Building a bicycle trailer

I had thought about building a bike trailer, but I bought one from the small ads in VeloVision. It still needs quite a lot of work - see some photos. (I have changed the way the towbar attaches to the trailer since then, and the hideous shimmy it had is now fixed, or at least vastly reduced.)

But here are some links to DIY trailers:

• bikeshophub.com/blogs/bike-trailer-blog/
• Bike Trailer Blog DIY list (had quite a lot of duplication with this list, but wasn't around when I started, and link is now dead)
• Community Bike Cart Design
• http://www.re-cycle.org/trailer/
• http://www.carryfreedom.com/bamboo.html
• http://www.eland.org.uk/pages/trailer2.html
• http://trailers.xntrick.co.uk
• http://practicalaction.org/bicycle-trailers-3(see under "Further Info" tab, also has information on cargo bikes)
• http://www.compbio.dundee.ac.uk/~dmamartin/trailer/trailer.html
• http://www.instructables.com/id/ENK7HBIQG6EP286RJK/
• http://www.instructables.com/id/Single_Wheeled_Bike_Trailer/
• http://moz.geek.nz/mozbike/build/shoptrailer/index.html (now in a small production run)
• http://howtofixbikes.blogspot.com articles: one, two, three.
• Bikes At Work have trailers which can be customised with your own platform or support on their "spine".

Some load carrying alternatives to trailers:

• Xtracycle An extension that bolts on the back of a standard bike, allowing cargo bags much larger than typical panniers and a "deck" that doubles as a passenger seat.
http://www.xtracycle.co.uk just has links now (was UK distributer), but ISON stock the Surly Big Dummy.
Xtracycle published the critical dimensions of their bikes as a standard for anyone who wants to build something compatible. It's now harder to find, and the PDFs are password protected: http://old.xtracycle.com/longtailtech/index.php/Main_Page
• Loads Better have a variety of load carrying or heavy duty bikes, including the Xtracycle and (coming soon) the Yuba Mondo.
• The Kona Ute looks like a similar sort of thing to the Yuba.
• Surly Big Dummy, a frame dedicated to taking the Xtracycle accessories without needing the extension piece.
• Stokemonkey is an electric hub motor adapted as a bottom bracket drive for a Xtracycle or similar (it won't fit on a standard bike frame).
• Cargocycle, another extension, which takes a large box.
• 8-Freight, a purpose built bike with load area behind the cyclist.
• http://moz.geek.nz/mozbike/build/binbike/index.html a bike with large load platforms above 20" wheels (built after his long bike cracked).
• WorldBike aims at providing cheap xtrabike-like load carriers and other load-carrying bike technology to developing countries
• A Cargo Bike for Uganda at the Bicycle Design blog
• Project Rwanda and Kona Bike Town also have African bicycle related material (including wooden bikes taking huge loads in Rwanda).
• Xtracycle fitted to LWB recumbent, and a Greenspeed load carrying trike
• Homemade (I assume) longtail on Instructables, but no details
• BikeRescue prototype longtail on Velovision

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