TourUSt

Anyone have experience with them, thinking I may try one for long tour.
Thanks

staehpj1

A lot depends on your packing style and what bike you will be riding. Trailers are typically heavier than rack and pannier setups. They are also another oversize item that needs to be shipped to and from your tour. It is another size of spare tube to carry as well, so yet a bit more weight there. For me that all was enough disadvantages that I sold my trailer and used panniers on my first long (TA) tour and some of the subsequent ones.

Trailers do have the advantage of allowing you to carry a lot of gear on a bike that might not normally be well suited to touring with a heavy load.

I have since started going with lighter and more minimal camping gear in waterproof stuff sacks (without panniers) and find that I can carry racks bags and all gear for about the weight of an empty BoB trailer (my total gear and bag weight has been in the 9-14 pound range these days). For me this has proven to be a good way to go, but even if you don't want to pack ultra light, I'd still suggest going with as light of a load as you can manage and as minimal of a baggage setup as will carry the load you choose. For some folks that might still mean a trailer.

I am now thinking of getting another one wheel trailer for around town grocery hauling, but have no plans to tour with it.

By the way, if you pick the heaviest racks and panniers you can wind up heavier than a BoB, so even with racks and panniers pay attention to weights.

Tony Marley

I used a BOB trailer with my tandem for a coast-to-coast ride, plus an 8-weeks ride in the Rockies, with my daughter. For extended touring with a tandem, I find it easier to carry the gear for two in the BOB than in front/rear panniers. For shorter rides, especially without wide variations in weather, the panniers were fine.

When riding up hills/mountains, you do notice the weight of the BOB trailer more than you notice the weight of panniers on similar climbs.

On downhill runs, the BOB trailer tracks rock steady. You don't think or worry about it. I have had experience with a heavy loaded touring bike (with panniers) having a bit of frame flex at higher speeds, which is not pleasant. (Of course, you could avoid the high speeds, but after pedaling the load up the mountain, it is exhilarating to speed down the other side....)

indyfabz

Thousands of people do. There were four on my x-country trip alone.

Here is the little lady grinding some gravel in MT:

MichaelW

single wheels track better than 2 wheel trailers, esp off road.
Useful if you are hauling for more than one, eg family, or have extra load, eg video, music, climbing gear.
Modern touring makes use of more ultralight gear and a trailer tempts you to carry more.
Trailers can be a PITA at gates, styles, portage sections, bus and rail sections.

fietsbob

One thing you can do is have a bag with shoulder straps in the trailer..

So you put the pack and trailer on your back and lift your bike in your hands..

Portage Packs are hundreds of years old. when the Explorers of MN & Canada came to the end of a Lake
the canoeist puts their pack on and the canoe over their head.. and walked to the next stream or lake.

a canoe has a Shoulder Thwart , it's a cross bar at the balance point of the boat.


I like 2 wheel utility trailers better for weird loads , BoB was not so good for Costco Runs.

my last trailer purchase was a Carry Freedom - City.. it has a bag you wear and the wheels fold into the frame , flat

and Even has 2 wheels on the back edge to slide the folded frame between Back-to-Back seats on Trains..

rhm

The pivot point, where the trailer's towing arm attaches to the towing bike, is the weak point. I have a trailer by Nashbar that attaches by a long, thin bolt that replaces the quick release skewer on the rear wheel. In normal use, the QR skewer in question has no stresses other than holding the wheel in; but if you add a trailer, that skewer gets pulled and pushed and twisted as you ride, leading to fatigue and sudden failure. At least that's what happened to mine when I lent it to a friend for a family tour on the C&O Canal.

Whether this is a universal problem, I don't know; but I would definitely carry a plain QR so if necessary you can abandon the trailer and ride on. Better yet, find a better way to attach the trailer to the bike.

indyfabz

It's not. The B.O.B. has a triangular yoke that attaches on both sides to a special, sturdy QR skewer. The pivot point is at the end of the yoke, where the trailer itself attaches.

YAK | BOBgear

The four on my x-country tour equated to over 16,000 bike miles. Not one problem. My GF did slightly bend one of the yoke's dropouts. We think this happened when she jackknifed it while walking it with two large bundles of firewood in the trailer. That's actually a testament to quality of the skewer. Other than that, we have not had any problems despite use on rough, hilly, unpaved roads.

They can be a bit unwieldy when walking, at least until you get the hang of it. Sort of like maneuvering a semi trailer. My GF is only 5' and 105 lbs. so that gave her some problems. Also, if you encounter a downed tree that you need to go over, you have to detach. You face the same issue with a second floor motel room. And if you have to travel, it's one more item you need to deal with.

msbiker

I have a farfarer one wheel trailer that I really like. It is under 10 lbs, so it considerably lighter than a BOB. It also breaks down so you can ship with your bike. It comes with a bag you can load up, but I just use a waterproof duffel that I suspend from rails and strap on anything else I might need. Since the hitch attaches to the seatpost, it is really pretty sturdy and avoids the problems a BOB trailer has with retaining pins. It also works with thru axles, although I think BOB now has a workaround for that. A little more pricey than a BOB, but worth it in my opinion. The only problem I have had is some delayed customer service. Since they are handmade by a guy in Santa Cruz, it takes a while to get one and have questions answered, but excellent workmanship. I've used it on many dirt roads and the Canadian section of the great divide route without any problems.

fietsbob

This Guy? farfarer bike trailers and racks | bicycle racks and trailers built by hand in northern california for touring

Could have posed the link in your post, yourself..

Juha

One option would be the Extrawheel trailer. It's lightweight, and the wheel size is usually made to match your bike so less hassle with spare parts.

mev

I've done most of my cycling with panniers, but in 2013 I took an extrawheel trailer

https://www.bike2013.com/wp-content/g...x_dsc_0592.jpg
https://www.bike2013.com/wp-content/g...x_dsc_0459.jpg

~1900 miles from Oregon to Colorado. I also took that trailer with me on a ride in Kashmir last year. As trailers go, it is pretty light and uses the same size wheels (tires, tubes,...) as my bike. It also tracks well to the rear wheel. It attaches outside the quick release bolts rather than using an longer skewer.

Overall on my touring bikes I have front and rear racks, so tend to use panniers, but for some touring with my mountain bike, I also like using the extrawheel trailer.

gorshkov

I've toured with panniers and with a B.O.B., and I prefer the panniers for almost any situation. In addition to the weight penalty, the trailer typically puts all of your stuff in one bag, which means that if you for any reason have to get at something when its raining, everything gets wet, not just the contents of the one pannier. Also, getting anything in or out of the trailer turns into a fairly major operation, since the bike + trailer combination is much less stable when leaning against things than a bike + panniers. It's also more cumbersome to push a bike with a trailer than without, particularly if you ever need to go backwards. And just hope that you never encounter a barrier that you need to carry the bike over. There are a few places where the trailer would make sense, but they involve off-road (not dirt road) tours or carrying bulky items that aren't part of a normal touring load.

TourUSt

Thanks so much for the rapid and informative responses. I think a well placed
u-joint might be in order. Am not looking for particularly heavy loads, just like the idea
of having the weight off the frame. My bike is an '80's Schwinn Traveller, study little guy,
seems like loading it would tend to promote more flats.

msbiker

yes that is the Farfarer trailer guy.

GreenspeedGTS

I have toured with a Bob and two wheeled equinox. Used the equinox more often on a multi day trip. The difference is the equinox can carry more, but the bob not quite as wide. They both have their good and bad. I like a trailer better than panniers but thats me.