Maybe it’s because I live on a boat that the idea of things that reduce in size for easy storage appeal. After all, if I didn’t have a Brompton, I wouldn’t be able to have a bicycle aboard. For that matter, if I didn’t have a folding dinghy, I wouldn’t have space for a tender either.
It seems amazing to me now that I have waited so long to get this idea together as it’s so obvious I wonder that I didn’t think of it before. The marriage of a human powered bicycle and a human (or wind) powered boat is just great.
The Fliptail 7 from Woodenwidget.com weighs about 18 kilos which is no problem at all for the Brompton. On the stem of the Fliptail there is an eye bolt and on the aft end of the Brompton rack is a pin which the eye is simply dropped onto. The weight of the boat keeps it in place. There is plenty of ground clearance and the turning circle isn’t bad for a vehicle which is over 10 feet long either.
The pin on the rack doesn’t make the Brompton’s folded size any bigger but it does interfere with the bike when the swing arm is swung around. The bike still stands on its own but is not as stable as when all 4 rack wheels are on the ground. The answer I suppose is some sort of easily removed bracket.
The trailer attachment is made of alloy tube and is light and also folds away for easy stowage. It can be used equally for the road or even for launching and retrieving the boat. The Fliptail can be folded or unfolded with the trailer in place. It simply attaches to the boat’s transom where the outboard motor would normally go and could be fitted to any boat so long as it has a flat transom whatever its thickness.
This combination is perfect and I see no reason why you couldn’t go quite a long distance with the boat behind the bike. You can feel the weight when you first start to pedal but you soon forget the bike is there, at least on a level surface. The oars rest naturally in the boat and you could just as easily also add the mast and sails etc to the boat as well making the Fliptail 7 amazingly versatile.
When you get to the camp site you can even use the erected dinghy as shelter to sleep below. The folded Brompton takes up little space inside the boat so you could peddle up stream, put the boat and bike in the water and paddle or sail downstream. When you get where you are going you simply haul the boat out of the water, fold it and hitch it to the Brompton and off you go again. This is camping luxury!
The best bit is that there is no pollution! A bicycle and a row boat. Wow. Talk about setting a good example. Everywhere I go, people look and stare. And I’m not surprised really, it’s not something that you see everyday. More’s the pity.
The trailer attachment is not yet available, though Woodenwidget will soon be offering plans to enable a DIYer to make their own. If you are interested, please drop them a line, maybe if there is a lot of interest, they can be persuaded to speed things up a bit?
If you want to know more about the Woodenwidget range of dinghies for the spatially challenged, please visit Woodenwidget.com and check out their range of clever little boats.
Here’s a link to an article I wrote about the Brompton that you might enjoy too.