Need advice ASAP bothell Seattle area regarding front ski dolly

[Crazygunner101]

I get my bike today heading there at 2pm working in Redmond and going to bothell then Woodenville to pick up my bike

Except I forgot something to put under the front ski to keep it from getting damaged something like wheels to move it to my truck and ramp

Question is where can I pick one up in my area who would carry them and what size

My kit is the ST

And I called the place with my bike and they are sold out

 

[heel'n'toe]

get creative! skateboard and ratchet strap comes to mind.. might not be the best, but should work in a pinch.

 

[WASnowBiker]

dolly

your ski carbide will not get damaged, but anything you try to slide it across will, and it does not slide well at all in trucks or garage. Run to Harbor Freight Tools in Bellevue, get one of their $10 movers dollies for now, or grab whatever similar at Home Depot in Woodinville. I can give you the design/dimensions of my wheels you see in this photo. Buy 6 - yes, 6, not 4 - of these red wheels if you go to Harbor Freight, don't buy the larger black ones if they have these smaller red ones - because I have a rear wheel setup too, which is single axle and even easier.

snow bikes are fun, but a work in progress, so you're gonna need to learn to improvise to make certain things work well.

 

[WASnowBiker]

Or even better…I'll sell you a set of my sweet custom setup that works fantastic for half of Tsled's $450?
People may post how I'm ripping you off since you can make your own set for $50, but they should be whining at Tsled for suggesting $450 isn't robbery eh.

Tsled…are you listening? It's to your advantage to minimize barriers to entry in this new sport!

 

[mookster]

I use the harbor freight small dolly under the front and the large one under the track. Use a tie down to keep bike up right. Works great. I have a plastic bed liner in the truck and on the ramp so I don't need them on to get the bike in the truck.

 

[PalousePoo]

Or even better…I'll sell you a set of my sweet custom setup that works fantastic for half of Tsled's $450?
People may post how I'm ripping you off since you can make your own set for $50, but they should be whining at Tsled for suggesting $450 isn't robbery eh.

Tsled…are you listening? It's to your advantage to minimize barriers to entry in this new sport!

comparing apples to oranges.
There is alot of difference between the mountain skateboard wheels TS uses, and the cheap red wheels from harbor freight, that you and I both have. If you drop the front end out of a pu with the cheapies on, you'll bend the wheels. TS wheels will not. TS's wheels are also able to be driven on, in low snow conditions, cheap wheels wont hold up to this, but work fine for the shop and driving into a trailer. Timbersled or any manufacture, can charge whatever they want for their products. Then you and I can decide whether or not to buy it. That's called " a free market".

 

[summitboy]

Or even better…I'll sell you a set of my sweet custom setup that works fantastic for half of Tsled's $450?
People may post how I'm ripping you off since you can make your own set for $50, but they should be whining at Tsled for suggesting $450 isn't robbery eh.

Tsled…are you listening? It's to your advantage to minimize barriers to entry in this new sport!

Look man, I hear where ur coming from as is half the snowbike forum. If you did a little research on this stuff you would realize the wheels alone are 200 bucks. The aluminum alone is prob another 100 bucks. That's 300. Now add a tie down strap, some bolts and a little labor and u will see why it's 450 bucks.

U can do it cheaper but u will end up with a pile of junk similar to what most other guys have in this thread or others. Most setups have some sweet Chinese bearings from Harbor Freight that are pure Chinese junk. HF wheels are 8 bucks each X 6= 60 bucks. TS uses downhill skateboard wheels that are meant to go 40-60mph. Precision bearings !

It's not Timbersleds responsibility to make this sport cheaper, they didnt invent it !

 

[sloth]

Look man, I hear where ur coming from as is half the snowbike forum. If you did a little research on this stuff you would realize the wheels alone are 200 bucks. The aluminum alone is prob another 100 bucks. That's 300. Now add a tie down strap, some bolts and a little labor and u will see why it's 450 bucks.

U can do it cheaper but u will end up with a pile of junk similar to what most other guys have in this thread or others. Most setups have some sweet Chinese bearings from Harbor Freight that are pure Chinese junk. HF wheels are 8 bucks each X 6= 60 bucks. TS uses downhill skateboard wheels that are meant to go 40-60mph. Precision bearings !

It's not Timbersleds responsibility to make this sport cheaper, they didnt invent it !

It's a dolly to move your bike 10ft at a time not drive 60mph down the highway. Look at driveable snowmobile dollys, they're made out of steel with hard plastic wheels with no bearings and they're just fine having a 700lbs snowmobile driving them around on gravel/asphalt. Not only are those kits only $90 but they come with 8 wheels. We just need something like that with 4 wheels. I would have paid $150 for somthing like that but instead wasted a night in my shop copying WAsnowbikers design. His "cheap chinese" design works so well for me that I actually ride my bike up and down my gravel road with it rather than walking it.

 

[summitboy]

That may work for you. Not everyone. Some use the dolly for driving up the road. He is knocking the TS dolly because he believes its too much. Dont like the cost dont buy. Unfortunately the TS dolly is spendy because it uses the MBS wheels. If you have seen them you can see why they are above and beyond the HF wheels. If you keep the junky HF bearings you will destroy them in short order dropping them off the truck. Then you will be half way to a TS dolly LOL.

There is a solution to making the HF wheels way better than they are !

 

[WASnowBiker]

Clarification of problem being solved

Hardly worth arguing cause both sides have a (different) point…but my primary contention is that 99% of snow bikers will never strap a wheel set to the tunnel for the occasional road ride - terrifying at best, sucks big time. Yet 99% of us do have to figure out how to load these 10' long bikes. My 4 properly inflated China tires do not taco when dropped out of the truck btw. If they ever do, I can replace them a dozen times before breaking even. Sorry to beat this further…but take a poll and you'll find 99% use a ramp vs 1% tailgate droppers.

I agree Harbor Freight wheels are cheap - I'm only solving the loading and garage movement issue, which these crappy little wheels do fantastically. The parts Tsled uses are expensive and top notch, I agree. My German engineered car has staggered wheels with different offsets…maybe Tsled should incorporate that into their road wheels for better handling

So…as a business owner myself…may I suggest that Tsled focus on the 99% problem with an "attainable" set of wheels, while also offering their over-engineered set to the 1% road riders. I bet dinner they'd sell about 6 of the expensive sets each season. I free with Sloth, $150 - $175 I would gladly buy a set instead of wasting my time.

Happy Trails

 

[lonespin]

It’s impossible to get a set of TS dolly wheels,they’re out of stock ,doesn’t look like they’ll ever have them again,,

 

[teal_210]

Hardly worth arguing cause both sides have a (different) point…but my primary contention is that 99% of snow bikers will never strap a wheel set to the tunnel for the occasional road ride - terrifying at best, sucks big time. Yet 99% of us do have to figure out how to load these 10' long bikes. My 4 properly inflated China tires do not taco when dropped out of the truck btw. If they ever do, I can replace them a dozen times before breaking even. Sorry to beat this further…but take a poll and you'll find 99% use a ramp vs 1% tailgate droppers.

I agree Harbor Freight wheels are cheap - I'm only solving the loading and garage movement issue, which these crappy little wheels do fantastically. The parts Tsled uses are expensive and top notch, I agree. My German engineered car has staggered wheels with different offsets…maybe Tsled should incorporate that into their road wheels for better handling

So…as a business owner myself…may I suggest that Tsled focus on the 99% problem with an "attainable" set of wheels, while also offering their over-engineered set to the 1% road riders. I bet dinner they'd sell about 6 of the expensive sets each season. I free with Sloth, $150 - $175 I would gladly buy a set instead of wasting my time.

Happy Trails

I'm a tailgate dropper - so is everyone I ride with. I use a ramp to load, but just drag it out to unload. Strange that every person I know is in your 1%.

My Harbor freight wheels are the same as yours, and they bend every time and my strap breaks about every other time. I can bend the wheels back by hand, but eventually they break and the bearings give up. If I were to do it again, I'd just spend the $$ for the timbersled ones.

If you want durable and long-lasting, the timbersled set is actually a pretty good deal.

 

[Uncle si]

Cardboard or a bit of bed liner in a pinch prevents damage. A dolly in the ticket!