Well! Here we are, 6
days before blast off, and we finally loaded BOB up with everything and went
for a “test drive” (pull?). All 90
pounds of BOB and cargo (two BOB bags, 2 panniers, 1 extra dry bag). The tandem itself weighed in at 70 pounds
with all the spare parts and tools taped here and there plus handlebar bag and
rear rack bag. We rode up the steepest
hill on Lake Mary Road and back down.
End of test.
The good thing was the weight wasn’t a problem and the gears
were low enough. The BAD thing was the
bike handled horribly. The BOB caused a
lot of flexing of the titanium frame and Rick could barely reach down for a
water bottle without the bike swerving.
Going downhill was worse than going up.
At 25 mph, he dared not even try to take a drink of water.
So this is a BIG problem.
What to do? Luckily we are in
Flagstaff, home of a great bicycle trailer warehouse, Bike Shop Hub. We’ve been in there several times over the
past few weeks getting various bags.
First thing tomorrow morning we will visit them again and see about
getting a two-wheel trailer which will be much more stable, take more weight
off the back wheel (which Rick has been concerned about), and will carry more
weight (not that we need to add more
weight, but then I won’t feel so guilty about taking a curling iron).
Oh, the title? BONGO
is the name of one model of two-wheel trailer that we are considering, the
Wandertec Bongo.
 |
| Bye-bye BOB |
 |
| Hello BONGO |
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