Built a bike trailer

[xuth]

I wanted a small bike trailer that I could take with my folding bike with the notion that I can take a train/bus/plane/whatever to my destination with a folding bike and whatever bags I have and then be able to ride away from the terminal with everything. The constraint was that it should tear down to small enough to fit with my folding bike and

Comments

[42itous]

Very nice.

For the bag, might I suggest repurposing a pair or two of jeans?

[xuth]

Sure, denim would work as well. And one leg of a pair of (my) jeans would be enough fabric to make two bags with left overs.

[ceo]

You forgot the most important part, which is to draw up a set of IKEA-style pictographic assembly instructions.

[xuth]

On a similar note, I've wondered if it would be worth creating instructions for creating something like this. On that count, I'm not sure. I made the design based on the eclectic set of tools at my disposal which I'm sure is fairly different than most. The aluminum pieces were cut to size on a table saw and then the openings were cut out on a (hand controlled) mini-mill (and holes drilled with a small drill press). I was thinking about dadoing most of the insert cuts on the aluminum which would have been a bit cleaner and ultimately easier once I set it up but cutting fewer sides of the aluminum resulted in what should be a stronger design.

[turil]

Those wheels! Heh. I think they'd drive me crazy (er). Hopefully you can find some that are softer and maybe a smidge bigger/taller, but still lightweight, so your baggage doesn't feel the full brunt of every single little bump on the road.

It's otherwise very cool!

For a quick and dirty (literally) approach to the hitch, you can use a strip of old tire, which you drill a couple of holes in the ends of, and the loop around your seat post and attach to the bolt you've already got there. It allows things to really move freely back there, though it does tilt everything upwards (which isn't terrible, especially if you're already kind of thinking of using it as a hand carried luggage carrier).

[turil]

And by "attach to the bolt you've already got there." I mean the bolt you've already got on the end of your trailer arm.

[turil]

Oh I just looked at the arm again, and you'd need to add another section of tubing if you wanted to attach the hitch all the way up at the seatpost. So, um, nevermind. :-)

[xuth]

Or I could use a bit of tire to connect it to the rear rack rather than seat post.

Scooter wheels aren't that bad. And for the weight, they're actually pretty good. Also since the trailer is really light, if the bags the trailer is carrying are at all squishy (the intent is to at least carry some clothes), most of the shock absorbtion happens in the bags rather than the wheels. It's a bit counter-intuitive but it works.