Solar🌄Garden

RE: https://mastodon.social/@cyclingelectric/116051315620619779

powered #ebike trailer. A project that's been on my list for years too.

But this implementation looks over-engineered, non-optimal and (of course) overpriced at 2300€ / £2000

#quaxing / #carryshitolympics _before_ you've even loaded anything on it

Feb 11 at 12:42pmWeb
Show threadSolar🌄GardenFeb 11

"...I have an old BOB Yak and think it's great for some purposes but they're not good for really heavy loads.

Why ... a trailer on which all the heavy stuff has to be loaded so high up?" @hembrow

Thanks for mentioning the #BobYak - I was trying to track it down to mention it.

The main advantage of a one-wheeler to me is it's stability. On (rocky) rough terrain that would tend to "throw" one wheel of a 2-wheeler, at more than a snails pace.

The builders' wheelbarrow shape is one that has converged on an optimum, from across many designs, because its weight distribution etc works and it is compact. Garden barrows, well...;-/

Builder's barrow in reverse, for a bike trailer, out of lighter materials, gives compact short wheelbase / lower c-o-g / ground clearance balance. Battery could hang off the back for weight distribution.

The Yak is a bit stretched for city and tight-space use, I think, but the long wheelbase gives it stability. I would keep grounding it here.

https://www.expemag.com/article/velo-remorque/remorque-a-velo-bob-yak-2

#bikeTrailer #cycling #bicicleta

Show threadNature PunkFeb 11
@wavesculptor @hembrow I used to have a clone of a Bob Yak that somebody local built and then freecycled a couple of years later. It did suffer from being too long on UK canal towpaths many of which have barriers to prevent motorbikes being taken on them even the ones that are part of our national cycle network. I found a pair of bulky panniers easier to use on the canals and passed the trailer onto another local with different needs.
Show threadAxel 🚴😷🐧🐪⌨ | #WeAreNatenomFeb 11
@wavesculptor: Oof, and 14kg?!?
Show threadTroubleFeb 11
@wavesculptor for a hand made device, the cost is actually about right.
Look at "pack wheel" for inspiration.
Powered trailers are tricky, you don't want so much push that they end up lifting the rest wheel and jack knifing you.
There have been electric assist trailers for years, every one has gone out of business. I saw an old lead acid unit recently, but chose to skip it after realizing the jack knife danger.
See also the carla cargo which has a pull sensor to activate the trailer.
Good luck
Show threadSolar🌄GardenFeb 11
@trouble did any of the [failed] powered trailers you mention have a sensor built into the tow hitch? So working on similar principle as a caravan brake, but electronically. push or brake. As with a lot of things "bike" - bcs bike, load and rider weight are all of similar order, this is the kind of thing that needs tuning, as opposed to heavy powered vehicle
Show threadSolar🌄GardenFeb 11

@trouble by pack-wheel, you mean the kind of one-wheel close coupled sort that just carry a pair of panniers?

that's not going to carry a 30kg welder or gas bottle, is it?