- Location
- Glasgow
This is a review for a pet/cargo bike trailer that I used today for the first time.
The item was purchased on ebay from the German company Jago24, at £ 59.86 delivered, it has increased in price a couple of pounds since my purchase, about 2 weeks ago.
I had never used a trailer of any kind before on my bike.
Delivery was impressively fast: 2 days after ordering, the trailer was at my door: shame I was not home, had to wait another week to actually lay my hands on it.
It comes flat folded, in a box, weight about 13 Kg, well packaged.
Assembly is straightforward, the instructions written in good english.
I had a hard time fitting the crossbar (top support bar), it would be easier if you have somebody to help stretching the new frame and fabric while the crossbar is fitted.
Eventually I managed by putting the trailer on its side, standing on the metal side support, pulling the other side up with all my strength thus clicking the top bar in place.
This bar is meant to be removed easily to collapse the trailer for storage, but I don't dare removing it again least the reassembly is another battle!
Both wheels are quick release, you push them into their axle, you remove them by pushing up a fitting underneath.
The trailer, once assembled, is sturdy. Beware, it is much larger than it looks in the pictures, I found that I can't get it out of my back door with the wheels on.
I have bought it with cargo in mind, but also to take my cat to the vet: for this purpose it's an overkill, a fully grown German Sheperd would fit in it no problems.
The trailer tow bar is meant to connect to the trailer and to the bike with 3 sprung cotter pins:
2 should be used to connect the bar to the trailer, one to connect the bar to the bike fitting:
I got only 2 in my box, so I emailed the company, who wanted me to print, sign, scan, email, a "missing parts" document.
I could not be bothered, so I bought one from a spare trailer parts online shop in the uk: could have saved myself the money, as, while waiting for the pin to arrive, I experimented with a quick release nut from an old seatpost, it worked perfectly.
The trailer and bike ready to go:
I've fitted it to a bike with a kickstand, for parking purposes, indeed having a kickstand helped a lot.
An immediate observation at this stage is the securing of the trailer while you park it: as it comes, there isn't a hook or similar to chain it up.
The trailer used as pet carrier.
I overcame the problem of the trailer being too big by putting the cat in its carrier first, then securing the carrier by the luggage kind of straps fitted to the trailer. It comes with 4 straps, that I think are meant to secure a dog wearing a body harness - if this is the right term. A cat could claw itself out, btw, even if the trailer was smaller.
The trip to the vet was about 3 miles, I'm not ashamed to say that I took the pavements for a bit to get used of the trailer's handling and also because I was worried about my cat getting squashed!
So I am trailing about 8 kg excluding the trailer itself: handling was fine, uphill not a problem but I choose to dismount and walk a steepish downhill road - yes, I got back on the road once I realized the trailer was not going to tip over! I also dismounted at road crossings, until I got a chance to practice turning in an empty parking lot.
Normally I would have made the 3 miles in about 20 min, it took me about 45 min, with plenty of stops to reassure the cat, who took well to his new method of transport.
Having gained confidence, the return home took only 30 minutes riding the quiet side roads.
I don't think I would try towing a lively animal in rush hour, mind, but as a method of transporting my cat to the vet at a quiet time of day this trailer is perfectly adequate, safe and secure.
The rain cover protected the cat from our permanent scottish drizzle, the tyres are chunky enough to minimize bumps. Dirt was simply washed off with a damp cloth back home.
About the rain cover, it has a tendency to become loose from it's velcro fittings at the side, but the wind had lifted a fair bit on the ride home. The trailer itself remained stable in moderate wind.
The key for a safe journey is speed: the instructions state a max speed of 16 km ph.
I found handling fine while keeping a 10 mph speed on the flat, was going slower downhill, about 7 mph.
The trailer used for cargo.
After taking the cat home, I decided to use the trailer for some shopping.
Supermarket is about a mile uphill on a dual carriageway: without animal, I just rode as normal, maybe a bit slower on inclines.
I knew my max load is 30 kg, got some bulky shopping, loaded it like this:
Because I was not sure how the trailer would behave downhill fully loaded, I went through the cycling path and the park instead of the dual carriage way (I'm not completely
).
The bit slightly uphill was heavy going, even in 2nd gear, but the trailer gave no signs of unbalance. Going a fairly steep downhill with bends was also ok, slowly did it.
I rejoined the main road with no issues, apart some huffing and puffing: out of curiosity, I weighed my cargo on arrival home, it was 28 kg - as I mentioned, 30 is the max recommended.
Checked fittings, all was well, nothing about to come undone.
It's worth mentioning the trailer could be used as a stand alone, without bike, for transporting bulky items a short distance.
All in all a great buy for me, very pleased.
Some more pictures:
The item was purchased on ebay from the German company Jago24, at £ 59.86 delivered, it has increased in price a couple of pounds since my purchase, about 2 weeks ago.
I had never used a trailer of any kind before on my bike.
Delivery was impressively fast: 2 days after ordering, the trailer was at my door: shame I was not home, had to wait another week to actually lay my hands on it.
It comes flat folded, in a box, weight about 13 Kg, well packaged.
Assembly is straightforward, the instructions written in good english.
I had a hard time fitting the crossbar (top support bar), it would be easier if you have somebody to help stretching the new frame and fabric while the crossbar is fitted.
Eventually I managed by putting the trailer on its side, standing on the metal side support, pulling the other side up with all my strength thus clicking the top bar in place.
This bar is meant to be removed easily to collapse the trailer for storage, but I don't dare removing it again least the reassembly is another battle!
Both wheels are quick release, you push them into their axle, you remove them by pushing up a fitting underneath.
The trailer, once assembled, is sturdy. Beware, it is much larger than it looks in the pictures, I found that I can't get it out of my back door with the wheels on.
I have bought it with cargo in mind, but also to take my cat to the vet: for this purpose it's an overkill, a fully grown German Sheperd would fit in it no problems.
The trailer tow bar is meant to connect to the trailer and to the bike with 3 sprung cotter pins:
2 should be used to connect the bar to the trailer, one to connect the bar to the bike fitting:
I got only 2 in my box, so I emailed the company, who wanted me to print, sign, scan, email, a "missing parts" document.I could not be bothered, so I bought one from a spare trailer parts online shop in the uk: could have saved myself the money, as, while waiting for the pin to arrive, I experimented with a quick release nut from an old seatpost, it worked perfectly.
The trailer and bike ready to go:
I've fitted it to a bike with a kickstand, for parking purposes, indeed having a kickstand helped a lot.An immediate observation at this stage is the securing of the trailer while you park it: as it comes, there isn't a hook or similar to chain it up.
The trailer used as pet carrier.
I overcame the problem of the trailer being too big by putting the cat in its carrier first, then securing the carrier by the luggage kind of straps fitted to the trailer. It comes with 4 straps, that I think are meant to secure a dog wearing a body harness - if this is the right term. A cat could claw itself out, btw, even if the trailer was smaller.
The trip to the vet was about 3 miles, I'm not ashamed to say that I took the pavements for a bit to get used of the trailer's handling and also because I was worried about my cat getting squashed!
So I am trailing about 8 kg excluding the trailer itself: handling was fine, uphill not a problem but I choose to dismount and walk a steepish downhill road - yes, I got back on the road once I realized the trailer was not going to tip over! I also dismounted at road crossings, until I got a chance to practice turning in an empty parking lot.
Normally I would have made the 3 miles in about 20 min, it took me about 45 min, with plenty of stops to reassure the cat, who took well to his new method of transport.
Having gained confidence, the return home took only 30 minutes riding the quiet side roads.
I don't think I would try towing a lively animal in rush hour, mind, but as a method of transporting my cat to the vet at a quiet time of day this trailer is perfectly adequate, safe and secure.
The rain cover protected the cat from our permanent scottish drizzle, the tyres are chunky enough to minimize bumps. Dirt was simply washed off with a damp cloth back home.
About the rain cover, it has a tendency to become loose from it's velcro fittings at the side, but the wind had lifted a fair bit on the ride home. The trailer itself remained stable in moderate wind.
The key for a safe journey is speed: the instructions state a max speed of 16 km ph.
I found handling fine while keeping a 10 mph speed on the flat, was going slower downhill, about 7 mph.
The trailer used for cargo.
After taking the cat home, I decided to use the trailer for some shopping.
Supermarket is about a mile uphill on a dual carriageway: without animal, I just rode as normal, maybe a bit slower on inclines.
I knew my max load is 30 kg, got some bulky shopping, loaded it like this:
Because I was not sure how the trailer would behave downhill fully loaded, I went through the cycling path and the park instead of the dual carriage way (I'm not completely
).The bit slightly uphill was heavy going, even in 2nd gear, but the trailer gave no signs of unbalance. Going a fairly steep downhill with bends was also ok, slowly did it.
I rejoined the main road with no issues, apart some huffing and puffing: out of curiosity, I weighed my cargo on arrival home, it was 28 kg - as I mentioned, 30 is the max recommended.
Checked fittings, all was well, nothing about to come undone.
It's worth mentioning the trailer could be used as a stand alone, without bike, for transporting bulky items a short distance.
All in all a great buy for me, very pleased.
Some more pictures:
The coupling design looks better than on the cargo trailer I have.
