Had to get two bikes into work this morning so tied one to the box trailer, works pretty well. Next up: fitting a bike rack to the trailer so i can do more than one 🙂
- Opinion
Who needs a car?

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"Landcross Road is now like a rat run, cars bomb through there. Surprised that there hasn’t been a smash there or somebody hasn’t been knocked down yet." Is that a vote for a modal filter there? Or - better - seeing how this could be fitted into a broader pattern of LTNs for residents? Or even starting a conversation on what they expect from travel locally / regionally and how could that be delivered. If the answer is - predictably - "like now but driving is more convenient" how much is that *really* going to cost / affect them going forward? Spoiler - they might well get lucky and have a few more years of "help for the hard- pressed motorist". (Particularly through the influence of Reform moving the conversation at a national level). But with more people here, more bills from people living longer (and all the other changes, the wars we're paying for...) the *real* costs of mass motoring may come back to bite pretty soon.
Scrapbook or it didn't happen?
This make me think of the early days of the bicycle - European countries which at the time still had prescriptive and quite restrictive views of female roles and appropriate behaviour and there were certainly outpouring of concern about the idea of women cycling. (Although I believe there was more acceptance of the zoo of "wheeled self-propelled contraptions" of the Victorian era). And ... maybe they were right in that perhaps this did lead (eventually) to some social liberalisation / young people mixing? Also thinking about an example the other way where NGOs working to help people have provided bicycles to eg. assist women bringing produce to market, only to find that these are all appropriated by men. (Perhaps a bit like "the man drives the car" which can still be seen to some extent in the UK). Of note is that Dutch women on average make more cycle trips than men. That's nothing to do with ebikes, but the efforts made (infra and built environment) to make driving not be the default for shorter trips. Plus women still do more of the admin / (child)care than men there.
Even better, there's a 4 hour rolling road block on this afternoon as the carnival parade travels through the town. Those on social media complaining about this work have known about it for months and despite what they may claim, they are not the silent majority but a vocal minority.
Indeed - and before *that* Abellio who had the franchise for Scotrail had bikes ("Bike and Go") at (a few) stations. At the time I didn't understand this, not being cognizant of the Dutch OV Fiets system which presumably this was based on. Unfortunately I don't think many others understood it either. Given the small numbers of people braving Scotland's unfriendly and inconvenient cycling environments it was a case of "too soon for the location". Didn't help that these were unpowered public hire bikes (so robust and heavy * ) and some of the places they were offered are hilly. Plus there's the UK expectation of people cycling on the road accelerating like a motor vehicle and flowing with the traffic. * Ones I tried were something like the Batavus Personal bike with all the trimmings, racks etc. They had been sensibly given them a large number of gears (7) for a hire bike and who knows what you could carry. But even just carrying me they were ponderous.
Yes, clearly it would have been preferable for him never to have ridden a bike and driven everywhere, then he could have ended up an obese, bitter and spiteful specimen stuffing his face with crisps and fizzy pop sitting in front of his keyboard in mummy's basement leaving stupid comments on other people's obituaries. That would have been a much better use of a life.
"The Voi bikes have been much more successful than their predecessor, the Just Eat Cycles run by Serco which ended in 2021." The predecessor to VOI bikes in Edinburgh was not - as your version says - Voi bikes.
Wow. It takes a very miserable person to come to a cycling website, read an obituary of a very sweet, smart, kind man, and think that it's a good opportunity to post some sarcastic drivel, with a smiley no less. I bet your mom is real proud of you. Good luck with your weird little personal vendetta, I guess.
@Dodonline "better off adding capacity to roads" is a well-documented means to increase the volume of traffic overall. If they are built, people drive on them. Take a look at Los Angeles or the US highway system.
@Jitensha Oni I see no misogyny in that abstract. Many communities around the world, particularly those focused on religious faith, demand that women act and dress in what others might see as outdated, unnecessary and restrictive ways. E-bikes might have benefits for such women.
3 thoughts on “Who needs a car?”
Is that a home brew trailer
Is that a home brew trailer or something available commercially? I’ve got a Carry Freedom Y-Frame and would definitely need a box or something to raise the bike above the wheels to do this… which I have thought about!
It used to be an adventure
It used to be an adventure AT2 trailer for the kids but i took the seat and cover off. the box is one that my mum and dad used to use to cart around the camping stuff when we went on holiday. it’s pretty heavy 🙂
next plan is to make a new box, with a hub-width attachment (or two) to at the front so i can carry bikes on it without the ratchet tie down… haven’t quite worked it through yet!
I am looking at a Carry
I am looking at a Carry Freedom y-frame trailer.
I would look at:

http://www.carryfreedom.com/images/P_C_TourBike.jpg
and
I suspect you need the 0.9 m extension arm [lowers the carrying capacity of the y-frame trailer from 90 kg to 45 kg]:
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/22344/Carry-Freedom-Y-Frame-Trailer-Accessories.html
Obviously you need the carriers.
Hope this helps.
Disclosure: I am [b]NOT[/b] linked in any way to Carry Freedom; or Rutland Cycling.
But I have been thinking about this problem for some time. And I own two bicycle trailers, neither is suitable for bike carrying or long loads.
Hints:
1) Look at track width [distance between wheels]. Wider is better.
2) Consider fretting due to rubbing / vibration.
3) Keep Centre of gravity as low as possible.
4) Consider the possibility of a roll-over and protect saddle, bars etc. as necessary.
5) Keep speeds down.
6) Avoid high hitches.