It's almost exactly a year since I slavered over the plans for a DIY bike trailer by the British charity Re~cycle (whose site is offline at the time of writing) despite by my inability to weld capably.
Then I was reminded that bikes need not be made of metal: wood and bamboo are perfectly fine contruction materials (and even building off-cuts can be put to use).
Combine these ideas and you've got the plans for a bamboo bicycle trailer offered by UK trailer-maker Carry Freedom. In exchange for their plans they ask that you:
- Tell us what you are using the bicycle trailer for
- Send us photos of the bicycle trailer you build
- Tell us how to improve the instructions or the trailer
- Accept that we might post your email on our blog
Although you could just about work out how to knock one of these together from the description they give on their web page.
And I notice that they also include links to other free bicycle trailers out there on the web, which also make for pretty interesting reading.
Anyway, I reckon I might request the plans and we'll see what (if anything) happens…
Now this is cool.
There really is something unique about bamboo, isn't there? Whether it's a bike frame or a trailer like this, there's something indescribably attractive about it as a working material.
I've just received the plan document and at first glance it looks good. While you could probably work out how to do it from the brief instructions on the web page, it looks like the plan helps steer you around of some common problems. Certainly worth getting hold of if you're thinking of having a bash at this.
I made a pretty neat no-weld trailer with basic tools and materials from the hardware store: two 20 inch wheels, some square and right angle aluminium sections, some nuts, washers and bolts and some plywood. The tools involved were a power drill, a hacksaw and a hand saw.
There were a couple of false starts until I got it quite right - as you can see from the photos I lowered the cargo box to stop the trailer from tipping over. I haven't quite sorted the hitch out yet, I've had several goes and I suspect the best thing is going to be a length of thick garden hose attatched by clamps at both ends. the whole thing cost me about 20 for materials, plus the wheels and tyres.
Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/surlydave68
Actually, having a look at the photo above, you might have a problem with tipping. the centre of gravity higher than the wheel axles on this design, which is what gave me so much trouble with mine. There really isn't a good reason for the load to sit this high.
Yeah, I think I'm in denial about the centre of gravity thing because it just looks so damn good. I'll have to go back over the instructions and see what they say about it.
By the way, when is your box trailer going up on instructables? That's really cool.
I found on my original design that when I went around a corner above about 10km/h, the weight in the back shifted over the outside wheel and the whole thing tipped over. It was pretty hairy at any speed on dirt roads too - as the weight swung around from side to side. Dropping the base cargo space below the level of the axles improved the design no end. The width may be a factor which makes it less of a problem on a wide trailer like this.
That indestructibles website rocks. I'll put the pictures up there as soon as I get a chance.
By the way, it might be worth looking at Carry Freedom's hitch—or would a purpose-built part look out of place?
Comments
I saw this too back in the fall! I got the directions and started looking for the materials. You can get bamboo rods here. Now that I have full employment I'm gonna' get started. But where can I find a hitch?