Rans Rocket, Burley Piccolo, Dymotec 6 Sidewall Generator

For more information about the Dymotec 6 sidewall generator, see http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/dymotec.asp.

For more information about the Burley Piccolo, see http://www.burley.com/catalog/trailercycles/.

Questions or comments?  Please email me (Brent Hugh; bhugh@mwsc.edu).

Rans Rocket with Burley Piccolo

Visiting Pre-School

Moose Rack

The moose rack comes with the Piccolo and provides for a very secure attachment to the front bicycle. Attachment of the Moose Rack to the Rocket presented no particular problem--the rear end of the Rocket is similar to the rear end of any upright bike with 20-inch wheels.
 

Seats stays interfere slightly with Moose Rack

You can see that the seat stays (aluminum poles that look white in this photo) interfere slightly with the moose rack. This did not present a great problem--I was able to level the Moose Rack sufficiently without changing anything about the Moose Rack or the seat stays. The seat say does touch one of the rack supports.
 

Front Attachment of Moose Rack

You can see that the adjustable front brace still has some slack left (it could be adjusted an inch or two longer if necessary).

Moose Rack attached to Rocket

With Piccolo attached

The minor problems with the Piccolo attached to the Rocket are evident in this photograph.  Because of the 20-inch wheel, the Moose Rack is slighly lower than it would be if attached to a 26- or 27-inch bike.  This cants the Piccolo slightly forward.  You can partially compensate for this forward tilt by careful adjustment of the handlebars and seat.

Also, the pedals of the Piccolo are quite close to the ground--be careful when leaning into a turn!  Attached to a 26- or 27-inch bike, the Piccolo pedals would be an inch or two further from the ground.

Neither of these problems has anything to do with the fact that the Rocket is a recumbent.  The same problems would turn up if the Piccolo were attached to an upright bike with 20-inch wheels.

If you do mount a Piccolo on a Rocket, or any other recumbent, make sure that you are capable and confident in riding and controlling your bike without the trailerbike first.  The Rocket+Piccolo is a long and heavy machine, and you have to know what you're doing to keep it under control.  I wouldn't recommend that new recumbent riders simply add a Piccolo to their machines.  Ride your recumbent by itself for at least a couple of months and/or a couple of hundred miles before adding a trailerbike.  The one time Jonathan & I went over with the trailerbike was a 0 mph tip-over when my shoelaces got caught in the front sprocket of the Rocket and I couldn't get my foot down in time (now I always ride with Velcro shoes, avoiding the shoelace problems . . . ).

Also, just as tandem riders do, develop a routine for communicating as you get on and off the bike and start and stop.  Once, when we first had the bike, we were stopped in a parking lot driveway waiting to cross the road. Jonathan (4 years old . . . ) decided he was tired and just got off.  I was busy watching traffic and didn't notice.  As soon as there was a break in traffic, I said, "Here we go!" and took off, leaving him standing there.  Now we make it a rule that Jonathan has to ask before he gets on or off the bike.  Before starting out, I ask, "Ready to go?" and wait for a reply.

Jonathan and I have been on many rides with the trailerbike, some as long as as 25 miles.  We both love it!

The generator is attached to the bike using a Zinkens Dynashoe generator mount, available from  http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/dymotec.asp

I use a Lumotec Oval Plus headlight with the generator.  The Oval Plus has a "standlight"--a bright LED light that comes on when you stop.  The standlight has saved my bacon on at least one occasion.  The Oval Plus is available from Peter White Cycles, too.

I really like the generator/headlight combination.  I often go for 2- or 3-hour rides in the twilight/evening and I don't know of an affordable rechargeable light that would reliably last for that length of time.  The headlight gives enough light to see and be seen by and the generator doesn't slow down my average speed by any noticeable amount.

More views of the generator mount: