Broadside
Guru
- Location
- Fleet, Hants
Hi Barry,
I really like the sound of your idea. I very rarely take a bike on the train but if I did then I would definitely offer to be a tester. For me your idea is probably more interesting to get say 2 or 3 road bikes in the boot of a standard car because they would pack up quite small with wheels down the sides of the bag. Whenever I put bikes in the boot of a car like that I have a problem with getting everything else in the boot grimey, but your bag covers that issue, same goes for the chain gunk with the slip on cover, so that is two ticks so far.
The other thing that concerns me is the forks or rear dropouts getting compressed if I stack other luggage on top of the bikes with them lying down, I have often thought about putting some sort of wheel-less quick release skewer in the dropouts to cure this problem but never looked further in to it. To extend that idea further and to resolve the problem others have cited about rear derailleur damage, could you think about designing something that goes in the rear dropouts and has a little triangular stand to rest on the ground to bear the weight? This puts the weight of the bike on the parts of the frame designed to handle it. Extending that idea a step further how about some sort of lightweight plastic cup that slips over the rear derailleur protecting it from knocks and is secured on this 'thing' I have described that goes in the rear dropouts. A similar 'thing' would be needed in the front dropouts to protect them from compression also.
Your idea of transporting the bike upside down is a good one, but the dropout protectors would really take this a stage further and offer a huge increase in protection. I would be happy to be a tester for you if you want to show the adaptability of using the bags to keep things nice and tidy in a car, I'd even take my bike on a train ride for some pics!
I really like the sound of your idea. I very rarely take a bike on the train but if I did then I would definitely offer to be a tester. For me your idea is probably more interesting to get say 2 or 3 road bikes in the boot of a standard car because they would pack up quite small with wheels down the sides of the bag. Whenever I put bikes in the boot of a car like that I have a problem with getting everything else in the boot grimey, but your bag covers that issue, same goes for the chain gunk with the slip on cover, so that is two ticks so far.
The other thing that concerns me is the forks or rear dropouts getting compressed if I stack other luggage on top of the bikes with them lying down, I have often thought about putting some sort of wheel-less quick release skewer in the dropouts to cure this problem but never looked further in to it. To extend that idea further and to resolve the problem others have cited about rear derailleur damage, could you think about designing something that goes in the rear dropouts and has a little triangular stand to rest on the ground to bear the weight? This puts the weight of the bike on the parts of the frame designed to handle it. Extending that idea a step further how about some sort of lightweight plastic cup that slips over the rear derailleur protecting it from knocks and is secured on this 'thing' I have described that goes in the rear dropouts. A similar 'thing' would be needed in the front dropouts to protect them from compression also.
Your idea of transporting the bike upside down is a good one, but the dropout protectors would really take this a stage further and offer a huge increase in protection. I would be happy to be a tester for you if you want to show the adaptability of using the bags to keep things nice and tidy in a car, I'd even take my bike on a train ride for some pics!