Erik Voldengen

I think that'd be a very good question to ask Calfee or Zinn.

I used to tow a trailer with a steel Fuji that had a similar clamp. My kids
then got bigger and I moved to a two-seater trail-a-bike.

The frame broke going down a big hill, kids in tow. I'm not sure using the
trailer had anything to do with it or not (weakened the frame), but I am
pretty certain towing things with your bike puts stress on the frame for
which it was not designed.

I guess I was lucky because I was using a steel frame. It broke, but stayed
in one piece. It was very hard to control, but the kids just assumed I was
weaving back and forth for fun ;) I'm not sure what would happen to a
carbon frame, but as you know, when carbon breaks, it really breaks.

Hope that helps.

-Erik

_____

From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Nikos Tzetos
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 9:21 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Glued frame and trailer

Hello:

I have an oldish Alan frame and am often using it to pull a Burley trailer
with one or two children. The trailer attachment mechanism is designed to
exert stress on three points on the left rear triangle, torquing the frame
around the dropout, a very simple and effective design. Does anyone have any
experience with fatigue of the glued components in that area and possible
damage to the frame?

Thank you,

Nikos