Weight weenie dream tourer

So, I think you need to think about the difference between tensile strength, the bending strength of the carbon and its stiffness. Loading carbon up in pure tension is not the same as loading it up in bending.

The stiffness of a thin carbon rod in bending is not very high because it has a small cross section. When you load it up (e.g. with your bags) it will deflect a long way, and it will snap when it goes too far (or if you go over a bump). You need enough total stiffness to prevent the large deflection. You might get away with 3mm rod, but personally I think 4-5mm will be more realistic. As said above, if you can get tube then use tube.

Aha my bad, I guess I found a dodgy/strange table. So carbon fibre has 2-10 times the tensile strength of aluminium. That does change things...

It's great that you're offering relevant expertise, by the way. I am learning something.

just killing time re-reading this thread while I wait for a meeting- how much of a tent does the tent need to be? what about using tarp and the wheels/bike as part of the structure? will the cat sleep in the tent or have their own?
Have you considered having the bike frame modified to take larger tyres and guards? my Parlee is limited to 23mm tyres but I've heard of others getting the chain stays altered to fit up to 28mm (work done by Calfee)
luggage wise - has a tailfin been suggested? (not re-read all yet) could that be integrated into the tent design somehow? also a mod free front rack solution could be the JACK rack? although I see you are going to fit aerobars so not sure if that will work...
madness... thank you for sharing!

Some inspiration for @nick_h. 's carbon rack/tent pole project. The Ti Parts Workshop Titanium / Carbon Rack for a Brompton, weight 135g:

Image source:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carriers-racks/ti-parts-workshop-titanium-carbon-rack-252mm

how much of a tent does the tent need to be? what about using tarp and the wheels/bike as part of the structure?

I like a lot of space. Plus enough headroom to sit up properly. And masses of ventilation. My current tent design is, I think, hard to improve on. I had a look at that Topeak Bikamper which uses the bike as tent poles https://youtu.be/OkDEkzMKWxM
but I don't think that's the answer, even if I made an improved version of it. It causes more problems than it solves.

will the cat sleep in the tent or have their own?

Definitely with me! The trip wouldn't have much point if I didn't enjoy her company! She's my best friend. (Is that a bit sad?) And she'd hate being excluded and would shred her own tent and make a constant racket until she was allowed into mine.

Have you considered having the bike frame modified to take larger tyres and guards?

I think there's room for a 27 tyre with guards. But I haven't tried it. I was hoping to have ticked this box by now but my ME is murdering me at the moment. Not making it out of bed until 3 or 4pm. I'm very fearful that this whole project will just join my long list of unfinished things. My flat is as bad as a landfill site. Worse than anything on that Channel 4 programme. All it needs is a seagull. This project is my liferaft. I'm trying to swim towards it but running out of strength.

has a tailfin been suggested?

I visualise a sort of crate above the rear wheel, say 15" wide and 18" long and 15" high. That's 66 litres of space. (A pair of Ortlieb backrollers plus front panniers is 65 litres.) The
bags wouldn't have to bear any weight, so they could be made of ultralight fabric, without stiffeners or clips. Struts would go to the dropouts, which would bear all the weight. The base of the crate would have a sheet of thin carbon fibre to spread the load on the struts beneath. Don't know whether thin rods can support the weight or cope with bumps or whether I can make the structure strong enough not to tear itself apart with the swaying caused by the momentum of the load. Or smash to pieces if the bike falls over. If this was a commercially available thing it would be made of 12mm steel tubes and weigh 3 kg.

thank you for sharing!

I just hope I can come up for air and make something happen. Tbh every day is a disaster at the moment.

Well thank you for the reply! Cool cool understood…
Now this may sound like an odd idea, it may be, but what about getting another fork with all the potential mounts needed to get low-rider racks, tent and cat up front? Then work out a way of carrying the original forks to the rear to be swapped in when unladen?
The thing I’ve begin to hate when doing light touring is having gear on top of a rack/on a bagman behind me wagging about while climbing or bouncing along on lanes…
Anyway, keep the faith - it all sounds doable, mad but why not! 👍🏻👍🏻

I agree about the wagging problem. I suppose this is why we distribute the weight fore and aft. Which I did before with my steel bike. It climbed as well as could be expected. Weight of bags and bike totalled about 70 lbs when carrying a litre of water - ignore the water sack on the bars in the pic, this was just for a mile when I was about to camp.

This time around I'm hoping that if I'm fanatical enough the bags will weigh so little that their location becomes relatively unimportant. And I have a 5kg cat on the bars, plus her carrier, plus a few of the bits and bobs which you always want close to your hands for convenience. So I don't think bags on the forks would help.

The cat had her second ride today. She was so relaxed and content. Amazing really. I think she's going to love our travels. I just wish she wasn't so heavy! 5 kg isn't much less than the bike will be by the time I've finished with the Dremel. I hope i can get fit enough one day for some big climbs. I really miss being up a proper Continental mountain in the sun. Here's a very poor pic.

At first I though this thread was madness, but now I understand it.

Since you are ready to mod bike, build rack and have bags made I take it you are invested in making it happen.
But as someone else have suggested I am also worried about the combined flimsiness of parts/components.

I genuinely think you should try to develop the most aero, lightweight trailer known to man. I imagine it being made completely out of carbon like those ultra lightweight aero cars that go several hundred km on a single liter of petrol. the one in the attached photo did 665km on a single liter.

Advantages would be:

• Aerodynamic - and aero beats weight
  
• A dry place for the cat when it’s pouring
  
• You can take it off and go for a ride with the cat in a bag/basket
  
• At stations and stairs, you can unhook it and carry your bike over the shoulder and the trailer one one hand (combined weight should be low with your gear)
  
  

So you have cat and you one the bike, and everything else in the trailer.

Another option is to make frame and bottom of trailer in carbon and then use a light weight fabric to cover it.

I genuinely hope you’re feeling better.

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Safe to say the cat looks beaming!

@nick_h. When is your trip planned for buddy?

As soon as I can make it happen. I've been hoping Spring, but it'll take much longer than that to get ready. Convert the car into a camper. Fix up the flat and sublet it. And many other things...all of which are straightforward if the ME is under control, but impossible when it's not.

Cool cool, will keep an eye open for a wild Parlee with a cat attached on the continent! :)

I am also worried about the combined flimsiness of parts/components. I genuinely think you should try to develop the most aero, lightweight trailer known to man

If thin rods are too flimsy and I swap them for thicker ones, I think the rack would still be much, much lighter than the lightest trailer.

I thought the transparent dome of this cat rucksack might be an idea for this project, making it kind of space age and streamlined like a Zzipper fairing, though I'm not sure about the cat dress :-)

Image source: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/nov/26/cat-in-a-dress-fireworks-landslides-friday-best-photos

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Omigod. I think that needs to be in the Epic Fail thread.

That poor pussycat. She needs to be rescued. Such a horrible way to treat a cat.

Looks great - best place for all cats imho 😻

I see you also built up a sweet fixie for riding around town?

It’s the most famous fixed cat rider of LFL

Amazing. Where did you find that? Great minds etc.

Little disappointed there wasn't an actual update when this popped up again.

This^

This guy is touring Europe with his cat.
Today was in Treviso , north Italy.

https://instagram.com/gato_nomada?utm_medium=copy_link

Marvellous. Pretty soon there'll be enough cycling cats to form a club. His one is very comfortable on a lead. Mine just doesn't get it. She lies down on the pavement and refuses to move.