There aren’t many inexpensive options for something like in this picture. Sure, walking or biking is cheap, but carrying stuff, that’s trickier.
I have a great electric kick scooter (charged by solar), and since the grocery store is only a couple of miles away, I figured shopping without a car would be pretty simple.
I’ve walked there before, but with the heat lately, I wanted a way to carry larger grocery loads so I’d have to make less trips. I don’t really wanna have to use my car. I assumed there would be small cargo trailers made for kick scooters.
Turns out, not really. Most trailers are designed for bicycles or larger motorcycle-style scooters.
I found a few niche options people have built themselves, but they’re either more expensive than I wanna spend or require more fabrication skills than I have.
I’ve decided to try building one myself, but yeah, that’s gonna take some time since I’m new at the whole “just build your own shit” brigade.
As you all know, here in the US, living without a car is possible, but it often isn’t very convenient. The infrastructure and products just aren’t designed with that lifestyle in mind.
(Shout out to my downvote stalker. Right on schedule! Thanks for keeping me in your mind all day. LMAO)
When I was carless living in a good desert I found the easiest way to go grocery shopping was with a backpack.
After you build this, you’re going to know why nobody sells them.
Please post a follow up with everything you’ve learned.
Good points! Well with my building skill, it’s doubtful I’d get one working. But you make a good point about maybe that’s the reason they are not sold!
I think the main problem is that scooters just aren’t designed for this, at all. They’re wholly dedicated to transporting one person with the smallest vehicle possible (while being easy to use, unlike onewheels or skateboards).
As soon as you go up to a normal bike you can start hauling a perfectly reasonable amount of stuff by just attaching a basket on the front and rear, though yeah bike trailers really should be half as expensive as they are…
My scoot is pretty heavy duty and powerful. I was really meaning just one or two bags of groceries. Just enough that it’s uncomfortable to fit into my backpack, but nothing super heavy. 2 gallons of milk, cans of veggies, bread, etc. My trip to store is on smooth sidewalks. 1. 3 miles. Flat area.
I jury rigged up something last night using a friends cloth wagon, and attached it to my belt. And it worked just fine, so I may just stick with that. Just looks silly, so I’m still gonna work on a better solution. Thank you!
Why not get a good 70L backpack with an aluminum frame?
I may try that. Thank you!
another thing people fail to consider is inclement weather.
how is that backpack going to fit with a thick/heavy coat on? will it slip off in the rain/snow?
i your shoes, i would model whatever i build after studying what bicycle dependent places in europe or far east asia have done.
Thanks! I have a back-up car, but idealy, I’d love to work a system I can use year round. Thank you!
i ended up creating the same backup or myself and it troubles me that the 2 best mass transit systems in this country are incapable of offering this capability where other mass transit system in the world have no such issues.
Lol wut? Yes, a good backpack will work with a heavy coat.
not if both your body plus the coat doesn’t fit the backpack and especially so if you’re moving a lot and it’s wet outside
Wouldn’t it be easier to modify a bike trailer than start from scratch? I’ve no experience with this, but I’d presume one of the axle connector models might be fitted with some imaginary custom peg to account for the few inch height difference. Obviously trailers that connect up by a by seat would not work, but what about this sort of model?
or maybe just flip the post on a model like this?
Those are all pretty expensive, but maybe I can find a used one. Thank you!
Yeah, they trend over $100, but I was thinking the wheels and all would end up costing almost as much. I know nothing about this companies and this is NOT a recommendation (cuz how would I know?) but here’s two random links (also, I added a pic to the initial post):
- https://www.aosom.com/item/aosom-elite-ii-bike-cargo-luggage-trailer-red-black~5664-0005R.html
- https://www.vevor.com/cargo-trailers-c_12631/vevor-bike-cargo-trailer-100-lbs-load-capacity-heavy-duty-bicycle-wagon-cart-foldable-compact-storage-with-universal-hitch-waterproof-cover-16-wheels-safe-reflectors-fits-22-28-bike-wheels-p_010702223621
I’ve done some more research since my post and I think I have some more ideas now too. Thank you!
I think you’re going to find that your scooter isn’t really up for pulling much more weight beyond yourself.
If you are unlucky enough to cross that first hurdle, I fear you will quickly discover that the brakes are not able to stop the inertia once you get going.
I wish you the best of luck. Please keep safety in mind.
Good points. My scoot does seem pretty powerful, and I was more or less just gonna haul groceries on it, just more than I can fit in a backpack, but you bring up good points as I have no experience with hauling anything behind it. Thank you!
Could you maybe attach one of these to the scooter? I have no idea how scooter trailers connect.
So whats wrong with a bike instead of scooter? In the US the electric conversion kits for normals bikes are probably more relaxed than here, i.e. easier to do.
For me is also thought about getting a bike trailer and then maybe buy an electric bike down the road.
Nothing wrong with it, I just didn’t have one. But my friend is giving me their ebike, so my problem is probably solved now. Thanks
They are expensive, but in Germany, every leftish person dreams of co-owning an electric cargo bike like this within their shared flat:
I even know two such groups who are living the dream (not in my city though).
That looks fucking sweet!!
They are so expensive, like 7000 eur expensive. They are really nice and I want one.
downvote stalker
Check the # of comments made by the people who reply to you. If they’re from certain instances, & are in the thousands with no posts, well… I won’t spoil the mystery.
Oh no mystery. I know exactly the types that have no lives and stalk people. My sister-in-law works in mental health. I’ve definitely heard some stories from her and recognize the patterns. I just hope they get the help they need!
Electric cargo bike? Like https://www.urbanarrow.com/
Had one of those, I really liked it. It was expensive, though.
For a while I had a bike trailer with a broken hitch, so I just lashed it to the seat post with two rather tight clove hitches and called it a day. Worked well enough, including on 10+ mile rides, that I failed to fix that for months. My point being, don’t overthink it too much, just build something and be prepared to modify it or go back to the drawing board.
Thanks!
A 3D printer is your best friend for projects like this imo. You can get a used one that is still decent for like ~200$ usually. Maybe dont use for heavily loaded parts but for everything else its great.
Thanks!
3D printed plastic is a horrible idea unless you use special printers and engineering filaments that cost a fortune. Unless you just want to prototype a metal part eventually made by an online service like PCBway.
I don’t think scooters are at all standardized? With bicycles there’s a reasonable assumption that it’ll have things built certain ways that the manufacturer can hitch their trailer to.
Good point!
Just pondering, modify a bike trailer? Whether that be connecting down to the scooter that way, or adding an upright piece to the scooter so the connection sits higher, or even attach it to a belt you wear. I don’t know about what other commenters are saying, but just wanted to throw some ideas out there
![Something I've noticed about going car[less]](https://lemmy.ml/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Flemmy.today%2Fpictrs%2Fimage%2F09fbdcea-b883-431b-a745-c00e5be3dd1d.jpeg){kind=link}