johnhaak

Hey guys,

I am going to attempt my first car-free move this weekend. Its nice b/c I'm moving from the top of a hill to the bottom. I have enlisted a couple friends with bikes to help. We have bikes/racks, but no trailers. I don't have any "big" things, but I do have a couple bulky items. Does anyone have any helpful hints or ideas about things I might be forgetting?

Brian

A BMX bike, a dolly, and some ingenuity goes a long way.

Platy

When all else fails, you can sometimes carry stuff or roll it down the street on a dolly, I mean in pedestrian mode without using a bike. Feasible range is a mile or two. I've done that once with long fluorescent lamps, and once with a half size refrigerator. With a helper it would probably work with up to queen size mattresses.

donnamb 

I've got a few hints. Have lots of coffee and pastries for your helpers before you start, and lots of food and beer for when it's over. That can make the difference between having fun when you move by bike and everyone feeling like it was a huge drag.

Have blankets out to cover your stuff before you tie it down. It's not really necessary, but sometimes it can hold a mediocre tie-down job together, plus you don't have to worry about stuff flying off the trailer when you're bombing down that hill. You can never have too many bungees. You can never have too many inner tubes to use as tie-downs. Those bungee cargo nets that they sell are really helpful. They come in 2 sizes: bicycle size and motorcycle size. The bike size is great for bike racks and the motorcycle size for trailers.

Some kind of radio or iPod set up that can be fastened onto one of the trailers for music makes it all go by quicker. Finally, if you're crossing any intersections where there's a traffic light or stop sign - you may want to seriously consider corking to keep the group from being split up. I don't want to "officially" encourage you to do something illegal, but I've seen situations where I felt it was far less safe to obey the law and be separated than to break the law and remain in a group. If that does happen, smiling, waving, and expressing your heartfelt gratitude to any inconvenienced motorists is strongly encouraged.

Here's a photo set of a bike move to give you some visuals. Have fun.

Brian

By law, I think you are required to have Chinese food when you move in with your partner, or pizza if you move in with friends.

Cosmoline

I use an old kid trailer frame with a board across the bottom. It holds 2-4 roughneck totes per trip. I'll post a pic here this weekend so you can see what I'm talking about.

donnamb 

Oooh, I'm such a scofflaw. Ex and I had Ethiopian for our move-in.

Note to self: First sticky in new forum should be a utility trailer gallery.

Krink

Ethiopian food, like god, is above the law.

You can rent a dolly or platform cart at U-Haul or a rental store. Rental store may have other cart options.

Great excuse to buy a little red wagon, which you can keep using to haul all kinds of things in the futre.

Brian

Was it take-away?

donnamb 

Naturally.

Bikepacker67

Just make sure it's over before the first beer is cracked, or else it will be over.

Krink

Hmmm. Injera.

For Chinese, I'd move a lover.
For pizza, I'd move a friend.
For Ethiopian, I'd move an enemy.

Brian

All is good.

johnhaak

The move was a huge success! Thanks for the pointers guys and gals.

donnamb 

Did you take any pictures?

johnhaak

Unfortunately no...I really wanted to get some pictures of all my stuff piled in one room at the old place, then a few of us with stuff strapped in every conceivable place and a final one of everything in its new home...but my camera is broken. I thought of using the phone on my camera about half way through the day and took a few pics...none of which turned out at all

donnamb 

Rats.

gosmsgo

I just moved entirely by bicycle with the exception of my gun safe which I hired a professional to get it down the stairs.

The move was actually easier then using a truck because I could get much closer to the front door with the bike and trailer then I could have by truck.

When I was moving the washer and dryer (same load) and other heavy stuff I did not take pictures because I had a friend helping and I did not want to waste his time.

The trailer is of course the model 96 from bikesatwork.com.

ken cummings

Outstanding. We could have used you at a memorial service for a local cyclist. A long string of bikes behind the motor vehicle carrying the coffin. Got some black Krylon?

donnamb 

Sweet!

bmike

nice! congrats too...!

AStomper

Props

bragi

That trailer is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

AStomper

I was just wondering how fast you can ride with that, and what difficulties that you came across.

gosmsgo

The first thing I did was put the smallest front chainring on my bike that I could. I think its a 12 tooth ring. That is a neccesity for pulling these types of loads. That way I can spin efficiently while going as slow as 4 mph. The fastest I can go on straight aways with a huge load is about 10 mph and on hills it can be as slow as 3 or 4 mph with a monster load.

The largest load I have had on that trailer is about 400 pounds and at that weight you really need to watch the hills. There are some hills that you just cannot turn the crank arms anymore.

I try to avoid hills that are greater than 5% and since I am friends with the local traffic engineer I can find that information fairly easily. I have taken on steeper hills if they are pretty short.

Braking I have not had any problems but I chalk that up to the disc brakes.

The furthest I have hauled a heavy load (300 #'s) was 20 miles round trip with about a 2 hour break in between. When I returned I was very tired and after dropping the trailer off I thought I had bent my frame because the bike felt so weird to me. I think what happened was that I ride with a lean while that trailer tongue is pushing down on my bike and after removing that it felt very strange.

My town is pretty hilly but I think if I lived in a flatter area then I could haul more weight or go a further distance.