Cheap shopping trailer

[amberwolf]

It definitely helps to not have to stack stuff; if you get eggs and heavy but bruisable/crushable veggies, bread, etc., all at the same time you might not be able to pack them in a way that will not end up with something getting squished in there, especially with potholes and whatnot.

For instance, when I get groceries I usually get a month or two's worth at a time. Using SB Cruiser I can stack several styrofoam coolers on the cargo deck, or put them inside the lockable kennel if I am gonna have to go to several stores and leave stuff on the trike (common).

I can provide separate coolers for stuff likely to bounce around and break other stuff, or even pack towels or other padding in there for fragile things, or just put styrofoam dividers in; can even keep hot and cold and room temperature stuff all in separate areas or coolers, etc.

I used to use backpacks and bags when I was on a regular bike, back in my pedal days, and quickly migrated to baskets front and rear so I could keep different stuff in different baskets/bags. Once I started using trailers I went to coolers and boxes to carry with and it helped a lot.

When I went to ebikes I started again with baskets, went to a rack with a metal box on one side (lockable), then both sides, etc, etc, plus the trailer, and now I have the trike with it's cargo bed and overbed rack (and kennel if I need it), plus a multi-mode trailer.

But the boxes vs the bags, still works better with boxes unless you have a number of separate bags to put stuff in.

 

[Nehmo]

There's instructions for that one.
A one-wheel trailer is more elegant than a two, and it may be able to go places where a two can't.
There are plenty of ideas.

This guy made the hitch with a caster.

And, as in the first pic, I've seen the hitch made from a U-joint attached to an old bike stem, which is repurposed to attach to the seat post.
Trailers deserve more attention. Ebikes in particular almost should have them as a standard accessory (for extra batteries).

 

[Lurkin]

Bit of an update. The trailer arrived, poorly greased bearings, crappy to nonexistent instructions, non true wheels, chinese shitty welding. $150 was wayyyy to much. Nevermind, its here now.

Turns out its more convenient than driving to the farmers market, it can be rolled right through the front door to deliver food direct to the kitchen!! 8) We took it for a walk last week, was quite a spectacle at the market. I don't too many people realised it was a bike trailer, rather they just thought we were super weird with a pimped out, over glorified/over done nana trolley! (its common to use nana trollies at farmers markets here)

Took apart and greased the trailers wheel bearings, wrapped edges with punctured inner tubes... hit a bit of a brick wall with the hitch as it's designed to use an old school bikes seatpost bolt. As we didn't have any suitable bikes, this was a bit of a problem. Turns out the hitch is the most expensive, most stressed and likely to fail point on a bike trailer Guts.

Until last weekend, we were having a coffee at the cafe just at the end of the block and the neighbours were having a garage sale... $5 Dirty Purple Small Sized Girls Huffy I was both glad to see it and horrified at the same time. Frankly, I feel like having a shower each time I think about it, but it also now makes me grin! Rusted to solid chain, surface rust freewheel, no seat clamp, no seat, all grease had solidified/crusted, grip shifters ruined, so on so forth. Seemed to have hay bound through the wheels... hmm... bit of a gamble.

Anyway, spend spare time taking apart, electrical taping the rim tape down, inflating tubes, removing crappy grease, repacking all bearings with grease, obtaining seat clamp, seat, respacing back wheel, adjusting derailleur etc. From the looks of things, its had very little use, just left outside for the Aussie sun to kill all rubber/plastic items and turn the grease to crust. After removing it all, most surfaces were actually polishable quality.

The Purple Princess made its debut down the driveway and into the street today! Only three gears work for the time being.. but the trailer bolts straight to it!!! YUESS!!! Even at snail bicycle speed, it still twice the speed and half the effort of walking. 8)

Weird though. Its been a very, very long time I've put a ruined bike back together.... something very satisfying about it! Tomorrow it will make it's first market attempt. Needless to say, we'll be taking a full toolkit and floor pump with us!

 

[Chalo]

Weird though. Its been a very, very long time I've put a ruined bike back together.... something very satisfying about it!

I think I can say, as a bike service pro, that the charge you get out of reviving a ruined bike diminishes the more of them you do. Every once in a while I fix up some steaming turd that belonged to a parent/grandparent of the customer, and that's nice in its way. Generally though, I'm reminded of the labor of Sisyphus.

The worst ones are those that were ruined solely by neglect and disuse, and will immediately return to the same.

 

[amberwolf]

hit a bit of a brick wall with the hitch as it's designed to use an old school bikes seatpost bolt.

Ah, so I guessed right after all.
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=74851&start=0#p1138316

If it's meant to attach to the seatpost, then the seatpost clamping bolt might go thru that hole, but it doesn't seem like that would hold up very well over time with start/stop forces on it (the clamping bolt isn't meant to withstand that flexing).

I guess that means it's not actually missing any parts, then.

As we didn't have any suitable bikes, this was a bit of a problem.

What do you mean? Do your bikes not use a bolt to secure the seatpost? Or at least a QR skewer? (which should also work)


Do you realize though that it'd be easy to use a clamp off of one of those little Razor kickscooters, where the handlebars are meant to extend upwards for height adjustment? Most of the ones I've found in trashcans have been completley removable, and would fit seattubes, or actual seatposts, depending on the bike frame.

Turns out the hitch is the most expensive, most stressed and likely to fail point on a bike trailer

Hence why I went with an automotive ball-hitch, after a number of tries with existing bike types and some DIYs. It has it's limitations, but actual hitch failure isn't likely to be one of them. :lol:

Though the one I made for DayGlo Avenger out of headtubes, stems, steerers, and an old fork did actually work well enough, and would've been fine if I had used proper bolts and nuts and whatnot to tie the two stems together, though for safety's sake a cable to tie across the hitch point "just in case" would still be a good idea (and I use one even with my automotive hitch on SB Cruiser and CrazyBike2).

(I still ahve that trailer frame and the stuff on the bike itself, and might someday retry working out that system to mount to *any* "normal" bike rather than just DGA).

 

[macribs]

Which one did you eventually choose? Iirc in the start you had two different choices?

 

[Lurkin]

Weird though. Its been a very, very long time I've put a ruined bike back together.... something very satisfying about it!

I think I can say, as a bike service pro, that the charge you get out of reviving a ruined bike diminishes the more of them you do. Every once in a while I fix up some steaming turd that belonged to a parent/grandparent of the customer, and that's nice in its way. Generally though, I'm reminded of the labor of Sisyphus.

The worst ones are those that were ruined solely by neglect and disuse, and will immediately return to the same.

It ok, I'm still a hack :lol: In any case, living in a garage with only Sunday use will reduce the need for any maintenance anyway. I've done pretty much as much as I can be bothered with - its going to rust away anyway, its made from cheap crappy components (DNP and heavy steel) so it's had as much time as its getting for now.

Ah, so I guessed right after all.

Yes, Yes... The instructions provided with it were really only to assemble the trailer boxing, nothing to show how it attached to the bike... I think I looked at too many online and got a little confused/ should have confirmed how the hitch operated before buying In any case, the seller could have enlightened us on numerous occasion afterwards... but it became very evident they had no idea of what they were selling at all pretty quickly with their confusing offers to send parts then refusing to send them and requesting it to be sent back and fully refunded. Pretty unhelpful! I won't be buying off them again, if I was to buy this again, it would be direct from Asia. They can be obtained for as little as USD50 + freight...

What do you mean? Do your bikes not use a bolt to secure the seatpost? Or at least a QR skewer? (which should also work)

They do, but its a different design. Rather than haveing the bolt mounts directly on the frame, the whole seatpost clamp is completely seperate. It has a hoop which goes round the top of the frame with fittings for the QR goes through it, so when the QR does up, it squeezes the hoop and in turn the frame and seatpost.

Thus, any vertical stress could pop it off its seating on the top of the frame edge (its not fixed to it at all, its just resting on the top of the frame). It might be unlikely, but the bikes in discussion now are relied upon for commuting (and we had paid decent money for them) and cannot have problems. Yes, being a bit precious about them but I really cannot afford (the time to fix them) to damage them as I don't have a spare commute ebike right now. I know your probably tempted to say that's a non event, but I'm convinced it's really not a great idea. I thought the trailer would have a clamp suitable to attach to the seatpost itself, not the frame, and would have quick release.

Like:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bicycle-Trailer-Hitch-For-Seatpost-Cargo-trailer-Coupling-Nr-28001-/381525007861?hash=item58d4a99df5:g:QYEAAOSwc3ZUovjG\

or

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Co-pilot-Hitch-Bicycle-Bike-Trailer-Coupler-Hitch-Connector-/252250088209?hash=item3abb46e311:gi8AAOSwyQtVjvN1

It was pure assumption, which as earlier mentioned, should definitely have been confirmed before buying.

Anyway, I'm thinking I might have a stab at some point at repurposing a stem by cutting it in half and drilling just before where it was cut. The QR would go though the hitch attachment (where it would normally attach to the seatpost bolt) and through the drilled part of the stem, which is in turn bolted to the seatpost. Meh, add to the long list of projects to get done.

I think at this stage, we're just stoked that it works. Cycling took 1/2 the time of walking and we realised we were back having a coffee at the cafe before the time we took last time was even up!! 8) So good. The Purple Princess definitely attracted a few looks (I look like some sort of lost DH racer Gorilla on kids bike), but it actually worked fairly well, given only three gears work (smashed internals of shifters thanks to being left in the sun).

Do you realize though that it'd be easy to use a clamp off of one of those little Razor kickscooters, where the handlebars are meant to extend upwards for height adjustment? Most of the ones I've found in trashcans have been completley removable, and would fit seattubes, or actual seatposts, depending on the bike frame.

Dammit! I walked past one of these on the nature strip (read: trash pile) this week. Went back today, goneskis :x

Which one did you eventually choose? Iirc in the start you had two different choices?

The Vidalxl one. Chalos advice to buy one attaching to the seatpost area was spot on and turns out I have a bmx kickstand sitting in the garage which just needs the mount to be modified so it can attach to the trailer and thus can support its own weight when unattached to a bike without tipping.

 

[dogman dan]

If you want to use any bike with that trailer, you could make up some kind of clamp similar to a seat post clamp, out of steel strap and a bolt.

But I think the removable type of seat post clamp you have should work, since when clamped it does grab on both the post and the frame. It could break, particularly in a crash or something, but I suspect it would work fine.

 

[Lurkin]

Agreed, but I'd rather use it on a non essential beater bike.

 

[macribs]

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the globe....

Btw trailer seems the tits. I like that cargo bin.

Spoiler: Some enjoy their coffee outside, other hates the outside

 

[Lurkin]

Dude! and we consider a rainy day (like the one in the photo) a bad day...... :lol:

 

[Chalo]

Here are two cheap (low money outlay) trailers I made, hitched to each other in a cycle choo choo train:

The smaller one in the rear has a simple perimeter frame designed to carry a Rubbermaid Action Packer bin. The bin is only rated for 100 pounds, so that's the trailer's capacity by default. The bigger trailer has 48 spoke wheels with 17mm axles and a wooden deck made from fence planks. It has carried up to 400 pounds of cargo, including a full sized washing machine.

Since they both have low mount hitches, they are not useful as pushcarts. But I often take the bin trailer shopping and plop the bin into a shopping cart while I roam the store.

 

[macribs]

Here are two cheap (low money outlay) trailers I made, hitched to each other in a cycle choo choo train:

Ah me like alot. Nice work. Should go a long way with those to behind you. How does it corners and ride? Stable or wobbly?

 

[Chalo]

With either trailer, it's very stable up to the highest speeds I can attain. I expected to have some wagging or misbehavior with the train of both trailers, but that was steady too. I didn't attempt high speeds with that combo, though.

In my limited observation, the trailer's most likely to wobble are those that pivot behind the rear axle. This makes some sense, in that the arrangement causes the trailer and the bike to rotate in opposite directions from each other.

 

[Lurkin]

Bit of update, the trailer is still going very strong despte a few... mishaps :lol:

It would make far more sense for the front outer bars of the frame to be made in a triangular shape rather than square as the corners tend to catch on things..

Also, I've discovered it cant really do 90 degree turns with weight in it... tends to turn over and detach from the hitch! :lol:

I've released the tension on the RHS wheel and re tensioned it today rather than trying to true it, given several spokes had all but come undone altogether. I think the person designing these has used the wrong spoke length :x as upon assembly the spokes are not completely through the nipple head (i.e. flush) yet they are already well over tension for the crappy steel single walled rims they are fastened to :?

If the frame outlasts the wheelset, I will rebuild using replacement spokes (14g cut downs from the failed Q76r rear hub build) and stronger double walled alloy rims...

Ah well, knew the wheels were likely to be the first part to fail, not to mention I can see rust starting on the frame already.

The silver lining is - this is definitely proof of concept, a trailer and bike can replace a car with a little planning. More, it can provide stress free access to cheaper sources of food! We have discovered a market vendor whos fresh produce is not only typically fresher, it is also significantly cheaper i.e. approx usually $1 - 2 per kg per item and they usually round down upon paying! 8) Super cool.

Next step will be to electrify one of the beaters to assist with the drag of the trailer on the way home. Pushing hard on imperfectly fitting bikes is inefficient and brutal on tired commuting legs. I want to minimise the power required, likely to be max of 500w. Question is whether to go with a Q100 or similar and cook it each week, or 500w BPM and risk breaking gears or just go the whole hog and use the 1500w Leaf... undecided at this stage.

 

[Lurkin]

Surprisingly, one of the tyres has been the first to fail, the outer rubber of the tyre separating down the middle and the inner canvas? lacing being the only thing holding it together.

The markings on the side of the tyre are 16 x 2.125, so I purchased two 16" Schwalbe Marathon tyres to replace them both with before the second fails too. I thought this was the perfect, durable long term solution.

Unfortunately, 16" markings on the side of the tyre relate to the total external diameter of the original tyres, with no relation to the rim sizing. The outer sizing of the rim is approx 13" so the new tyres bead is far too large in diameter and the wheel swims in them. Guts! looks like they will need to go back and find something suitable to replace them with....

[EDIT] righto, the error is now obvious. Both are 16" OD on the tyre, but the Chinese tyre is 2.125" and the new Schwalbe is 1.35" and the difference in width changes the inner diameter.. hmm. So I need 16" x 2.125" or 57-305... .which Schwalbe only seems to make the Mad Mike BMX tyre in, which I doubt is anywhere near as strong! OR find two rims which are suitable for 16" x 1.35" or 35-349 tyres? hmmm. not sure, these tyres are a damn sight skinnier than those that came off, increasing the chance of nicking the rim when run soft... hmm...

[EDIT] Went hunting in the garage for inspiration. Found a 20" rear wheel salvaged but unused on anything else. removed freewheel, spacers, outer nuts and test fitted with pumped up tyre. Believe it or not, fits better than I thought without fouling on the trailer frame or hitting the plastic insert bucket.

Short term plan - go to the local bike co op to see if they have a throw away bmx 16" x 2.125" tyre to keep us rolling in the meantime.

Long term plan - spoke salvaged wheel rim (Weinmann, 36H 20") onto another salvaged 36H front hub (with QR!) and find a companion cheap or free to match. Then use 20" tyres from there on in! yay!

 

[Chalo]

Sounds like you bought 16 x 1-3/8" tires for your 16 x (decimal size) rims. That would be the difference between ISO 349 and ISO 305, the latter being far more common.

It's important to note that in the technologically ancient world of bicycles, tire sizes designated by decimal widths (e.g. 26 x 1.75") are pretty much always for different rims than those designated by fractional widths (e.g. 26 x 1-3/4").

The single exception I can think of is 20 x 4-1/4" tires, which fit on normal 20 inch BMX type rims whose tires are otherwise decimal, for instance 20 x 2.125".

Outside tire diameter is nominal, not actual. A 26 x 4.8" tire and a 26 x 1.0" tire both fit on the same diameter rim (ISO 559), but neither of them measures close to 26 inches. 26 x 1-3/8" is a different rim diameter (ISO 590 or 597, depending on whose standard you're dealing with), and 26 x 1-1/2" is yet another rim diameter (ISO 584). So is 26 x 1-3/4" (ISO 571). Are we having fun yet?

P.S. -
The best 16" (I mean ISO 305) tire I have found is the Maxxis Hookworm 16 x 1.95". It's consistent, durable, fast, and rated for 110psi-- even though your rim probably isn't.

 

[Lurkin]

I was under the (definitely incorrect) assumption that 16" referred to the inside, not the outside, diameter. Fail (unlike the European standard, which is).

Upon reading Schwalbe's website, now educated re 16" is the outside diameter and the width dictates it in relation to the inside diameter of the tyre and its relative position to the rim. In this case, the width is too small to make it to the rim, a wider tyre is required than that bought. Meh, no real harm done, tyres still have all the packaging on them/unused so they can be returned.

Switching to 20" seems like a far better idea (as you originally advised when I was buying this thing) due to the prevalence of options.

I was going for Marathon tyres for pure laziness - puncture proof, lack of need to change them and the trailer can drift a bit if it wants (unlikely at our speed). They were also pretty cheap (AUD 25 per tyre, delivered)

the only issues I'm concerned about switching to 20" is the increase in height (2"), subsequent change to the position of the center of gravity and the relative position of the hitch height to the connection to the bike. This will either need to be a cut and weld job or changing the way the hitch mounts, which is actually what I had in mind, anyway. 8)

 

[Ykick]

I dunno about cheap ($120) but this medium size Doggy Hut trailer has been very versatile, convenient and durable. Being an apt dweller I appeciate how it folds, quick release wheels and converts to flat-bed or doggy hauler very quickly and easily.

 

[Lurkin]

Short term plan - go to the local bike co op to see if they have a throw away bmx 16" x 2.125" tyre to keep us rolling in the meantime.

Turns out kids bikes are a bit of a thing at the local co op, there was plenty there in working order. Bit a dig through the options and a non perished tyre of the correct size was located! given it was in the free bike bits pile, the trailer is now rolling again, at zero cost. I guess this is because kids grow out of their bikes?

In other good news, they also have 20" and 26" wheels about as well.. grand news for test fitting 20" wheels to this in the future (maybe) and plenty of 26" about for other projects in mind! perfect! 8)

 

[onemorejoltwarden]

Burley looks good until you get close
Poorly made and overpriced
consider the WIKE to see what the difference is .
they are well made , more stable and less expensive.