Bike Shelter

Wouldn't it be nice to always have a tiny shelter behind your e-bike? For protection against the rain, working outdoors in scenic locations, or brewing a quick coffee wherever you stop? That's the idea behind the DIY project Bike Shelter.

The Idea

Inspired by the German Fahrrad Wohnwagen (FaWoWa) scene, I started building a shelter for my e-bike. I wanted to create a small, lightweight, and easy to transport shelter that could be attached to my e-bike. It also needed to be modular and easy to assemble and disassemble for transport. Also: it needed to fit on the DoggyRide dog trailer frame, as that's the frame I had.

The DoggyRide trailer before I tore it apart

The Journey

Maybe this is the point where I should mention I have no experience in woodworking at all. So each version was going to be a new prototype, figuring things out along the way. Also, there was another tiny little restriction: I have no car, so all materials needed to be transported by bike. So the first part of the process was mostly spent building different trailers for transporting materials...

Some of the trailers I built to transport materials

This was a good way to learn what works and what doesn't. For example, the trailer in the second image turned out to have too high a center of gravity. Don't ask me how I know...

First Prototypes

In my first prototypes I focussed mainly on modularity: how can I make it small during transport, while making it bigger when stationary.

After that first experiment, I realized that maybe the roof could be extended using a lightweight wooden frame and a canvas:

Throwing the roof modularity out of the window, I then built a much higher shelter that allowed for sitting on the side and lying down using a sliding extension.

Winter

As winter was nearing, and the time in my summer retreat was coming to an end, I needed a shed to store the monstrosity in. So I built a bikeshed, lovingly named 'Waldhütte':

Back in my city appartment, a new restriction arose: the whole thing had to fit through my small hallway. Some modular parts weren't enough anymore: the whole thing needed to be able to be taken apart into its basic form, and rebuilt on the fly. Also: there needed to be weight restrictions. Out with the 18mm plywood and screws, in with lightweight Coroplast and bolts.

To be continued...