Has anyone had success (or disaster) using a tow rope with their Brompton?
They're marketed towards parents for use with their kids, but I stumbled across this video of two adults (neither on a Brompton)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi1KscV-598
which made me wonder, could it be a way for an electric Brommie rider to give a little assist to an acoustic friend up a steep hill?
Or is it the quickest way to a $1k hub motor replacement?
by TsukimiUsagi
4 Comments
How to break your neck.
I wouldn’t even think about it. I consider health and safety a priority over anything.
All fun until the person being towed falls or puts on the brakes or whatnot and yanks the towing bike to a stop, or causes a fall, etc.
Really only seems like a good option for two very skilled riders with their wits about them 100% of the duration tow. Which is probably approaching “never.”
I’m rather suprised this even exists, especially for kids. But then again, I’ve rarely seen young kids who are that calm and obedient. Also a bit surprised someone hasn’t sued the maker out of existence for some random accident with this product.
As for would I do this with a Brompton? Nope. Brommie is twitchy on it’s own, much less applying a load to the seatpost. I assume that Bromptons are made “just strong enough,” plus an engineering safety factor to save them from lawsuits. And I am going to guess the electric motor is just good enough for a heavy rider and luggage and not much more.
Syd and macky have a video of them doing it in a multi day mountain biking event with two regular bikes. I would put some serious consideration into the bike handling skills of all people involved in towing. For a brompton I would also worry about putting g stress on the stem hinge since it wasn’t designed for towing.