Trying to figure out a suitable width for my side rails. Since I have the opportunity to customize them any width I like, do you buggy gurus think that they should be a snug fit or should you have a little room to move? I'm also taking into consideration that the side rail pads, seat, harness and clothing all take up a little space. Not much info on rail widths out there. The only measurement I found was from the Ivanpah bug at 15.5 inches, but that seems really narrow even though I'm not a fat guy. I also plan on using my buggy on the frozen lakes in winter so additional clothing will also come into play. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

Rob

That is one of those "personal choice" kinda things. I like mine loose enough to bail if I need too!

Yup, comes down to personal preference. Normally, for a custom fit buggy you would measure your width at the hips and then adjust for padding from there. To measure, slide your hips up against a counter so that your hip makes constant contact while you move, then slide a chair up against you on the other side. Carefully turn and slide out from between the counter and chair and you will have your width. For a super snug fit, build your rails to that measurement and you will "snap" into the buggy. For a more looser fit, widen it up an inch or two depending on how thick your rail padding is going to be.

I lean more towards Weldingod - I want to be able to detach from my buggy should I have to without the need to be "popped" out with help or with the kite. I would probably add 1.5 to 2 inches of width to your waist measurement above and go with it.

You can always put in a release harness like what BigKid has designed if you want to use the weight of the buggy to help you hold down your gear. With the bug being a little looser and the leash safety system, you can eject whenever needed with ease while still being secure.

Just my two cents....

Along with the above posts, the seat design is also important as some are skinnier at the bottom and some are wider so the siderails take on a completely new meaning.
any way you can tryout different bugs to see the diff?

forgot to say, my MG is narrower at the siderails than the seat bottom, and my Apexx is skinnier at the bottom of the seat than the siderails. And the Ivanpah is the same from bottom of seat to the siderails. go figure.
Good luck.

Just so you get an idea of what's out there, I've made seats for different people's buggy ranging from 15" to 22" width between rails. Hope this help.

Actually Kent made me a carbon copy set of the Ivanpah rails but they seem really wide for my taste, I'm 6'5" but only 220lbs so I'm slightly on the lean side. I trimmed them down a tad to make them slightly narrower, but not too much in case I need to bail. I don't have any means to try different bug's to see what I prefer, so basically I laid out all my parts on the garage floor so it looks like a buggy, sat between the rails and found a general width I think I'll like. I came up with 20 inches then take a couple inches for padding and I came up with 18 inches for a final width, so I don't know how the Ivanpah can state a width of 15.5 inches unless it's built for a REALLY snug fit or super skinny dude. I just want to be very careful on the width before I start permanently welding things together if that makes any sense.

Quote:

Originally posted by van Just so you get an idea of what's out there, I've made seats for different people's buggy ranging from 15" to 22" width between rails. Hope this help.

Thanks Van, at 18 inches I guess my custom width falls pretty much in the middle of that range.

Thanks for all the responses, I now know I'm on the right track and not off in left field somewhere.

The peter lynn xr+ is 20" center to center of the rails. Most of my buggies are 17" between rails.

My PTW is 17" ctr to ctr. Apexx is 17.5 above my hips and 19 where my ribs are, also ctr to ctr. Padding takes up space inside that of course.

Thanks so much for taking measurements, it helps more than you can imagine. So many things to figure out when making a buggy from scratch, whew! I have a new found appreciation for the engineering that goes into making these things and now know why they have the price tags they do.

Can't wait to see how those rails work out for you Cheddar. Those are the new designed rails we will be using on all the new Ivanpah's. I am really stoked how they came out.

I make my rail inside measurement 15 3/4"

(or 17" ctrs as BB says, in this case with the rails being 1"sched 10, or 32mm O/D, note I normally work on the inside measurement, as side rail tubing differs, The playa buggy has larger diameter rails, and I do make them up to 1 1/4" sched 10...or 42mm OD, so just saying a center measurement will mean different inside measurements) (this is where I sit),

it gets narrower just infront of my torso, then spread out around the thigh area.....then I use 19mm thick padding, plus the cover on top couple of mm....making inside padding measurement of 14 7/8"

I am a 32" waist

I have perfected my inside measurement over the years, note....just sitting in the buggy will not give you a true reading.....you can be sat snug in your buggy, but get powered up and you have a 4" gap on your upwind side....so remember that....

Thanks Carl, my rails are close to what you describe 1 1/4" diameter, closer by the torso and then flare out some where your thighs sit, a very nice design by Kent if I say so myself. Like everyone else has mentioned it all comes down to personal taste, I was simply getting a feel for a good starting measurement and then go from there.