Recreational & Family - Soma Speedster incompatible with Chariot Cougar

I don't know if anyone will have any advice for this problem, but at the very least this seems like something people should know. My husband just spent the last month or so building up a Soma Speedster for me specifically so I could pull our daughter in her Chariot Cougar, but now the bike is finished and we just discovered that it won't work -- the rear dropouts are an odd size, and the skewer for the Chariot won't fit.

Has anyone encountered this issue with a different bike, and was there a solution? Another skewer? A fix of some kind? I am at a loss, and frankly pretty mad: we've pulled the trailer with two mountain bikes and five different road bikes, ranging from my 1980's Puch to my husband's 1990's Allez to my 2003 Bianchi Veloce. That's a pretty broad range of bikes that the Chariot works with, and only the Soma has some weird sized dropouts that won't work.

If we can't find a fix I'm going to sell the bike, which is a bummer because it is a gorgeous bike, but if it doesn't work for this purpose I really do not need it. Any ideas?

Have you looked at alternate hitches?

http://www.bicycletrailers.com/Chariot-XC-Cycling-CTS-Kit-for-all-CheetahCougarCX-03.pro
http://www.bicycletrailers.com/Chariot-Axle-Mount-EZ-Hitch-Upgrade.pro
http://www.bicycletrailers.com/Chariot-Axle-Mount-EZ-Hitch-Partial.pro

There might also be out there a mount that could fit into the rear triangle entirely circumventing the axel. Burleys can go both ways, I know.

I didn't think the soma was that unusual. Is it the shape/size of the dropouts that's causing the problem or the spacing between them?

The shape and size of the dropouts.

I think all three of those use the same actual skewer part, but I will look into them, thanks! That site has really good customer service, I know, so I bet they can help us out.

The Soma looks like it has traditional rear stays--have you thought of using the older style Burley 'classic' hitch that fit on the rear stay? Take off the Chariot hitch & see if you could find the older square black Burley hitch to fit into the end of the aluminum bike attachment bar. The tubing diameter is slightly larger on the Burley--you may have to whittle the black nylon a bit to fit the Chariot tubing. The vertical bolt hole on the Chariot tubing may line up with the vertical hole that runs through the black mount piece of the hitch, or you may have to drill a hole through the tubing.

If the skewer is too short, try using a 135mm MTB skewer with some washers.

Hmm, the Burley idea might work but it would be very irritating not to be able to use the Chariot's fantastic quick release hitch. I don't know if we could use a MTB skewer, but my husband did figure out (in kind of a "duh" moment) that we can get a big nut or something to use as a spacer and use the regular hitch.

I'm still pretty annoyed by this but I really don't want to sell the bike, so we are going to try to make it work. As you can see, Penny is more than ready for us to get this thing on the road ...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3242/2747616870_d0a1d96361.jpg

if the QR skewer is too long (i know on my rear 135mm it is even a bit generous) it should be possible to just use your regular QR parts and add the hitch mount—at least this was the case with my Deore XT QR axle (135mm; Chariot axle seemed to be about 150mm); i went with the Chariot QR axle just because i could, but build-wise the Deore axle worked a little better. I change axles back to the Deore when i'm not hauling the Chariot.

The problem is that the flange of the hitch that goes into the dropout is too big for the dropout. So a different skewer won't solve the problem.

ah, i see the problem... that's a tricky design, and a unique lug. yeah, a longer QR axle and a chunky washer/nut could work Ok, but i can see how that's not an ideal solution; nonetheless, it probably will be fine (i'd do it, anyway). Otherwise a pretty bike!

http://www.somafab.com/speedster_rackeyelet250.jpg (from the soma website)

Yeah, it's pretty, isn't it? And given that I don't really need another bike except that I convinced myself I could justify one specifically for pulling the trailer, I am going to try to make it work.

After seeing the picture, I would definitely go with adapting a classic Burley hitch rather than going with that lugged chain stay/longer skewer setup--it messes with the 'aesthetics' of a beautiful bike!

I will try to take a picture today, but the bike shop was able to make the Chariot skewer work. They used some spacers and voila. If it's not too windy we are taking our maiden voyage today.

ETA: uh, tomorrow. 40 mph wind gusts today. My legs are not up to that even with the low gearing we put on the Speedster.