Cycling/Camping project, help needed!

[pjclinch]

Was thinking of some sort of lightweight trailer body that can be used independent to store everything instead of panniers, including sports gear like paddle boards

so far so good...

then a popup/inflatable tent could be attached on top.

... but the wheels come off here. What do you gain by restricting your popup tent to the ground-plan of a bike trailer, from which you'll have to remove all the paraphernalia noted above to let you put the tent up, when you could just put the a bigger ground-plan tent up on the ground next to it?

Tents have been a popular shelter for cycle tourers for well over a hundred years for a reason: it's a good way of getting a decent volume of shelter when unpacked in to a small volume when packed. As soon as things need to be rigid you lose at both ends, so harder to cart about and smaller when you're living in it.

There are some nice one-offs about, but theyre really exercises in "because I can" for Style Points rather than it's actually practical in any, errr, practical sense.

Pete.

[pjclinch]

Going off at a tangent. One thing i see lots of cyclists ask about is storing or sourcing hard case bike bags...ie the things that you put your bike in to protect it on a plane or eurostar. You can get one at this end ok but what do you do with it at the other end while riding around? Especially if you are not coming back by the same airport or station you went by?

Could you design a hard case that folds down, attaches to the bike and has some other function?

Of course, now ive asked this everyone is going to point me to 600 companies that have already done it!

Someone did do a Brompton flight case that turned in to a trailer, I'm pretty sure... Not seen one in the flesh, or even mention for a while. That would be a potentially more useful avenue for design input, I'd agree.

Pete.

[thirdcrank]

The arrival of pjclinch prompts me to suggest the holy grail for cyclists: the lightweight, fully-waterproof, fully breathable, reversible jacket, cut for fast riding on one side but the other something like a tweed sports jacket.

[smly.design]

Thanks Pj, very useful feedback, and thirdcrank thats a great idea but unfortunately im not a fashion designer.

Si, i like your idea of the hardcase, what do people think about something like this: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brand-New-H ... 2540619720 that can be expanded to fit camping gear, plus be used as a roofbox and also a bike trailer when you arrive? 3 uses in one, should be possible?

[b1ke]

Going off at a tangent. One thing i see lots of cyclists ask about is storing or sourcing hard case bike bags...ie the things that you put your bike in to protect it on a plane or eurostar. You can get one at this end ok but what do you do with it at the other end while riding around? Especially if you are not coming back by the same airport or station you went by?

Could you design a hard case that folds down, attaches to the bike and has some other function?

Of course, now ive asked this everyone is going to point me to 600 companies that have already done it!

Bike Friday have such a case that doubles up as a trailer for the New World Tourist folding bike.

However, as far as I'm aware there's no such trailer for a full size touring bike. Maybe there would be interest in a trailer like this that could fit an S&S coupled tourer?