Towing a trailer

[lulubel]

I'm considering getting a trailer, and I'd like to get some feedback from people who use or have used a trailer. What type/make of trailer did you use, and what were the pros and cons?

Mine will be intended for touring with a hardtail mountain bike, mostly on-road, but possibly with some light off-road on car width tracks. (I'll be doing any proper off-roading without the trailer attached!) I suspect, it I get one, I'll soon find other uses for it as well.

I appreciate there are also a variety of different options for carrying luggage on the bike, but I want to focus on the trailer options for now.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[numbnuts]

I have the bob yak ibex single wheel, it is very good, but if it is fully loaded ie 80lb + it's a bit of a handful when stopped as once it has gone over it is very hard to keep it up, fo heavy weights I would go for a two wheels.
I've done a few tours with it and well under the 80lb mark and it's been fine and very good off road as well, but it is not cheap

 

[ufkacbln]

Trailers are brilliant, and what you get will depend upon what you are towing, what you are towing it with and your budget

The only thing I can say at this point is that you need a good towing machine.

Towing means that there is more weight to pull, so low gears for hills, and good brakes for stopping the additional weight

After that then it will depend on what yu are planning to use it for, form the initial sounds of it something like the Extrawheel would suit you.

 

[lulubel]

I have the bob yak ibex single wheel, it is very good, but if it is fully loaded ie 80lb + it's a bit of a handful when stopped as once it has gone over it is very hard to keep it up, fo heavy weights I would go for a two wheels.
I've done a few tours with it and well under the 80lb mark and it's been fine and very good off road as well, but it is not cheap

I'm not so concerned about price. The alternative is to get a new frame for the MTB that will be more suitable for carrying loads, and even the ibex is affordable compared to the frames I've been looking at. I've seen a couple of reviews that have said it's prone to weaving at speed. Have you experienced that at all?

Trailers are brilliant, and what you get will depend upon what you are towing, what you are towing it with and your budget

The only thing I can say at this point is that you need a good towing machine.

Towing means that there is more weight to pull, so low gears for hills, and good brakes for stopping the additional weight

After that then it will depend on what yu are planning to use it for, form the initial sounds of it something like the Extrawheel would suit you.

The bike is a proper MTB with very low gears (I can climb 30% gradients on loose rock with it) and hydraulic disc brakes, so I don't think there are any worries there.

I've had a look at the Extrawheel website, and they look very convenient (wheels the same size as the bike, and you can use your own choice of wheel and tyre if you want). The only thing I wondered about is how robust they are. I've seen a lot of people raving about BOB and Carry Freedom trailers, but haven't seen much about Extrawheel. Do you own one?

 

[DooDah]

I tow an ifor williams, but that is with my van. Good luck with that.

 

[ufkacbln]

A lot depends upon touring accommodation and trains

For technical reasons (frame stress) I cannot use my BOB Yak on the trikes, and bought a Carry Freedom for lugging around at home and touring. This works very well, and id "dismantlable" to go into a B&B or hotel.

However there are increasing limits on trains, and some now state they will not take Bicycle Trailers, so on these trips I use a Radical Cyclone - which literally becomes a holdall and whilst I have been refused the Carry Freedom, I have never been refused the Cyclone.

 

[HovR]

I've seen a lot of people raving about BOB and Carry Freedom trailers, but haven't seen much about Extrawheel. Do you own one?

I don't own one, but I know of these blogs which you may find of some use.

http://aushiker.com/gear-note-extrawheel-voyager-trailer-2011-first-impressions/

http://tomsbiketrip.com/2010/07/extrawheel-voyager-single-wheel-bike-trailer-review/

 

[mattsr]

I've often borrowed a bicycle trailer from Waitrose, who loan them out to customers. The trailers they use are these:-

http://www.bikehod.com/bike-hod/index.html

I've found them to be excellent, and if I were buying a trailer- which I may do- I'd certainly put the Bike-Hod at the top of the list. If you have a nearby Waitrose that operates the scheme, then go and borrow one and see what you think!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I once rode with someone who had a bob yak, he took the bag off and turned it upside down, it turned into a nifty picnic table.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I've got this and I love it.
It did great down a steep hill fully loaded with shopping (28 kg, max load 30 kg), towing bike being an ordinary hybrid with v brakes.
If you want a trailer for touring, there are others with more load allowance - there was a thread on here, can't find it at the moment, sorry.

 

[lulubel]

I don't own one, but I know of these blogs which you may find of some use.

http://aushiker.com/gear-note-extrawheel-voyager-trailer-2011-first-impressions/

http://tomsbiketrip.com/2010/07/extrawheel-voyager-single-wheel-bike-trailer-review/

Thanks for those. I also found another one - biking family, or something - that I bookedmarked. The Extrawheel is looking like a very good option at the moment, at least for what I specifically want it for. It doesn't have the same flexibility for carting stuff around on a day-to-day basis that the trailers with the flat load beds have (although that would be a bonus use, anyway), but I suppose that's the price you pay for something that's very narrow and light when it's unloaded.

I've got this and I love it.
It did great down a steep hill fully loaded with shopping (28 kg, max load 30 kg), towing bike being an ordinary hybrid with v brakes.
If you want a trailer for touring, there are others with more load allowance - there was a thread on here, can't find it at the moment, sorry.

Really nice review, Pat. Looking at the pictures of it on the back of your bike, it's rather bigger than I had in mind, but it must be really useful when you need to move bulky stuff around.

 

[lulubel]

For technical reasons (frame stress) I cannot use my BOB Yak on the trikes, and bought a Carry Freedom for lugging around at home and touring. This works very well, and id "dismantlable" to go into a B&B or hotel.

I have to say, I'm very tempted by the Carry Freedom because it's affordable, sensible and practical. But, as you say, not so easy if you need to use public transport - although I'm not planning to take my bike on trains, you never know what might happen to change your plans when you're on tour. I'll probably end up buying 2 trailers, knowing me. But the Extrawheel and the Carry Freedom together still work out cheaper than the new frame I'd want to get if I was going to carry all my luggage on the bike.