ikaika777

Hi, I just got a BOB Ibex trailer today and was wondering why it won't fit on my 2017 Giant Escape 2? The skewer on my bike is 135mm so that should be no problem with the Bob skewer. The problem is that the trailer doesn't work with a rack and fenders. The rack and fender screws stick out so the trailer can't get on the skewer. I've seen pics of people using this trailer with racks and fenders so why won't it work with mine

zebede

Pictures of the interference might elicit some helpful suggestions. Otherwise it's shooting in the dark.

Would it help to switch to a button head fender bolt?

Do you have multiple attachment points options for fenders and racks. You might have to move the lower screw hole or go to p clamps.

I use a regular Bob trailer with racks and fenders.

ikaika777

As you can see from the pic not only the screws but the bottom of the rack is in direct line with the skewers bobbin. Even though my bike takes a 135mm skewer do you think a 145mm skewer would work?

ikaika777

And here I removed the rack bolt and fender bolt and pushed them aside and the BOB fits in perfectly. I really don't want to get rid of the rack as I don't want to use the Ibex for small shopping runs.

zebede

Things to try (ideas that I don't know if they will work I am not there):

-Reverse the QR skewer so that the QR lever is on the bike's drive side. The BOB QR places the Bobbin further outboard of the lever. It may give you the clearance you need.
-According to the BOB instructions, you can remove the bobbins and reverse them to give additional horizontal clearance.
-Use a buttonhead screw to reduce the size of the obstruction. (photo 1 looks like it could help).
-Get a longer rack mount bolt with a nut and move fender attachment to inside of frame to reduce horizontal clearance.
-File a bit off the bottom of the rack stay below the screw.
-Take off the BOB bobbin during trailer hook up, pull out the QR skewer 1/2" or so, attach trailer to the one side, and slide the skewer back in under the rack stay. (re-thread on bobbin on other side and attach that side)

- Purchase P_Clamps and move rack and fender mounts to the P-Clamps which would be attached to the seat stays.


The 145 mm skewer would not help. It would only mean that additional skewer threading would extend further out past BOB bobbin.

zebede

Did you get it to fit?

fietsbob

Those are extra long (tandem) skewers may perhaps help,

Then you can add spacers between the frame and the skewer..

to move the ends outboard further.. the QR clamping the whole assembly tight.





...

ikaika777

Hi! Thanks to your advice I bought an assortment of stainless steel button head M5 screws and got the fender back on and working with the BOB. Sadly having a rack is a no go. Even with the button head screws the leg of the Topeak Explorer rack is too thick and gets in the way of the BOB skewer bobbin. I guess it's the geometry of the Giant Escape bike, it's for fitness and commuting and not really for hauling. But I went shopping today and probably went over the 70lbs max but it got me home with a ton of groceries. It was way wobbly but I made it. Thanks again for your help. I just got the screws and put the fender on last night so I didn't get a chance to update you sooner.

ocsawdust

Make a new little stainless steel plate / bracket to offset the holes. I had that issue and i just did away with the rack as the bob was always attached anyway.

Some sort of customization seems to be getting more common with so many different things available and options then trying to make them fit. With some rear triangles and such both sides are different some custom making 2 different brackets / plates might be needed. My daily ride has a kickstand bolted on the rear triangle as well. The kickstand is too nice to give up for a rack so it stays.

I just ended up with a second ibex and second time out I just had to try pulling both like I have seen in so many pictures. That was a fun challenge as the ibex wheel needed a rear sized skewer to accept the ibex forks. It was around 1.5 or 1.75 inches wider. It took some time at the local hardware store trying to lay it out. It took some time but I finally got something to work, and it pulled nice and less cumbersome than I expected. But of course both were empty of weight. The importance of a kickstand of some sort somewhere with that setup proved very important. The bike that usually pulls has been down tho, ( learned something new with that as I killed the inner free hub and it is replacable, meaning i didnt need a whole new wheel but the lbs wasnt completely versed on it even tho he informed me of it, the myriad of different parts is still sorting itself out. Its 1 of 10 bikes tho so i'm NOT buying another wheel of which is the only bike with disc brakes.) and it is equiped with a ursus kickstand that is the best kickstand around by far. But in the future I i.agine I will be needing to fabricate some kind of plate with Bob nuts not a skewer to use both trailers weighted down.

My latest thoughts are trying to get steering stabilizers on the work bikes. I picked up a trek transport that had one and it has one and it helps so much its hard to explain.

Funny thing getting old, all the things you changed when you were young and thought were really lame you come to appreciate later. Kickstands, swept back bars, upright position, a stabilizer, racks front and rear, and fenders I suppose. But living in southern ca that need is not often at all.

ocsawdust

Another thing about Bob trailers is if you push it with a lot of weight you will find the bob telling you where it wants to go not the other way around. 2 wheel trailers are best for the bigger loads.

ikaika777

Since you own the BOB Ibex let me ask you a question. In the instruction manual it says to tighten the lock nut of the BOB fork to 60 inch pounds. So I set my torque wrench to that and when I hold up the trailer horizontally the fork doesn't move. It moves if I make it move with my hand or when it's on the bike but is it supposed to be that tight or should the BOB fork swing loosely? And yes, when I was young with all my BMX friends the first thing we would do when we got a new bike was to take off all the reflectors, the kickstand, and anything else we deemed nerdy. Now those are the things I demand I have on my bicycles. Life's journey has some funny moments for sure.

CliffordK

The issue is the dropout design pushes the rack mount quite far to the outside.

A traditional mount forged into the dropout would probably be fine.

An option might be to mount the rack with P-clamps. Perhaps not as sturdy as the rack bolts, but it should be fine for moderate loads.

ocsawdust

I bought both trailers used. Never looked at any instructions.the first one I've been pulling for a couple years and a couple times that I felt something odd was when i had it loaded up good and when I stopped to look things over the forks had pushed the rear wheel of the bike out of the dropout. After the second time I'm more aware of the weight in the trailer when riding. I just picked up the 2nd one about 2 weeks ago and have yet to really used it and I really don't expect any problems. It came up on cl by me and had almost no miles on it and the price was just over $200 so I grabbed it. Been thinking of powder coating the first as it was well used when i got it and I've put it through the ringer myself so some fresh painnt would be nice for it. I forget how to post pics otherwise I'd show you how I've set it up.

ikaika777

Wow, $200 bucks, you got a great deal. I would love to see pics of your rig if you can figure out how to post them. I use imageshack to post pics here.