homemade leaning bicycle sidecar

There is a later video of the SideBike here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_0VECwOzWc
If you might be interested in buying a SideBike, email me on thesidebike@gmail.com, and I will contact you if and when they go on general sale.

I made this child carrier 20 years ago. The kids are all grown up now, but I found the side car, the SideBike I call it, in the garage. I dusted it down and hooked it up to the same bike I used then. I found some replacement kids recently, who seemed to like it too.

It was great for heading down cycle paths and tow paths around where I live. Uneven ground was no problem. Unlike a trike, you stay upright, even if the ground slopes to one side. But the thing I remember most was being able to chat to the kids as we went along, and keep and eye on them. Bicycle trailers, tag-alongs and rear-mounted child seats make conversation a bit awkward, when the whole point is to go out together. And tricycles and cargo bikes are expensive and need storage space when not in use.

This combination balances exactly like a normal bike. The first time you ride it you realise how normal it is. In fact it's easy to forget the sidebike is there! Most bikes have lots of gears these days, so going up hill is still doable, but obviously there is some extra weight. Anyway, you don't want to go too fast with little people on board. When you stop, you can hold one side bike handle bar to balance if you want so you don't need to put your foot on the ground at all.

You can put an off-the-shelf child seat on for smaller kids, or take the seats off altogether and put a luggage rack on if you like. It's much more compact than a trailer.

There are several examples of leaning bicycle sidecar in existence, but as well as providing transport, the original intention when I made the first bike was to create something with a distinctive, visual appeal. The novel aesthetics of the SideBike are what set it apart from other cycle sidecars that perform the same function. You won't find another one that looks like this.
See also https://www.pinterest.co.uk/funnyfrontend/novel-designs-bikes-skateboards-guitars-all-the-im/working-prototypes/
and https://youtu.be/T_0VECwOzWc

Видео homemade leaning bicycle sidecar канала Bob Walton