Every Day Adventurers

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.

ingenious!, originally uploaded by xtracycleinc.

Low budget days, er months, getting you down? Want to reuse something destined for the dump? Wrap your V-racks with a used road tube (30-35c) and receive a variety of benefits. Keep your buckles from sliding on the racks, prevent water from seeping into your uprights and look ninja.

Spotted outside Artcrank SF poster show.