Folding Bikes - Are folders good for hauling alot of stuff?

I'm contemplating either getting a folder with front & rear racks or a trailer to attach to my current mtn bike. Or possibly even a Surley Long Haul Tracker.

I didn't really ever consider a folder for use carrying alot of stuff, but I realized that the smallish wheels on folders allows you to pack more stuff above the wheels on both the front & rear racks. What do you think? Are folders good for hauling alot of stuff?

I've toured on my 20" wheel bike with panniers back and front, no problems at all. The load sits low which means good handling and the wheels are very strong and can take a far bit of weight.
I also have a BoB Ibex trailer that fits nicely behind that bike and my MTB, so yes, folders are good for hauling alot of stuff!!

The Swiss company velowerx does some Dahon conversions and promotes them as utility bikes with high load capacity, see http://www.velowerk.eu/speed-werx.htm

http://www.velowerk.eu/images/fullshopping.jpg

I think mostly you need 20"x2,35" Big Apples. They do fit a standard Mu Xl (sport) frame. I have this combination and it can carry a lot. I don't use a rack but sometimes give (girl)friends a lift, sitting on the frame, but then you ride carefully anyway. This frame also comes with klickfix mount for a front bag.
If you regularly want to carry more than 50kg, have a look at this non-folding edition: http://www.velowerk.eu/speed_l_u_n_g_o.htm

http://www.velowerk.eu/images/ALLTAG.jpg

The kickstand is holding the bike upright, so it cannot be too bad for a short distance at low speed. I'd definitely ride it before carrying the box on foot.

you'll want both front and rear racks or lightly loaded rear rack + trailer.

popping unintentional wheelies becomes surprisingly easy with 10kg on the back of my dahon.

I'm assuming that this is a "joke" photo.....



I doubt it.





Please reassure me ....... and obvious instability?




How can you conclude that from looking at his picture?

I've ridden a Brompton for a couple of miles with > 20 Kg's. on the front carrier, & often carry around 11 Kg's at the bike of the bike.

Sometimes I've picked up pieces of wood from Ikea too. So long as the winds are light, & the route is relatively quiet, heavy & or large loads are quite safe.

Small wheels actually have a lot of advantages for carrying loads. They're stronger to begin with, and they also allow loads to be carried with a much lower center of gravity. The bike pictured above is a good example of this. Carrying an oversized load like that on a full-sized bike would be pretty much a no-go without a trailer of xtracycle. I occasionally take passengers on my folder-- They stand on the rear carrier.

If you're going to be regularly carrying heavy stuff, though, make sure the hinges in the frame are up for it-- Those are generally *not* so strong.

The large space over the rear wheel is an advantage for using a very large saddlebag on my folder. It also comes in handy when towing my boats (the small single is shown in the photo, the 18' double is harder to get up hills).

You can haul a hell of a lot of stuff on the most unlikely folder, even if as in this case, it was pushed on a walking holiday. This Strida clone made a great luggage trolley for two people's gear and I pushed it about 80 miles in Spain this spring. It was far easier than carrying even 25% of the load. It had about thirty some kilos on it and it was a breeze. I even sat on it and rolled it down hills, but it was so stuffed with stuff, you couldn't pedal, but that wasn't the point - it was a hiking tour.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_mxD813fC848/SkfhZNruypI/AAAAAAAACJw/R0EuZCajqM0/s512/DSCN1688.JPG


There is an interesting set of photos here http://www.transchool.eustis.army.mil/museum/VCBIKE.htm of the Vietcong using bicycles to carry enormous loads. You may have seen them before but in case not take a look.

As for the flat-pack boxes on that 20" folder above. I would suggest that its owner was using it like I did as a means of pushing a load. The boxes are pretty much unsupported in the sideways direction and any lean that was started in riding the bike, would cause them to topple off onto the road unless a guy was walking alongside and steadying them. The rack is narrow in that direction and the guying is all wrong for stopping the boxes coming off sideways.

You could walk that load, but I doubt you could ride it without throwing it onto the street in the first few yards.

As for the flat-pack boxes on that 20" folder above. I would suggest that its owner was using it like I did as a means of pushing a load. The boxes are pretty much unsupported in the sideways direction and any lean that was started in riding the bike, would cause them to topple off onto the road unless a guy was walking alongside and steadying them. The rack is narrow in that direction and the guying is all wrong for stopping the boxes coming off sideways.

You could walk that load, but I doubt you could ride it without throwing it onto the street in the first few yards.

Maybe he's taking some empty cardboard boxes to the recycling center. :)

Not sure what you mean by " a lot of stuff " but I ride mine back and forth to the post office nearly everyday (post office is 5 or 6 miles away). I always ask when I get a box if it's too big to take on a bike and they go check and almost always say "yes".

When I see the box 95% of the time I say "I can take that" and I do.

I'm quite surprised at what I can carry on my folders.

However if you have no compelling reason to fold a bike, adequate storage space, blah, blah, blah and you want to carry stuff.......get a regular sized bike.

I ride a folder and generally exploit it to death. Went somewhere a couple days ago and it was too hot to ride up a particular hill (and I had to be somewhere where I wasn't sweating and stinking) so I folded up and took the bus up the hill.

Just recently took a bike on a military cargo aircraft, not too long ago on a ferry and frequently toss them in the back of the car or taxi.

Lets see you do that with a Long Haul Trucker.

It all really depends on what you need to do and what will suit YOUR needs.

John

The folder with the big box has got two baskets atached to the rear rack. This actually makes rack + baskets work as a big platform. My son did this tonight when going camping with a friend. All his stuff in two baskets, then on top of that the tent and inflatable mat across, resting on the baskets. Take a closer look and you`ll see what I mean.

those are bike boxes and they are empty ... still way to much unsuported mass. I bet you would geta ticket ( not the bike I mean a police tickit ) if ou are driving down the road in europe like that.

thor

I took my old, break-apart Tote/Cycle with me on a trip a few weeks ago. It wasn't a bike trip, so I didn't pack light: four person tent, full-size sleeping bag. I decided to spend a night on an island where taking the car would have been unnecessary and expensive, except for the part where I had to get from the ferry to the campsite. Tent and tarp strapped on to the back rack, cooler on the front. Clothes and sleeping bag in a large duffle, gadgets in a smaller satchel. It was awkwardly loaded and a lot of the weight was around my shoulders, but I think I can safely say that the weak link in that scenario was not the bicycle. Depending on the bike, I expect you can carry just about as much as you want to carry, provided you have a way to attach it, and it seems like a trailer would make the size of your bike irrelevant. At that point it would probably be all about the gearing.

Folders generally work fine for hauling gear. One thing to watch for though is ground clearance; for example, you have to be careful with large panniers, to make sure they don't strike the ground when turning. And as with any bike that isn't specifically made for touring, you have to watch for heel clearance.

Unless you have some other reason to go for a folder (e.g. want/need a 2nd bike, can use the folding convenience, etc) or a touring bike like the LHT, my preference would be for a Burley Flatbed or Nomad trailer. The capacity on a trailer is 100 lbs, you can use it on any bike, and it'll be very stable.

Even so, I think you'd be fine either way.

I recently hauled my second Brompton, in it's shipping box, on the back of my T6, no issues at all.

I have found the Brompton to be a superb load bike, especially for bulky stuff that can be balanced front and back.

The manufacturer does specify weight limits for the front and rear racks (can't remember off-hand what they are) but I do remember reading them in the new manual and thinking I've hauled way more than that in the past. I know my touring load was about 14Kg plus another 14Kg of bike.

I used to carry around 25kg on my dahon and it flexed like mad.
50kg+ on a bike with the same dodgy dahon stem?

Not on you life...:twitchy:

bikes packed in boxes, the load is uneven. would be possible with a trailer or xtracycle.

where was that folding xtracycle?