Fabricator Meeting

We had our meeting with the fabricators about a week ago. Turns out we have to do some additional work on the blueprints in order for them to use them effectively. Cool thing is, is that Kurt said;

 "We can almost make this with what you currently have."

So that was very positive. The upshot of it is that it will take us a little longer to get our prototype out than we had initially expected. But rest assured it is moving forward... little baby steps but any steps forward is a great thing :)

Dandyhorse Magazine Interview

We had a very pleasant surprise last week when we were contacted by a writer for Toronto based cycling magazine called "Dandyhorse" Toronto on Wheels. We met up with their Winnipeg based writer at the Mondragon Cafe and had a really great interview. So much to talk about our Mini Bicycle Camper project and the time went by so fast. We are so very please to be getting this kind of attention so early on with our project as we have not yet REALLY began to do any big time marketing campaigns yet. The article or blog article (We're not sure which yet) should be out in two months from what we hear. Soooo looking forward to reading the article :)

Versatile Wheel Base

Some people have been kind of confused by our choice of wheels on our mini camper. The concept is actually quite simple. Our camper is meant to be towed by not only a bicycle but also a motorcycle, small car such as a smart car or even a scooter, so we felt we needed a very stable wheel base, that being said we are making our camper in such a way as to be able to remove the default wheel assembly and replace it with a much lighter version if one should find the default too heavy for just a bicycle. Hope that clears up any confusion :)
Cheers - Team UFO

Meeting With The Fabricators

Well this week and last week has had it's share of challenges for team UFO. Kel had been laboring hard on the blue prints to be ready in time for Monday's meeting with the fabricators (today). Our meeting went REALLY well, we finally have that "Great unknown factor" answered, which was "What the heck is this thing going to cost us to build." We were so happy to find out that it will cost us far, FAR less than what we initially expected, which means we will be able to sell our Bicycle Mini Camper far below what we originally thought. WhooooHoooo!!!

OK that's the good news, bad news... well not really bad news, just another minor unexpected set back. Turns out that the fabricators actually need detailed blue prints of each part of our camper separately. So that mean that Kel is off to the drawing board to whip those up so they will be ready for after the Christmas holidays are over. Poor Kel, just when he thought his work was done.

More good news. I always try to follow some bad or slightly bad depending on how you look at it with some good news. We are still smack bang on schedule and we should have our Bicycle Mini Camper done well in time for MEC's Bike fest in the spring around May. This is truly awesome because we'll have some time to do some road testing before the big event. Stellar!! :)

Blueprints Nearing Completion

It's been a great weekend, I met with our partner Kel who has been working on the Blueprints for our mini camper, they are very near completion, he's been busting his hump dimensioning all the drawings and soon will be doing the electrical drawings and once that is done we will be able to get many of the unknown factors off of our list and be well on the way to having our prototype built... so can't wait! :)

Another Week Goes Bye

Well another week has rolled on by. It's been pretty uneventful in many ways. our indiegogo campaign page is doing us no good, it's just sitting there counting down and not getting any new contributors to our project. They say that most of your initial crowd funding should come from your circle of friends and family. Well I guess our circle of friends and family is either not big enough or influential enough or feel that our project is important enough to us to bother helping out so our campaign suffers further by NOT being visible on the Indie Go Go web site. The only way people know about it is if we lead them by the nose to it which I think is kind of stupid and for that indie go go takes a percentage of your contributions!! For what? Giving us a fancy page to display our campaign that no one can see by going to their web site!! Hell we can do the same thing with our www.ufo-camper.ca web site!!

Even though we are having to deal with that frustration we have had some great things happen over the last couple of weeks. Kel is working hard on the blueprints for the Mark II mini camper and is very near completion. Mike V. has completed our business plan and we have a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce this week to go over our business plan and see what we have to do next. I'm planning a combination business and relaxation trip to Singapore sometime in the coming months. I plan to make some connections down there and see who else I can get interested in our mini camper project, perhaps find a metal fabricator along with the other parts fabricators that way we can explore the possibility of having them built down in Singapore as well as Canada that way shipping to certain parts of the world will not be so expensive if we have a manufacture already fairly close to where a unit will need to be shipped. I can't wait till I get all of my stuff ready to go too seeing how winter is now officially hit the Peg.

Benefits of a bicycle Camper/Trailer

For many cyclists, the idea of towing a bike trailer seems an almost daunting task when compared to the ‘free and easy’ experience of cycling. However there are many reasons for wanting to take a bike trailer when touring with your bike. Using a full set of panniers can often add unnecessary strain to your bike and often upset you balance where as you will not find this to be the case with a bicycle trailer.


1- Keeps your all of your gear dry when its raining. This to some might not seem very important but if you are carrying expensive equipment with you such as cameras or any other electronic gear you will quickly come to see the benefits that an enclosed water tight trailer will provide. Not only that but when it comes to sleeping in your trailer you will also feel comfortable and dry and not have to deal with the discomfort of damp sleeping bags or ground blankets or matting.

2- One clear benefit is the sheer amount of space within a trailer, and therefore the amount of items that can be carried whilst on any road trip. With a trailer's larger single space or smartly designed compartments, bulky or heavy items can be carried easily. Unlike with panniers, which usually has several smaller compartments which prevent larger single items from being transported, a trailer allows the cyclist to carry items of a much larger mass and may therefore be much more useful for trips which require longer tours.

3- A bike trailer isolates your bike from the load so you don't waste energy wiggling the load. Weighted panniers on the other hand turn the bike into a tank that has to be carefully controlled.

4- No damage to your bike Carrying heavy loads in bicycle panniers or mono wheel trailers needs a strong bike with strong wheels and frame. Two wheel bicycle trailer s are rotationally isolated from your bike, so even suspended or lightweight bikes don't suffer.

5- The trailer can be easily removed once you get to your location. reattaching panniers to the bike when they're fully weighted is a bit of a time consuming hassle.

6- Makes you more visible in traffic. While the width of a trailer in the road is a common concern, it actually tends to make drivers give cyclists a little more room. The added advantage of powerful LED lights and reflectors make you far more visible to automobile traffic, this is especially important at night.

7- Balance: The main advantage of a two wheel trailer has to do with the balance. A two wheel trailer is easier to handle because it provides it's own balance. It has less of an effect on the handling of the bike, two wheel trailers stay upright, which makes loading, unloading, and storage easier.

8- Handy for home use as well as touring (carrying groceries, collecting large purchases from shops)

9- Aggressive dogs tend to chase the trailer, keeping them away from your legs.