[Oldfatgit]

I’m thinking about getting a trailer for grocery shopping (doesn’t need to hold kids or pets and to be towed behind my ebike) and I’m after advice:

I see that there appears to be 2 main types of coupling … Seat post or nearside frame.

1. Can the frame mount be used with my existing thru axle, or would I need to get longer ones?

2. I currently have to change wheels when I swap from road to gravel riding; will a frame mount complicate this?

3. What is the benefits of seat post over frame and vice versa?

4. Are two wheeler trailers better than a single wheel for road use?

Any advice or info gratefully received.

Topic

[Oldfatgit]

Thank you hirsute

Thank you hirsute

I’ve just hit the go button on an axle from SJS.

All I’ve got to do now it get hold of a trailer and then smuggle it passed the wife … 

[Oldfatgit]

It became easier once I

It became easier once I started looking with my laptop and not the phone …

[IanMSpencer]

I don’t think 1.5 turns

I don’t think 1.5 turns sounds wise. Threads provide friction against unscrewing, and you know when you undo a bolt, at first it can be stiff even when loosened, but as it withdraws it frees up, so often you need to use a hex key at first, but eventually you can undo it by hand, That is because there is less friction from the threads. It is quite possible, especially with an attachment banging around, that the through axle could come unscrewed.

Without the axle being tight, you might also find that the freehub fitting, if it is screwed together like on my Giant, can work its way loose. I had the joy of fixing a puncture and rebuilding my freehub at the side of the road when it worked loose. There was a clue I should have noticed – the thru-axle didn’t tighten to the same position (the hub was a mm or so wider as a result). As I didn’t properly solve it (needed to torque up the freehub fitting which bacame too fond of the thru-axle),  after the next couple of rides, the thru-axle worked its way lose to the point where my rear wheel started moving around – it was not fully home, and I was sulking about why my never needed adjusting Di2 needed adjusting.

So thinking about it, I have actually experienced a thru-axle unwinding due to it not having enough turns, even though it was tight.

[Oldfatgit]

If you have a puncture, can

If you have a puncture, can you just remove the thru-axle and tow hitch in one unit, or do you have to undo that nut first?

[Oldfatgit]

Thank you for the image …
Thank you for the image … It helps to see it like that ?

[Creakingcrank]

…And here’s the Carry

…And here’s the Carry Freedom bracket/Robert Axle combination

[Creakingcrank]

Don’t give up!

Don’t give up!

An e-bike with a trailer is an amazing transport solution. Pic of my setup here for “inspiration”. The trailer is a Carry Freedom Y Frame and the box is second hand from a military type on Ebay.

 Hirsute’s messages below are absolutely spot on. The bike in the picture has solid axles, so was easy for the trailer attachment, but I have another bike with a through-axle that also works using a Robert Axle Project axle. The axle-finder on the Robert website is pretty good (Cargo type trailers are “kid” trailers in their nomenclature) , and both Robert Axle Project and SJS cycles will help you pick the right one if you have any doublts. On my other bike, I leave the original axle in most of the time and just swap them over in a few seconds if I want to use the trailer. 

[Hirsute]

The easy solution is a RAP

The easy solution is a RAP axle and then a 5mm allen key to remove it as normal – about £60.

 

[Hirsute]

Here is my set up.

Here is my set up.

The sleeve of the trailer arm fits over the hitch on the axle and then you stick the pin through to secure plus the safety line.

In the case of QR, I’d expect a washer by the frame and the opposite side of the hitch to fit it.

I would be very wary of screwing in a extention to an existing through axle as that to me is a significant point of failure when towing 30-40 kg.

[Sriracha]

I’d have thought hirsute was
I’d have thought hirsute was on the money with the Robert axle project thing:

Topeak also do their own:
https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/301-Journey-Trailer-TX-&-DryBag/1149-JOURNEY-TRAILER-TX-AXLE-KIT-P10

[Oldfatgit]

The last time I had a trailer

The last time I had a trailer it was connected by the type of coupling that Tom shows; however the bike had bolt on wheels and so it wasn’t a problem (or if it was I was blissfully ignorant of it).

I might just give up on this idea (which in my blessed ignorance seems to be easy) and think about doing something less complicated – like writting the design specs that will enable man to live on Mars 

[Oldfatgit]

There is a basic spline

There is a basic spline alignement with the head and the thru-axle body.
there is a fixed collar on the body, and the head / handle pulls out to clear the splines; you can then rotate the head to a clear space and push it back in.
It’s just a lazy-mans hex key 🙂

[Oldfatgit]

Thanks Ian.

Thanks Ian.
Please see my post below for an image of the thru-axles I am using.
Currently, I have about 4mm / 3 full thread turns projecting through the drive side.

Looking at the picture that Tom has posted of the universal hitch that he has:
– providing that the central bore is >12mm and the counter-bore is about 1-2mm deep, in theory the existing axle could* work, providing their design parameters aren’t exceeded.

* could because anything could work – it’s just how safely (and how expensive the fix).

[Oldfatgit]

It’s not a true QR as in a

It’s not a true QR as in a skewer.
It’s a QR head thats been fitted to a thru axle.
Basically, there is a lever head that means you can get rid of having to faff around with a hex key to undo it.
 

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/brand-x-twist-lever-thru-axle-1

[Sriracha]

Slightly tangential, but how
Slightly tangential, but how do you mount a thru-axle set up with a QR skewer? I’ve thought about it, looked at my own bike (thru-axle), scratched my head, and googled it, but whichever way I’d have thought it can’t be done. I know I’m missing something!

AASQ #31: Can you run a QR hub in a thru axle fork?

[Author]

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