# trailers...



## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

How many use trailers for things other then taking the kids/pets around?

What kind are you using?


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## Texan-n-Fla (Sep 22, 2013)

There's a handy man here in town that really blinged out a trailer and cruiser bike. I see it parked out in front of jobs and he seems to be doing well for himself, toting around those tools. We also have a sizable homeless population here, the vast majority of which get around by bike. Several of them use a child's trailer to carry around bags and belongings.


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## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

I've thought of the kid trailer since in a studio apt and can collapse it down. My only real hang up is I can't see spending $100+ for 1. I have seen maybe 1 or 2 in thrift stores and they looked pretty ragged (sitting out in sun for years) by that point and not sure all the parts are there.

I've also thought about trying to build 1 but have no welding experience and would have to figure how to make it easy to collapse when not in use


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## Ivan67 (Aug 23, 2013)

I live on my rig and have a custom YAk style trailer with a 20" tire. Running a rear rack on that as well. Lived on my bike just traveling since 2004, no, no kids. Just a bunch of outdoor Gucci.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

Saw a medium sized dog in a Bob trailer in Quebec City last week. Here is a thread that may interest the OP:

http://forums.mtbr.com/cargo-bikes/post-pics-your-cargo-trailers-749192.html


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I would like to buy a two-wheeled trailer for utility trips. I used a BOB years ago for trailwork and liked it on the trail, but it's not as easy to handle in urban environments and needing to stop/go and load/unload it. A two-wheeled trailer is much easier to handle.

I did this with a kid trailer one day at work (at a bike shop). A bike needed to be shipped via FedEx and I was designated to deliver it to the dropoff location, probably in part because I commuted by bike that day, had ridden 22mi on a singlespeed, and the guys at work wanted to laugh at my expense.

I grabbed a Burley from the sales floor, hooked it up behind the shop, and loaded up the bike box. The load was not especially well-balanced and it felt a little squirrely, but I couldn't push it forward much due to wheel interference of the bike. I really like Surly's cargo trailers.


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## Straz85 (Mar 20, 2009)

I wish I had an excuse to buy a trailer, always thought they were cool. I've seen the kid trailers all over craigslist for cheap.


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## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

I've looked there to be seems like most people think too much of their trailer.


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## Texan-n-Fla (Sep 22, 2013)

Really? I can pick them up all day long in decent condition for 30-50 bucks, depending on brand and age. Now, trailer bikes on the other hand...


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## CommuterBoy (Oct 4, 2007)

I have a Burly for the kiddos and a Bob Yak. I see the Yak hanging there and I long to load it up again and leave the world behind for a few days, but those opportunites are few and far between lately. I prefer hauling a trailer to having heavy bags attached to the bike personally. Love the 1-wheel design of the Bob. It dissapears back there.


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## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

yes, I may run across a few that are 25-50 but most are asking closer to 100 that includes the ones from walmart you can buy for 120-130


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## JordyB (Oct 26, 2007)

Did someone say Trailer? Craigslist always has deals! Buying new gets expensive. One could spend hundreds of dollars on trailers. I have a few different versions, needed for the different stages in life as kids grow.

The Phat Chariot!









The Trail-A-Bike!


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

I have a BOB that rarely gets used any more because most of what I used to pull it for now gets covered with panniers. It`s still nice to have around though- handy for hauling cardboard or used oil for recycle, and I keep offering to loan it (with no success so far) to people who express intrest in weekend bike tours. Bottom line, they`re really nice to have, but kind of an overkill for most commuters. Are you sure you want to go that route?



JordyB said:


>


Man, that looks like a LOT of work!


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## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

Was mostly thinking of using it for grocery runs, granted the store isn't that far and I can come up with a few other excuses not to get one. Was also thinking I could possibly find other uses for one. Mainly I'm in the position of shouldn't drive for a few reasons that could cause me to get a ticket and walking isn't going to be easy as I'm (hopefully) going to be able to walk here again soon.


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## mtbxplorer (Dec 25, 2009)

Love the fat Chariot, Jordy. Super how they have ski attachments for those too. No kid here though. I like the idea of a trailer more than the actuality. Being 4 miles up a steep hill from any shopping, mower/snowblower gas, etc., and somewhat lazy, and typically using my car often enough to get groceries while I'm out with it, I don't think I'd use a trailer much. I try to keep the commute load down to a 1000cc backpack, so I definitely don't need a trailer for that.


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## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

I'm fortunate here in that we are relatively flat, the only "hills" I have to pump is in and out of a canal I use going to/from work or if I end up around it when I just feel like riding around.


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## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

The other idea I have is figure out a hitch to work with the shopping cart I have (the kind you sometimes see elderly people use)


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## Straz85 (Mar 20, 2009)

Schwinn_Frontier said:


> yes, I may run across a few that are 25-50 but most are asking closer to 100 that includes the ones from walmart you can buy for 120-130


Paying $100 for a decent one that was 200+ isn't a bad deal at all. Most trailers don't get used more than a few times, they're usually owned by recreational hybrid cyclists and probably have no more than 100 miles on them. I wouldn't pay $100 for a big box store one that was $130 new though. BOB ones are nice because it's a reputable brand that you could probably resell at some point to a parent, whereas if you buy a cargo trailer like a Surly Trailer Bill/Ted, you'll be reselling it to a very small niche crowd. Of course if you plan on keeping it for many years to come, then that's not a concern.


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## rifraf (Dec 22, 2012)

I've a Carry Freedom Y-frame 2 wheel trailer.
The Y-Frame bicycle trailer
I bought it to tour with due to my Moulton bicycle not having enough carrying capacity for Australian conditions (especially water with re-supply sometimes many days apart).
I've since built up a Surly Ogre but as I no longer drive, the trailer is handy with a 90 liter lidded tub on it for shopping duty.
I'm about to build up a single wheel trail for water hauling duty in the outback.
I've got a second Son28 dynamo hub and have spokes and rim on their way from Jensonusa and Bike24 (Germany).
This trailer will be based on an Extra-wheel trailer but will be set up also as a charging unit to keep my camera gear and laptop charged up.
My bikes dynamo hub is already kept busy with my gps and phone/lighting.
Home


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## Schwinn_Frontier (Sep 13, 2007)

how hard is it to get the hitch end that goes on the trailer separately? I know you can get the receiver part for the bike pretty easy since some people have multiple bikes. Just thinking that if one is cheap and easy enough to get, I could figure out how to build my own and use a preexisting attachment setup.


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## gcappy (Jul 1, 2012)

JordyB said:


> Did someone say Trailer? Craigslist always has deals! Buying new gets expensive. One could spend hundreds of dollars on trailers. I have a few different versions, needed for the different stages in life as kids grow.
> 
> The Phat Chariot!
> 
> ...


JordyB, can I get the particulars on your Chariot? The tires and wheels are not stock are they? What size are they and manufacturer.


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## gcappy (Jul 1, 2012)

Never mind. I did my research and found the info in your previous post.


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## bikeCOLORADO (Sep 4, 2003)

I found an old Pacific 2 kid trailer on Craigslist for $15. It was/is in pretty decent shape. I stripped all the fabric, seats, etc off it and started with a clean slate. I built a platform out of discarded pallet wood, mounted some bins and a PVC pipe frame. Then installed a battery box, a marine deep cycle battery, blinging LED lights, an amp/stereo and speakers.

I load it up with water bottles, bibles and signs that read "Free Water, Free Hugs, Free Bibles and Prayer". We go to all kinds of events around town with it. It's a pretty big hit.


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## jcaino (May 26, 2007)

I've got a BoB that frequently gets used for touring, hauling wood, trail building tools, grocery shopping, beer runs.


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## crossracer (Jun 27, 2004)

My bob. It has the rear rack installed so I can use panniers also in the back . That was the best money I ever spent. I've repacked the trailer and have made it fit even better .

Bill


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## lowayne (Nov 11, 2013)

crossracer said:


> My bob. It has the rear rack installed so I can use panniers also in the back . That was the best money I ever spent. I've repacked the trailer and have made it fit even better .
> 
> Bill
> 
> ...


Does that BoB have a shock absorber (our stroller does)? I am in love with my Cycletote around town but I wouldn't mind a single track option for the trails.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

The Ibex does:

Amazon.com: BOB Ibex Plus Suspension Trailer (Includes Dry Sak): Sports & Outdoors


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## Texan-n-Fla (Sep 22, 2013)

BrianMc said:


> The Ibex does:
> 
> Amazon.com: BOB Ibex Plus Suspension Trailer (Includes Dry Sak): Sports & Outdoors


Holy smokes. For that price, I expect it to do the pedaling.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

^^ That was the cheap one that came up on the first search page!


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## Texan-n-Fla (Sep 22, 2013)

That's insane. I'll just ghetto rig an old radio flyer wagon to be a grocery getter. Lol.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

Post 23 trailers... sounds like the economy route to a DIY trailer with hitch issue already resolved. If you are good at welding, this thread http://forums.mtbr.com/cargo-bikes/trailers-600734.html would be a worthwhile read.


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## Texan-n-Fla (Sep 22, 2013)

BrianMc said:


> Post 23 trailers... sounds like the economy route to a DIY trailer with hitch issue already resolved. If you are good at welding, this thread http://forums.mtbr.com/cargo-bikes/trailers-600734.html would be a worthwhile read.


Looks like I might be able to get my hands on a nice "beach wagon", and I don't think it would require much modding to make the cart usable for a bike. It seems that what began as a necessity to commute by bike has turned into a passion and a change of lifestyle. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.


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## MsLizVt (Oct 27, 2012)

Bill (Crossracer), et al, Hi~

Hope you don't mind me asking this. 

On your BOB it looks like there is a black fabric shield that straps to the BOB. Where did you find that? 

I have a Yak, that doesn't have one of those. There would seem to be many times that it would be nice to protect to load from gritty rainy rooster tails. 

Thank you so much, in advance, and hope my question made sense.



Liz


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## WhiskeyJr (Jul 3, 2014)

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but JordyB, how did you lace your wheels?

Planning to follow your example as closely as possible! I just bought a spare burley trailer on the cheap to salvage the hubs and associated linkages for the burley axle, and two junkyard stingrays to get the rims, tubes and tires.

I just can't figure out how to spoke the burley 20h hub to the stingray 36h rim. If I try skipping a spoke, it leaves one hole.

How did you solve this problem? Did you have a different number of spoke holes to deal with?


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## JordyB (Oct 26, 2007)

Yup, Chariot hubs are 24h?, can't exactly remember, skipping 12 even holes on rim still has an even tension.


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

I grabbed an old steel tube framed kid trailer from the dump. The fabric and (almost) everything that was soft was toast. I then smithed it into a cargo trailer by putting a deck on it made of old redwood fence boards. Then a plastic bin on top of the deck. Also added the ability to haul long handled things like shovels and weed eaters (for a volunteer job maintaining old cemeteries). I horse traded for some 20" townie tread tires and it was complete. So I haul groceries and tools and pretty much everything else, except a kid. He rides his own bike. My biggest grocery trip was a case of beer, two large take and bake pizzas, a pound of bacon, a dozen eggs, two loaves of bread, apples, bananas, carrots, onions, and celery, and a gallon of milk. Heavy, but handled fine.

The thing is that the trailer removes all doubt in people's minds that I'm homeless. I feel like yelling - "I own my own home. Really!"

I hauled my kid around in a trailer for years and the reception was completely different. But I judge too.


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## RW Montgomery (Dec 1, 2016)

I wish I could see these pictures! What am I doing wrong?


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