Bicycle Bicycle Trailer

Tom Crispin said:

Ok - so I should have shot it in the kitchen with Colemans Mustard,
Marmite, a fish, Soreen and London Pride in the bottle holders.

Horrible soft southern English beer!

In message <[email hidden]>

Tom Crispin said:

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/trailer

And how does it tow round the South circular, pray?

How do you light it and how do you reflect it and do you rig
pennants?

And do I detect a carryFreedom element?

If so perhaps you could offer them the pics?
--
Charles
Brompton P6R-Plus; CarryFreedom -YL, in Motspur Park
LCC; CTC.

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>

Tom Crispin said:

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/trailer

And how does it tow round the South circular, pray?

How do you light it and how do you reflect it and do you rig
pennants?

I'd say that the designer has missed a trick there. If the outside
bike was the other way round you could use the lights on that to light
it. Otherwise it's going to need another couple of those excellent
Infini rear rack lights and probably a marker LED of some sort on the
front.

www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=22667
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>

Tom Crispin said:

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/trailer

And how does it tow round the South circular, pray?

I've not been on the SCR with it yet, but certainly returning home
from school yesterday at 5.30, along the A2212, I found the road ahead
remarkably clear. Once I pulled off the main road onto a parallel
service road it became remarkably busy.

Quoted message said:

How do you light it and how do you reflect it and do you rig
pennants?

The bikes being towed have excellent lights and reflectors.

Quoted message said:

And do I detect a carryFreedom element?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

If so perhaps you could offer them the pics?

Have done so already - though the ones taken were in poor light, about
6pm, and I've promised to take some better ones. Nick at Carry
Freedom wants to put up workshop photos along with photos of the
trailer in use.

Phil Cook said:

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>

Tom Crispin said:

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/trailer

And how does it tow round the South circular, pray?

How do you light it and how do you reflect it and do you rig
pennants?

I'd say that the designer has missed a trick there. If the outside
bike was the other way round you could use the lights on that to light
it. Otherwise it's going to need another couple of those excellent
Infini rear rack lights and probably a marker LED of some sort on the
front.

www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=22667

Good identification on those excellent Infini rear rack lights.

I hope to modify the trailer myself. I think there's space to have
the two middle racks backward facing and the two outside racks forward
facing, but haven't investigated yet. I was feeling particularly
tired yesterday evening, and probably dehydrated as well, so it was
with some effort that I assembled then loaded the trailer when it
arrived at 4.30pm.

Here's Nicks email, sent last night:

"Glad to find the trailer made it eventually. Sadly there is no way to
replace the plastic end piece without buying another car rack. The
best way we found to load the trailer was inside left bike, then
inside right, then outside right and finally outside left. The slight
swaying is from the towing arm being long and slightly flexible. It is
possible to make this stiffer, but it is quiet an involved exercise. I
would prefer to see how you get on with the current trailer in use,
then we can modify anything that is not working out.

If you keep me up to date with how you are getting on with the
trailer, and any problems you are having then I will sort these out. I
was going to send down a reflective stripe for fitting across the back
of the trailer (we have been out of stock of this tape for a while).
It is also possible to fit flags but I think this is only necessary if
you are cycling without bikes.

I will be putting up some workshop pictures of this trailer with links
across to your cycle training site. It would be great if you manage to
get some more photo's of the trailer in use."

Although the trailer has arrived about four weeks late, I would say
that the service and attention to care offered by Carry Freedom more
than makes up for any delay.

"Tom Crispin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok - so I should have shot it in the kitchen with Colemans Mustard,
Marmite, a fish, Soreen and London Pride in the bottle holders.

Next time!

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/trailer

It is also good to see your Thorn Raven Tour. ( I have the same colour of it
also -- less "flash" and it makes the bike look more "ordinary"😉
I would be interested in your gearing arrangement for towing such a load. I
tour towing a carry freedom and have selected a gearing which is ideal for
long haul tours but means in my "local at home" mode my top speed before my
feet "spin out" is about 22 mph! Not that I worry about it -- at 70 yrs I
pootle daily! ( "pootle" borrowed from wafflycat!)

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire,
England, United Kingdom.
www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Trevor A Panther said:

"Tom Crispin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok - so I should have shot it in the kitchen with Colemans Mustard,
Marmite, a fish, Soreen and London Pride in the bottle holders.

Next time!

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/trailer

It is also good to see your Thorn Raven Tour. ( I have the same colour of it
also -- less "flash" and it makes the bike look more "ordinary"😉
I would be interested in your gearing arrangement for towing such a load. I
tour towing a carry freedom and have selected a gearing which is ideal for
long haul tours but means in my "local at home" mode my top speed before my
feet "spin out" is about 22 mph! Not that I worry about it -- at 70 yrs I
pootle daily! ( "pootle" borrowed from wafflycat!)

I certainly struggled in first gear cycling up a short section of
steep hill yesterday. I don't think that I exceeded 10 mph on the way
home yesterday, but at under a mile it's no big distance.

I have a 44/15 chainring/sprocket set up which is quite low, so
perhaps not ideal for such a trailer. Unloaded and on the flat I can
exceed 30mph, but it's a struggle. The upright position on a Raven
Tour doesn't help - the bikes aren't built for speed and neither am I.

In article said:

Quoted message said:

How do you light it and how do you reflect it and do you rig
pennants?

The bikes being towed have excellent lights and reflectors.

Might be worth looking at a backup light just in case you ever need
to deliver bikes somewhere and return unladen after dark.

On 16 Oct, 08:11, Tom Crispin <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:52:33 GMT, "Trevor A Panther"

Quoted message said:

"Tom Crispin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok - so I should have shot it in the kitchen with Colemans Mustard,
Marmite, a fish, Soreen and London Pride in the bottle holders.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Next time!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/trailer

Quoted message said:

It is also good to see your Thorn Raven Tour. ( I have the same colour of it
also -- less "flash" and it makes the bike look more "ordinary"😉
I would be interested in your gearing arrangement for towing such a load. I
tour towing a carry freedom and have selected a gearing which is ideal for
long haul tours but means in my "local at home" mode my top speed before my
feet "spin out" is about 22 mph! Not that I worry about it -- at 70 yrs I
pootle daily! ( "pootle" borrowed from wafflycat!)

I certainly struggled in first gear cycling up a short section of
steep hill yesterday. I don't think that I exceeded 10 mph on the way
home yesterday, but at under a mile it's no big distance.

I have a 44/15 chainring/sprocket set up which is quite low, so
perhaps not ideal for such a trailer. Unloaded and on the flat I can
exceed 30mph, but it's a struggle. The upright position on a Raven
Tour doesn't help - the bikes aren't built for speed and neither am I.

I'd be interested to know how you come to need to tow so many bikes at
one time. I could understand it if a parent wanted to cycle with their
kids to school, where the school did not have confidence inspiring
secure parking.

David Lloyd

In article <[email hidden]>,
David Lloyd
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'd be interested to know how you come to need to tow so many bikes at
one time.

Cycle training, moving bikes between sites.

On 16 Oct 2007 08:13:54 +0100 (BST), [email hidden] (Alan

Braggins) said:

In article said:

Quoted message said:

How do you light it and how do you reflect it and do you rig
pennants?

The bikes being towed have excellent lights and reflectors.

Might be worth looking at a backup light just in case you ever need
to deliver bikes somewhere and return unladen after dark.

Yes, and a couple of flags. I do sometimes leave bikes at the schools
where I instruct.

David Lloyd said:

I'd be interested to know how you come to need to tow so many bikes at
one time. I could understand it if a parent wanted to cycle with their
kids to school, where the school did not have confidence inspiring
secure parking.

I am a teacher and a national standards cycling instructor. My base
school has been given funding to purchase pool bikes, and has about 30
- 15 of which are excellent quality children's bikes. I now teach
children to ride safely on roads at four schools, including my base
school. I take groups of up to 12 children, but in this part of
London there are a great many children who do not have a bicycle for
whatever reason. Quite often it's simply because they live in a flat
and have nowhere adequate to store it. It's not every parent who is
happy with brackets to hang a bicycle on in the hallway.

My version: http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/photos/trailbare.jpg

and in use: http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/photos/biketrail.jpg

It will take 3 bikes. More details on my trailer page: http://trailers.xntrick.co.uk/

I think this Cyclemagic one trumps both of us:

(Video)

On 16 Oct, 17:29, Tom Crispin <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 07:12:49 -0700, David Lloyd

Quoted message said:

I'd be interested to know how you come to need to tow so many bikes at
one time. I could understand it if a parent wanted to cycle with their
kids to school, where the school did not have confidence inspiring
secure parking.

I am a teacher and a national standards cycling instructor. My base
school has been given funding to purchase pool bikes, and has about 30
- 15 of which are excellent quality children's bikes. I now teach
children to ride safely on roads at four schools, including my base
school. I take groups of up to 12 children, but in this part of
London there are a great many children who do not have a bicycle for
whatever reason. Quite often it's simply because they live in a flat
and have nowhere adequate to store it. It's not every parent who is
happy with brackets to hang a bicycle on in the hallway.

Oh yes. I understand. I hope that after their training, the kids will
be able to get access to bikes whenever they need them, so that they
can further gain expirience, enjoy themselves and get practical use
out of their new skills.

David Lloyd

Tom Crispin said:

Quoted message said:

I'd say that the designer has missed a trick there. If the outside
bike was the other way round you could use the lights on that to light
it. Otherwise it's going to need another couple of those excellent
Infini rear rack lights and probably a marker LED of some sort on the
front.

www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=22667

Good identification on those excellent Infini rear rack lights.

I hope to modify the trailer myself. I think there's space to have
the two middle racks backward facing and the two outside racks forward
facing, but haven't investigated yet. I was feeling particularly
tired yesterday evening, and probably dehydrated as well, so it was
with some effort that I assembled then loaded the trailer when it
arrived at 4.30pm.

I have now modified the trailer. The two inside bikes face backward
and the two outside bikes face backwards. Now those excellent Infini
Apollo lights on the Islabikes Beinn 24 and Beinn 26 face backwards.

The handlebars of the inside bikes seem to fit quite snugly together,
so that's not a problem. I was more concerned about the bikes' pedals
falling onto the trailer's wheels, but they seem to be in the same
space and end up locked together making them unmovable once the bikes
are properly positioned.