Friday, March 13, 2009

Spring Forward

With springtime upon us, the snow will soon be melting, the trails will be drying out and it will be time to dust off our two wheeled friend that’s been hibernating in the garage all winter long. As a fair weather commuter this means one thing to me: craziness on my route to and from work. It’s a bittersweet craziness for me. On one hand the sight of seeing people out riding their bikes, running, walking, and of course the one guy on the roller skis makes me happy that people are out enjoying a little exercise. On the other hand, the warmer weather means kids and dogs are scattered along the trail waiting to do a kamikaze mission on the next passerby. Yes, I know trails are to be used by all and that I should be the one using caution when passing someone and yes I am sure you always have your dog on a leash. (which is probably 50ft long)















I am not afraid to admit that I ran into a lady because her dog, which was on a leash, ( a short 25foot leash) bolted across the trail as I was attempting to pass. At that point my only options were to clothesline myself, hit the little cat sized dog or try and go around her in the grass. Let’s just say I didn’t do any of those and ended up tackling her. After a few minutes of getting yelled at and her telling me she was on the side of the trail and how could I run into her, (Did you not see your dog run across the trail?) I decided the only way to win this debate was to ride away.


So you’re probably wondering where all this rambling on is going… TRAILERS AND STROLLERS. What better way to keep your kids from getting tired after five minutes and your animals from doing kamikaze missions on passersby?


This year we have taken the line one step further than it has ever gone before. We now have a Solo and Dual trailer. Dual means two kids in one little pod. Might as well give them each a pair of boxing gloves to duke it out during the ride. Both come with a stroller attachment. These trailers mount to the chainstay using an easy to use clamp and both come with an all-weather cover.


















New to this year’s line we added a Cargo Trailer. Imagine a truck bed for bikes. The Cargo Trailer has a 30x18 inch cargo space, can carry up to roughly 77lbs and comes with a nylon cover. Now we don’t recommend (for legal reasons) that you carry an animal in the Cargo Trailer, however, once you own one you’re free to do as you please.To find and purchase any of these trailer/strollers, contact your local Raleigh or Diamondback dealers.

7 comments:

epoophoron said...

We just bought the Sport Dual Trailer, and are having trouble hitching it up.

The trouble is that the knob that tightens the clamp is getting caught up in the spokes.

As a workaround, I thought I should attach it to the axle directly. But how to do this is not clear from the pictures in the installation manual. The pictures are too small and I can't see the detail of how it attaches.

Do you have any additional close up pictures of how to attach it to the axle? If so, would you mind posting them on your Facebook group page?

Thanks!

Avenir said...

Just posted pics and a step-by-step for installing the axle mount. Please email (avenir@raleighamerica.com) me pics of the clamp mount and how it is getting caught in your spokes.... curious to see.
Thanks

Unknown said...

A few years ago, I bought a cheap, HEAVY cargo trailer on E-bay, thinking I could carry groceries on nice days. The trailer came damaged -- apparently the UPS driver was exacting his revenge on the package for being so damned heavy -- but it was still functional. Heavy, but functional. Solid steel, fairly ugly, but surprisingly functional. In fact, I've used that cargo trailer 3 to 4 times a week, all year around (even today, and it's approaching 104 degrees out there today). I no longer drive to run errands. People leave notes on my bike when it's parked at the store asking me where they can buy a trailer like mine. I'm making friends and influencing people. It really changed my life. Now I'm looking at your trailer, which seems to be of better construction, and thinking of making an upgrade. Mine is heavy, it wobbles (mostly because of the UPS guy), it squeaks, and the top blows off in high wind, so I have to hold it on with a bungee chord. I'm hoping yours is better than that. Mine DOES have a solid metal floor and a large cargo capacity, which is exceptionally nice for carrying big sacks of kitty liter, gallons of milk, and bulk-sized toilet paper (none of which are products I personally consume at any volume, but which must be purchased every week none-the-less). I'm hoping your trailer has the same features as my trailer without the draw-backs.

rudy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
**Dynami†e!** said...

Hey I bought the Avenir cargo trailer with the chainstay clamp style mount and am having trouble getting it to attach properly. Would you mind posting pictures of this as well. Thanks

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to find any specs on the Avenir cargo trailer, but I can't seem to find many details online. I'm trying to find out how heavy the trailer is to compare it against a couple of others on the market. Any info you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Unknown said...

I have just bought the cargo trailer and it is catching on the spokes of the rear wheel with the large plastic nut cover. looked at the manual to see how to connect to the rear axel could not see how. went to the face book page and saw the photos of axel hook up. i dont have a peace that looks anything like that in the box it came in. Also i do not have a quick disconnect hub just a standard nut and bolt set up could you please help!!!!