Author Topic: Bike trailer questions -the last piece of equipment I need to quit using my car.  (Read 7368 times)

Eric222

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I'm looking for a bike trailer and was wondering what experiences people have had with different types, specific brands/models, etc.  Goal is to use the trailer for trips in town (but the roads here aren't perfect) for things like groceries. 

Do people prefer the one wheel model versus two wheels?
Any poor quality models to avoid?
Best place to find used bike trailers (craigslist, how you fail me lately).

Thanks!

realityinabox

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I got one off Craigslist for $35.  I have no idea what brand, but it is a 2-wheel model and works fine.  I'd suggest keeping an eye out there, but it'd probably be cheaper to ditch the car right now and buy a new trailer than wait a month to save $40.

argonaut_astronaut

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I have a Chariot Cougar 2. Pricey, but with some nice features:
  • The best bike attachment I have seen: Ball/socket. Cast aluminum socket mounts under the rear wheel spindle and the ball slips in and then has a pin (has additional safety strap)
  • Leaf sprung adjustable by weight up to 75lbs. Makes it ride smoother and not jostle the bike as much. Also seems to hug the corners better, but I may be making that up.
  • Doubles as a stroller/jogger for the kiddos
  • Volume. I haven't tried it, but I am pretty sure I could do an entire costco run with it including either paper towels or toilet paper, but not both.
Downsides:
  • Price. Got it used off of craigslist and it was still a couple hundred.
  • Price again. They have all kinds of accessories that cost about $50 a piece (jogger wheel, infant sling, ski attachment...no I don't have the ski attachment, but it looks intriguing).
  • The clear screen that keeps the weather out doesn't seal all that well. It attaches with a small strip of velcro way at the bottom and doesn't wrap around the edges. If you are in a moderate downpour don't expect the keep the inside perfectly dry especially behind a bike.

Eric222

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I got one off Craigslist for $35.  I have no idea what brand, but it is a 2-wheel model and works fine.  I'd suggest keeping an eye out there, but it'd probably be cheaper to ditch the car right now and buy a new trailer than wait a month to save $40.

Well, I'm not ditching the car yet, but I can avoid driving it all (except for some vacations coming up).  My car is paid off (2009 toyota matrix), and my insurance isn't terrible (no collision insurance).  I'll sell it in spring if I make it through the winter without it.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2015, 07:50:05 AM by Eric222 »

MasterStache

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My suggestion, if you are patient, is to keep monitoring Craigslist. I scoured the ads nearly everyday and missed out on a couple good deals for a bike trailer. About 6 months later an ad popped up for a nice used ($200 original price) two seat Bike Trailer with some storage. Got it for $60. And it was right down the road. Ended up having a flat tire. Bought inner tube off Amazon for less than $10.

It's been great. Meant to hold two kids, up to 100 lbs. But I transport everything in it. Even has a rain cover. My daughter loves it as well. 

vhalros

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I have a Burley Travoy. The upside is that it folds down really compact (easy to take into the house), and it is easy to take with you *off* the bike. So you can take it into the store and use it as a cart, bike to the train and take it on with you, etc. The downside is its capacity is not great (but good enough for most of my needs), and it is relatively expensive (I got mine used for $180 on eBay, I think new they are ~$250. If you want the shopper bags it will cost another $80 or so; I got those used as well). Quality seems good, and it is made to be repairable, so I'm sure it will last for a long time.

GuitarStv

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We got a Wike 'Moonlight' bike trailer as a baby shower gift from the whole family:  http://www.wicycle.com/.  With the little wheel attachment it works well as an outdoor stroller (with two caveats - it is very wide so not really useful in an enclosed space and annoying in busy crowds, and it doesn't have a brake so you have to be careful where you park it) has seen a couple thousand km of use over two years hauling our son around in all sorts of weather conditions.

It's not too heavy, lots of room inside for our son and another kid for years to come (100 lb weight limit).  Good sized storage at the rear, and the wind proof shield that comes with it does well in the winter (gets foggy in summer rain though - but the inside stays pretty dry).  The trailer collapses down and is raised up pretty easily and you can pop the wheels off for storage.  No problem loading it up with lots of groceries . . . but depending on the size of the hills between home and the grocery store, this might be seen as a bad thing.  :P

The attachment to the bike is pretty easy to set up for most rides (if you have full fenders and a rack it might require a little filing of the hitch to get everything to work perfectly).  Actually riding with the trailer is no problem and doesn't do anything funny to your handling.  I've dropped my bike with the trailer attached and the trailer has remained upright.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2015, 09:00:15 AM by GuitarStv »

Hadilly

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We have an older double (intended for two kids) burley. It is great! I love it for hauling things around. I have replaced the innertubes, but done no other maintenance. Some neighbors gave it to us when they moved, so I never researched/shopped for one. I'm sure there are some nice new models.

jgoody

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Fortunately, there are tons of great trailers on the market right now.  My personal experience is that I'd stick with one of the better known/better reputation trailers like Burley, Thule Chariot, Bob, and others.  I got a cheap cargo-specific Aosom trailer some years back and hated it.  Something about the linkage with the bike wasn't well engineered and it had this really odd hurky-jerkey, lurching feel when pedaling it.  Picture towing something with a slinky as the connection.  That was almost 5 yrs ago, so maybe that company has improved their design, I don't know.  I bought it because it was 1/3 the cost of the others, but I practically never used it.

One often overlooked factor I'd recommend you look into is width.  I did a ton of research before buying my child trailer and thought I had settled on a Burley.  Then I had the brilliant idea to double check trailer width relative to my doorway width.  It wouldn't have fit through my door.  And that was with the single child model!  If your bike storage area is a garage or something with a particularly wide door, it may be a non-issue, but I had to go back to the drawing board with the search and focus on ones I could actually get through a standard doorway.  (I ended up with a Thule Chariot Cougar which has been awesome).

Kashmani

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If you have money, you may also want to consider a cargo bike. They are expensive ($2,000-$3,000 new). We have a Gazelle Cabby (google it) and love it. Not very mustachian, but then we thought that if for the price of one year's worth of depreciation on a new car we can get a very comfortable solution, we would go for it. The Gazelle gets parked in an underground bike rack at our condo, so the folding basket was a big deal. It has driven kids to school and to the park, groceries home, and we have used it for daytrips.

A cheaper choice would be Babboe, which makes their boxes out of wood rather than aluminum and heavy truck canvas.

We bought the Gazelle after almost three years of indecision (and making do with a used trailer), but it is much more comfortable than the trailer and we wish we had taken the plunge sooner.

BigRed

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I have the Burley Bee, which has been great.  It's very light, pretty roomy, fits 2 kids or lots of stuff, has a nice trunk, and folds up pretty nicely.  It isn't easy to carry around when folded, but I figure it's a mode of transportation, I want it to carry things, not for me to carry it.  If I want to get it somewhere, I attach it to the bike and bike it there.  It fits through regular doorways just fine.

DagobertDuck

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I own a Bob Yak (1 wheel trailer) that I use for cycling holidays.
For cycling long distances, taking corners at high speed etc it's great, but especially when it's loaded, taking it off, and handling it when it's not attached to the bike is kind of a PITA.

So for daily use for groceries I would recommend a two-wheel trailer.

chops

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Great thread, following

 - Chops

littlebird

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I have a Burly Nomad; it's a two-wheeled, cargo trailer and it has been great. It sounds like you're not planning to haul kids? In that case I think the cargo trailers are a lot better than the kid-trailers. They're lighter when empty and not as tall, very important if you have any hills on your route. The one downside is that you can find the kid-trailers more often used. I watched for months for either a Bob Yak or a Nomad on Seattle's Craigslist and never saw one.

I considered either one or two wheels and came to the conclusion that for my use case (mainly grocery runs) two wheels was better. Easier to load when attached or not attached to the bike. Also the Nomad has a cover, while the Bob Yak does not come with one and has to be bought separately. The Nomad has a bracket that stays permanently on the bike's tire skewer and the trailer attaches to that with a pin. I find it easy to use and sturdy. It also comes apart for easier storage/transport, though not really easily enough to do it every time you use it.

sol

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Bike trailers are very seasonal items on craigslist.  Right now there are a bunch on my local list for $50.  When I was shopping in the spring a few years back there weren't any for under a hundred, and at that price you can buy a new one from amazon and have it shipped to your door for free.  Which is what I did.

So don't wait, whatever you decide. 

patrat

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I have a burley Cub. Expensive as hell, but durable and good. It replaced the second family car for a year while we paid down debt. Very good as a rough terrain stroller (how I use it). Can't comment on bike trailering aspect, I have judged that an unsafe endeavor here (my town) and will walk the distance at 4 mph instead. I look forward to biking again, it is much more efficient.

The cargo area behind the kids seats will hold two handbaskets worth of groceries. The handbaskets can rest on top while you push it through the store, which keeps everyone (including my kiddo) happy; no nervous store loss prevention folks.

If you fold down the kids seats the cargo space is immense.

Cheaper variants are all over craigslist. The one advantage of the Cub is the hard plastic bottom shell, instead of fabric. Like the d-lite, it has suspension, but that only matters I think if you're hauling people and pets.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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We have a Burley Bravo that we scored from Craigslist for $100. It's been great (although I did have to fix a screw as the wheel kept coming loose--there was a recall kit but it did not fix our problem).

I find that I can get a whole lotta groceries back there--say 2 pretty full reusable bags and two more that are only slightly full.

Be aware of the different kinds of attachments. If you have disc brakes, you will need the new attachments; the old hitch is fine for rim brakes.

kaizen soze

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I have an Aosom Trailer (https://aosom.com/).  I bought it brand-new after failing to find anything suitable on Craigslist.  It is pretty no-frills (it's not for hauling toddlers around), and pretty clacketey when not laden with cargo, but overall I'm happy with it.

One contrarian point to consider here.  I use this trailer a lot less than i thought i would. I can do most trips using two panniers and a backpack, leaving the trailer at home. Only exceptions are trips where i buy big items like 25 lbs of flour or a big package of toilet paper, which do require the trailer.  The ROI has therefore been pretty terrible.  I'd have been better off just using the car for trips where 2 panniers + backpack don't cut it and saving money on the trailer.  As is so often said, YMMV.

sol

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By contrast, I use mine for kid plus groceries pretty regularly.  I find it much easier than dealing with a backpack, and the kiddo loves trailer rides.

vhalros

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I end up using mine once or twice a month; most of the time my cargo hauling needs are met by a pair of panniers. However, the trailer lets me get away with out even owning a car, so it has paid for itself already. If I still had to own a car, it would take several years for the trailers cost to be offset by reduced driving. There is also the factor that, for many destinations around here, biking is just plain more convenient than driving.

chops

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I'm looking at two budget options right now - a Mongoose Pro and an InStep Quick - N - Lite, both with covers.  Anyone have thoughts on these?

Thanks!

 - Chops
« Last Edit: December 22, 2015, 03:42:59 PM by chops »

 

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