Sunday, January 25, 2009

bus bike rack dictates basic geometry for commuter




http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/bike_racks.htm

D: Waterloo has a similar rack.
That was not something I considered when I settled on a front-boom SWB Cruzbike.
The triangular boom prevents the swing arm from rising.
With care, I might be able to put the bike on backwards, if I leave the (old front ) rear tire bare.

I had considered whether a SWB non-boom bike could have the pedal tube on a pivot mount. It could swing up and out of the way.
Alternatively, enough clearance and careful tube geometry could help.

Has anybody successfully mounted their SWB 'bent bike on a bus bike rack?

It certainly precludes a LWB or even MWB.

Lament: with a DVD and more care in the parts/instructions list, a Cruzbike would be very simple to build at home, as opposed to highly challenging like it is.
They could expand their customer base with a training DVD that costs one dollar...

A few more asides on Cruzbike construction:
1) bike shops don't use the same terms from threaded/threadless front fork bits
Simply including this bit, since all the cheap Y-frames will need it anyway would be nice.
2) NO bike shops in town sold the tool I needed to open the bottom bracket
3) you need TWO sets of Allen hex wrenches.
4) psychologically, I just had to drill more holes to mount the seat. No good reason.

Update: my bud Ryan found a talented cheap welder. My pal Fern is a whiz with stainless but is not as close.
We're gonna use scrap to make the first clunky version of my 'bike contest' SWB.
See an earlier entry- it is the one inspired by the GreenMachine.