darkfinger

Hey everyone,

I had a crazy idea.
I want to build a rickshaw this summer so I can bring my dog out with me more often. I`m more or less car free except when it comes to hauling my pooch. He`s a Saint Bernard so conventional bikes are kinda out of the question and I think building/riding a rickshaw would be a lot of fun.

My buddy is a welder with access to all the equipment, and I want to do it out of recycled parts.

Here`s my question; should I build it in a classic rickshaw style or should I try to go recumbent?
I`ve never ridden or built a recumbent but from what I understand they are really good when it comes to power transfer.

once I figure that out and start making some plans, I`m sure I`ll be asking about gearing, tire size, and pretty much any and everything else but for right now I need to figure that first bit out.

By the way, I`ve cross posted this, but I figure you custom builders might have some good ideas.
Go to it!

StephenH

Another option you might consider is that you can build a rickshaw onto a conventional bicycle sidecar-style. Kind of hard to imagine, but somewhere on the site here are some pictures of one. The advantage being that you don't necessarily have to tear up a bike to do it.

If you intend to go fast and long on it, probably go with the recumbent, otherwise go for the upright. The upright definitely looks cooler.

When searching for these things, they are more often called pedicabs. I've found that the Indian manufacturers call them rickshaws, and they're pedicabs in most other places. They do show up on Craigslist and ebay on occasion. The modern high-quality ones are expensive. Old imported ones are moderately priced and of unknown quality, likely to be single speed. There are some cheap ones on Ebay as well, of unknown quality.

Update: Found that other thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hlight=sidecar

darkfinger

thanks for the info!
I will definately check it out....

Artkansas 

Well, the rickshaw idea sounds very cool. Good if you need to take him to the vet. Adding sides to a Bikes to Work trailer might work as well.

But in most cases, the vet excepted, I bet that St. Bernard might be cool with pulling the rickshaw.

los buenos

would you instead consider a chariot approach? like a trailer to pull you dog in on your normal bike?

travesties

Just my opinions here:
A bike w/ trailer is basically the easiest route to Big puppy transport. Easier to ride/store/aquire, but not a particularly exciting welding project

A sidecar is a manageable and good first project. I have seen a removable one here in Chicago. But they, and a lot of trikes have special issues (short version, they are "tippy" based on wheel base width and center of gravity variables). Try to minimize weight in the frame design and consider what doors it needs to get through and where to store the thing (garage, backyard, etc) Leaving it in the elements means rust so get lots of good photos before that!

here is a recumbent design I've seen a lot of people emulate
Organic Engines

Drumbent.com


There is also this recent thread
Something you don't often see on a bicycle
This is a much more practical project than building a trike pedicab I think. Unless you actually to want to charge folks to ride, then perhaps these other ideas will make a better fit to your needs/desires.
Two wheels is so much faster/safer/better in my mind! But it could be a challenging build for a first project.
This is all just my opinion. I wish you the best with whatever design you settle on!

hotbike

Recumbent looks like this:

https://www.velotaxi.com

dervish

dont do recumbents on the sole reason that i dont like them
i say go for the side car and get ur dog some goggles and a cape

los buenos

i never much liked recumbents either but then i realized i owned one and loved it
it looks alot better with a new paintjob and a padded seat but i dont have pics

Johnny Payphone

I believe the actual question was if anyone had ever built a rickshaw. Let the folks with experience offer you some informed advice.

Per Hanson of the BLBC is a longtime master of the "cyclo" or tadpole-style bike hack. Over a decade he found, for example, that no bike wheels will handle two fat guys getting a ride back from the game, so he goes with cart-style wheels for a little more strength. He uses a snowmobile front end, flipped, for suspension and two flipped and interlaced girl's frames for the back end. The seat is a bus bench. This one is converted for grill use:




Note how he gracefully bends the four fork blades outward to form a four-point attachment that acts as a suspension as well.

These are good for making a quick buck in the park. For your needs in particular, you have to carry around a big giant and clumsy dog. You have several options but if you're willing to have a bike just for this purpose then you'll have an easier time with three wheels.

For a dog you can keep it simple. Here are some basic bikes I've built, much quicker to make and less elegant than Per's. Any of them could haul your dog:


My Organic Engine style recumbent trike:

East Hill

The meatwagon is indeed a most elegant machine.

I like your keg sidecar bike as well.

East Hill

StephenH

I didn't know they made these:
https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/711158288.html

Allen

My sidecar from a Xtracycle + Burly Flat-bed. I carried my Labrador around in it comfortably.

Sianelle 

That is a beautiful sidecar outfit Allen

Then all your bikes are well worth seeing - thanks for sharing

There are lots more folk around town riding bicycles now that fuel is getting $$$$$$. I find too that more folk are showing an interest in my tricycle and are asking me where I obtained it. Much amazement all round when I tell them that I built it up myself (....'Ooooo she built it herself.....' ).
Yesterday I mentioned to the staff at the medical centre I go to for my regular appointments that I had a rickshaw as well as my trike and I was immediately told to get myself moving, get its repairs finished and put it back on the road ASAP.
Essentially it's in sound shape, but negelected after years of storage and needs a decent repaint and minor repairs attending to. It's big value to me is the fact it's a vehicle that I could use to take my elderly Mum out shopping, to the doctors & etc should the price of running a car become even more stupid than it is at the moment.



EDIT: This is an interesting link....... https://bikerodnkustom4.homestead.com/sidecar.html

Amberwolf

I realize this thread is quite old, but since the original poster was describing a solution for St Bernard hauling, and someone else (like me) might come along and find it, I'd put my present solutions for the same thing here for them to use if they like.


I built the SB Cruiser specifically to haul Tiny, a small 100lb older Saint, as pulling her behind my other bike in a trailer wasn't as nice or as practical as directly carrying her on a trike would be for a lot of situations.

But it also needed to be able to carry Yogi Bear, my younger 150lb Saint, or at least to pull him in a trailer while carrying Tiny on the trike itself.

The one limitation I had to make to it was that it had to be able to fit thru a regular 36" wide front door, because that's also the typical distance for the bike path bollards (sometimes they're a lot narrower than that though), and most sidewalks are at least wide enough to handle that for the areas where it is impossible to ride in the road itself, and sometimes I would need to bring it inside the house. If it werent' for that limitation, I'd've built it with a four-foot wide deck area, and eventually I probably will build another one that does have a wide deck.

It can also be used for really heavy cargo; at least an entire shopping cart of stuff can fit inside teh small dog kennel that slides into the cargo area, and of course it can also pull one of the trailers for hundreds of pounds more stuff or things that are just too large to fit in the deck area of the trike.

If you're a normal person with good joints and muscles, it can be pedalled around, and is geared for about 1mph in lowest gear but can pull quite a load on the flats that way, and even itself up shallow slopes (if you're really strong you might be able to do steeper ones or loads).

But mainly I use the rear hubmotors to do the work, as I just can't do it myself anymore for more than a very short distance at a very low gear / speed. Is designed to cruise at just under 20MPH, which is the limit here in AZ for assisted bikes, but it can reach that speed in just about 4-5 seconds, necessary to keep from being run over by traffic waiting behind me at a light. (discovered by experience over the years)

The end of the thread below will always have the current version work-in-progress stuff, because nothing I do is ever "finished"; there's always improvements going on. I try to keep at least pics of the current version in the first post, too, when I remember.

Since the forum won't let me post the link or any images , its' over at Endless Sphere Forums, topic number 67833, called
The SB Cruiser: Amberwolf & Dogman's CargoTrike & DogCarrier

If you google that it'll find the thread, probably at the top of the list.

Anyway, I hope this is useful for someone else needing to build a big dog carrier.

Philphine

nothing to add, just wanted to say "hey amberwolf". our forum paths don't cross much any more.

maxm

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