bikesandtrailers.com

raisethe wrote on 18/02/2007 23:02 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Wrestling a bucking trailer to a safe halt seems rather heroic.

Heroic in a "dig my scars" sort of way?

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Quoted message said:

There's no need to change the nuts at all once they've been fixed.

The trailer just clips over them, and the reason you need different nuts
is so that it's possible to clip the trailer onto the nuts.

A

That seems more like it. How does the trailer clip onto the Bob Nutz?

Thanks
Ray

raisethe wrote on 18/02/2007 23:28 +0100:

Quoted message said:

That seems more like it. How does the trailer clip onto the Bob Nutz?

Just slots over the top like fitting a drop out over an axle and then
you push in a couple of pins to hold it all together. Takes all of ten
seconds.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

raisethe said:

Quoted message said:

raisethe (') said:

I can't get a single wheel because of
hub gears

Why not?

The Bob Yak and EBC trailers use quick releases which are not
compatible with Nexus8.

Nor is thge Lidl trailer of 3 or 4 years ago.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

in message <[email hidden]>, raisethe

(') said:

Quoted message said:

raisethe (') said:

I can't get a single wheel because of
hub gears

Why not?

The Bob Yak and EBC trailers use quick releases which are not
compatible with Nexus8.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

so I guess I will also have to get a cheap two wheeler.
Can these be ridden at speed (say 30 mph) with a reasonable load, or
is it best to take it easy? I have a 1000 foot descent back from Asda
with a 90 degree turn near the bottom.

My experience is with bike hods, which definitely can capsize under that
sort of provocation - but I never came off the bike in consequence. I
would imagine that a trailer with a hitch at axle level would be more
difficult to capsize.

Somehow your previous posts on a capsizing bike hod didn't put me off.
Wrestling a bucking trailer to a safe halt seems rather heroic. It is
more the jacknifing under braking that I am seeking to avoid.

Never experienced that - and if it was a serious problem I would have.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I still plan to get a one wheeler as my next trailer, though - because
they ought to cope better with fast downhill riding.

Yes, the Bob Yak would certainly have been my first choice. Descending
is the only area where I am not hampered by being heavy so I don't
really want to ride downhilI on the brakes. My rear roller brake
wouldn't like it either. I would also consider using it for touring,
when taking camping stuff. I know that they do the Bob Nutz for hub
geared bikes but I was thinking it may be too onerous having to take
these on and off every time I use the trailer - having to straighten
the wheel each time etc. and also maybe the axle threads will
eventually strip under this weekly regime. (Or do the nuts only get
loosened? What exactly is the method in attaching a Bob Yak using Bob
Nutz? Anyone have this?).

As I understand it, you don't take the nuts off at all - except to remove
the wheel. You don't even loosen them. The trailer hooks onto the special
nuts in exactly the same way it hooks onto the special Bob skewer - which
you also don't remove when you remove the trailer.
http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/bobnutz.html

Check that out before you make a decision but I'm fairly certain I'm right.

As far as I'm concerned the only downsides of a one wheel trailer are

(i) handling when off the bike - the bike hod is brilliant for this, unclip
it from the bike and it is immediately a useful hand trolley. By contrast,
a fully laden one wheeler, detached from the bike, is very awkward to
handle;

(ii) stability when loading. Loading a bike hod, it just sits there; and
when loaded there's virtually no weight on the draw bar, because the
weight is over the wheels, so attaching it to the bike is no hassle.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

The Conservative Party is now dead. The corpse may still be
twitching, but resurrection is not an option - unless Satan
chucks them out of Hell as too objectionable even for him.

in message <[email hidden]>, Tony Raven

(') said:

raisethe wrote on 18/02/2007 23:02 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Wrestling a bucking trailer to a safe halt seems rather heroic.

Heroic in a "dig my scars" sort of way?

Never had scars. Never fell off. Never dropped the bike. It's more of a
nuisance than a panic (at least, after the first time). The draw bar rubs
against the rear tyre, and the (fortunately very tough) bag of the trailer
drags along the road, and you come to rest pretty quickly.

It is a downside, and for the sort of riding I do it's a sufficient
downside that I wouldn't buy another bike hod, but it isn't a disaster and
the design has a lot of other really good points.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; killing [afghan|iraqi] civilians is not 'justice'

Tony Raven said:

raisethe wrote on 18/02/2007 23:02 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Wrestling a bucking trailer to a safe halt seems rather heroic.

Heroic in a "dig my scars" sort of way?

Especially on a wet, greasy road.

Just imagine (for the physicists/applied mechanics people) a load
pushing forwards at the rear axle. A strong turning moment around the
front wheel. when you put the front brake on. A pile of tangled metal
and bruising..

I don't take the trailer with a full load (many tens of kilos) down
any kind of steep hill at faster than very slow in the wet. The feel
of 40+ kilos pushing on the back wheel and the knowledge that it would
Hurt (tm) is sufficient to make me seriously interested in an
autobraking trailer. I can think of some interesting designs which
might well work.

...d

"Simon Brooke" wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

raisethe wrote on 18/02/2007 23:02 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Wrestling a bucking trailer to a safe halt seems rather heroic.

Heroic in a "dig my scars" sort of way?

Never had scars. Never fell off. Never dropped the bike. It's more of a
nuisance than a panic (at least, after the first time). The draw bar rubs
against the rear tyre, and the (fortunately very tough) bag of the trailer
drags along the road, and you come to rest pretty quickly.

I used to have a Columbus, I think, a crude trailer attached to the seat
pin. This flexed when one pushed hard on the pedals, which made uphill work
difficult. It descended well, never worried me at 30 mph in the rain. But
when I loaded a two drawer filing cabinet, which had to rest too high, I
turned it over on a downhill turn. This was in the middle of town, so I had
an audience. The trailer turned on its side and slid a little way. I
certainly noticed, but felt no inclination to fall off. I gathered
everything and set off up the hill, having changed to 26" before starting,
acting nonch and not catching anyone's eye.
Mike Sales

Tony Raven said:

raisethe wrote on 18/02/2007 23:28 +0100:

Quoted message said:

That seems more like it. How does the trailer clip onto the Bob Nutz?

Just slots over the top like fitting a drop out over an axle and then
you push in a couple of pins to hold it all together. Takes all of ten
seconds.

--
Tony

Excellent, I will purchase one of these then.

Quoted message said:

As far as I'm concerned the only downsides of a one wheel trailer are

(i) handling when off the bike - the bike hod is brilliant for this, unclip
it from the bike and it is immediately a useful hand trolley. By contrast,
a fully laden one wheeler, detached from the bike, is very awkward to
handle;

(ii) stability when loading. Loading a bike hod, it just sits there; and
when loaded there's virtually no weight on the draw bar, because the
weight is over the wheels, so attaching it to the bike is no hassle.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke)http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

As the trailer will be primarily used for shopping, these are both
pertinent points. However, I favour the Bob Yak because of its
purported handling characteristics, particularly considering the
nature of the roads I will be using to get to the shops.

It seems academic anyway considering that Bikes and Trailers appear to
have stopped trading.

thanks
Ray

In article <[email hidden]>, Simon
Brooke
[email hidden] says...
<snip>

Quoted message said:

Check that out before you make a decision but I'm fairly certain I'm right.

As far as I'm concerned the only downsides of a one wheel trailer are

(i) handling when off the bike - the bike hod is brilliant for this, unclip
it from the bike and it is immediately a useful hand trolley. By contrast,
a fully laden one wheeler, detached from the bike, is very awkward to
handle;

Little retractable stabiliser wheels?

Quoted message said:

(ii) stability when loading. Loading a bike hod, it just sits there; and
when loaded there's virtually no weight on the draw bar, because the
weight is over the wheels, so attaching it to the bike is no hassle.

A two-legged stand should be easy enough to fit.

Günther Schwarz said:

Pinky said:

By the way the towing hitch of my Y frame -- a simple universal joint
came apart and the trailer ran free in busy traffic last week! the
whole hinging system depends on two bolts with simple "self locking"
nuts. Either of which will let the trail hitch separate from the
trailer arm!

You are not alone. I reported a similar failure last May:
<[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Now it won't happen again 'cos I shall look at it before every
journey but it is a crappy bit of "engineering".

It works OK for me now.
- take longer bolts
- use new Nylock nuts and Loctite
- for the bolt in the center use a second flat nut (M6, 3mm stark,
DIN 439) for securing just like on a bicycle hub

I had a slightly different failure mode when I managed to flip the trailer
(unladen except for the cargo box and in breezy conditions) a few weeks ago.
This stripped the threads of the Trans-x allen-head skewer I had on the rear
wheel and bent the hook out of shape. This was somewhat annoying.

Regards,

-david

David Nutter said:

Günther Schwarz said:

Pinky said:

By the way the towing hitch of my Y frame -- a simple universal
joint came apart and the trailer ran free in busy traffic last week!
the whole hinging system depends on two bolts with simple "self
locking" nuts. Either of which will let the trail hitch separate
from the trailer arm!

You are not alone. I reported a similar failure last May:
<[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I had a slightly different failure mode when I managed to flip the
trailer (unladen except for the cargo box and in breezy conditions) a
few weeks ago. This stripped the threads of the Trans-x allen-head
skewer I had on the rear wheel and bent the hook out of shape.

As a general safety measure I want to recommend not to try to bend it
back. A standard quick release skewer might be better for this
application also: generally a higher clamping force and steel nuts
instead of the aluminum ones of the Trans X. Or are they made from
steel actually?

Günther

Günther Schwarz said:

As a general safety measure I want to recommend not to try to bend it
back. A standard quick release skewer might be better for this
application also: generally a higher clamping force and steel nuts
instead of the aluminum ones of the Trans X. Or are they made from
steel actually?

Yeah, I replaced the hook (Carryfreedom supply 3 with each trailer). The
Trans-X skewer bolt is steel but the nut is aluminium and it was the latter
that lost its threads. I've replaced it with a Shimano skewer which is
holding up so far.

Regards,

-david