CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Trailer excitement & bending a DIY hitch extension?

(38 posts)

No tags yet.


12

  1. Dave
    Member

    Posted a wee update on today's record load (by length) - 2m of coving from B&Q.

    I posed myself a question there, which is whether £50 for a length of bent aluminium square-section is good value for money or not (the Carry Freedom official extension). I do infrequently desire to be able to put longer loads on my trailer.

    It's 1" square section and the 'gauge' is 1/8". Online it is cheap, so I'd hope to be able to pick some up in person somewhere. But how would I bend it (needs roughly 90 degrees in two approximately equal turns) without it getting hopelessly mangled? Any tips?

    Posted 14 years ago #

  2. Roibeard
    Member

    Pipe bender? You might need a former to prevent it from collapsing...

    Aluminium might need to be heat treated to regain its strength after bending, otherwise it might be weak just where you don't want weakness!

    Robert

    Posted 14 years ago #

  3. Smudge
    Member

    Unless I'm missing something in your choice of metal, that's not going to bend*. You need to cut a "v" out of the inside of the angle then bend, then you'll want someone with a tig welder to join the edges, not a difficult job as long as you know a friendly welder with the right machine.
    Incidentally, if anyone is contemplating bending steel pipe, the way my grandad used to bend handlebars for his motorbike (without a pipe bender/formers) was to fill the tube with sand, put one end in a vice then heat until cherry red before bending carefully. Useful if you have no "proper" pipe bending kit, or cash!

    *In a home workshop, almost anything is possible with the right kit!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  4. crowriver
    Member

    If you made it out of similar section steel (though slightly thinner), then you could bend it any old way you like. Pipe bender might be a good idea. Steel will obviously need to be Hammerited or similar to stop rust.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  5. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I know where you can get some metal-bashing and aluminium TIG welding done, if you need to.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  6. Dave
    Member

    Hmm, so although the current bracket just looks like square section that's been bent, it might actually have been cunningly artificed that way? I'm pretty sure it hasn't been cut 'n shut.

    Well, that might explain why it's more pricy than I expected :)

    Hrmm.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    "fill the tube with sand, put one end in a vice then heat until cherry red before bending carefully"

    WARNING - if you try this at home, make sure the sand is dry.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  8. Smudge
    Member

    @chdot, good point, and all the usual caveats about wearing eye protection, gloves etc and being careful not to burn yourself(or spectators!) also apply.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    Also make sure sand is packed and put rags in the ends to stop the sand coming out.

    When I was at school the Head decided that the 'academic' kids should do half a day at the local Tech doing mini courses in things like electrics, plumbing and plaster cornice creation.

    Much more fun/useful than normal exam subjects!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  10. kaputnik
    Moderator

    We were allowed in 6th year (by the chemistry technician) to undertake the thermite reaction when the teacher wasn't around. Unfortunately the flower pot to contain the reaction that he retrieved from the school greenhouse (his private place, where he went to smoke) wasn't free from water, so exploded when it turned to steam...

    Posted 14 years ago #

  11. Darkerside
    Member

    Having been seduced by exciting pictures of trailers and with a Wiggle voucher burning a hole in my pocket, a large Carry Freedom trailer should be arriving today (providing I can beat City-Link home...)

    Even better news, Wiggle seem to have thrown in £35 of glasses as part of their February free stuff thing and gave me another voucher. Isn't competition between online retailers great?

    Posted 14 years ago #

  12. Dave
    Member

    We should have that trailer party... maybe I need to get an affiliate link set up so I can profit from said exciting trailer pictures! ;-)

    Apparently you can daisy-chain Carry-Freedom trailers to increase the max weight to 180kg (or more). Guess you'd need pretty good legs (and brakes)

    Posted 14 years ago #

  13. Darkerside
    Member

    Maybe take a tug/barge approach? Trailers in the centre, cycles at front and rear. #probablynotaverysafeideaatall

    Posted 14 years ago #

  14. ruggtomcat
    Member

    trailer party! Top of the seat, Ill bring the music.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  15. Darkerside
    Member

    Chance of ScotRail taking a sympathetic view towards me moving a bike/trailer combo from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back?

    Posted 14 years ago #

  16. Dave
    Member

    I haven't tried but it should be easy enough, just take a black bag for the wheels and towing arm, then you're just turning up with a bike and luggage?

    Unless you've got an unusual bike, of course...

    Posted 14 years ago #

  17. chdot
    Admin

    "
    Chance of ScotRail taking a sympathetic view towards me moving a bike/trailer combo from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back?

    "

    Probably not great

    More chance with East Coast from Central - need to book bike.

    They allow tandems, but I think they (officially) exclude trailers.

    Depends how big and whether it looks like 'luggage'.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  18. Darkerside
    Member

    So I need to strap a seat to the trailer and call it an articulated tandem?

    Posted 14 years ago #

  19. Darkerside
    Member

    Regrettably, after beating my way to the citylink depot and waiting half an hour for their delivery van to actually return to the depot, it turns out wiggle have sent me the wrong size trailer. Cue grumpy face.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  20. wee folding bike
    Member

    I've taken a folded child trailer on the train into Glasgow. I don't bother taking the wheels off just fold the tent like bit and lean it against the wall in the wheel chair area with the hitch pointing to the ceiling.

    Obviously I fold up the bike too.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  21. crowriver
    Member

    @Darkerside, they sent you a Y-Frame small? I've got one, they're great! Large obviously better for big loads mind you.
    Bummer. Not like Wiggle, I have to say. Triple check your order though, maybe you ordered a Y-Frame not a Y-Frame large?

    Trains: the Y-frame is good that way because it's simple to disassemble and pop in the luggage rack. I have a bag for the purpose. @wfb, folding bike clearly an advantage when space is tight.

    Trailer party: definitely up for that! Sounds like a Carry Freedom theme...

    Posted 14 years ago #

  22. ruggtomcat
    Member

    well you can get both on german trains no bother... never tried the british version.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  23. Darkerside
    Member

    Yeah, order was the first thing I checked! Definitely their mistake not mine (for once). All good - I'll post it back and they'll refund the postage. I have tried to persuade myself otherwise, but the small really is too small!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  24. Dave
    Member

    Posted 14 years ago #

  25. Darkerside
    Member

    What did you use as the wheel runner support thing sticking out back? And how are you stopping side to side motion - I was wondering whether a suitably tight strap down from the top tube to either side of the trailer would be sufficient (and allow 'bent/upright transport flexibility)

    Large trailer is currently beating about Glasgow in the back of a City-Link van. Will they arrive before my girlfriend leaves for work? The race is on...

    Posted 14 years ago #

  26. Dave
    Member

    I blogged about it a little.

    It's a Thule bike carrier from the roof rack, so it just works as is (you take the front wheel off and clamp it down).

    I did roll it (!!) as the weight is so far behind the axles and high, but you'd need a longer trailer hitch to use one of the "bike stays intact" carriers.

    Take kerbs square on and it's mighty fine.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  27. Darkerside
    Member

    City-Link have once again managed to evade anyone being in. Grumble.

    Anyway, off tomorrow morn, so I'll cycle across to the depot, spannermonkey the trailer together in their car park and then cycle the whole caboodle back again. I suspect the alternative of trying to lash the box onto the pannier rack would result in amusement.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  28. crowriver
    Member

    Instructions here: http://www.carryfreedom.com/downloads/Y-Frame_Instructions.pdf

    I should note that my Y-frame small came already part assembled, ie. the Y-frame was attached to the wooden deck, tyres on wheels. Also only 1 lollipop hitch supplied. Maybe he should update the manual to the current product!

    Anyway, doesn't take long, everything is QR and the only complicated bit is attaching the hitch to the bike. Even that is straightforward on a QR axle.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  29. Dave
    Member

    Yeah, I just had to fit the lollipop (standard tools), put the wheels on, fit the hitch to the bike (tool free) and I was away!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  30. ruggtomcat
    Member

    Bring a pump. And an AJ or two.

    Posted 14 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

12

Reply »

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin