Feb 21, 2011
DIT: TailWheels
My wife and I live in a small apartment with five of our bicycles living with us. The first moment of zen came when I realized I was tall enough to store my lighter road/mtn bikes horizontally against the ceiling, but my Big Dummy still took up a commanding amount of square footage.
We recently shifted the rooms around and need that precious footprint to be reduced. Problem was, I need to store the Dummy on it’s tail, but maneuvering a wheel-less Big Dummy like that was bound to scratch and damage the rear bridge tube. What I need were some casters to allow me easy positioning and storage of my Xtracycle cargo bike in a vertical position.
I sketched up a design diagram, chatted with Ross about some potential pitfalls, and dove right in. Was a bit hasty about the initial two prototypes, but finally ironed out my issues with the third version.
Now I can easily bring the bike inside, hold the rear brake, lift up the wheel, TailWheels make contact, and then I push on my MagicCarpet with my knee while still holding the handlebars to get it into full, mobile and upright position.
It’s also been a boon for use on BART and elevators. No more scratched paint or dented tubes!
Ride on!
View more detailed comments for TailWheels on flickr.
Hello for the UK.
I love it thank you very much for sharing a brilliant tweek. Now I have (even more) motivation to get an X
No problemo! Glad to brighten your week with a tweek :)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Xtracycle, Yoshito Takagi. Yoshito Takagi said: そっか、長尾クンを縦に置けば場所取らないンだね。 http://bit.ly/ha5mJU #xtracycle #bltb [...]
Nice tweak, Rick!
How’s the axle deflection issue on the V.03? Still there or can I whip some of these to use as a drag-strip wheelie bar?
Thanks, Tim.
Well, first. You sure you’re gonna wheelie? :P Second, the shim/spacer in the tube needs to be a tight fit with the 6mm axle being snug inside that as well. I just wouldn’t hang an adult’s weight, plus the bike’s, over this setup without beefing it up in a variety of places.
Nah, I’m just messin’ Rick. Though I can wheelie my dummy for sure (I think yesterday I got the front wheel at least an inch off the ground!), I’d use the wheels just how you are. Elevators would be the perfect use.
Thanks again for sharing!
Amazing idea! Can you give a parts list, and perhaps a bit of a better build diagram? I’d love to put a set of these on my new Big Dummy to free up a bit of space in my studio. Thank you!
I just saw the photos of the wheels hanging on a retail rack – if you do plan on selling these, I’m down for a set!
Hey Henrik,
The parts are:
2 wheels
2 22.2mm ø diameter tubing x ~2.75″
2 spring buttons
2 plastic shims to prevent axle deflection
2 6mm machine thread bots
2 washers (not shown)
You can see more detailed comments on each TailWheels photo here.
The retail space was just to show how they could be displayed in a shop.
Very nice! I’d love to build a set; where did you source the spring buttons?
Hey Chris, we’ve got some spring pins available on the Xtracycle store. Otherwise tracking them down can be tough.