Strategy for getting SWB up the stairs.



F

Freewheeling

Guest
Hi:

I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.)
Some time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use
to grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike
up and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?
 
Have you tried pushing it up and down the steps?

William of Ockham

"Freewheeling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi:
>
> I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
> rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
> the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
> simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
> without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.) Some
> time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use to
> grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike up
> and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?
 
sfb wrote:
> Have you tried pushing it up and down the steps?

Have you tried kicking yourself in the ass?

>
> William of Ockham
>
> "Freewheeling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Hi:
>>
>> I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
>> rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
>> the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
>> simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
>> without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.) Some
>> time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use to
>> grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike up
>> and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?

>
>
 
Not recently, but have pushed a bicycle up and down stairs while living in a
second floor apartment.

Have you tried to win friends and influence people by politely saying thank
you rather than treating them like a piece of **** that stuck to your shoe?

William of Ockham

"Freewheeling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> sfb wrote:
>> Have you tried pushing it up and down the steps?

> Have you tried kicking yourself in the ass?
>
>>
>> William of Ockham
>>
>> "Freewheeling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> Hi:
>>>
>>> I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
>>> rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
>>> the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
>>> simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
>>> without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.)
>>> Some time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use
>>> to grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike
>>> up and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?

>>
 
In alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent on Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:56:20 -0400
sfb <[email protected]> wrote:
> Have you tried pushing it up and down the steps?
>


down works for me, up is more "stop, lift, stop, lift". Is slow and
difficult and damned annoying.

If there are only 4 or 5 it would work, with 20, no way.

If it's say 10 or 15, a long plank of wood as a ramp? Of course
storing it is a problem.

Zebee
 
The guy was asking about some sort of fancy sling that is all lift. When
pushing, a majority of the weight is on the stairs.

Public stairs in an apartment building so a plank or anything else other
than muscling the bike is out of the question.

"Zebee Johnstone" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent on Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:56:20 -0400
> sfb <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Have you tried pushing it up and down the steps?
>>

>
> down works for me, up is more "stop, lift, stop, lift". Is slow and
> difficult and damned annoying.
>
> If there are only 4 or 5 it would work, with 20, no way.
>
> If it's say 10 or 15, a long plank of wood as a ramp? Of course
> storing it is a problem.
>
> Zebee
 
In alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent on Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:13:03 -0400
sfb <[email protected]> wrote:
> The guy was asking about some sort of fancy sling that is all lift. When
> pushing, a majority of the weight is on the stairs.
>
> Public stairs in an apartment building so a plank or anything else other
> than muscling the bike is out of the question.


I find lifting it up and carrying it is much much easier than going up
one step at a time.

That's because once it is up in my arms, it is up. I don't have to
lift it again and again.

Try it with a long heavy awkward box. Put the box on the stair, lift
it to the next one, put it down, lift it again. Then pick it up and
carry it up the same number of stairs.

Bet you end up preferring method 2 :) (as long as the box is 30kg or
less.)

When I carry the bent up stairs the only way I can find to do it is to
hold it across me, so I'm a bike wide as I go up. Works Ok in the
only places I have to do it, which is train stations (providing I pick
my time....) but it wouldn't work in narrow passages.

A sling of some kind would be much easier and if I had to do it
regularly I'd certainly make one. I can see a number of difficulties,
the big one being how to manage the weight when you have to have the
seat behind you, At a rough guess I'd use a wide webbing strap, say
an old seatbelt with a seatbelt pad on it. Put another, smaller,
strap on it with velcro, wrap that around the front of the frame (I'm
thinking my Bacchetta Giro here, one long frame tube) in front of the
deraillieur mount. Do the same at the other end, the velcro around
the rack this time, or the rear stays. I'd need another loop of
something to stop the flip stem from flipping.

I think I'd then have the bike backwards to go up stairs. Have the
front wheel behind me and the back wheel in front, with the seat in
front of me too.

I'd be inclined to start with rope and fiddle about till I got the
right lengths and balance, then go to a wreckers for the webbing and a
bootmaker for sewing it up.

Zebee
 
sfb wrote:
> Not recently, but have pushed a bicycle up and down stairs while living in a
> second floor apartment.
>
> Have you tried to win friends and influence people by politely saying thank
> you rather than treating them like a piece of **** that stuck to your shoe?
>
> William of Ockham
>
> "Freewheeling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> sfb wrote:
>>> Have you tried pushing it up and down the steps?

>> Have you tried kicking yourself in the ass?
>>
>>> William of Ockham
>>>
>>> "Freewheeling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>> Hi:
>>>>
>>>> I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
>>>> rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
>>>> the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
>>>> simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
>>>> without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.)
>>>> Some time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use
>>>> to grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike
>>>> up and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?

>

Sorry, thought it was fairly obvious that "pushing" a recumbent up and
down a narrow flight of stairs wasn't much of an option, unless you just
like the pain of bunged up fingers, strained muscles, cuts and bruises,
etc. For that reason I figured you were just being a smartass. I mean,
if pushing were an adequate solution why would I be posting here about it?
 
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
> In alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent on Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:56:20 -0400
> sfb <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Have you tried pushing it up and down the steps?
>>

>
> down works for me, up is more "stop, lift, stop, lift". Is slow and
> difficult and damned annoying.

In which case I probably wouldn't even bother. I'd sell the bike and do
some other form of exercise.
>
> If there are only 4 or 5 it would work, with 20, no way.


I thought I said it was a second story thing, but it's actually more
like 25 to 30 steps, a right angle turn at the top, and then the door.
Hence the need for some sort of "system". One of the regulars here had
a system worked out that involved a sling. It may have been Tom Sherman.

>
> If it's say 10 or 15, a long plank of wood as a ramp? Of course
> storing it is a problem.


I once installed a piece of angled aluminum that acted as a "gutter" up
and down which I could run the bike. Worked OK, but in this situation I
can't install anything on the steps. It has to be integral to the bike.

>
> Zebee
 
Zebee Johnstone wrote:
> In alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent on Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:13:03 -0400
> sfb <[email protected]> wrote:
>> The guy was asking about some sort of fancy sling that is all lift. When
>> pushing, a majority of the weight is on the stairs.
>>
>> Public stairs in an apartment building so a plank or anything else other
>> than muscling the bike is out of the question.

>
> I find lifting it up and carrying it is much much easier than going up
> one step at a time.
>
> That's because once it is up in my arms, it is up. I don't have to
> lift it again and again.
>
> Try it with a long heavy awkward box. Put the box on the stair, lift
> it to the next one, put it down, lift it again. Then pick it up and
> carry it up the same number of stairs.
>
> Bet you end up preferring method 2 :) (as long as the box is 30kg or
> less.)
>
> When I carry the bent up stairs the only way I can find to do it is to
> hold it across me, so I'm a bike wide as I go up. Works Ok in the
> only places I have to do it, which is train stations (providing I pick
> my time....) but it wouldn't work in narrow passages.
>
> A sling of some kind would be much easier and if I had to do it
> regularly I'd certainly make one. I can see a number of difficulties,
> the big one being how to manage the weight when you have to have the
> seat behind you, At a rough guess I'd use a wide webbing strap, say
> an old seatbelt with a seatbelt pad on it. Put another, smaller,
> strap on it with velcro, wrap that around the front of the frame (I'm
> thinking my Bacchetta Giro here, one long frame tube) in front of the
> deraillieur mount. Do the same at the other end, the velcro around
> the rack this time, or the rear stays. I'd need another loop of
> something to stop the flip stem from flipping.
>
> I think I'd then have the bike backwards to go up stairs. Have the
> front wheel behind me and the back wheel in front, with the seat in
> front of me too.
>
> I'd be inclined to start with rope and fiddle about till I got the
> right lengths and balance, then go to a wreckers for the webbing and a
> bootmaker for sewing it up.
>
> Zebee

Zeb:

I got rid of the flip stem, so the rigid stem makes it somewhat easier.
The tricky part is figuring where the balance points are, whether it's
easier to go ass-end first (including whether you reverse going down or
keep the same orientation). Once it's on your shoulder and doesn't hit
the steps it should be fairly easy to carry on the shoulder. Should
even be fairly easy to make the 90 degree swing at the top, followed by
a couple more steps. Experience tells me that if this "lofting" is too
difficult or time consuming I'll just procrastinate going for rides, to
the point that I eventually won't do it at all. Just too much hassle,
and it's always easier to have a beer or two and watch football.

I should be able to get the seatbelt webbing and some other hardware at
REI, once I have a plan of assembly. Cost should be less than $20.

Thanks for your thoughts.

--Scott
 
Freewheeling wrote:
> Hi:
>
> I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
> rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
> the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
> simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
> without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.)
> Some time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use
> to grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike
> up and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?


Possibly rig up something on an old ski that would allow you to easily
secure the wheels to it? And/or a hand winch on some sort of homemade
portable stand (e.g. that you could hold it in place by standing on).
 
[email protected] wrote:
> Freewheeling wrote:
>> Hi:
>>
>> I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
>> rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
>> the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
>> simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
>> without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.)
>> Some time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use
>> to grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike
>> up and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?

>
> Possibly rig up something on an old ski that would allow you to easily
> secure the wheels to it? And/or a hand winch on some sort of homemade
> portable stand (e.g. that you could hold it in place by standing on).
>

If I'm going to the trouble of rigging a winch, it'll have to be
electrically powered. Pixie dust, maybe?
 
Freewheeling wrote:
> Hi:
>
> I just got an apartment with a great location in Princeton but it has a
> rather steep set of stairs to negotiate, and no way to keep the bike on
> the lower floor. I have a RANS VREX. I was wondering if anyone has a
> simple strategy or device to get the bike easily up and down the stairs
> without any carpentry. (I can't modify the stairs, in other words.)
> Some time ago someone posted about a sling with hooks that one could use
> to grab the top tube and then sling over the shoulder to carry the bike
> up and down the stairs. Any engineers out there with ideas?


Throw SWB in dumpster. Purchase normal bike. Problem solved.
 
I live on a third-floor apartment of an old brownstone building with
very narrow stairs. I have to negotiate 6 90-degree turns as well as a
self-closing gate a two sets of locked self-closing glass doors, plus
the main door of the apartment. Took me a while, but nowadays I have no
problem carrying any of my bikes (track bike, highracer, and LWB with
fairing) up or down. It just takes practice.

The only advices I can give you are; always have the bike on the inside
of the turns, meaning if its a left turn, you stand on the right of the
bike holding it up with your left hand. This will keep it from hitting
the walls. And also lift the bike high enough to clear the handrails,
so you can make even tighter turns. And depending on how much head
clearance you have, you might need to tilt the bike in the direction of
the stairs to keep from hitting the ceiling.

With my faired LWB bike, I also learned that it is a LOT easier to carry
it into the building and up the stairs by having the bike facing backwards.

Cheers.
 

> > Possibly rig up something on an old ski that would allow you to easily
> > secure the wheels to it? And/or a hand winch on some sort of homemade
> > portable stand (e.g. that you could hold it in place by standing on).
> >

> If I'm going to the trouble of rigging a winch, it'll have to be
> electrically powered. Pixie dust, maybe?


Pixie dust? You have some??!!
But seriously, you could power a winch with a cordless electric drill
(worm drive setup).

-ny
 

> > Possibly rig up something on an old ski that would allow you to easily
> > secure the wheels to it? And/or a hand winch on some sort of homemade
> > portable stand (e.g. that you could hold it in place by standing on).
> >

> If I'm going to the trouble of rigging a winch, it'll have to be
> electrically powered. Pixie dust, maybe?


Pixie dust? You have some??!!
But seriously, you could power a winch with a cordless electric drill
(worm drive setup).

-ny
The rans V-rex is all of 30 pounds. It shouldn't be that big of a problem to find a big strong man to carry that bike up the stairs. Payment of course for such things has always been made in pixie dust.
 
nget wrote:
> [email protected] Wrote:
>>>> Possibly rig up something on an old ski that would allow you to

>> easily
>>>> secure the wheels to it? And/or a hand winch on some sort of

>> homemade
>>>> portable stand (e.g. that you could hold it in place by standing

>> on).
>>> If I'm going to the trouble of rigging a winch, it'll have to be
>>> electrically powered. Pixie dust, maybe?

>> Pixie dust? You have some??!!
>> But seriously, you could power a winch with a cordless electric drill
>> (worm drive setup).
>>
>> -ny

> The rans V-rex is all of 30 pounds. It shouldn't be that big of a
> problem to find a big strong man to carry that bike up the stairs.
> Payment of course for such things has always been made in pixie dust.
>
>

God, this newsgroup has really gone downhill. There was a time when a
question like this would have elicited a host of thoughtful and
engineering-savvy responses. Guess it's time to reactivate my
subscription to hpvlist. Sorry I bothered you guys with it.
 
"Freewheeling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>>

> God, this newsgroup has really gone downhill. There was a time when a
> question like this would have elicited a host of thoughtful and
> engineering-savvy responses. Guess it's time to reactivate my
> subscription to hpvlist. Sorry I bothered you guys with it.


Subscription, huh?

I suppose you want all your money refunded for the unread posts.
 
Joao wrote:
> I live on a third-floor apartment of an old brownstone building with
> very narrow stairs. I have to negotiate 6 90-degree turns as well as a
> self-closing gate a two sets of locked self-closing glass doors, plus
> the main door of the apartment. Took me a while, but nowadays I have no
> problem carrying any of my bikes (track bike, highracer, and LWB with
> fairing) up or down. It just takes practice.
>
> The only advices I can give you are; always have the bike on the inside
> of the turns, meaning if its a left turn, you stand on the right of the
> bike holding it up with your left hand. This will keep it from hitting
> the walls. And also lift the bike high enough to clear the handrails,
> so you can make even tighter turns. And depending on how much head
> clearance you have, you might need to tilt the bike in the direction of
> the stairs to keep from hitting the ceiling.
>
> With my faired LWB bike, I also learned that it is a LOT easier to carry
> it into the building and up the stairs by having the bike facing backwards.
>
> Cheers.

Thanks. That at least systematizes things a bit, which is always
helpful. I need to go to REI and pick up some stuff though. Maybe I'll
just tie a length of roap to the bike in various positions and try that
before doing any actual fabrication. Part of this is that I've done
quite a lot of heavy lifting recently, during a move, and my joints are
wrecked. These awkward carry positions end up costing me a few days of
pain, so I'd just as soon skip it if possible. The young and stupid have
that ahead of them...

There were some other useful comments here, but lord there sure are some
dopes hanging around this group aren't there? No wonder most of the
regulars have left. I still get the HPV list in summary form, so I'll
have to reactivate my posting function. Most of the trolls there just
get bounced out on their ear.
 
Freewheeling said:
Maybe I'll
just tie a length of roap to the bike in various positions and try that
before doing any actual fabrication.
Pure genius, I think he's got it now. What is roap?