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Strong
controllable braking independent of hand position/signalling/cargo
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Ideal for the rear stirrup brake of traditional
English/Indian/Chinese bikes
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Also simple for
cable braking and rear derailleur gearing
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2 or 3 moving parts very
simple to make
FARTHING PENNY Bucket
(Bouquet) Cargo Bicycle
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Carries a 20L bucket of
cargo with multi- pocket organiser for mobile etc
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Small bike handling and
manoeuvrability with big bike power
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Silent and powerful
backpedal braking with derailleur gearing
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Sit up & Beg
handlebars provide elbow rests for Praying extension
This design arose
from use of standard bucket and bucket organiser to transport cargo (mainly
groceries) in living without a car. Panniers require extensive frames and
support points to keep them out of the spokes, complicating removal. In the
front their weight and volume capacity is limited by turning with the
wheel. Rear panniers or racks do not allow monitoring the contents when
riding and add extra spoke-breaking load to the rear wheel which already
bears 110 lbs of a 175 lb rider.
Backpacks have a particularly high center of gravity again too far
back and exacerbate the differential cooling problem that leads to a wet
and clammy back yet a frozen front.
A cheaper system is to take advantage of the ubiquitous 5
gallon bucket and the cheap pail organisers that are mass produced for the
building trades. These hang over the bucket rim with numerous pockets on
the inside and outside. The inside pockets are useful for small valuable
‘purse’ items like a notepad, cheque book, pens and mobile phones which
help prevent fruitless tiring cycling. The outside pockets are good for
spare inner tubes, glasses cases, bike tools etc. Instead of adding wind
resistance, a front mounting provides a bit of a round entry fairing to the
body behind. The maximum 45 lbs of 5 gal bucket full of liquid then evens
the weight on each wheels at 100lbs for a 175 lb adult
At first a bucket was suspended inside the “praying”
handlebars of a standard 10 speed but a full load then affected the
steering a bit severely. So it was clamped in front of the steering tube to
the frame with a quick release lever whilst straight handlebars on a simple
gooseneck gave sufficient steering movement behind it. In fact the movement was often annoyingly
more restricted by the near interference of the toe in front of the pedal
hitting the back of the front wheel. This begs for a smaller front wheel
which would also lower the weight of the cargo and the top of the bucket
below the arc of the handlebars. The grocery delivery and Paschley Post
Office bikes in the UK have slightly smaller front wheels under their trays
attached to the frame The stability
and control of a bicycle are largely governed by the steering front wheel,
and folding bicycles have shown that a small front wheel has very good
balance as well as high manoeuvrability.
But the standard
rear frame is a lighter way to stiffly support the seat and a fullsize rear
wheel allows light yet high derailleur gearing. So the idea was to just
change the frame ahead of the seat-tube to allow a small front wheel but to
keep it and the handlebars stiff.
Since the steering tube is parallel to the seat tube, the front end
can be lowered by cutting the front and top tubes at the seat tube. For a
match the tubes should be cut at the same angle to the seat-tube. Since the
original top tube is smaller it should be cut say ¼” minimum clear of any
lug, so that the downtube can then locate over this stub flush with the
lug. The downtube should be cut at
its lug outer edge for this. The clean end of the downtube will fit inside
what is left as deep as possible. The overlaps and lugs if present allow
stick welding
A bracket to hold the
bottom lip of the bucket is welded to the bottom of the steering tube just
above the tire, and a circle of banding strap projected from the top of the
steering tube holds the bucket dropped into place.
The prototype also
has backpedal braking with a silent ratchet on the chainwheel and a small
chain pulley on the same ratchet brake lever which causes top side slack
with the backpedalling (to allow forward pedalling and so brake release.)
The handlebars are an inverted “sit up and beg” so that there is a hollow
for the elbows to locate in when the forearms are resting on a delta
“praying tuck” extension.
NEW May 2012: 2nd generation Farthing Penny Plus ARM ASSISTED bucket bike: click for detailed description
and for video
NEW Sept 2012: 3rd
generation Folding ARM BOOST BUCKET BIKE
ReCYCLE
Bike
Cargo Trailer
Compared to
car utility and boat trailers, bike 2 wheel trailers have a much narrower
wheelbase and less deadweight so it is
preferable to have the bottom at minimum ground clearance of say 4”
, (the same as the pedal). Otherwise with the good inclined cornering of
the bike a heavy (and high) load can easily flip the trailer. Even with
inflated wheels the shock on rigid trailer (and bucket) cargo is fairly
high so a suspension is useful to reduce the noise of loose cargo and
possible damage.
Remarkably these
desiderata, rarely achieved in
custom trailers, can be met with a
compact trailer weighing only 18 lbs and made entirely of cycle
components. An old bike frame makes a lightweight
trailer skeleton with an offset rising arm for loose vertical bolting to
your bicycle for short loads. The seatstays are cut off and rewelded to the
bottom bracket lugs of the removed chainstays to form this triangulated
arm.
The trailer wheels
are 16” or 20” rear wheels with the axles replaced by pedal axles Make sure
you mount the wheels freewheel-side in, as they are dished, and mount the
lefthanded crank thread on the lefthand side. They are easily screwed onto
pedal cranks whose big ends are welded to the ends of (1" EMT
electrical conduit) tubing which passes through the head tube with a central locating pin.
This EMT is best slit lengthwise for torsional flexibility to give a
suspension to the extent the cranks are angled ahead. The cranks are
pointed up too to lower the frame below the wheel axles.
Multiple pin holes
in the frame allow adjusting the height and suspension effect between
straight ahead cranks for storage and max suspension for heavy fragile
loads to be cycled slowly to say 60 degree up cranks for light rugged loads
to be carried low and fast.
There are mainly
different styles of pedals. ½” or 9/16” interthreads and outer . 5/16 or
.278”(24 tpi) threads. One piece
cranks are always ½” and the right side often has a flaring at the axle
which is easy to weld to the EMT as is the big end of a standard
cranks. Front wheel axles are 5/16-24
so their threaded cones can used instead of the too-small pedal outer cone
on 5/16 pedal axle ends. The dirt cover can be pressed off and replaced
with a bigger one or the entire hub outer end covered.
A sleeve can drilled from 3/8 rear axle to
allow mounting the normal 3/8-24 thread rear cone on a .278” pedal. Chuck
the axle segment in a drill press and use a stationary center drill and
then H&J letter drills clamped in the table vice. Set those upright by
lightly chucking the wrong ends.
Tow-a-Bike to a Friend
This is an easy way to tow an empty
bicycle behind your bike, for instance to public transport to provide your
visitor with a bike. Basically the idea is to remove the front wheel of the
bike to be towed and carry it bolted on one side of your front fork. And
then mount the front fork of the rear bike over the ends of your rear axle
either directly or with some flat bar with holes for the axle and hose
clamps for the forks. The connection must be strong but allow the fork to pivot
to conform to bumps in the road. The empty rear bike will then tow
obediantly behind you with very little drag. The connection is not
strong or stiff enough to make this a tandem. Please don’t try
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