bishbosh
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Registered: 25th Sep 06
User status: Offline
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I have come accross a bike trailer similar to the child carrier ones. What i'm thinking is:
It currently has no trailer arm and im wondering if i fix 2 arms to the trailer and then back to the bike fairly short in length and with no flex will the bike still perform ok when cornering? i.e. the bike will have 3 fixed wheels at the back.
This is something i intent to do this weekend but i suddenly had a thought that the fixed wheels may drag or be subject to strain? I might be pulling up to 40kg.
If it is an ipossible question to answer i will just have to give it a go... Cheers.
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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such a small surface area of contact between the tyre and the tarmac that you won't have huge problems, it'l be weird to ride and it won't not turn as tightly. My main concern would be that you can't lean the bike which accounts for 95% of the turning you'll do on a bike. That said, it won't be dis-similar to the sit up and beg type trikes
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Ian
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Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
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Either -
- one of the two bars that you fixed to the trailer will fail because of the stress you put on while leaning
- the bar won't fail but the bike will tip on to the inside wheel and the original rear wheel and outside wheel on the trailer will lift.
- it'll all stay in place and on the ground and you'll have no steering.
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Ian
- it'll all stay in place and on the ground and you'll have no steering.
I think this, but wouldn't say no steering, It'll have dramatically reduced steering compared to a normal bike but think about the old Ice cream type trikes which had the same set up
edit, I'm not thinking of an ice cream trike, they had two wheels at the front, but I have seen something like this
[Edited on 19-03-2012 by LiVe LeE]
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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If you try and turn too tightly, the back wheel will drag in the same way as when reversing a trailer too tightly risking pulling a tyre off the rim but because this has relatively small contact with the ground, I would hazard a guess at them breaking friction.
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Ian
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Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
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The rear three wheels aren't in line though.
My guess is that it'll all fail and snap, no possible way you can support all that load with the thin bits of metal you need to fit it to the frame.
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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depends on the material used tbh, but I think it'll just be a weird riding experience and if you tried to turn hard, the tyres would just break friction with the ground and drag. Interesting to see though.
To be honest, for the effort, you may as well just make it articulate about a pivot and form a towing frame about the back wheel.
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bishbosh
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Registered: 25th Sep 06
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Some interesting points, leaning when turning might be the biggest problem.
I was trying to avoit the pivot option because it will be a tad more tricky.
Thanks for you thoughts!
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
User status: Online
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Do those types of trailers not have the pivots already built in?
The track isn't wide enough to keep it stable anyway, it would lean a bit however strong you engineered it.
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Gaz
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Registered: 24th Aug 03
Location: Widnes, Cheshire
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I would build one but place a pivot just before it connects to the bike so you can rotate/lean the bike in corners but still have the stability of the two bars holding your load.
to be fair though, a strong single bar like the children's ones will be fine - remember you have to pedel with a heavy load and i'm sure you would give up before a bar does.
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alan-g-w
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Registered: 9th Nov 07
Location: Glasgow
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A bar made out of a bit of pipe attached to the front of the trailer, bent in such a way that the trailer's level and the bar reaches the saddle post. Weld a 1/2" universal joint attachment (3/4 if possible) to a bit of pipe that's only just a larger ID than the post. Drill two holes, weld a nut onto each so that a bolt can go through to secure the pipe to the post. Weld the other half of the universal joint onto the bar attached to the trailer, i'd probably just cap the pipe off and weld it there.
That's just an idea, I realise it's not so easy to source stuff sometimes. But definetely agreed that if you had it set out in a sort of 1-1-2 with the rear three fixed and only the front wheel free it wouldn't handle at all, let alone badly with the weight
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