Environmental

Bikes by boat

Dave Warnock

Dave Warnock

— 4 min read

A very long time ago I wrote Sustainable Sailing and Human Power with a simple conclusion:

By far the most cost effective and transformative use of human power in Sustainable Sailing is a bike with a trailer.

A good rowing dinghy (probably in addition to a RIB) comes second.

For everything else your energy is better used improving your boats sailing ability and electrical generation and storage.

I've started to think about how we do this, and how we do so without spending much money or filling the boat.

First choice bike is an old original Birdy Folding Bike (we bought it second hand about 20 years ago). They ride and fold well. With a full refurbish (which I can easily do inside our covered centre cockpit, while at anchor) it's a good starting option for us. It is going to need some new components (possibly wheels, gears and brakes) but will be a lot cheaper than buying a Brompton, and it rides better. In particular it is much less twitchy than a Brompton.

For our second bike we are thinking of taking Jane's very brightly coloured On-One "Bish Bash Bosh" (it's older than 2018 but is in great condition). Using the brilliant geometrygeeks.bike website I've got a detailed comparison with my comfortable Whyte Suffolk (see https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/whyte-suffolk-2017-54,on-one-bish-bash-bosh-2017-s-50/ ). While Jane's has a smaller frame it should be possible for us to have personal stems and seat posts so that it can be adjusted to fit either of us with just a few minutes of "wrenching". As well as being able to fit either of us the fact it is more of a gravel bike is more practical for the types of riding we will be doing. Plus as it's carbon fibre I can "upgrade" components and end up with a package that will be pretty good at coping with a salt water environment. Hopefully by removing the wheels, seat post and rotating the handlebars we can find a way to fit it in Vida. Jane will make protective bags for all the bits so that we can get it ashore without get it wet with salt water.

That means we are going to be selling:

  • Bullit Cargobike. With 11 speed Shimano Alfine hub gears, Hope hydraulic disk brakes, aluminium cargobox. Here it is in action with the Carry Freedom y-frame trailer:
  • Whyte Suffolk road bike for touring, commuting, or group rides. Has fantastic carbon wheels (tubeless), Hydraulic disk brakes, Hope Pro 4 rear hub, Schmidt front dynamo, Sram rival gears, full length mudguards, tailfin rack.
  • Pearson Touche fixie (fully rebuilt a few years ago with beautiful new wheels)
  • Ridgeback (Avenida?) 8D. Jane's town bike. 8 Speed Alfine hub gears, hydraulic disk brakes and lots of practical upgrades including skirt guards and a wood cargo crate on the front rack. Incredibly practical and low maintenance.

Let us know if you are interested in any of these (I will update this post when any of them are sold).

Our trailer is an old Carry Freedom Large Y frame (current model here). We have various upgrades over the years including the handle for use when walking and the new style hitch. I'd prefer their Leaf for quicker and smaller folding plus the seat post hitch is a bit better for folding bikes. However, the Y frame does come apart into fairly small parts and the capacity is huge which will be great for doing big shops. I do have a hitch for both bikes.

Next steps. I need to check we still have the Birdy (I'm pretty sure I know where it is buried) and then start getting the On-One Bish Bash Bosh sorted to fit me. Then I can sell the Suffolk. Meantime, open for offers on the bikes we can't take with us.

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