As you might already know, I'm an active member of the Berlin bike activist group #RespectCyclists. Since quite a while I take my little Cargo Trailer to the protest rides to carry a transparent to make our demands towards the politics and the goal of our protest know to passers by.
The process of configuring the trailer into "protest-mode" at home and then tow it almost 20km to the starting point wasn't to my liking, so I thought about building a trailer, that was only meant for protest rides and can be stored away in the basement easily the other time, when it's not in use.
So I scouted the little ads for a suitable project base and one day in December I finally found it, picked it up at the other end of Berlin and towed it home...
Then it sat in the basement for a while until I went at it to dismantle it:
This and a wooden baby bed (also for free) gave me some good options to build a scaffold for the transparent.
So this was my first try. I used the long bars from the bed for the triangles and an old tentpole I brought home from the campground as a topper. Connected to the triangle with parts from the donor trailer.
A good start, but not easy enough to set up... Especially the topper didn't look good enough., so I came up with a simpler solution: There were holes already in the top end of the wood, so why not just use those...
(The longer end I need to mount some lights that illuminate my flag at night!)
This version was much more to my liking!
So now I needed to put some tension on the banner to keep it (and the top bar) in place.
The two tubes that formerly stabilized the sides of the original trailer where perfect for this. I added in some eyelet screws and lots of hot glue...
Almost there (the cat approves):
A little touch up detail to make the top end more balanced and appealing to the eye:
Then it was time to think about the "cargo hold". I don't need this trailer to haul heavy stuff, but the occasional backpack should have a place to sit in it without falling out. the first idea was to create a platform out of old innertubes:
But I quickly realized that this would lead nowhere, so I searched for other options. When I searched through my box with leftover fabrics, I found this half (swiss
) military tent tarp and discovered, that it had just the perfect size to fold around the length of the trailer and be buttoned up on the other side.
The camouflage side needed to go inside, but other than that it was perfect!
Some long seems later, I had my perfect light cargo base (and all from leftover materials from older projects):
Next was the holder for my flagpole (an old fishing rod). I used some more wood from the baby bed for it:
Another freebie, that was mainly meant to make my cargo trailer operational again (the tow bar had snapped), gave me some nice wheel covers to use.
After I had drilled out the center, I spray painted them black.
And after the paint had dried, I sticker bombed them:
With the wheels done, it was time to take care of the fenders, as I don't want to mess up my transparent, when it's raining... I still had the first set of fenders I had made for my cargo trailer from large buckets (-> first set here and -> second set here)
This time I only clip them to the trailer with some tool holders:
While at it, I also realized that the clearance between those fat tires and the frame is pretty tight (the wobble comes from the tire, not the rime. It needs to be properly reseated)
So far I like the new setup. The scaffold is painted black now and the light hangs on four paracords and is stabilized by a spanner/biketube (the idea with the net I already cancelled).
The trailer as it sits on the balcony right now while I'm writing this:
Next on the list is to scrub the frame from old lose paint scraps an give it a little sanding. Then I'll paint it with flat black Hammerite... I've got one and a half week until the next protest ride. I also ordered some lashing eyelets to screw them to the sides of the frame, where you can see screw holes already.
The process of configuring the trailer into "protest-mode" at home and then tow it almost 20km to the starting point wasn't to my liking, so I thought about building a trailer, that was only meant for protest rides and can be stored away in the basement easily the other time, when it's not in use.
So I scouted the little ads for a suitable project base and one day in December I finally found it, picked it up at the other end of Berlin and towed it home...
Then it sat in the basement for a while until I went at it to dismantle it:
This and a wooden baby bed (also for free) gave me some good options to build a scaffold for the transparent.
So this was my first try. I used the long bars from the bed for the triangles and an old tentpole I brought home from the campground as a topper. Connected to the triangle with parts from the donor trailer.
A good start, but not easy enough to set up... Especially the topper didn't look good enough., so I came up with a simpler solution: There were holes already in the top end of the wood, so why not just use those...
(The longer end I need to mount some lights that illuminate my flag at night!)
This version was much more to my liking!
So now I needed to put some tension on the banner to keep it (and the top bar) in place.
The two tubes that formerly stabilized the sides of the original trailer where perfect for this. I added in some eyelet screws and lots of hot glue...
Almost there (the cat approves):
A little touch up detail to make the top end more balanced and appealing to the eye:
Then it was time to think about the "cargo hold". I don't need this trailer to haul heavy stuff, but the occasional backpack should have a place to sit in it without falling out. the first idea was to create a platform out of old innertubes:
But I quickly realized that this would lead nowhere, so I searched for other options. When I searched through my box with leftover fabrics, I found this half (swiss
) military tent tarp and discovered, that it had just the perfect size to fold around the length of the trailer and be buttoned up on the other side.
The camouflage side needed to go inside, but other than that it was perfect!
Some long seems later, I had my perfect light cargo base (and all from leftover materials from older projects):
Next was the holder for my flagpole (an old fishing rod). I used some more wood from the baby bed for it:
Another freebie, that was mainly meant to make my cargo trailer operational again (the tow bar had snapped), gave me some nice wheel covers to use.
After I had drilled out the center, I spray painted them black.
And after the paint had dried, I sticker bombed them:
With the wheels done, it was time to take care of the fenders, as I don't want to mess up my transparent, when it's raining... I still had the first set of fenders I had made for my cargo trailer from large buckets (-> first set here and -> second set here)
This time I only clip them to the trailer with some tool holders:
While at it, I also realized that the clearance between those fat tires and the frame is pretty tight (the wobble comes from the tire, not the rime. It needs to be properly reseated)
So far I like the new setup. The scaffold is painted black now and the light hangs on four paracords and is stabilized by a spanner/biketube (the idea with the net I already cancelled).
The trailer as it sits on the balcony right now while I'm writing this:
Next on the list is to scrub the frame from old lose paint scraps an give it a little sanding. Then I'll paint it with flat black Hammerite... I've got one and a half week until the next protest ride. I also ordered some lashing eyelets to screw them to the sides of the frame, where you can see screw holes already.
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