Kayak Trailer for a Bicycle

2013/07/01

My friend Dan and I built this kayak trailer for my bike in what amounted to a couple nights. Pictured above is its first run with two kayaks. It works really well given we had no idea what we were doing.

Dan owns two kayaks and generously lends them to me any time I want to use them. Lacking a car, I needed a way to transport them to the water. I saw designs for a kayak trailers for bikes online and thought, "I can build my own!"

Using some scrap wood we found in the wood shop, the wheels from a child's bicycle I bought on Craigslist, a PVC pipe I had bought at Lowe's, and this kayak foam kit, we threw this thing together in a few nights spread out over a month. It ended up costing somewhere around $50.

A couple milled square brackets hold the wheels onto the frame.

A support piece sits between my bike and the rear wheels. Eventually, I'm going to replace the PVC with a more rigid metal.

The hitch is reinforced hose that loops through my bike seat.

My friend Sadie paddling in the Charles River Esplanade on the inaugural two-kayak trip of the trailer.

Me on the Charles River after towing two kayaks through downtown Cambridge. Note the famous Citgo sign in the background and the baguette I managed to fit in my lifejacket so I could eat and paddle at the same time.

I do not accept any responsibility if you attempt to copy this design. Why would you even do that? :P