Author Topic: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?  (Read 2447 times)

Looking at the website for HPV it recommends Weber type E hitch for trailers. Is there any particular reason for this? I've used a burley hitch in the past, they seem solid enough. The weber hitch seems to be a frame attached hitch,  is this more secure or stronger?

It seems to me that a bike is a bike. If you can attach a trailer securely to the QR axle on an upright bike then you should be able to on a recumbent bike. Bike being two wheels,  trike is three and different I guess.

We're about to get a dog trailer,  cheaper one in case dog doesn't like it. Plan B to take dog on cycle tours with us,  plan A was to leave get with relatives. If plan B fails plan A is regretfully necessary. However the hitch is simply a basic axle mount with a welded tube attached at an angle with a thinner tube end with a through holeto it. This then has the trailer arm slot over the top of the thinner end and a security pin through with a trailer strap through the frame just in case like Burley do. This isn't too far from the weber for the trailer arm attachment but that is frame fixed instead.

So what's the important thing about fitting trailers to fully suspended recumbents?

Kim

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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #1 on: 13 March, 2022, 09:51:48 pm »
I've never had reason to tow my trailer (Carry Freedom Y, with the newer elastomer hitch) with the Streetmachine, but I don't see anything particularly special about it.

I've towed it with the ICE Sprint (RS, so 20" rear wheel with suspension), and the only thing special was that I needed to drill out the hole in the trailer hitch by an extra millimetre in order to accommodate the Falco hub motor axle.  The normal hub works fine with an unmodified hitch.

I suppose the presence of suspension means the hitch needs to be able to accommodate a reasonable amount of vertical movement without too much drama?

Mr Larrington

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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #2 on: 18 March, 2022, 11:55:07 am »
ISTR the manual for the Speedmachine disrecommended the towing of any kind of trailer.
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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #3 on: 31 March, 2022, 04:45:14 pm »
We ran a TerraTrike Cruiser for a few years, and a trailer which was indistinguishable from any other one might get on eBay or the like. It was a perfectly normal rear axle to which the attachment for the trailer fitted. If you have a tadpole then the rear wheel shouldn't be any different to an upwrong 2-wheeler, and therefore you are good to do whatever you want.
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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #4 on: 31 March, 2022, 06:19:32 pm »
2 wheel trailers are ok on the trice but 1 wheel one's are not recommended.
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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #5 on: 31 March, 2022, 09:17:54 pm »
why?
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LittleWheelsandBig

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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #6 on: 31 March, 2022, 10:24:03 pm »
The extra torsion applied by a single wheel trailer through the swingarm/ rear forks/ triangle (compared to a two-wheel trailer) is generally considered a bad thing by a designer. Some bikes/ trikes have enough strength and stiffness to reliably handle it but many designs never considered this loading. Even if nothing fatigues (or wears the pivot bearings), the extra lean of the back wheel of a flexibly-framed machine can adversely affect steering through a fast corner.
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #7 on: 01 April, 2022, 01:55:34 am »
HP-Velotechnik certainly disrecommend towing a single-wheel trailer with a Speedmachine, and possibly two-wheeled ones as well, though I'd have to RTFM to be sure.
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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #8 on: 01 April, 2022, 07:10:39 am »
Two wheeled trailer up to 45kg total load iirc is in the SMGTe manual and webpage. They recommend weber hitch type e or g I think.

We got a cheaper brand to try it out and it had a common style of hitch but not a weber. It's basically a rearward and left pointing tube welded onto a plate with a hole for the axle. The male tube on the trailer goes inside and a pin with a split wire catch goes over the top to lock with a security tether strap around the rear triangle.

It works OK but there's a real rattle compared to what I remember about or burley d-lite kids trailer we used to have. I guess lower price equals lower quality and the rattle. I suspect its all the split wire security catches,  tow arm attachment point and possibly the interaction between trailer and hitch point.

Anyway the dog was a little scared at first in the trailer but it'll probably work OK.

Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #9 on: 01 April, 2022, 02:33:51 pm »
I woz wondering about a trailer on the Catrike.  Something narrow and easy to get thru the house - ergo single wheeled.
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Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #10 on: 01 April, 2022, 07:32:17 pm »
I woz wondering about a trailer on the Catrike.  Something narrow and easy to get thru the house - ergo single wheeled.
I have towed my Bob Yak with my KMX trike with no problems, but when I went e-powered it would not fit on so went for a two wheeled.

Re: Trailer mounts for recumbent - are they any different to uprights?
« Reply #11 on: 04 May, 2022, 10:43:40 pm »
I have used a Radical two wheeler that hitches to my ICE trike. There are different designs of hitch bracket available from Radical (Std, Brompton / small wheel, and another which I forget). But whilst I would ideally suggest some metal is removed from the bracket to make it a better fit, (plus the qr has to be turned vice versa to accomodate), the ICE copes admirably with the bracket attached to one side of the 700c wheel.

Ok the ICE is for racing, (have you missed Chris Foy, Brad Wiggins or Chris Froome with their trailers in the TdF - clearly you werent watching closely enough🤣 ) but occasionally the need to tow camping or other gear is required and banana bags are not always enough.