For more than two centuries, the bicycle has been considered a unique human invention. To increase its functionality, it became necessary to use additional structures. One of them is. This device allows you to increase the load capacity of the bike.

Useful qualities of the trailer

One of the advantages of bicycle trailers is the quantitative and weight increase of the load carried by the bicycle. In addition, it does not cause any damage when driving, since the entire load is concentrated on the trailer. Also, many have adapted to transport children in them. For this, trailers are equipped with special seats. In addition, it became possible to transport large loads on a bicycle.

A specially designed single-wheel bike trailer can accommodate the owner's entire load, while allowing you to navigate narrow paths and safely ride on uneven roads.

A trailer designed for transporting children is more demanding than a cargo trailer. It should have a more rigid structure, also in mandatory it must be equipped with seat belts and shock absorbers. Do not forget about this when creating a trailer with your own hands. The factory device for transporting children must pass a crash test, similar to a car.

Varieties of trailers

The most common trailers are two-wheeled, which can be used to transport goods and children. Models with one wheel are more like a tandem with a flexible hitch. In fact, it is another place with an independent chain drive. On straight sections of the road, such a trailer runs fine, but when cornering, the wheel stops rolling.

The most unpopular model is a trailer attached to the front of the bike. It turns out that it constantly needs to be pushed, plus it is much more difficult to control such a device.

How to make a bike trailer with your own hands

During the warmer months, many residents of the city switch from public transport to easy-to-use bicycles. To get children to take walks in the air, some use it. Such designs are quite expensive, so cyclists with hands make them on their own, giving them the desired look. There is one very easy way to assemble a bike trailer.

Materials (edit)

The first step is to prepare the material and parts for assembling the trailer with your own hands. For this you will need:
three-meter pipes with a diameter of 20 mm;
bushings;
basket or material for its creation;
a pair of locknuts;
set for threading;
wheels;
shock absorbers;
seat belts.

Assembling the bike trailer

Having prepared all the necessary material, you should start assembling the trailer. The main structural element is the frame, so you need to create a schematic drawing of it. It will serve as a template for bending pipes. To do this, you need to get a large sheet of paper on which you will need to draw the shape of the frame. The most the best option is an oval. Based on the drawing, it is necessary to bend the pipes.

You will need one pipe to create the bottom of the trailer. The second must be bent to create the back. Then you need to weld them together. You should also solder the wheel hubs once. After that, you can install them.

Next, you need to mount the bottom. This requires a ready-made basket, preferably a metal one. You can, of course, replace it with an MDF sheet, but its negative quality is its low resistance to moisture. For this, film faced plywood may be suitable. The walls can be made from tarpaulin or wood panels.

If the trailer will be used to transport children, then it is necessary to provide for the fastening of the wheels through shock absorbers. You also need to install seats and seat belts.

Docking with a bike

The trailer should be equipped with a tube that will act as an attachment point to the bike. You also need to develop a mechanism that will connect them together, called a drawbar. For its manufacture, you will need metal plates and a pipe with a diameter of 25 mm. The pipe must be shaped like the letter "L", and at the place of the bend, weld the plates, between which the bolt is inserted. It will act as a clamp.

The bolt at the bottom must be attached at an angle to the top one, in addition, it is necessary that it overlaps the hole in the pipe and is connected to the bottom clamp. The bike must be equipped with a luggage carrier, on which the hinge part of the towbar will be installed. The second must be attached to the drawbar.

This is the simplest DIY bike trailer assembly diagram. This design is perfect for traveling with your family and transporting any small cargo.

Using a trailer

The operation of the trailer is not particularly difficult. When driving on a flat surface, no additional weight is felt at the rear. It does not affect the handling and steering of the bike. It is important to remember that the trailer is much wider and requires more travel and turning space. It should also be noted that when going downhill, the trailer adds speed to the bike, but this can be avoided by slowing down on the entire descent.

It also becomes problematic to move on soft ground and downhill. This is influenced by the weight of the trailer. When loaded, the mass can reach 50 kg. But this design greatly simplifies shipping. It is easier to ride with it in the trailer than on the trunk.

Ideal for driving on asphalt roads and hard surfaces. Also, with it you can safely ride on uneven roads without fear of overturning. The inconvenience is provided by very high obstacles in the form of logs or fences. It is also difficult to travel on narrow paths, as the trailer clings to everything. But in any case, it is a good helper for the cyclist. The main thing is to think over the route in advance.

You can't take a lot on a bike, but sometimes there are moments when you need to transport a rather large load. It is not always possible to use a car for these purposes. You can get out of this situation with the help of a bicycle trailer, which is able to turn ordinary bicycle transport into. But bike trailers cost a lot of money, which is especially a pity to give if the need for their use arises rarely. It remains only to make a similar design yourself. Let's study this business together.

Because bicycle trailers are not cheap, you can try to make this product yourself

Preparatory work and clarification of nuances

To create a bike trailer, you need to carefully prepare and not only mentally. Nothing should distract you from the workflow, so all tools and materials should be at hand. And also in advance you will need to understand some questions and understand the intricacies of the work ahead.

Instrument preparation

The creation of a bike rack can be carried out different ways, but they all have the same schema and require a basic tool. So, to make a bike trailer, you need to prepare the following set of tools:

• grinder with cutting and grinding discs;
• electric drill with a set of nozzles;
• welding machine;
• a ruler and a marking tool (pencil, pen, chalk or felt-tip pen);
• steel pipes or aluminum profiles;
• hammer;
• bolts with a diameter corresponding to the size of the drills;
• ball joint;
• one or two wheels, depending on the design of the future trailer;
• threaded studs;
• a ready-made platform or metal rods for its construction.

And you may also need a lathe and pipe bending tool.

Making the frame

A frame for a bike trailer doesn't have to be very complicated. You can take the simplest design, in which there will be oblique fixing plumb lines and an axle for wheels with an aligned shape. The necessary drawings are freely available in large quantities, so there will be no problems finding them. Even creating a drawing on your own will not be difficult at all. It is important here to make clear measurements and not to cut the material without repeated checks. This is the only way not to spoil the material and reduce the working time.

No less important element the whole structure is a diagram of fastening the trailer to vehicle... This element is often called a drawbar, but this is the popular name for the fastening system. The drawbar can be made from a two-inch square tube. You will have to spend some time creating this element, create several drawings, make changes and get the perfect design as a result, which will fit your bike model and match the design of the future trailer.

Making a platform

It will also take a lot of time to build the platform. For its manufacture, it is necessary to take a durable, but light enough material, which will not make the entire structure particularly heavy, but will also be able to withstand the considerable weight of the transported cargo. MDF is suitable for such requirements, which is better to take with water-repellent properties. And you can also take metal rods, weld them together to obtain the required structure. This option will be more reliable than using MDF, but the weight of the trailer with such a platform will increase.

Approximate scheme of work

To create a trailer, you can use a not very thick pipe, the length of which will depend on the desired dimensions. An M20 bolt must pass inside this pipe. Using a welding machine, fasten the M20 nuts to the ends of the existing pipe. As mentioned earlier, there can be two or one wheels. Solving this issue, it is necessary to carefully consider the area of ​​use of the future trailer, on what roads it will have to drive, in what conditions (city, suburb, village,) and how maneuverable it should be. Wheels can be borrowed from an old teenage / child's bike or bought new ones.

The axle found in most bicycles is not strong enough and needs to be reinforced. You can install two supports for it, but this is laborious and looks unaesthetic. It is better to increase the diameter of the existing axle with the M20 bolt. It may be necessary to grind the head on the bolt and nut where it contacts the bearings on the lathe. After completing the installation of the axles-bolts on the wheels, you can proceed to the installation of the wheels or wheel on the main axle, which was made from a pipe.

The platform, as already mentioned, can be made from various materials... If you settled on MDF, then the sheet must be given the desired shape and size. For the workpiece made, you will need to build a frame from a corner. There are no problems with this process. If MDF does not suit you, then we take the rods and weld them, forming the necessary structure.

From a half-inch pipe, you will need to create a guide with which you can connect your bike to the trailer. A good solution is to position the pivot joint on the bike saddle shaft. But you can consider other options that make sense. The rail must be bent appropriately so that the trailer is positioned vertically.

The hinge on the mount must be of such a design that the trailer does not interfere with the cyclist during the turn, is able to gently overcome road irregularities and remains in place when parked.

All the same homemade bike trailers have a number of advantages, among which it is worth highlighting the low cost, versatility and originality of the design. such an addition to the bike, you can take into account your needs, make changes in size and shape. And no factory-made bicycle trailer can boast of such advantages.

I don't even know where to start this article. Maybe from the choice or the doubts that overcame me. Choose a bike bag "pants" with a trunk

or a bike trailer ?!

A trunk with a bag costs about 5,000 rubles, but the load on the rear wheel will be incredible (your weight, which mainly presses on the rear axle + the small weight of the trunk itself + what will be on the trunk itself). A bicycle trailer without a bag is the cheapest 13,400 rubles, but the load with rear wheel clearly goes to your third wheel and the center of gravity is much lower than that of the trunk, which will have a favorable effect on the stability of your bike and weight distribution along the axles.

In the end, I chose a bike trailer, but I did not like the fact that the attachment of the trailer to the bike in all factory configurations is due to the axle of the rear wheel of the bike itself.

In principle, this is not a bad thing. except for one "BUT". All of them are good only on perfectly flat roads. If you ride vertically on a fractured landscape, then your trailer will move vertically relative to the bike, and then you will inevitably loosen all the bolts and nuts that hold your rear wheel (take a closer look at the photos). What would you do to prevent this from happening? Digging a little more on the Internet, I found homemade ones, which, in principle, are in no way inferior to the factory ones, and maybe even superior.

This homemade product has both a horizontal hinge for turns and a vertical one (under the axle of the rear wheel of the bike), which the factory trailers do not have. It was from this sample that I pushed off to create my own bike trailer.

So, I started my trailer by selecting bearings and turning bushings for them. The bushings turned out somehow like this, and they were approached by bearings numbered 6000z (a closed analogue of the 100th bearing of the Soviet of Deputies), which I bought 4 pieces for 105 rubles.

The next step was to grind out the bracket that will hold my trailer to the bike. I was grinding from a simple sheet of raw iron. Marked out where and what holes I will have for attaching to the frame and one hole for the stud on which the trailer bushing will be attached.

I cut a thread in the plate in order to wrap the hairpin and lock it with a nut through the engraving washer on the reverse side.

This is how the initial exploded view of the entire bracket looks like. Ordinary washers are needed to abut against the inner bearing race. Then it will be necessary to finish the stud itself with the nut to prevent unwinding.

To attach the bracket to the bike, change the disc brake mounting bolts to longer ones. Just for those millimeters, which was the thickness of the bracket plate (I have 4.5 mm).

Can you see the nut holding your wheel axle with an eccentric?

And here is its view from the back. Considering that my eccentric axis protruded 1.5 mm in the clamped state and the fact that the metal thread in this nut is only half the depth, which is another 4 mm. It turns out that the length of the eccentric axis was enough for me without changing it to a longer one.

The next photo is my homemade trailer bracket on the bike.

The view from the other side shows that nothing bothers me to rotate the wheel and I can continue to create my bike trailer.

I found a thin-walled pipe (a leg from an old Soviet table), bent it as I need it. I sawed off the excess with a simple hacksaw for metal and a file. I asked the welder to weld all the blanks. Then he processed the seams that turned out to be the same with a file and came out just such a hitch for the trailer.

The next step was the purchase of a 20X20 mm profile pipe. I had to take all 6 meters, because they did not want to sell less. I gave 340 rubles for 6 meters.

So I waited for the store to open after the weekend. By this time, I went to the garage and took out a couple of 6203Z bearings from the stash.

And a couple of car nuts, which I sharpened on emery under the cone.

And so I got to the store. I hope no one needs to explain what it is? For those who do not understand, this is an axle with an eccentric assembly on front wheel(we have 120 rubles in our store).

Ordinary rear rim for a kama under a brake drum (note a Soviet drum). It costs 675 rubles with us.

Now see how our bearings fit perfectly into this bushing.

We take the purchased axle and sort it out in our own way. As you can see in the photo, our cones made of nuts replaced the standard ones, since they tended to fall through the bearings. By the way, on my Auchan, I assembled the front wheel on a Chinese rim and bearings No. 6202, which are also suitable.

We collect the wheel. Just don't drag those homemade cones! Although the bearings are promotions, if they are overtightened, they will also refuse to roll, even though the course will not be jerky, but smooth.

So it will be a little clearer. Doesn't it look pretty?

Well, we went to work after the New Year's weekend. We can say that I finished the hitch for my trailer. I covered it with a gray primer and then with a colorless varnish, since the primer itself is matte, and with the help of varnish gave it a shine. Sawed off all unnecessary at the bracket stud (about which it was mentioned above), drilled the nut together with this stud by 2.5 mm and put it on the cotter pin to prevent unwinding.

On the fourth day, at lunchtime, I haunt my colleagues at work. He sawed, grinded, tried on, drilled everything - in one word he made as much noise as he could. In the meantime, I bought a set of fenders (the front one hasn’t fitted anywhere yet) for 365 rubles. As a result, such a miracle turned out. It is already beginning to look like something.

We welded the ears for the bracket, installed the towbar. And then it is already, in principle, ready for use.

Today I brought another 60 cm of a profiled pipe from the garage to work in order to make a wheel guard out of this piece of iron (1) from the load and it will also serve as a stand for a couple of bottle cages. I bought a couple of bottle cages on the weekend for 360 rubles (180X2). We also welded a piece of a metal tube (2) , in which I cut a thread of 5 mm for the marker flag and welded on 3 pairs of eyelets (3) for lashing belts under the trailer frame. Welded seams with a grinder. Now all that remains is to grind and paint.

So I brought the finished copy home. This is how he looks on his own.

And this is how my trailer looks together with a bike.

View from the left side.

The height seems to have hit. In this case, the bicycle axle is 1.5 cm higher than that of the trailer. But the bike stands on a 12 mm stand so as not to injure the floors on winter covers 2.35, and my summer ones are 2.10. So in the summer it will be completely horizontal. I'm already glad.

I once wrote at the very beginning of the article that factory trailers do not have vertical hinges. Here you can see that the trailer can be lifted almost to the saddle, but simply lowered inside out.

But there are also downsides to my trailer. As for me, the turn to the left will be carried out only at 50 degrees and no more. It's a shame, but you have to sacrifice something.

This is what the trailer looks like when turning left at maximum turn. Do not reverse slope. The bike itself is also cloudy on right side... The hinge system I used tilts the trailer to the same angle as the bike itself.

And what I like most about my trailer is that it can support my weight and a Russian-made wheel is already becoming a weak link in this matter.

Trailer manufacturing costs:

4 bearings, 105 rubles each = 420 (purchased at the Elekta store);

profile pipe 6 meters - 340 rubles (purchased at the Stroydvor site);

an axle with an eccentric assembly for the front wheel - 120 rubles (purchased at the Sport Goods store);

rear rim 20 inches under the Soviet brake drum - 675 rubles (bought in the "Sports Goods" store);

a set of chrome-plated fenders 20 inches - 365 rubles (purchased from the "Sports Goods" store);

bottle holders 2 pcs, 180 rubles each - 360 rubles (bought in the "Sporting goods" store);

one can of aerosol primer for 135 rubles -

one can of aerosol acrylic varnish 125 rubles - (purchased at the "Construction Boom" store);

total spent - 2540 rubles.

I could have spent 300 rubles more on a reflector and a taillight; 220 rubles for a pair of bearings for the wheel and in complexity it would cost me 3060 rubles.

The weight of the trailer turned out to be 7.3 kg, platform length - 650 mm, platform width - 250 mm.

Let's see how he behaves in field trials with the transportation of goods. I will add an article about this, or I will show it in the comments to this article. While driving him only idle. When you pull empty, it is not felt, I constantly looked back and looked at the place.

With a load of 15 kg - minus one gear. All the same, you have to work a little to pull it.

The second photo was taken from our LDPE at the end of May 2016. In the bag: a 3-seater tent, a sleeping bag, a self-inflating rug, a pot with all spoons, about 4 kg of food and 2 liters of water on the frame of the trailer itself. Total weight the luggage was about 14 kg. We drove 22 km from the city on broken old asphalt and on a field road and the trailer coped with its burden with a bang. When you slow down, the trailer starts pushing you. You have to take into account the extra inertia when braking.

Conditions. A trailer for a bicycle is not a replaceable thing in the country for the transport of goods of varying severity... For example, it is very convenient to use such a trailer for transporting flasks with water.

Required materials and tools for manufacturing:
- hammer
- chisel
- Adjustable wrench
- pliers
- crosshead screwdriver
- roulette
- boards
- metal corners
- wire
- bolts different sizes and diameter
- rope
- bridge
- wheels

Detailed description for manufacturing:

Step 1: First, let's assemble the trolley frame. When assembling, the bolts do not need to be tightened, we just strengthen the structure with wire. To do this, fasten the wire diagonally with nuts.

Step 2: After assembling the structure, we fasten the bridge to the wooden base. For fastening, we use nuts, bolts, and nylon inserts.

Step 3: Next, let's make the central axis of the support. This will require a wider board. So that the boards do not interfere with the movement of the bridge at the ends of the board, it is necessary to make small indentations and fasten with four screws.

Step 4: To assemble the mounts for the trolley, we cut the corners into component parts. Remember their length in the future will depend on the height of the trailer itself. Two parts of the square do not need to be cut to the end, as they need to be bent at an angle and secured with staples as shown in the photo.

Step 5: Next, you need to make a coupling for fastening. To do this, we cut two pieces of the square and attach them to the structure.

Step 6: We attach wheels to the cart.

Step 7: Then we will make a grid on the frame of the cart, if you wish, you can simply put the boards. It all depends on the cargo.

There are handymen who are able to assemble a bicycle on their own. In this case, there is no need to talk about quality, although it can be different. But nevertheless, making something with your own hand is a great experience that won't hurt anyone. For example, the Chinese Kevin Cyr designed and then assembled a whole house on wheels. Camper bike. It was presented to the public in April 2008. But no one is producing serial samples yet, you can understand why.)))

You may need a cargo bike only a few times in your life, but let it be better than suddenly having to look for it later. This design will be indispensable for the transportation of a certain amount of cargo that cannot be carried by hand, but it is extremely unprofitable and costly to use a car for this. Next, we suggest watching the video. It clearly shows how to make a simple cargo bike from the usual old "Ukraine". Everything is done with a bolkar and a welding machine. Even turning work was not required.

Bike trailer- a useful thing. One of the commercial companies produces the popular Pchelka and Pchelka 2 bicycle trailers. but bike trailer you can do it yourself. Its design is quite simple and includes several mandatory components: a 70 x 100 centimeters platform, mounting brackets, a frame with wheels and a place for attachment to a bicycle.

To make a bicycle trailer, you will need the following tools: a grinder with two types of discs - cutting and grinding, a drill with an electric drive and nozzles of various diameters, a welding machine, a mask, gloves for safe work, a ruler, a pencil for marking, steel pipes of small and inch diameters, as well as strips up to thirty centimeters wide, a hammer, bolts for securing the structure (their diameter depends on the diameter of the drills selected for work), a ball joint, threaded studs, two wheels, the platform itself (it can be both wooden and from other materials).

A metal frame for a bicycle trailer can have a simple design with oblique mounting plumb lines and a dropped axle for the wheels. You can always find a drawing for its manufacture on the Internet or, if you have the ability to create it yourself. In order for everything to work out what is called the first time, it is necessary to make very clear measurements and be guided by the principle of "measure seven times and cut once." Highly important point- a system for attaching a trailer to a bicycle. In the common people it is called a drawbar. This is a kind of knot made from a two-inch square tube. Below are some drawings for self-made this device.

The platform for the bike trailer itself must be light and strong overnight so that heavy objects and loads can be transported with it. Most often, MDF is used - a material that is durable to break and at the same time is characterized by low weight. The only drawback of this material is that it easily absorbs water and collapses under its influence. But the modern market also offers MDF with a water-repellent coating. In essence, this solves all problems.

A self-made bike trailer is a very convenient thing. You can independently determine the size and shape of the trailer that will suit your needs. In the end, after you have created a bike trailer, you can try yourself as a master manufacturer of experimental bicycles - this is always very interesting, and in the long run it is also incredibly profitable!