[jocko]

Since my last post I have been doing some experimenting with different hitches for the bike trailer I built to carry 2 x 12v SLA batteries for my front hub driven mtb.

I had been quite excited by the idea of an air hose coupling combined with a castor wheel mount on the LH chain stay and did indeed make a mounting plate up and got it all working. HOWEVER, I am sad to say the castor and mount were not up to the strain and quite quickly distorted.
I have since refined the idea somewhat and have gone to a ratchet-set half-inch universal suitably modifed to fit into the rear of the air hose coupling, one half of which is held with a single bolt to a light steel trunnion mounted on the back axle and also screwed to one of the spare dropout accessory fixing holes with an allen screw. This rig allows movement in three planes (2 on the universal and a twisting one on the air hose coupling) to give full articulation and seems to work very well. The attached photo gives some idea. The eyebolt is for a safety chain and the threaded rod seen is an extra stay to give some rigidity.