Train (of) Wrecks

[Billy]

Here's my cargo bike loaded with my "scores" from a bike auction held by my local YMCA.
The cargo bike is an older (late 90's early 00's?) Marin Nail Trail with an Xtracycle Free-Radical bolted on.

In these pictures, it's towing three other bikes; a Roadmaster junker, a Novara road bike, and a sweet 1984 Schwinn World Tourist. I had a five mile ride over varied terrain, and made it with no problems.

-Billy

[cyclerUK]

That's neat.
How about a photo of just the "cargo" bike on its own?

[Bill]

Now that's ingenious! Lol something I would do .

[Billy]

(05-26-2010, 04:24 AM)cyclerUK Wrote:  That's neat.
How about a photo of just the "cargo" bike on its own?

I'll try to get a few shots of it "at rest". It's not too pretty, but it is an excellent bit of engineering (on the manufacturer's part, not mine!).

[Billy]

Here are some pictures of the hauler without cargo. I didn't really have time to strip down the back to show the frame, but I can do it this weekend if anyone is interested.
[attachment=943]
[attachment=942]

Here are some with a little more detail:

Check out the chain-and-a-half!
[attachment=944]

There are two main mount points, one though the kickstand plate area, and the other is a long skewer through the rear drop-outs where the wheel was originally located.
[attachment=945]

The deck is just plywood, mounted with nylon feet and held in place by the pressure of the two racks pressing against it.
[attachment=946]

Here's a view of the rear-end, showing how the bags are mounted.
[attachment=947]

My home-brew fork-hitch mounted of the rear (with the Schwinn attached).
[attachment=948]

These frames can be mounted on the sides for larger or awkwardly shaped loads. You can see them in use in the original shots.
[attachment=949]

[Bill]

That is pretty sweet! I like the homebrew hitch! May borrow that idea. If one weer crafty you could makeshift a small repair stand with it .

[Billy]

(05-27-2010, 06:14 AM)Bill Wrote:  That is pretty sweet! I like the homebrew hitch! May borrow that idea. If one weer crafty you could makeshift a small repair stand with it .

Yep, the hitch is really easy to make; the actual skewer is one sold to use with roof-racks, you should be able to find it locally or on Amazon. It's just bolted to an eight or nine inch piece of angle-iron which is connected to the uprights on the frame with u-bolts. I covered the mount with red reflective tape - it looks better than the raw angle-iron, and adds a little more "hey don't hit me" to the back.

For road repairs, you could probably mount the hitch to the end of the deck to get some real clearance on the towed / repaired bike. The main thing to worry about with that is balance. The bike currently just has a standard, side-mount kickstand. I'm fiddling around with designs for a center-stand, but I really just don't have the time and tools to do it right. The manufacturer sells one, so I may just have to bite the bullet and shell out the cash.

[Bill]

Excellent idea on the hitch, I may use that for my Schwinn Meridian Adult Trike. I use it for mostly getting heavy things, like a big bag of dog or cat food from the pet store or hauling a potential restore bike. I am in the process of making my own trailer for it and needed just this idea for a hitch. I may mod it a bit but the skewer/angle iron with u bolts is definitely a way to go.