chaadster

I was having heel clearance issues with the stock hitch setup on my newly acquired Tanjor aero trailer, so I started to think of remedies. It's a chainstay mounted bracket, but because of my brake disc, I couldn't slide it far enough towards the axle to clear my size 12 shoes! I was also having my fender flap lightly rub the nosecone, scuffing it. You can make out the stock setup here:



I immediately envisaged a custom setup, with polished and anodized aluminum bits, maybe even a little carbon fiber layup thrown in there for zoom! factor. Being fairly broke, the limitations of that vision were quickly realized.

Undaunted, and following a tip from forumite Masiman, I happened across the Burley Standard Forged Hitch, and it looked perfect. I was able to grab the last one off the shelf at my neighborhood REI, and I raced home at the end of the day to try it out.

Sure enough, the rubber coupling fit the Burley bracket perfectly, and the piece slipped in behind the axle mounted receiver for my other, single-wheel trailer. Yes!

It has solved the problem of heel clearance and fender/trailer contact, and saved me a few dozen grams, too! All with ZERO modification! When does that ever happen?! Actually, I do need to lengthen the security strap a quarter inch to get it around the chainstay, but that's a snap.

In short, if you want to upgrade your Tanjor hitch receiver to a lighter, axle-mounted unit, grab a Burley Standard Forged!

Here's a pic:

chaadster

FYI, driven by the annoyance of fiddling with the tiny cotter pin when mounting and removing the trailer, and concerns about the durability of the approximately 15 year old rubber tongue connector, I decided to see about replacing those parts of the setup.

Because the Burley hitch bracket was so perfect for the stock Tanjor tongue, my first stop was Burley again. Turns out that their tongue for round tube pull arms is a perfect fit, and mounts in the arm in precisely the same fashion! Another perfect substitution!

I bought the unit off Amazon for $5, and got not only the tongue, but also the attachment bits, so new hitch pin with easy flip lock, security strap, and all necessary hardware! Three birds with one stone on that!

The replacement tongue is noticeably more rigid than the Tanjor unit, so we'll see how flexibile it is once the trailer is loaded. I was unable to flex it by hand, unlike the Tanjor, so I hope it has enough give to allow the bike to lay down without flipping the trailer.

In any case, the design of the two companies' systems is identical, so it makes me wonder which came first, if one was a copy, or if there is some "golden rule" at work here, and these are the specifications of the ideal hitch, arrived at independently by two thoughtful designers?

fietsbob

I use a Burley QR alternative hitch to tow my Flat Bed behind My Rohloff Hub equipped bike , they are freely rotating around the axle ,
depend on the elastomer of course, for leaning into corners..

Alternatively there are ball detent retained pins, and the bail over safety pins, (that is what Burly supplies safety + strap around chainstay.. )
that will be more convenient than fiddling with the cotter thru the pin pictured

chaadster

[QUOTE=fietsbob;11091405]I use a Burley QR alternative hitch to tow my Flat Bed behind My Rohloff Hub equipped bike , they are freely rotating around the axle ,
depend on the elastomer of course, for leaning into corners..

Alternatively there are ball detent retained pins, and the bail over safety pins, (that is what Burly supplies safety + strap around chainstay.. )
that will be more convenient than fiddling with the cotter thru the pin pictured[/QUOTE
That's what the second post was about.