so far that it's not even on the same planet. -- Ron Hardin On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
|
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
|
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Bicycle trailers:
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 12:37:07 -0400, Rick Onanian
wrote: So Fabrizio will have a heart attack if you ride faster than him. Not if: when. Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on two wheels... |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
National Bicycle Greenway Riders Welcomed by Sausalito | Cycle America | General | 0 | June 7th 04 07:44 PM |
experiences with bicycle trailers for kids? | Andrea | General | 4 | January 8th 04 08:01 PM |
Those bicycle builders big mistake! | Garrison Hilliard | General | 30 | December 23rd 03 07:03 AM |
Reports from Sweden | Garry Jones | General | 17 | October 14th 03 05:23 PM |
A Bicycle Story | Marian Rosenberg | General | 5 | September 7th 03 01:40 PM |