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Towing bicycles



 
 
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  #11  
Old December 9th 06, 04:56 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Tom Crispin
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Posts: 4,229
Default Towing bicycles

On Sat, 9 Dec 2006 13:55:25 -0000, Rob Morley
wrote:

How about fixing a set of QR fork holders for a car roof-rack at the
rear of the towing carrier. Take out the front wheel of the towed bike
and fasten bungee that to the carrier. You could probably tow two
bikes side-by-side behind your tractor with two sets of fork holders.

High CofG, tendency to flop.


Not so sure.

With the towed bikes attached at their rear racks, the whole system
might be very stable. See the aerial sketch below.

http://www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/towing2b
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  #12  
Old December 9th 06, 05:20 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Danny Colyer
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Posts: 1,244
Default Towing bicycles

Rob Morley wrote:
I just had an idea, lashed a couple of bikes together and rode them up
and down the road - it seemed to work quite well, so email[1] me if you
want me to make some sketches and discuss further development. I have a
vague idea how it could be better implemented in a cheap easy-fit sort
of way, but can't concentrate on that right now.


When I needed to tow a bike last year I bungeed the front wheel and fork
to the rear rack, after popping some pipe lagging onto the fork of the
front bike in order to protect the paintwork. It worked fairly well,
but if I was towing bikes regularly I'd want a better solution:
url:http://www.colyer.plus.com/z-towing1.jpg
url:http://www.colyer.plus.com/z-towing2.jpg

--
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Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
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  #13  
Old December 9th 06, 06:01 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Rob Morley
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Posts: 7,173
Default Towing bicycles

In article
Danny Colyer wrote:
Rob Morley wrote:
I just had an idea, lashed a couple of bikes together and rode them up
and down the road - it seemed to work quite well, so email[1] me if you
want me to make some sketches and discuss further development. I have a
vague idea how it could be better implemented in a cheap easy-fit sort
of way, but can't concentrate on that right now.


When I needed to tow a bike last year I bungeed the front wheel and fork
to the rear rack, after popping some pipe lagging onto the fork of the
front bike in order to protect the paintwork. It worked fairly well,
but if I was towing bikes regularly I'd want a better solution:
url:http://www.colyer.plus.com/z-towing1.jpg
url:http://www.colyer.plus.com/z-towing2.jpg


That's fine on a recumbent because you don't have to worry about heel
clearance.
  #14  
Old December 9th 06, 07:05 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Tom Crispin
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Posts: 4,229
Default Towing bicycles

On Sat, 9 Dec 2006 17:01:06 -0000, Rob Morley
wrote:

In article
Danny Colyer wrote:
Rob Morley wrote:
I just had an idea, lashed a couple of bikes together and rode them up
and down the road - it seemed to work quite well, so email[1] me if you
want me to make some sketches and discuss further development. I have a
vague idea how it could be better implemented in a cheap easy-fit sort
of way, but can't concentrate on that right now.


I'm certainly interested in quick and easy ideas. I'm not really
ready for prototypes yet, probably not until well into the New Year.
I'm away from 20/12/06 - 7/1/07 anyway, using my mountain bike over
the mountains of Hainan.

When I needed to tow a bike last year I bungeed the front wheel and fork
to the rear rack, after popping some pipe lagging onto the fork of the
front bike in order to protect the paintwork. It worked fairly well,
but if I was towing bikes regularly I'd want a better solution:
url:http://www.colyer.plus.com/z-towing1.jpg
url:http://www.colyer.plus.com/z-towing2.jpg


That's fine on a recumbent because you don't have to worry about heel
clearance.


They could always be lashed further back, I think. It does, however,
knock out the use of rear panniers, but frees up front panniers.
  #15  
Old December 9th 06, 08:49 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
[email protected]
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Posts: 12
Default Towing bicycles



I went for the trailer option:
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~tali.../biketrail.jpg

But there ought to be a way of turning the two bikes into a sort of
trailer - I'm thinking along the lines of taking the front wheels out,
turning the forks 90 deg and fixing them onto a cross beam on the rack
of the towing bike. You'd probably need some sort of tie rod between
the seatposts to stop the bikes wandering apart or into each other.

  #16  
Old December 9th 06, 11:02 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Simon Brooke
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Posts: 4,493
Default Towing bicycles

in message , Rob Morley
') wrote:

In article
Tom Crispin wrote:
The problem of transporting children's bicycles from one school to
another is one which had vexed me for some time.

I have in the past bungeed bikes to my rear rack, but this has been
unstable and not really satisfactory.

A trailer would be a solution:

http://tinyurl.com/u3l2x from
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/images/ga...railer_480.jpg

But that has a total of eight wheels, four of which are redundant.

What about a solution which utilises at least some of the towed bike's
wheels?

How viable would this low cost solution be?

http://www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/towing

I just had an idea, lashed a couple of bikes together and rode them up
and down the road - it seemed to work quite well, so email[1] me if you
want me to make some sketches and discuss further development. I have a
vague idea how it could be better implemented in a cheap easy-fit sort
of way, but can't concentrate on that right now.


A BikeHod style flexible seatpost hitch might be better than the rack
hitch.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Error 1109: There is no message for this error

  #17  
Old December 9th 06, 11:37 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Marz
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Posts: 610
Default Towing bicycles


Tom Crispin wrote:

The problem of transporting children's bicycles from one school to
another is one which had vexed me for some time.


Silly question, but why are you transporting bikes from school to
school? What's the point in training kids without bikes to ride bikes?
Surely if mum and dad want their young sprog to ride a bike and be
trained by you it's up to them to get a bike to school.

Plus if you're providing bikes for training purposes you're liable for
any injurys due to faulty mechanics. You're insured for that (sorry,
married a US lawyer and now I'm overly informed about liability)?

Best of luck with a solution though.

Laters,

Marcus

  #18  
Old December 10th 06, 01:02 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Tom Crispin
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Posts: 4,229
Default Towing bicycles

On 9 Dec 2006 14:37:44 -0800, "Marz" wrote:


Tom Crispin wrote:

The problem of transporting children's bicycles from one school to
another is one which had vexed me for some time.


Silly question, but why are you transporting bikes from school to
school? What's the point in training kids without bikes to ride bikes?
Surely if mum and dad want their young sprog to ride a bike and be
trained by you it's up to them to get a bike to school.


There are several reasons why school children might want cycle
training but not have a bike at school, including:

1. They don't own a bike
2. The bike they have is not suitable
3. They are not yet trained so they are not allowed to ride to school
4. They can't ride a bike

The grant I received for pool bikes is to make cycle training socially
inclusive.

Plus if you're providing bikes for training purposes you're liable for
any injurys due to faulty mechanics. You're insured for that (sorry,
married a US lawyer and now I'm overly informed about liability)?


Insurance is fine.

If a child crashes while training - covered
If a child borrows a bike and crashes while practising at home due to
faulty maintenance - covered
If a child borrows a bike and crashes while practising at home due to
cyclist error - not covered, not liable

Best of luck with a solution though.

Laters,

Marcus

  #19  
Old December 11th 06, 10:50 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
POHB
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Posts: 729
Default Towing bicycles

AndyMorris wrote:
One would think
http://www.trail-gator.com/
would work without a passenger.


They work fine without a passenger.
I wonder if you could make a train of bikes with several of them?

  #20  
Old December 11th 06, 07:15 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Tom Crispin
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Posts: 4,229
Default Towing bicycles

On 11 Dec 2006 01:50:23 -0800, "POHB" wrote:

AndyMorris wrote:
One would think
http://www.trail-gator.com/
would work without a passenger.


They work fine without a passenger.
I wonder if you could make a train of bikes with several of them?


I expect a train connected by trail-gators would topple over at red
lights.

I think I have a simple cheap solution.

Wooden boom handle bungeed securely across the rear of the 26" bike's
rear rack.

Front wheels removed from 24" bikes and forks 'hooked' over the broom
handle. 24" bikes bungeed either side of the broom handle at the
forks/down tube.

24" bikes bungeed together with a second broom handle at their rear
racks, giving a stable trailer.

Two 20" bikes, front wheels removed, hooked over the second broom
handle and secured in the same way as the two 24" bikes, including at
their rear rack by a third broom handle.

I'll test it out in the playground at school one day after school next
term and take a few shots.
 




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