Charlotte and Julian's Brox

[peliroja]

I think it's utterly fabulous!

[Tewdric]

Pancho / Tewdric - we didn't get it for its sleek beauty, sure.  It's stripped down in those pictures though - it looks better with the carrier on the back.

It's going to be both a car and a sillymachine - you try getting a couple of 20kg sacks of chicken feed on a normal bike rack!  It's nearly as wide as a car but has the advantages that we don't need to pay VED, petrol or insurance, and it's significantly more environmentally friendly.  It's a bike, but you can load it up with stuff in the way that you can't with a normal bike (and the Yuba Mundo has too high a centre of gravity for me when it's full).  It's going to be a load-carrying machine for sacks of chicken feed, aubiose, cupboard-stocking shopping expeditions and so on, an amusing way to fetch friends from the station, and a good addition to "bikes that come out for fun."

There is an eccentric fun factor which I can appreciate, but I'd go for one of these if I wanted a load carrying bike:

http://www.velovision.co.uk/mag/issue9/8freight.pdf

[Julian]

A load carrying Brompton?? 

[Pancho]

Andy mentions "beauty" and cites the fancy suspension as evidence.

I'm an engineer (well, used to be but still am at heart) and to an engineer's eyes, beauty is the achievement of form and function with utmost economy and efficiency. A bicycle is precisely that; all that is required for transport and utility but no more than is required.

If I want to carry 40 kilos of layers pellets, two hefty children or a month's worth of groceries then I attach a trailer to my bike. It adds load capacity but retains the advantages of a bike; I can still filter through traffic, I can still park against railings. Also, a trailer may be eccentric but the Brox is straying into barking.

I'm not trying to piss on anyone's parade - we're all different and march to our own drums.

I stole my maxim from William Morris:

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

In my eyes, your device struggles to pass muster on both counts.

PS AGAIN. I'm really not trying to say it's a bad idea or to piss anyone off. It's just not for me.

[Julian]

Don't get one then, m'dear.  Tastes differ - I think folding bikes are neither useful nor beautiful but I think the Brox rox. 

[DrMekon]

You wouldn't be able to do what a brox can with an 8-Freight. For a start, they have a rep for snapping chainstays. Look on the messenger forums or speak to the guys at Outspoken that use them. They are damn quick for a cargobike, mind.

The Brox's width is part of its advantage, IMO. It lets you do bulk like little else - maybe a bikes at work modular trailer could come close, but is weight limited.

For what it's worth, I've had 125kg (a fat friend and his luggage) in my bakfiets, and whilst it coped, after an hour I was tired and a bit worn out from managing the steering and braking.

IMO, Brox is competing with the Cycles Maximus or the commercial pedicabs. At £330 it was an utter steal.

[Butterfly]

I think it needs a sound system

[David Martin]

I have a very nice trailer for load carrying that will comfortably take a full family shop, goodness knows how many sacks of chicken feed (at least 5) and so on. But the Brox is something else. It is a cool piece of kit, in the same way that landrovers are cool bits of kit.

Ealing tractor anyone?

..d

[tiermat]

Something the occured to me over the weekend is that, as you are repairing the "bathtub" it would probably be a good idea to screw/bolt/fibreglass some D-rings in so that when you are carrying smaller loads you can cover and secure them with a cargo net, similar to those you get for the boots of cars.

[Charlotte]

Not sure about the bathtub now.  I reckon that a nice bit of marine ply, bolted down on the back, with some removable sides and a hillybilly pickup drop-tail would probably be much more sturdy and not much heavier.

Also, it would then allow me to fabricate a double bench seat unit that would bolt onto it, turning the whole caboodle into an impromptu rickshaw.

Liking the D-ring idea, though.  You can never have too many sturdy attachment points like that, I reckon  

[tiermat]

Not sure about the bathtub now.  I reckon that a nice bit of marine ply, bolted down on the back, with some removable sides and a hillybilly pickup drop-tail would probably be much more sturdy and not much heavier.

Is that so you can sit in the back, on a rocking chair, playing the banjo whilst Julian pedals?

I sense you evil plans.....

[Panoramix]

To an engineer's eyes, beauty is the achievement of form and function with utmost economy and efficiency. A bicycle is precisely that; all that is required for transport and utility but no more than is required.

Music to my ears...

[ed_o_brain]

Having used a trailer to tow really heavy loads, the Brox is a wonderful revelation.

Mine is still very much a project - it rides, but only just. This is certainly inspiration to get it sorted out. Visually, it appears to be the same as Charlotte and Julian's Brox. It's nice to see the addition of a dual drive hub. I'm wondering if that would give me the range I need to sensibly use it in these hills.

Bringing a weeks worth of shopping up evil hill on a normal bike and trailer is a huge feat. I'm wondering if using the brox, as there are no balance issues, would make it easier?

I need to order some replacement parts for the front brakes on mine. Will probably strip the body off in the next few weeks and post some detailed pictures.

[Charlotte]

Ed - do you have the same brake system as ours?

Everything else (headsets, wheel bearings, steering rods and so forth) I know I can handle, but the brake system is something new.

From what Daniel (owner of the London Skaters' Brox compact) tells me, they're unnusual in that they use mineral oil rather than brake fluid.  He also says that they are a total sod to bleed.  This gives me the fear because if I manage to round off any of the bleed screws, it's going to be a right pain to source replacements.

Have you found anything out about the brakes on yours?

[mrcharly-YHT]

Bringing a weeks worth of shopping up evil hill on a normal bike and trailer is a huge feat. I'm wondering if using the brox, as there are no balance issues, would make it easier?

What hitch do you have? I've had a number of trailers and found some difficult, some easy. The Weber hitch has a lot of play in it, which can cause the trailer to 'shunt' you. Hitches without any play make life a lot easier.

[Wascally Weasel]

Ms Weasel and I popped over to the Seekrit Bunker yesterday on our tandem, specifically to have a go on the Brox.  As I’m not blessed with great balance, this is a recumbent I can actually ride without falling over when trying to set off.

I appreciate that I was riding it in a largely pre-fettled state but it is already lots of fun – what impressed me was the incredibly tight turning circle you can perform in it; it seemed amazingly small, especially after having ridden over on the tandem (which turns eventually).

I like the ability to transport stupid amounts of stuff on a HPV so it gets my vote.

[Tewdric]

Shurely iz needing one of thz;

[citoyen]

I like the ability to transport stupid amounts of stuff on a HPV so it gets my vote.

+1

Yeah, so it lacks the elegance of a classic diamond-frame upright bicycle, but then a Land Rover lacks the elegance of a Ferrari...

d.

[ed_o_brain]

Ed - do you have the same brake system as ours?

Have you found anything out about the brakes on yours?

The brakes are something of an oddity. I'll have a closer look and post up some pictures soon.

I'm missing a set of brake pads from one side, so I will certainly need to find out what they are and whether replacements are available.

[David Martin]

From what Daniel (owner of the London Skaters' Brox compact) tells me, they're unnusual in that they use mineral oil rather than brake fluid.  He also says that they are a total sod to bleed.  This gives me the fear because if I manage to round off any of the bleed screws, it's going to be a right pain to source replacements.

I thought most bicycle hydraulic brakes used mineral oil?

Plywood base and attatchments sounds like a great idea.. or even metal bench supports/wheelchair ramp/tiedown.

I can just imagine HV sitting on the back keeping her chauffeur motivated...

[clarion]

I reckon that a nice bit of marine ply, bolted down on the back, with some removable sides and a hillybilly pickup drop-tail would probably be much more sturdy and not much heavier.

Also, it would then allow me to fabricate a double bench seat unit that would bolt onto it, turning the whole caboodle into an impromptu rickshaw.

Visions of a yacf outing

or maybe take teh BEAR for an outing in the Arkansas Chugabug...

[Karla]

Some hydraulic bicycle brakes use mineral oil, others use DOT 4.  Don't mix the two or your seals will dissolve.  Yes this has happened to me and yes the seals gave just as I reached the summit of my ride and looked forward to a nice downhill section   

[Charlotte]

I thought most bicycle hydraulic brakes used mineral oil?

No idea.  I presumed that they were hydraulic fluid like motorcycle brakes - I've only ever had cable discs onna bike.

Given the mayhem that a set of failed seals could cause, I think I'll drop a sample out of them and do the rub-and-sniff test before I buy new fluid...

Plywood base and attatchments sounds like a great idea.. or even metal bench supports/wheelchair ramp/tiedown.

I can just imagine HV sitting on the back keeping her chauffeur motivated...

Yeah - theoretically, there's no reason why we couldn't get a wheelchair up on there when it's done...

[ed_o_brain]

Brakes on mine are Sachs power discs, and a quick google indicates they drink mineral fluid.

Which is interesting, as the geezer I brought the brox from gave me DOT fluid.  

[rogerzilla]

Hope use DOT5.1, Shimano use mineral oil.