[Jefflinde]

This thread will be a evolving thread as i trick out my Encore for light off road and rail trail use with my daughter. she is 15 months right now and loves trailer rides. right now we have a Burley Encore which does not have suspension and has the 20" wheels. I wanted suspension but was not willing to pay the 150$ ish upgrade to the D'lite.

Now the fun part. So i found an older D'lite trailer that was left out to rot in the sun. the fabric was so weathered that you can basically push your finger through the canvas sides. the only thing that mattered to me though was that it had wheels with decent hubs and the suspension axle. So i will be adding the suspension axle to my encore and building out a set of 29er wheels that i can throw on it for off road use. I have some Schwalbe Big-One 2.35 tires to provide some extra squish. i will get some pics of the build up shortly.

 

[rodfather450r]

Subscribed for build progress!

I have the D'Lite and I'm glad I bought it. Haven't considered taking it off-road so I'm anxious to see your build.

 

[Jefflinde]

So the biuld is complete. I had some issues that i had to design around and change plans. First, the final build ended up being a set of DT Swiss XR400 rims 28h 29er that i found for relatively cheap. i then found some straight gauge spokes on amazon for $20 for 72. so now i have some extra but the price was too good. here are the pics of the build.

 

[Jefflinde]

I ran into a few snags along the way.

1. the encore i have is a 2015 and has the parking brake in the hub and along the axle. there is a rod that pokes out into a plastic donut thing on the hubs that came with my trailer. the trailer i scavenged from was a 2010 and the parking brake is at the back and just pushes out against the tire. so the new (2010) hubs don't have the plastic piece. the brake still works on my trailer with these but not as secure.

2. My plan to use the suspension axle from the 2010 trailer was also messed up by the parking brake issue. the way the brake assembly mounts to the trailer is much different then the one i have. I think that trailer of the same years would have less issue here.

3. Count your hub holes. My encore has a 20 hole bu while the older trailer has a 28h hub. I now have a cheap set of 20h rims taking up space in my garage. i found out what happens when you assume.

4. the 29er wheels are so big that i had to make sure that the tire sits in the sculpted part of the tire guard thing. as you can see in the pic there is about a .25" gap between the tire and the wheel guard. i actually have to pivot the guard out of the way to get the wheels on and off.

Any how, very happy with final result. it fits well with my 29+ setup or my fat bike. i was shocked at just how much bigger the 29er wheels are vs the stock 20.

If you have any questions please let me know.