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Bikes and their storage on a boat


BPot

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Those of you who have bikes an their boats

How do you store them and keep them secure on your boat?

Is there such a thing as a bike rack that you can fit on the boat like on the back of a car?

Do you have recommendations for bike trailers to go on the back of bikes to make collecting shopping easier?

Are their restrictions on tow paths as to cycling?

Are there advantages to having an electric bike on the tow paths

 

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Ours folds up, and lives in the engine 'ole.  I have seen car type racks adapted to hang off a cruiser stern rail and, somewhat ugly, hanging off a rack above the fender on a traditional stern.

 

Chucking it onto the load, tucking it under the side cloth strings , or dropping  into the empty hold are traditional.

 

Never tried a trailer!

 

 

N

 

 

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30 minutes ago, BPot said:

Are their restrictions on tow paths as to cycling?

 

Yes. Give pedestrians priority. 

 

Cyclists rarely appreciate just how intimidating to a person on foot a bike is, coming towards them at a reasonable pace, especially if they are elderly and/or in charge of a dog and/or small children. I dismount if a pedestrian ahead looks uncertain or worried by my approach. 

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3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Yes. Give pedestrians priority. 

 

Cyclists rarely appreciate just how intimidating to a person on foot a bike is, coming towards them at a reasonable pace, especially if they are elderly and/or in charge of a dog and/or small children. I dismount if a pedestrian ahead looks uncertain or worried by my approach. 

Good tip with me pedaling the bike wouldn't be going at any great speed though    The biggest problem pedestrians are likely to have is me wobbling and falling off on top of them.

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37 minutes ago, BPot said:

Those of you who have bikes an their boats

How do you store them and keep them secure on your boat?

Inside. Space planned for a couple of bikes when the kitchen was laid out. Appreciate that this is not always possible, but the best way as bikes deteriorate rapidly stored outside.

Is there such a thing as a bike rack that you can fit on the boat like on the back of a car?

Not as such. People have adapted car ones, or built their own with varying degrees of success.

Do you have recommendations for bike trailers to go on the back of bikes to make collecting shopping easier?

I made my own. Look for foldable, removable wheels etc if buying ready made. Mine has a removable cradle that will take a 13kg gas bottle; see pic below.

Are their restrictions on tow paths as to cycling?

Share the space! Go slow for pedestrians, maggot drowners and other tow path users. Get a bell. Use it early.

Are there advantages to having an electric bike on the tow paths

They are appreciably heavier to get on and off boats. Canals are level. Lock flights are not an onerous gradient, meaning no steep hills, which is the thing electric bikes are best at.

Jen

 

bike-trailer.jpg.bcf6d6e0ae356b050f29410f40634c65.jpg

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3 hours ago, BPot said:

How do you store them and keep them secure on your boat?

 

Ours folds and go uder the seats.

 

 

3 hours ago, BPot said:

Do you have recommendations for bike trailers to go on the back of bikes to make collecting shopping easier?

 

 

There any number of trailer variants - ours folds flat and the wheels 'click-off' meaning it goes under the seat with the bike.

Traile carris 40kg so OK for bags of coal or gas bottles. has a cover to keep 'dry-goods' dry when omimg home in the rain,

 

 

 

A3.jpg

Trailer 3.png

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1 hour ago, George and Dragon said:

Nice trailer. Looks like you might have to be a bit (more) cautious turning right.

Thank you. The turn radius was a consideration in the design. For turns that you can actually cycle it is fine. The draw bar will only contact the back tyre if you try a very sharp starboard turn when pushing the bike. The whole thing was a project from Lock Down 1 last year.

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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Inside or under cover storage is important, ours fold and hang on the bulkhead in the cratch area under the cover. They do need wiping with oil a fair bit to keep the rust down and they are not visible from the towpath. Electric bikes could also have issues with damp. In these days of battery angle grinders, outside visible storage of good bikes, is not that secure, and once on the bike the toe-rag will depart at speed.

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Buy the boat to fit the bikes. Our current one can take at least 20.

All time record on boat we live on full time was 9 including tandem.

my best bike has always been far more valuable than any car I have owned, and when not in use used to sleep in the stern cabin bed hole.

outside they will rust in peace or be stolen

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3 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

Buy the boat to fit the bikes. Our current one can take at least 20.

All time record on boat we live on full time was 9 including tandem.

my best bike has always been far more valuable than any car I have owned, and when not in use used to sleep in the stern cabin bed hole.

outside they will rust in peace or be stolen

Wow 20 bikes. What size boat do you have?

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15 minutes ago, fatmanblue said:

Bromptons are excellent if you want to fold them and maybe not ride very far.

 

If you want a bike to ride, buy a Moulton.

 

Both are made in Britain, I'm glad to say.

 

Moulton bikes are made just down the road to me, but I would not want one. The Brompton was ideal for the boat. If I want to do more than cycle along the towpath to do some locking or collect groceries, I also have a proper bike, a 1953/4 hand built Carlton Massed Start Special,  and it would beat any Moulton hands down.

 

 

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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Small wheeled folding bikes will always be a lot slower an twice as uncomfortable  than full sized bikes, but great for convenience. 

And much better than lugging gas, shopping or petrol on your back, Mine is a Compass, 18" wheels, alloy frame, hub gears, love it.

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44 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

I also have a proper bike, a 1953/4 hand built Carlton Massed Start Special,  and it would beat any Moulton hands down.

 

 

 

 

A bold claim I'd be interested to see substantiated..

 

I'm happier to jump on a Moulton and rode a hundred miles (or a couple of hundred) than on any diamond framed bike.

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When we hire a boat I take my now-ancient  Bickerton, one of the early lightweight folders, that I used to be able to take on the train for free when I was working in Central  London in the 1980's as long as it was enclosed in its carry bag. Aluminium frame 12" front wheel 14" rear, no rear rack, but hooks on the handlebars that you can hang quite large bags from by their handles. On different occasions I have transported beer crates and a lawnmower (in its retail box) on mine.  Definitely not a racer and the small wheels and ordinary road tyres are not ideal for rutted unsurfaced paths. 

Edited by Ronaldo47
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I have a Dawes Kingpin folding bike. Nice sized bike, 20 inch wheels and has rack, 7 speed etc.

Folds up and goes in a good easy to carry bag, total weight is under 13 kg.

I sits inside my boat, where it fits very nicely under the gunwale behind the armchair so no extra space is really taken up.

In fact it fits so neatly I have never yet had cause to take it out and ride it !!

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I have a Dahon to which I have fitted a front wheel electric motor. This required a change of forks but was pretty straight forward to do. I chose to mount the battery, for weight distribution reasons, on the cross bar which does take away the side ways fold option but that is no big deal to me. By folding the handlebars down and lowering the seat it also sits very nicely under the gunwale.

 

For insurance I use ETA

 

https://www.eta.co.uk/bicycle-insurance/

 

As they have a get you home option

 

Edited by reg
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My Bickerton has the Sturmey-Archer 5 speed gear hub. It came with the smallest gear that it was possible to fit on the hub, but the teeth valleys wore so much through extensive daily use that it eventually cracked. I could only find a larger one that made hill climbing easier (we do have them in Essex!) at the expense of loss of top speed.  The pot-holed state of the roads meant I was forever replacing spokes! Typically  6 weeks m.t.b.f. I gave it up for work after I had to have operations on both wrists for carpal tunnel, attributed to the vibrations suffered by cycling.  I was not using a keyboard at the time, and straight forks and small front wheels provided little in the way of shock absorbtion. 

Edited by Ronaldo47
typos
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16 hours ago, fatmanblue said:

A bold claim I'd be interested to see substantiated..

 

I'm happier to jump on a Moulton and rode a hundred miles (or a couple of hundred) than on any diamond framed bike.

 

What with those little wheels and bendy frame? 

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18 hours ago, fatmanblue said:

A bold claim I'd be interested to see substantiated..

 

I'm happier to jump on a Moulton and rode a hundred miles (or a couple of hundred) than on any diamond framed bike.

 

Does your Moulton have hand brazed lugs like those on my Carlton? This ia a clasic road racing bike built to order for serious competition. Ok it has been modified for recreational touring use, but I still have the original French Drops in the gagage, but the original Brooks saddle and Campagnola gears gave up the ghost years ago.

 

2048494698_Carlton014a.jpg.cc2e7cb728ca784183bb4df10dc81065.jpg

 

 

1588978358_Carlton005b.JPG.59b7ee9b18db0bae034891e2d488cf3a.JPG  253748089_Carlton006b.JPG.c9e337004df3cdea2fe82bad37b18448.JPG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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