# Skiiddii trailer review



## icemonkey (Mar 14, 2008)

Hello all, im new to this part of the forum. I just spent days trying to find something on these trailers and failed I thought I would would write a few words for others out there. This is mostly for the British contingent as it seems they are mostly found here. I also posted this review at another bike forum that Im at a lot, but its not really geared towards camping and touring and I thout it would be better here.

I needed a get-around trailer for touring, camping and daily chores in my new country (the UK). At first I was looking at super expensive trailers by Bob or Burly (I have one in the USA) but I thought id take a chance on one of the e(vil)bay types. The Skiiddii trailer had a phone number attached (good sign) and so I gave it a call and organized to get down to the warehouse to collect a trailer direct (big discount). Anyway not only was the trailer only 50 pounds, I could inspect it before buying.








So this was the type I wanted as it took the heaviest load (60 kg) and was the lightest. The good news first: Its a bargain. An amazing, unbelievable bargain. Wow. In a place that a good espresso is $4, 50 pounds for a whole working trailer is astounding.

Main good points:
It all fits together and works
Its well designed
It has a braided steel base and can work without the nylon cloth upper.
it takes an incredible 60kg weight when evenly distributed.
Its all metal... No plastic bits at the joints or hinges
It looks pretty damed good.
Cups and cone bearings are greased.
All stressed nylon areas are bar-tacked.
The trailer arm double locks into the trailer.
Heavy duty double bolted spring arrachment.
Lots of failsafe safety built in. (double this and double that). 
The major loading surfaces are all reinforced to some extent and there is some stress relieving going on.

The not so good bits:

The cup and cone bearings were overtightened and would have scored badly if I had not tensioned them correctly.
the cosmetic plastic covers to the QR on the wheels fell off immediately - does nothing but looks rubbish.
The corner elastic on the (otherwise excellent) rain cover is weak and looks like it might break one day.
The stitching is a bit basic here and there.
The dropouts are aligned but about 3mm too wide for the hub - but the flex and a few spare washers sorted that.
Too wide to ride on to a train. 
the trailer arm double locks into the trailer - but the plastic sleeve is a bit cheap. This has no structural purpose, but still a bit irritating.
The flag sits on the Right hand side, which is the wrong side for Britain.









The owner of the import company Jawad helps me build it up.

There are a few other things that were a bit irritating: The quality of the welds was workman like and ok, but as a bit of a welder myself I thought they were ugly. The paint is clearly just sprayed on and will chip off quite quickly - but no drips.

So what do I think overall? There is nothing likely to break that is important to me, its well made and at this price im quite frankly stunned. I rode with it on my old Bianchi for about 15 miles and took it on the train later. it all seemed just fine and fun. I will update this as I go along. More pictures below.

All the best


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

Nice! Good find! I always like a bargain... that is, when it is of reasonable quality and will last okay. As you know, it isn't a bargain if it quickly falls apart.

I have a Burley DeLite trailer for the kids, and that has been great. However, the previous owner left it out in the sun for a while, and the nylon cover deteriorated. Now, the fabric is pretty brittle and tore easily. With a light bump of a foot, I put a shoe through the side. I only paid $50 for it second hand, and I feel I got my money's worth out of it.


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## icemonkey (Mar 14, 2008)

Well considering the delightful weather London is having today, Im not too worried about UV. I had the same burley, it was terrific with my daughter in it. Wishing you all the continuing best with Diego.


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## icemonkey (Mar 14, 2008)

As a final part of the review I thought I'd add my opinions from a few days of riding. It rides surprisingly quick and stable. I've taken it on trains, and it worked well, just squeezing by the barriers. The paint is tougher than I first thought as I've hit several bollards, pitched up on curbs and slammed a taxi in the middle of an illegal u turn, and the paint looks unmarked. I am amazingly pleased. For the price I don't understand how they have done it. All in all super top notch. I want a single wheel one next for my mountain bike. 
There are criticism to be made but they are more to do with the nature of riding with a trailer - something new to me.


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## icemonkey (Mar 14, 2008)

Final update, I've been riding and using the trailer to do all sorts of stuff, camping, delivering building supplies to a friends place and zipping around London. Well a few new things. The trailer is massively overbuilt. A taxi tried to cut me off - to his great misfortune as he has a big dent, and I have a small scratch. This thing is the T42 of trailers, heavy but indistructable... I'm planning on mounting a bicycle clamp to the horizontal bars so I can tour with a selection of bikes. One for my daughter and my single speed for class. Great buy.
Oh and it does fit on a train - see photo.


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