Adventures with Bike Trailers...

[Sven7]

Since I got a rear rack that mounts onto the axle just like the front one, I wanted to update my hitch. I used some leftover steel stock from my friend and mounted it just like his (to the brake mount). It clears the caliper, disc and rack stanchion by a hair. I want to get mine welded together and finished well (heating it with a torch and dunking it in Rustoleum sounds good). I need to haul the trailer a bit to test it, but I don't foresee any issues.

Oh, and trailer brakes? I've never gone fast enough to have issues with my bike brakes. 180 with Avid BB7 front, 160 BB5 rear.

[Sven7]

Here, finally a picture showing how a bike fits onto the trailer. Just taking it home after some maintenance.



I'm thinking I'd like the trailer to be long enough to just load up a complete bike directly without removing the wheel. Not sure how I'd secure it, though, as I own bikes of many different wheel and hub sizes. Tires from 1-1/4" up to 4" wide, and front hubs from 100-135mm!

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Sven7

Not sure how I'd secure it, though, as I own bikes of many different wheel and hub sizes. Tires from 1-1/4" up to 4" wide, and front hubs from 100-135mm!

[Sven7]

You know, I might have to take a look at one of those. I'd prefer to not have to add/remove slats for hauling a bike or not, though. Maybe there's a way to recess them into the cargo area itself, so flat boxes and such can sit and slide on top without a problem. But there's still the possible issue of tire size. 4" doesn't sound like much until you have to put your back into it to get the thing into a bike rack!

[Piwoslaw]

Well then just use the handle which holds the frame and make your own recesses for tires.

[Sven7]

Another option would be to flip the bike over onto its saddle and handlebars and strap it down like that. It would eliminate the need for that frame holder arm, at the expense of top-heaviness. I'll have to do some thinking.

[Grant-53]

Check out the motorcycles in trailers or truck beds.

[Sven7]

I'm still nervous about wheel size. I need to be able to load up a 1-1/4" Varsity tire, then a 2.35" mountain bike tire. Or even a 4" fatbike tire! That means that if I design for the 4", the Varsity will be loose, and if I design for the Varsity, I won't be able to fit the fatbike.

It would seem that an adjustable width wheel chock would add considerably more weight than a normal wheel chock... that is, IF I can figure out how to do it well.

I guess there is a chance I could bungee the Varsity to one side, wedging it against one side. But how well will that work?

Maybe I need to have a V-shaped channel in the bottom of the trailer, so it fits and centers all tire sizes, and just mess around with ratchet straps on each side of the stem to keep it in place. I've done something similar in my truck... and I guess it's not much more work than my current setup: pull a wheel off, adjust the axle block, mount the fork, tighten the axle block, then bungee everything down.

[leanAztek]

Originally Posted by Sven7

I'm still nervous about wheel size. I need to be able to load up a 1-1/4" Varsity tire, then a 2.35" mountain bike tire. Or even a 4" fatbike tire! That means that if I design for the 4", the Varsity will be loose, and if I design for the Varsity, I won't be able to fit the fatbike.

It would seem that an adjustable width wheel chock would add considerably more weight than a normal wheel chock... that is, IF I can figure out how to do it well.

Try making one of the above wooden ones for your fat bike. Then create wooden spacers that could be attached to make it thinner based on the tire width. Then you just screw on the wedge when needed.

[Piwoslaw]

How about 3 parallel channels of different width, one for each bike? Make the left and right far enough apart so that you can carry 2 bikes while the third tows. If you never need to haul 2 bikes at a time, then make all 3 channels close to the center.