Brompton carrier modification

[cwah]

Hello there,

I've been with my 30kg brompton for a while on groceries store and supermarket and I've always been annoyed by the carrying capacity and the rolling cability of the easy wheels...

It tends to fall on the side from the weight of the bike and doesn't have the ability to turn correctly (I have to lift the bike every time I do that)


I decided to "optimise" the rear carrier and replace the easy wheel with heavy duty castor wheels:

It doesn't look as nice as the original easy wheel, but doesn't seem too bulky:

 

[cwah]

And it does fold, no problem!!

It can now turns over angles!!

It rolls, no problem

 

[cwah]

And the rear rack unfold to allow much bigger carrying space:

I'm so proud! lol


It still need a bit of stability, and tend to fall on the side, I'm going to extend by 10 cm the rear on the right to increase stability:

Increasing it from this side wouldn't make it bigger folded. But I need to find a lightweight and strong enough way to support this additional weight. I'm thinking either to use 8mm polycarbonate or use aluminium rod as support..

Any thought?

 

[muckymits]

Please cut your corners off

 

[cwah]

Yes, I definitely have to round the corners. It looks quite dangerous with these strong angular corner lol

 

[muckymits]

Dont try to round them, just 45 deg about 10 mm down. You will never get round corners looking right.

 

[Scimitar]

Ah, an ankle slicer. Any flatmates injured?

 

[muckymits]

Its payback time on the grannies in Tescos

 

[cwah]

Guys, I just discovered a new type of wheel that would completely discard this initial idea:

Rotacaster 48mm Double, Solid

Check it out:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/v/aRTEdKQnF_8[/video]


I'd put 2-3 pairs on the rear light area and 1 pair on the triangle side...


It should then have great stability and allow side turning.


What do you think? Is it a much better alternative?

 

[superDove]

I've had a few instances of parking the Brompton, then walking away to the chorus of it hitting the deck and so I too have been thinking of ways to increase lateral stability.

Was thinking something like this may be enough?

B rear rack mod | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Just widening the rear easy wheels with a threaded bar that runs between the wheel and tubing to brace between the rack. The front ones can't go any wider obviously else you get heel strike.

Any thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Where I live, there's always dumped Tesco trolleys, which people ofrom the nearby sink estates use to take their shopping all the way home, then they leave them outside their houses/flats for the kids to play with. If you have the same, you could nick the wheels off one, and then you can get that really authentic wobbly wheel as you push your bike around the supermarket.

 

[Scimitar]

Where I live, there's always dumped Tesco trolleys, which people ofrom the nearby sink estates use to take their shopping all the way home, then they leave them outside their houses/flats for the kids to play with. If you have the same, you could nick the wheels off one, and then you can get that really authentic wobbly wheel as you push your bike around the supermarket.

And watch in horror as it takes on a mind of its own and veers wildly into a granny or child. Ignore that - so commonplace as to be unremarkable.

 

[cwah]

I've had a few instances of parking the Brompton, then walking away to the chorus of it hitting the deck and so I too have been thinking of ways to increase lateral stability.

Was thinking something like this may be enough?

B rear rack mod | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Just widening the rear easy wheels with a threaded bar that runs between the wheel and tubing to brace between the rack. The front ones can't go any wider obviously else you get heel strike.

Any thoughts?

Hello James,

It's a good idea but I don't think it's going to work because the easy wheel won't be straight anymore. What you can potentially do is to replace the easy wheel with some thicker roller wheels, and potentially only do it for the one on the gear side (this is where it gets unstable)

 

[cwah]

Where I live, there's always dumped Tesco trolleys, which people ofrom the nearby sink estates use to take their shopping all the way home, then they leave them outside their houses/flats for the kids to play with. If you have the same, you could nick the wheels off one, and then you can get that really authentic wobbly wheel as you push your bike around the supermarket.

Haha, I'm quite sure these wheels are too big for my brompton. And it wouldn't make too much difference anyway to the ones I have now.

Still thinking about these rotawheels as they can save space (but not as nice for carrier alternative)

 

[cwah]

I didn't have any answer from the seller on these Rotacasters:
Rotacaster 48mm Double, Solid

Anyone has an idea on the "bore option" I should choose to make it fit with the brompton? I have no idea how bearing work and these options looks chinese to me lol

 

[cwah]

I recently purchased this tool in order to make straight cut on sheets:
http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-tools/sawing/multi-purpose-saws/Worx-Handycut-310W-Mini-Circular-Saw-11827501?skuId=12338207

I used the 20 teeth wood blade to cut 5 mm polycarbonate sheet. When I initially do the plunge cut, there is no problem.

But as soon as I move my circular saw to cut further, the polycarbonate sheet just kickback. It's a very strong kickback able to hurt people. The sheet was clamped strongly with 2 vice clamp and 1 guide clamp. And it was still able to kickback violently.

Hopefully there was enough clamps to prevent the sheet to kickback far enough to hurt anyone (me).


But I tried it twice, and it kickbacked twice. I stopped cutting this sheet as it appears to be too dangerous.


Any idea how I can cut straight on polycarbonate? did I use the wrong blade? (there is only the wood and metal blade with the Worx tool)


ps: It's my new toy but I can still send it back to B&Q if it's the wrong tool

 

[Old_Dave]

Could try setting the depth of cut to do 2 mm and do a few passes, or for the best job find a friend with a band saw


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[morphix]

Where I live, there's always dumped Tesco trolleys, which people ofrom the nearby sink estates use to take their shopping all the way home, then they leave them outside their houses/flats for the kids to play with. If you have the same, you could nick the wheels off one, and then you can get that really authentic wobbly wheel as you push your bike around the supermarket.

Either that or nick the stabilizer wheels off one of those little kiddie bikes you see abandoned. It won't topple over with stablizer wheels and if you're really clever you could make them fold away to gain some cool points ;-)

 

[cwah]

Could try setting the depth of cut to do 2 mm and do a few passes, or for the best job find a friend with a band saw


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, good idea, I'll try to do small pass.

Not sure if bandsaw would prevent kickback however

 

[Scimitar]

If you want controllable cutting, use a multitool.
10 Jobs You Can Do With a Multitool - Popular Mechanics
Available in various brands - Fein (pricey), Bosch (not so pricey), other makes too. Aldi and Lidl also have them twice a year for £25 or so.