He's all wet

ratz · Mar 17, 2014

Ok I'm working on Hydration for our long rides 80-120 milers. We have a few stretches of 30+ miles without civilization and we'll ride when it's 90F+ so hydration usually consists of two camelback podium bottles of water and a bottle of electrolyte drink. Noah posted the showerpass a while back; it looked like it would fit in the pannier on my trike so I thought it would be a good thing to get and try; for either the Silvio or the trike.

I'm working on mounting the showerpass on the Silvio which hold a little more water than two Podium bottles; and then a traditional bottle for non water drinks; and add in a cargo bag. For my final configuration I have these goals

1) Modular. Be able to remove any of the 3 items: (1) Water Reservoir. (2) Trunk or (3) Bottle for a mix and match configuration
2) Not damage the headrest cover
3) Stay as aero as possible.

This is a work in progress building on Ivan layout. I picked up the same topeak bags he did without realizing it; I concur that bag works well with the back of the Silvio so I'm going with them (have medium and large sizes).

I don't have this all worked out yet. I undecided about putting the bottle under the seat or behind the head. Here's what I have so far with photos for install the shower pass on the headrest.

The trumk will go on top of the showerpass; and then on top of the bottle; or if the bottle isn't workable there; then under the seat behind the shoulder..

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Getting the trunk in place hasn't really been a problem but the water bottle has been a challenge without damaging the headrest cover. I don't want to cut it because I think it will tear. I have thought about cutting it the entire length and adding velcro to it to make it into a wrap; but I'm not sure if that would hold up.

Here's the stuff I've tried so far to get up and around from the bottom. Nothing final here; just ideas I have played with with.

Mounting right on the bar; requires cutting the cover:

Strapping to the bar; would require converting the cover to a wrap around with velro or zipper. White zip ties just to show how crazy that is. It's nice and solid and the truck can hang from the cage but it's permanent and would require a ton of modes to the cover.

hyrdo%202%20(1).jpg height:620px; width:465px

This is one I'm leaning towards. This is a Terracyle accessory mount and it allow me to come up from the bottom of the head reat outside of the cover. This is the 100mm version. needs to be a tad longer. The cage can be attached to the mount; or a Minoura mount can be used.

We had some fun with this one because you can make a forward facing; head mounted water gun with it. Hey if sharks can have lasers; then Silvios can have water cannons.

I have tried about 20 configurations of this last one; they are all very very close but nothing is quite right. I'm going to call TerraCycle today and see if they have a slightly longer arm; or other ideas.

Stay tuned for product updates.

BentBierz · Mar 17, 2014

I'm looking forward to seeing

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with as I am looking to my Silvio as my go-to bike for longer rides (supported and non-supported).

ratz · Mar 17, 2014

It will look a lot like

It will look a lot like Ivan's photos, but with the shower pass where he has the bag; and the bag wedged between a higher up bottle and the shower pass. I have the medium bag working well but I am trying to fit the large bag at Mrs Ratz's request.

I'm not sure how aero it will be; I know putting things behind the head and shoulders is good; but I don't know what the penalties are for having gaps and openings back there versus a smooth surface like John is designing with his quiver. So I'll get some full bike shots later this week and I'll be curious if people think the bottle should be behind the head or under the seat.

Perhaps I could build a "wrap" like Eric did but that starts to stretch my abilities unless I use duck tape for form the surface.

I'm intrigued by this vinecero mounting system; for use on the silvio; perhaps under the seat behind the shoulder.

ratz · Mar 17, 2014

The target ... I think

I think this is the target

Eric Winn · Mar 17, 2014

A wrap like Eric did

I think you are referring to wrapping the headrest cover around my customized headrest foam and "Quiver"/"Windshadow" rack?

Perhaps I could build a "wrap" like Eric did...

I didn't wrap the cover, I just layed it flat on top of the foam strips and then used a couple of velcro straps to hold in place as a quick work-around because I didn't have time to do anything better before Bike Sebring.

Turns out it stayed in place and felt comfortable so I haven't messed around with it anymore but eventually I'll probably cut the thing up and make flaps with velcro strips sewn in to fasten it more elegantly.

In the photo below (click for larger image) I have loosened the velcro strap and pulled the headrest cover (unaltered) forward.

This is John's Quiver design that I built from his photos. It is extremely easy to build, extremely lightweight, extremely rigid, and extremely inexpensive to build. I used rivets instead of bolts. Maybe spent $10 USD on it and that was for enough material to build 2 of them.

That blue insert is just some foam strips taped together with duct tape and the whole thing slides in and out of the rack. Holds repair kit and tools in the rectangular area under the headrest bend. Open area holds 2 water bottles or one water reservoir with drinking tube.

As a quick work around I used the clamp and snap mount that came with that light. Later I'll fashion another small tang to fasten the hinge mount part of that thing to the rack but I'll switch to my Cygolite instead of this guy which is also a very nice light. As it is shown here it stayed exactly where I aimed it and never moved or popped off even over some of the wasbooooooooard sections of asphalt up toward Frostproof. Seems like I recall hitting a small pot hole somewhere along the course as well. Fortunately no flats.

Pump nestles inside the lower frame loop on top of 2 tabs riveted in place to make kind of a tray. A bit of foam taped in place to prevent rattles and a velcro strip for extra security. The blue foam "bag" just pops in and out of the rack frame so if tire repair is needed, pop the whole bag out, pull the water bottles or water reservoir out and pull out the pouch in the forward section containing spare tube, tools, patch kit, etc. Fix flat, pump tire back up (or you could do the CO2 route, slap the pump back, put the blue "bag" back in the rack, stuff the recovery kit in the front, slap the bottles/reservoir back in and hit the road jack and don't look back, oh no, oh no... and so on

Ultimate goal is to sew a ballistic nylon bag with a long skinny pouch along the bottom to hold the pump and/or CO2 cartridges and padded sides up above for the water bottles and recovery kit and maybe a zippered or velcro top flap. Still designing this and need to get back practicing sewing - been probably 30+ years since I last did a sewing project.

Here you can see the blue "bag" is a one piece unit that just pops in and out of the "Quiver" frame. The frame itself is just clamped onto the headrest rails with the plastic headrest clamps that came with my framekit.

-Eric

John Tolhurst · Mar 17, 2014

And here I am trying to

And here I am trying to improve the design. I should just get the bag made up!

trplay · Mar 17, 2014

Is that blue thing a shoe for

Is that blue thing a shoe for Sasquatch?

Eric Winn · Mar 17, 2014

John, I'm gonna get Tim T. to

John, I'm gonna get Tim T. to help me with the bag...

But what I think it needs is some kind of tool-free quick disconnect from the headrest so it can be quickly installed or removed when desired. Perhaps make a set of different sizes for different venues. I've looked for some sort of very small but very effective clamp or alternative fastener but haven't found one yet.

@MrSmartyPantsTheMooseIsLoose - I debated about making it black and white checked but I already had the roll of blue tape... And besides I think it looks more like one of Herman Munster's shoes. What can I say, it was quick, cheap, gave me a padded and relatively water proof bag and help make me stand out for photos.

-Eric

ratz · Mar 18, 2014

Hydro Cargo beta 0.9

Ok so my three configuration hydro-cargo setup has reached beta version 0.9 I will have to road test this for stability before considering anything dorky like chloroplast wraps and covers.

The following series of photos shows how it all goes together. It's still franken-bike ish
at this stage. Way to many hours staring at this....

First mount a Terra Cycle 100 mm accessory mount to the head rest.