born2fly

born2fly

Active Member
My wife and I have discovered a new way to enjoy flying, even in our tiny RV6 - - we take along a take-down bicycle. In this case, it's a Bike Friday Tandem XL. Yup, fits in the baggage area. Here's a pic:
3559414277


We can set it up to ride in about 20 minutes, and we never have to worry about renting or ground transportation.

We fly out of Reid-Hillview (San Jose, CA). This weekend we went to Mendocino (Little River, LLR) and had a fine time.

Anybody else flying bikes around? Got some good places to ride?

G.
 
Fly your 6 up to Pine Mountain Lake ,E45, bring the bicycle, and I'll buy you a burger or two.
 
Exactly

Marci and I flew from Corvallis to Port Townsend WA yesterday (1.5 hour RV flight) and the taxi ride into town cost more than the round trip fuel for the airplane!!!!


Just as we were walking around I said would it be possible to make a tandem out of two bicycle frames to avoid the issue..

And voila I see its alreday been done.

Ok where di you find that thing?

Frank
 
How to get one:

The bike is from Bike Friday, aka Green Gear Cycling, located in Eugene OR.
www.bikefriday.com
(Pretty close to Corvallis, call them for a tour and test ride.)

They make all kinds, styles, and prices of folding bicycles, and they concentrate on quality, durability, handling. You can buy cheaper folders but you'll never beat the BF combination of performance and reliability. Their logo is "performance that packs" and it's true.

My Tandem XL model is somewhat higher-end in their line, and the cost was about $3000. My wife and I are avid cyclists, so we go for the best we can afford (or a bit more hehehehe). The basic Tandem sells for just a bit over $1000. You'll see from the web site that they offer LOTS of choices.

As far as I know, nobody else makes a folding or take-down tandem in the small-wheel (20") size. Many, many tandem-makers offer S&S couplings, where the frame actually comes apart. However, I do not know if these full-size bikes can be made compact enough to fit in an RV, because they all have 26" or 27" tires and wheels, which are very difficult to deal with.

And yes, the gearing is made to accommodate the smaller diameters, and no, you don't have to pedal any differently. The BF bikes are geometrically identical to full-size bikes and ride as well.

If you get over to Bike Friday, ask for Dave Siebert and tell him I sent you. He's a great consultant and has helped us repeatedly over the years.

G.
 
Interesting

We have a couple of Shimano105/carbon fork roadsters as well..But I don't think we are thinking of THAT kind of money..I did note this website that offers a tandem for $249 that might have promise (26" wheels though) http://www.shopdirect24-7.com/tandem-bikes-21-speed-r.html

Or we have a couple of old steel frames in the shop (not actually in bad shape) and full tanks of oxy acetylene....For the creative of mind don't ya know..Especially as I now don't have a project.

Cheers

Frank
 
OK

I have three "spare" 10 speed bikes in the shop..I lined the frames up and I think a collapsable tandem can be made for cheap.

The S&S couplings are the only unknown..Price wise, I bet weld-on pipe unions could also be made to work but that would be adding a fair bit of weight.

Looking at the frames It looks to me that the 26" rear wheel plus the seat post could all go over the seat bar and under the hoop without removing the rear wheel from the frame..If not then dropping off the rear wheel is not idea but that would also work.

The pedal and handle bars would then have to come off.

Overall loking at the frames with a wet thumb I think it would all fit without going to a smaller wheel.

I think I need to measure a real tandem to make sure the dimensions between the two sets of pedals is correct too.

This could be good..:)

Frank
 
tip up slider

Greg,
Looks like you have a slider and so have I. I installed a Meski tip up kit on mine and now I load my bike from the ground. One of the best things I did for my RV.

Lee Watermann
RV6A
 
money, packing, etc.

First, money. It's been my experience that cheap bikes (not inexpensive ones, CHEAP ones) with crummy components, poor geometry, unreliable construction, etc etc etc - - these make you want to quit riding. If I could have obtained a usable folding/takedown bike for less, believe me I'm not made of money and I would have.

I ride myself and my wife on 40-mile rides, a long ways from our car or other kinds of support. We go 30-40mph down the long grades, and our bike rides like it's on rails, supremely reliable and stable.

Keep these things in mind and balance them against economy.

Second, packing: I did not take any pictures, but you can easily visualize this. Two mis-shapen black bags (the triangles), two blue-felt-wrapped tubes (the cross-bars), two seats with seat posts, folded rear rack and cargo bag, front cargo bag, and a front wheel/tire. Pour into baggage space, place bike clothing bag on top, fly. It's about 60# worth of baggage, so not too much for aft CG.

I did buy a Meske kit, but didn't like how it would work on my modified setup (the side rails have been relieved just where the tip-up stop would need to be. Sent it back. I load piece-by-piece from the front seats, and it works okay as long as I have someone to hand me stuff. I have the canopy setup for quick-removal, and when I absolutely need to (rare), I just take it off and then put it back on. What I'd really like is a full tilt-up (vertical) but nobody makes one and I don't have time to engineer it.
 
hard core

Well I almost started sawing bike frames today..I guess i"m more the 10 miles max into town sort of rier..Both of our Kluge monsters have been on 26 mile runs...and thats a bit much..:)

Frank
 
Btw - Van's has a 'deal' with Bike Friday. From the van's website:

Any RV builder who wishes to order other Bike Friday products (they have a large range of customizable bikes), can contact Bike Friday direct and get a discount or upgrade by mentioning that they are a Van's referral.
Click to expand...
 
This is so cool. I have thought about buying two of Bike Friday's folding bikes for my -7A. There are so many neat places down here in the Southeast to ride (especially down around the coast).

I am really surprised that you are able to get the tandem in your -6. I too would like to see pics of that.

Sometimes I think people really underestimate the baggage area available in Van's side by side models. You can really carry a *LOT* of stuff in there, especially if you utilize the area forward of the flap torque tube wisely.
 
2 BF's ?? maybe not, maybe tikit

I have two Bike Friday singles (Pocket Llama's). I'm pretty sure ONE would fit, folded, with front tire removed. I'm very certain that two would not go. But maybe, if they were fully taken apart (and maybe even the folding hinge un-done), you could do it.

I'm also not sure if two Tikit's would fit (these have 16" wheels). I don't have a Tikit and have never stood next to one, so I won't even guess.

After our vacation (next week), I'll do a photo essay of the packed-up tandem, and put it up on Flickr. It's pretty amazing, but it does easily fit. There are no individual pieces longer than about 28".

G.
 
Van's says on their site that two of the ones they sell will fit in the baggage area.
 
OK so..

I took my old bike which is a 26" wheel model and cut the frame just ahead of the seat stem. Well the whole thing fit if I removed the front wheel and it took up just under half the baggage area.

I will now cut the second old bike in a similar way and come up with a joint for the frames....

Esentially two full size bikes will fit in a 7's baggage area with probably enough space for a small daypack or two.

The challenge will be finding a quick way to reconnect the cables but that shouldn't be too hard.

For the frame joint I am thinking of making like a pipe flange with 3*1/4" or 5/16ths bolts..so the flange would be a rounded triangle..Eact plate of the flange welded to the cut tube end.

essentially I think this is all quite feasable..A tandem would be better because its 2 less wheels but its quite a bit more work to build a tandem from two bike frames.

I'll report back with picks when I have the final solution.

Frank
 
Some pics

Frank,

If you're bound and determined to DIY a tandem, maybe some of these shots will help your design fervor:

Pieces:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/illesg/3568567677/in/photostream/

Assembled:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/illesg/3568568367/in/photostream/

A mile from the airplane:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/illesg/3559417077/in/photostream/

You will want to strive for rigidity and good geometry (beginning with a standard frame will help a lot). Base the distance between front and rear triangle on the size of your stoker; stoker handlebars should be about 3-5" behind the captain's seat rear edge.

Bike Friday sells cable-joiners specifically made for tandem use.

The other thing you will need to spend considerable time on is how to engineer your "timing chain" - - the chain which connects front and rear cranks together. There are same-side and opposite-side approaches, but the opposite-side approach requires custom tandem cranks.

Best of luck, and I really mean that.

G.
 
Thanks

At the moment I am exploring fitting two individual full size bikes back there. The design is already done as i own the bike..so its just a matter of putting joints in the frames.

So far it looks like they will both fit.

If I run into a fatal flaw I will drop back to the tandem idea.

Thanks for the links, I'm sure there will be a few things I need.

Cheers

Frank
 
Plenty of space

My girlfriend and I like to take a couple bikes and spend the day riding someplace new. We'd like to visit Mackinac Island this summer, which has a runway but doesn't allow motorized vehicles on the roads.

I fly an RV-10 with a cargo pod so space isn't a problem for us. The pod carries a couple bicycles but I usually bring a motorcycle for our ground transportation.

-David
www.MotorcyclePilot.com

 
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