Building a trailer/bike RV

[Mark]

Well building a bike might be a some time off, but building a trailer
is definitely something that will happen fairly soon. I need to carry
camping equipment, and might turn the trailer into a "bike RV" with a
few extras instead of carrying a tent and cot. The catch is I am
concerned about the extra effort to pedal. I don't expect the trailer
to weigh in the 20 to 25 lb range in RV mode. It should have the
ability to carry most anything you would want to pull. Should be a
very flexible trailer if everything I have in mind works as I expect.

My question is just how much weight is really practical for a bike
trailer with someone of average fitness. Lance may be able to pull a
truck, but I sure can't. Id be interested to know just how much a
practical trailer could weigh and how much weight one could of average
fitness could practically load on it from those with experience.

Thanks in advance

Mark

[Jeff]

"Mark" <mblackwell1958@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1190949586.389731.117290@22g2000hsm.googlegro ups.com...
> Well building a bike might be a some time off, but building a trailer
> is definitely something that will happen fairly soon. I need to carry
> camping equipment, and might turn the trailer into a "bike RV" with a
> few extras instead of carrying a tent and cot. The catch is I am
> concerned about the extra effort to pedal. I don't expect the trailer
> to weigh in the 20 to 25 lb range in RV mode. It should have the
> ability to carry most anything you would want to pull. Should be a
> very flexible trailer if everything I have in mind works as I expect.
>
> My question is just how much weight is really practical for a bike
> trailer with someone of average fitness. Lance may be able to pull a
> truck, but I sure can't. Id be interested to know just how much a
> practical trailer could weigh and how much weight one could of average
> fitness could practically load on it from those with experience.
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Mark


....trailer should make near zero difference on the flats and downhill. ...at
least without considering the extra wind resistance. ...should only matter
uphills. ...so this all depends on where you're riding and how aerodynamic
the trailer is. If I understand correctly, the aerodynamics should only
matter above a minimum of about 12-15 mph.

J



--
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[landotter]

On Sep 27, 10:19 pm, Mark <mblackwell1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Well building a bike might be a some time off, but building a trailer
> is definitely something that will happen fairly soon.

Nashbar's got their utility trailer on sale now for $85. Not sure of
the quality, but even if you have to mod it a bit to get it right,
it's a pretty inexpensive place to start.

[Ron Ruff]

On Sep 27, 9:19 pm, Mark <mblackwell1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> My question is just how much weight is really practical for a bike
> trailer with someone of average fitness.

If it is properly configured it mostly depends on how fast you want to
go. Use an MTB with the lowest gears you can get, and you should be
able to climb 8% grades easily enough... even if the trailer weighs as
much as you do. If the trailer weighs that much then climbing steep
hills will be twice as hard (half the speed). Make the shape fairly
aero and it shouldn't be a huge burden on the flat. Handling and
braking while hauling that much stuff is another issue... but disc
brakes are common these days and that should help... maybe put brakes
on the trailer?

I've pondered making a pop-up trailer big enough to sleep in and stash
a good amount of gear for epic journeys. Fiberglass coated plywood
should work well.

[Mark]

On Sep 27, 10:55 pm, "Jeff" <n...@nothingX.com> wrote:
> "Mark" <mblackwell1...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1190949586.389731.117290@22g2000hsm.googlegro ups.com...
>
>
>
> > Well building a bike might be a some time off, but building a trailer
> > is definitely something that will happen fairly soon. I need to carry
> > camping equipment, and might turn the trailer into a "bike RV" with a
> > few extras instead of carrying a tent and cot. The catch is I am
> > concerned about the extra effort to pedal. I don't expect the trailer
> > to weigh in the 20 to 25 lb range in RV mode. It should have the
> > ability to carry most anything you would want to pull. Should be a
> > very flexible trailer if everything I have in mind works as I expect.
>
> > My question is just how much weight is really practical for a bike
> > trailer with someone of average fitness. Lance may be able to pull a
> > truck, but I sure can't. Id be interested to know just how much a
> > practical trailer could weigh and how much weight one could of average
> > fitness could practically load on it from those with experience.
>
> > Thanks in advance
>
> > Mark
>
> ...trailer should make near zero difference on the flats and downhill. ...at
> least without considering the extra wind resistance. ...should only matter
> uphills. ...so this all depends on where you're riding and how aerodynamic
> the trailer is. If I understand correctly, the aerodynamics should only
> matter above a minimum of about 12-15 mph.
>
> J
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

Well aero won't likely be much of an issue. In travel mode it will be
more or less flat. Now I would have thought you might have seen more
of an issue even on the flats. Downhill the biggest issue will be
braking. Trying to stop something too heavy headed downhill with the
brakes of a typical bike isn't going to be easy. Worse yet a
potential jack knifed trailer could mess up your whole ride. Yet that
should be an extremely rare set of conditions that would put one at
that risk if speed is managed in the first place.

Up hill is always the fun part LOL. The weight then is pulling
against you. Guess you could always push it up the hill, but that may
not be that easy either lol. Still it sounds like what I have in mind
is definitely feasible.

[Jeff]

"Mark" <mblackwell1958@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1190954677.483029.45180@y42g2000hsy.googlegro ups.com...
> On Sep 27, 10:55 pm, "Jeff" <n...@nothingX.com> wrote:

> Well aero won't likely be much of an issue. In travel mode it will be
> more or less flat. Now I would have thought you might have seen more
> of an issue even on the flats. Downhill the biggest issue will be
> braking. Trying to stop something too heavy headed downhill with the
> brakes of a typical bike isn't going to be easy. Worse yet a
> potential jack knifed trailer could mess up your whole ride. Yet that
> should be an extremely rare set of conditions that would put one at
> that risk if speed is managed in the first place.
>
> Up hill is always the fun part LOL. The weight then is pulling
> against you. Guess you could always push it up the hill, but that may
> not be that easy either lol. Still it sounds like what I have in mind
> is definitely feasible.

I have only pulled a trailer a very small bit (a child trailer). I noticed
the handling change a bit and the extra weight when starting off. I've only
done this on flats so I couldn't tell you about up and down hills from
experience. I have ridden a tandem extensively with a combined weight of
over 375 pounds. I had standard campy record road brakes on it (most come
with mountain style, which are supposed to be more powerful) and had
absolutely no problems decending fairly large mountains with 2-3 mile
declines that would take us to near 50 mph without braking. The tandem
originally had an extra drum brake along with the rim brakes (not uncommon
on tandems), but I removed it since we would generally be comfortable at 40
+ mph decents for 2-3 miles and never planned to travel where the mountains
were higher or longer. The only purpose of the drum was to keep the heat of
braking away from the rim, where the large bikes could generate enough rim
heat from braking on mountains with normal rim brakes to blow tubes during
long decents. Otherwise, the rim brakes were fine. The point is that it
again depends a bit on the type of riding you're intending to do and the
weight of what you're carring. If you're speaking about decending large
mountains and want to cut your speed from a normal 50 mph to 20 mph for
several miles, you might worry about braking and should probably look into a
drum brake or disk for the bike. If not, I doubt that braking will be an
issue - it wasn't for me on a tandem where I was carrying an extra 120
pounds or so of stoker. If you're still concerned about braking, look into
the arai drum brakes that are sold by many tandem dealers. They are
relatively inexpensive (but I think they require a special hub), and can be
set up with old-style thumbshift levers that can be turned on for long
decents to shave speed if you don't want to hook them to the regular levers.

J



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[Mark]

On Sep 28, 2:35 pm, Ron Ruff <rruffrr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Sep 27, 9:19 pm, Mark <mblackwell1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > My question is just how much weight is really practical for a bike
> > trailer with someone of average fitness.
>
> If it is properly configured it mostly depends on how fast you want to
> go. Use an MTB with the lowest gears you can get, and you should be
> able to climb 8% grades easily enough... even if the trailer weighs as
> much as you do. If the trailer weighs that much then climbing steep
> hills will be twice as hard (half the speed). Make the shape fairly
> aero and it shouldn't be a huge burden on the flat. Handling and
> braking while hauling that much stuff is another issue... but disc
> brakes are common these days and that should help... maybe put brakes
> on the trailer?
>
> I've pondered making a pop-up trailer big enough to sleep in and stash
> a good amount of gear for epic journeys. Fiberglass coated plywood
> should work well.

Well we are thinking along the same lines, but instead of fiberglass
coated plywood, I am going to use canvas for the floor that when
stopped for the night it can serve as a cot to sleep on.

Trailer brakes were something I had thought of, but was hoping I
wouldn't have to go to that much complexity. I might have to if
handling becomes a problem. Stopping, especially in an emergency with
that much weight on the back could create big handling problems. So
could rough ground. That much weight bouncing around in back could
yank the back end out from under a rider. A suspension might help,
but it also may not.

[Jeff]

"Ron Ruff" <rruffrruff@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1191008159.021730.232860@g4g2000hsf.googlegro ups.com...

>... but disc
> brakes are common these days and that should help... maybe put brakes
> on the trailer?

....an interesting idea. ...but how would you actuate them? I've seen cable
couplers that were made for take-apart bikes that might work if you
positioned part of a brake cable on the bike and then the rest of the cable
on the trailer so that the two could come apart easily. ...perhaps that
might be promising?



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[Mark]

On Sep 28, 4:38 pm, "Jeff" <n...@nothingX.com> wrote:
> "Ron Ruff" <rruffrr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1191008159.021730.232860@g4g2000hsf.googlegro ups.com...
>
> >... but disc
> > brakes are common these days and that should help... maybe put brakes
> > on the trailer?
>
> ...an interesting idea. ...but how would you actuate them? I've seen cable
> couplers that were made for take-apart bikes that might work if you
> positioned part of a brake cable on the bike and then the rest of the cable
> on the trailer so that the two could come apart easily. ...perhaps that
> might be promising?
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

Well my first thought would be a 3rd lever on the handle bars, just
like any other brake. Use it for the primary rear brake instead of
the rear wheel brake. If the trailer is stopping, the back of the
bike will be too, and would likely stop much straighter. When done
with the trailer, just simply disconnect it or have some sort of quick
release that the whole thing comes off when you are not using the
trailer.