Just to recap: I have extended one of my bicycles and turned it into a load-carrying "longbike", and have added a flatbed to it, as it were. But what to do when transporting something really long is called for?
Those wacky folks at xtracycle make something called a "LongLoader", which is an excellent thing but it was not available at the precise moment I felt the need to transport a roll of plastic netting that friends in the towns wanted for making trellises in their garden.
The problem with long stuff on a longbike is that the cargo will interfere with the pedaling, thus the "LongLoader": to make sure the long stuff, whatever it is, is placed at an angle.
A really easy way to achieve more or less the same is to jam a backpack down at the appropriate place. In the picture below it's easy to see how much room my there is for my feet.
I didn't say it was extremely clever.
The very observant will notice this is still a single speed contraption. I ended up spending so much time fiddling with the gears I decided doing without them would save me time. There's a lot to be said against single speed load bikes though, I really must say.
4 comments:
K.I.S.S. at work.
It may not be a stroke of genius but it is an excellent example of keeping it simple, something that most people I encounter have trouble doing. I subscribe to a couple of blogs that report the doings in Africa not because I want someone to feel sorry for but to learn. Having little or nothing those clever people come up with simple solutions instead of just sitting on their butts and doing nothing. What you have demonstrated is something that, like carrying an unbalanced load, most people would never try because they have already decided it can't be done.
I am waiting for the moment when someone will finally tell me to shut up about William Kamkwamba and his wind generator. I think it's coming soon.
Makes sense, although I guess you need the board underneath to support the netting, which my Xtracycle doesn't have. Mind you, if I need to schlepp something that big I generally use the Bakfiets. It's not as ingenious but it works...
It's true, I do need the boards for this kind of thing.
Though if you're lugging something rigid just forcing in some dowels in the appropriate holes gives enough support. Broomsticks are just the right size.
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