Anyone used a trailer on a mtb?
Want to do a bit of touring, maybe 2 or 3 nights with small tent, have no rack mounts on either bike. Looking at Revolution cargo trailer or Bob Yak.
Just wondered how well they handle?
Won’t be much use off road, just lanes and bridleways/shooting tracks to get to wild places.

Trailers are great.

I bought a BOB Yak in the States and rode 500 miles off road with it carrying everything I needed and probably stuff I didnt.

I fitted a 2.4 tyre to the rear and it climbed everything my legs could cope with. Keep the heaviest part of the load low and towards the trailer wheel. I rode down hill on tarmac at over 40mph with no issues.

Keep stuff in extra dry bags to ensure stuff is kept dry from rear wheel spray. BOB bag better than Revolution.

Trailers are great.

The dead weight of the trailer is more than that of a rack/rucsac combo, but i think the handling (and comfort) of having weight low and off your back makes up for it.

In a lot of instances i found the trailer helped, especially over loose rocks/stream crossings.

Look at the extrawheel trailers as well, if i were to buy a trailer now (having used a BOB) i think i would buy an extrawheel at £150 approx.

I wouldn’t trust a revolution trailer for serious off-road as it uses nuts and bolts where the BOB uses welds, although nuts and bolts could be loctited/checked…

I have a bob-yak and currently ride in west and central London with it, mostly hauling unwanted clothes and bed-linen at the moment. It makes a difference in handling but nowhere near as much as having 30kg of weight in panniers would do.
Once the Spring Polaris location is published we’ll be out getting practice on the tandem ready for a weekend of pain and argument.

Ta for replies, sounds like it might be a good idea.

I used a bob yak on the off road coast to coast last may,Once you get used to the slight drag,the trailer becomes hardly noticable.

I would recommend using a hardtail with a trailer as the loading on the seatstay dropouts causes wear on some full sus designs.

On Off road climbs i found the low centre of gravity actually assisted grip to the back tyre,this felt odd at first but i was amazed at what i could climb on some really steep stuff in yorkshire.

I used a slightley fatter back tyre to spread the loading as well.

It was really nice to ride with everything on the trailer,i usually ride with a camelback so it increased the enjoyment factor because of this.

An exellent peice of kit,but i would be familiar with your route, before you use it on a ride as they do have their limitations!you can easily detach them if you wish for really difficult parts but if you have to do this you have chosen the wrong route imho.Its note really what the trailers are about.

Steep downhills were also “challenging” and i found utilising the terrain as a natural brake, rather than relying on the bikes brakes was helpfull,i was carrying around 15kgs of gear at times!

Also,i think its important to ride either solo with a trailer, or in a group, as it is an obvious handicap riding with one.

There best used for long, low level off road Bothy/camping trips imho where heavy loads can be carried in relative comfort (compared to a rucksack)for multi day epics.

Just avoid the bogs and really technical stuff!

Enjoy.

Thanks for the advice, got trailer now so here goes.
Off to mull in june, so need to get out and try it, had a quick ride with it and it felt ok, just a bit more drag.
cheers.