Bicycling with LF

[larry_huppert1]

Last week I was frustrated while trying to photograph w/ LF in a city. The source of frustration was my inability to find *any* parking.

 

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I've heard of many folks who have outlined their techniques for backpacking with LF. Is anyone out there bicycling with LF? Any tips? I could have found lots of parking a mere 10-15 minute bike ride away from where I wanted to shoot.

[david_goldfarb]

Hmmm... On a bicycle I could manage my camera, but the tripod would be

awkward to say the least. You could look into a cycle trailer if you

were serious about it.

[doug_paramore2]

Why not put the camera gear in a backpack and attach the tripod to

the bike frame with bungee cords. I haven't done it but I have seen

it done, so the idea is not original. Just don't fall off the bike.

It might get expensive.

[larry_huppert1]

We use a bike trailer for our kids. Atleast my camera gear wouldn't

complain about keeping it's helmut on. You could certainly pack a

small studio inside a trailer. Even though a trailer would provide

plenty of room, it would be nice to do this without a trailer. The

bike and trailer combo have a pretty big footprint when navigating

around a city. The trailer also adds about 20 lbs to your hauling

weight. Some sort of secure pannier setup would be ideal. I've

never felt comfortable bicycling while wearing a (heavy) backpack. I

don't think strapping the tripod to the rear rack and having the legs

extend beyond the bike would be a problem.

[wayne_crider3]

I'm getting ready to setup a bike as soon as I find the right one @

the right price. Good exercise and easier to get around. I'm looking

to get both a front basket and rear basket (straddles the rear wheel)

for the bike. I'll have a friend who sews make a padded case to fit

the front basket with a lid and a couple velcro attachments. In back

the same thing but open for the tripod and other large stuff. a little

weight to balance and off I go. Thing of note; a double bike stand

like the type on the small motorcycles which will keep the bike

standing straight would be better for stability.

[scott walton]

I have done this on a regular basis... Instead of a tripod, I purchased a flex arm (Bogen's Articulated Arm) with a Super Clamp. When riding, I

have my camera (Linhof Tech III) , lens and film holders in a Domke Bag bungied to my rack on the back of the bike and the super clamp and arm

clamped to the seat post also holding the bag. When I'm ready to shoot, I take the super clamp and clamp it to the cross bar of the bike and put

my camera on the camera plate that comes with the arm. My bike essentially becomes my tripod and I have been doing this for years. I ride my

bike into the woods (mountain bike) and do the shots that many people don't even ever see. It works great and is so portable and rock steady!

The Bogen Arm goes for about $100. US and the Bogen Super Clamp is about $30. You can see the Articulated arm in the Calumet Catalogue. It is

not the friction arm but the heavier one with the lever that locks everything down in one motion. Alot of my exposures are at about 1-5 sec. if that

is any indication how steady it is. If you have questions, email me and I'll take some digital shots of the setup.

Cheers,

Scott

[dave_anton]

Larry, on occasion i ride a mountain bike, with my 8x10, 2 lenses,

filters and tripod. I have even gone on some short single-track

trails (i have since switched to a full-suspension bike). Riding with

4x5 in the city is totally realistic. The key is to have a good

backpack (ie LowePro Trekker). the tripod can be attached to the bike

frame. It's no Tour-de-France but it sure beats walking!

 

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Good Luck.

[james_chow2]

Larry, this is no sweat. When I was living in Japan in Kamakura

(capital under the first Shogunate), the streets were incredibly

narrow (built for defensibility and to confuse the enemy), and as I

often shot early in the morning at remote temples before work,

cycling w/ all my equipment was a necessity. Major streets were

sometimes only 15 ft from building to building on the opposite side

of the street (no room for curbs or sidewalks). I could carry either

a complete medium format system w/ 5 lenses or 4x5 monorail w/ 4

lenses and accessories in my Phototrekker AW with virtually all

dividers removed. I used nylon ties w/ fastex buckles and the

shoulder carrying strap from the phototrekker AW to jury-rig a

shoulder strap for the gitzo 410. Thus, I was able to ride on my road

bike to the shot locations (usually 20-25 min by bike), get the

shots, and ride back (uphill). The only trick is that the gitzo 410

is so long that you can hit cars/pedestrians (I never did, despite

riding w/ gridlock of cars on my right side while dodging school kids

on the left). I later switched to a gitzo 340 for the cycling and use

the 410 whenever I go by train. I used to road race for a number of

years and still ride, so it helps when powering up hills w/ the 4x5

and big gitzo. Just don't think about crashing w/ $20K of equipment

on your back, and watch out for train tracks (slippery all the time),

and paint and drainage gratings (slippery when wet).

[dean_lastoria]

As long as it is a reasonable size folder, it will fit in the

back-pack. The tripod will hold to your frame slung along the post (I

know what we called it as a kid, but can't post that) that runs

between your seat and handle bars using shock-cord (thiner than bungy

webbed along the whole length). One guy told me he puts the tri-pod on

his mountain bike horns. The tri-pod can't be too long though, or your

thighs whack it. Also, it seems like you can cover more ground, but

you see something and say to yourself, "is this worth un-webbing the

tri-pod, putting the head on, un-stuffing the back pack. I'd say for a

10 min bike trip, you'd better throw the camera/tripod over your

sholder and march like a soldier for 25 mins -- same time amound and

much less hassle. I commute to work with my bike and am totaly

commited to cylcing, but most of the time, LF is better for the bus or

a hike. I don't think they mix unless you've got a destination in mind

too far to walk and too close for the bus -- I choose not to have a

car so that is not an option.

 

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Dean

[larry_huppert1]

Thank you for all the wonderful responses. I knew there were some

creative techniques which could be employed.

 

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I was in the bike store the other day, and saw this single wheel

cargo carrier called the YAK made by a company called "BOB". It

looked pretty wild. Unlike the child trailers, this thing was narrow

(appeared to be the width of a backpack) and very light (about 12

lbs). It looked like it would fit a lightwave multiformat case, a

tripod, and a second smaller camera case. Has anyone tried one of

these?

[brad_evans2]

This thread has got me thinking I should be hauling my gear on my

bike.

 

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Larry: I did a search on BOB. Here is their website:

http://www.bobtrailers.com/

 

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Here is a review I found:

http://www.tomswenson.com/bob.htm

 

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Their COZ trailer looks interesting too.

[david_nash]

I bought a Yak BOB trailer a few years ago, with the intention of

using it to carry my LF equipment. It arrived the day before I was

due to go camping for a weekend. I built it up, and went for a few

miles ride with it unladen - no problem, but I felt a bit conspicuos,

and I seem to remember that it rattled a fair bit.

 

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On reaching home, I loaded my LF gear, all contained within my Lowe

Pro SuperTrecker (the big one!). It weighed about 60pounds, as far

as I can remember. I cycled across a flat field, and the front-end

of the bike was shimmy-ing like crazy. Even on the smooth, I never

felt in control. My bike is a steel-framed mountain bike. It's a

fairly heavy frame in that it's no super-lightweight racer (no

suspension, rigid forks). At a stand-still, the bike seemed to be

flexing. You could 'park' the combo by moving the bike around

90degrees to the trailer and leaning the trailer over, but moving it

around was a nightmare.

 

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In the end, I decided against taking the camera with me, sent the

trailer back to the importer, and ended up going for my trip with

just the camping gear loaded on the bike in panniers on a Blackburn

rear rack. The camping gear weighed about the same as the LF

equipment, and there was no sign of a wobble.

 

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I've seen other people using BOBs, and they seem to be getting on

okay. Maybe mine was a bad one. I've read reports of people taking

them off-road, but I'd need to try again before buying one.

 

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I've read about other trailers (I think Vitarelli, or something), but

these have two larger wheels with a low carrying platform. Obviously

they'd be no good for cycling single-track, but for on-road use, I

think they'd be much better.

 

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I'd be interested in hearing experiences from other people.

[larry_huppert1]

David - what you describe doesn't sound very inviting. The sales

person at the store was a non-automobile owner, and used his YAK for

all sorts of hauling tasks. He described them as very smooth and

stable. He is also a MF photographer, and uses his YAK on photo

expeditions. The store had a YAK built-up. It would be interesting

as a test to pack-up gear, and take it for a test ride. The aspect

of the YAK that bothers me is the space it takes up while storing or

transporting it. It doesn't really (easily) knock down at all. On

older versions, the pivoting folk attaching section could rotate into

the body of the YAK to make it shorter. The newer versions have

added stiffening members to the body of the YAK which now prevents

the rotation of that section.

 

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The other well regarded trailer I found doing some internet research

is from a company called CycleTote. Their setup is much wider and

uses two standard size wheels. It appears to have a much larger

capacity than the YAK. It's still fairly light. It can also be

adapted to carry children. Doesn't look like you'd want to take the

CycleTote off-road, and it might be too large for city use.

[pemongillo]

Hi Larry,

 

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I regularly ride with my 4x5. I am a mt biker. I just put on my

regular backpack of camera gear including tripod and umbrella attached

to the pack and go. I have taken the gear on rides as long as 15

miles. I'm usually more tired than my friends without cameras, but

they always admire my photographs and are patient with me when I want

to stop. Obviously, I don't take the gear on very technical rides or

I would end up in a heap. I would think that a street bike would be

difficult with its very narrow tires and the additional weight of the

camera gear. Some sort of a hybrid mt bike/street bike would probably

be best for around town. The bottom line is its no big deal on a bike.

By the way, I'm no spring chicken (I'm 51).

[larry_huppert1]

I tried a BOB Yak loaded with 50lbs of photo equipment. This is a

great way to transport LF equipment while photographing in the city.

Trailer tracks nicely, and it's very easy to weave around things in

the city. When going on the flats, you pretty much forget it's

there. The bike I had it attached to (short wheelbase, upright,

lightweight road bike) was hardly the ideal bike for hauling stuff.

Once I get my heavy duty bike back together, it will probably be even

easier. It only part requiring practice was keeping the trailer

balanced when stopped. If it starts to go over, it's difficult to

wrestle it back into position.

[Jochen_S]

I see a chance... I got myself a delivery bike with small front wheel and a ugguage rack with included broad stand above. It's able to carry 50kg to carry on this rack according to the manufacturer. - Well loaded (30kg, this time) it is a bit shimmy, but I'm sure I survived riding mopeds and motorbikes which were worse. This bike is similar to these used for post delivery here in Germany. It's heavy (aprox. 20kg). I wouldn't like to lift it on the roof of any car still worth washing, but I'm able to move it up a stair if it isn't loaded. So you either need a pickup-truck or public transport made for wheelchairusers to avoid pedaling. Riding the bike is quite comfortable and the giant baloon tyres take the worst of the shocks. I'm looking forward to building a case for my 5x7 monorail to be put on the front rack and am still thinking how to construct atripodholder for the rear. Even with all the LF gear there should be a chance to load camping stuff too. Well this bike isn't great riding uphill with 3 speed gear only, but pushing it is still much more comfortable than carrying. The front rack should be a very convenient tray for the equipment. I'll post pictures when I'm ready to go.