After my iSinwheel U4 road test video, I got to thinking about the bike’s total weight and the problems I might face if I wanted to transport it on public transport.
The main issues are its 26.5 kg weight, my osteoarthritis and chronic lower back injury, and, of course, having to carry the folded bike up and down stairs and over railway footbridges.
Without going into too much detail just yet, I’m looking at using a ratchet strap to secure the bike when it’s folded, combined with a homemade carrying sling using Creel Hooks and a 3-metre, 25mm ratchet tie-down strap.
Obviously, I’m not going to build this thing and then immediately head off to the railway station! I’ll be testing my homemade bike sling at home for a while first, making sure it’s safe, secure and, most importantly, manageable for me to use.
Once I’m happy with it, I’ll give it a proper real-world test on a train journey to Whitstable.
That journey will involve carrying the folded bike over a footbridge at my local railway station, as well as making two train changes along the way.
Once I arrive in Whitstable, I’m planning to cycle along the Oyster Bay Trail to Reculver, travelling via Herne Bay, before heading back to Herne Bay to catch the train home.
I’m not going to attempt the journey until the schools are back, when hopefully the trains and stations will be a little quieter.
And yes, I’ll be filming the whole thing!
So you’ll get to see whether my homemade bike sling actually works in the real world, or whether it turns out to be one of those ideas that looks absolutely brilliant on paper but becomes a complete nightmare in practice! 😁
Either way, it should make for an interesting experiment.
