Pulling a child trailer

jcdtdi

New Member
I just got a Silvio a couple of weeks ago and when I went to put on the piece to attach the trailer I pull my son with I found out it will not fit. The way the skewer sets in the rear dropout will not let the coupler attach to the bike. The coupler I have can be seen on amazon at the link below. Has anyone sttached a child trailer to a Silvio and if so how did you do it. Thanks for the help. If I can not pull the trailer I will have to find a different recumbent to ride.

http://www.amazon.com/Coupler-Attachment-InStep-Schwinn-Trailers/dp/B0013TR66I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322281934&sr=8-1
 

John Tolhurst

Zen MBB Master
Hi Jon,
If you add a spacer,


Hi Jon,

If you add a spacer, I think you will be able to fit the trailer attachment, although I don't have a photo of it.

For what its worth, my choice for taking a child, on the roads in Perth suburbs at least, would never be a trailer. Too long, too slow and too isolated from the child and I couldn't really control the amount of jolting in the trailer. With a child seat on the back of my Quest, the two of us share the suspended ride, we are together like the child is having a piggy back. We like to sing and chat together as we go along and would never trade that. I even sometimes get neck massages as go a long, we can see each other in the mirror, I have trouble saying just how much fun this is. And we are fast, low wind resistance, which means journeys are just that be easier to contemplate, and the bike is still compact, crossing roads at the lights, we still fit on the traffic island. We are very maneuverable. As I said, a trailer is not worth the storage space - to me that is. http://cruzbike.com/heavy-duty-quest-rack-creates-options
 

jcdtdi

New Member
When you say you don't have a

When you say you don't have a photo do you mean the spacer, because there was a photo of the attachment to hook my trailer to on the amazon site I put a link to. Would I be able to get a rack to do this with on the Silvio or would I need to sell it and get a quest?
 

John Tolhurst

Zen MBB Master
I suggest using a long

I suggest using a long skewer, for a road bike rear wheel. This will be 30mm longer than the skewer in the rear of the Silvio. You will need a spacer, ID about 6mm and OD matching the nut of the skewer. ID = internal diameter, OD = external diameter. The length should be 30mm. You could use two 15mm spacers with the mount in between. I would prefer this arrangement personally (because it is better to have the mount close to the frame.

I am not able to know definitively what the stresses will be and if the carboyoke will support them. Towing a trailer with silvio has not been studied in any depth, as far as I know. What I imagine is added tension to the left side of the carboyoke, and depending on the rearward pulling force of the trailer, possible compression on the right side. The carboyoke is great for tension. For compression it is also good, as the front chainstay is under compressive loading to resist the tension in the chain.

The heavy duty rack for the Quest supports at least 20kg. And it is a suspended load, so peak load is minimised due to the suspension. I can't know the true capacity without engineering tests, so we put a conservative figure on it. The heavy duty rack is not specifically a rack for carrying a child seat, again because such a device requires additional testing and validation, although that is how I use it with my three year old daughter.

This is a qualified response, the best that we can do as a small operation.
 

jcdtdi

New Member
I really appreciate your

I really appreciate your responses to my questions. It would probably be best for me to sell the Silvio and get a Quest. I will list the Silvio in the for sale section. Can you tell me about how much it is worth? I was thinking I would list it for $2500.00, do you think that is a pretty fair price? Again thank you for your help.
 
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