Hi folks, after doing a little tour at the weekend i think id like to it agian but taking in more offroad and hence probably using my mtb not road-bike. Therefore im looking at trailers to carry the load so i can make the choice of either full sus or hardtail depending on where i want to go and what i want to carry.
Who has got what?
What is good/crap?
And please post pics of your adventures! 😆
Im particularly interested in how the different models join to the dropouts as im tempted to make one myself (with a bit of help), thinking somthing along the lines of an extrawheel as i have a few rigid forks i can use and plenty of er.. extra wheels :0)
Cheers folks,
Rich.
Bob Yak, end of story
Thats funny, a lot of reviewers out there say the same about the extrawheel?
What have you used the Bob for?
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I have an EBC Revolution trailer. They are a cheap option from new, although I bought mine second hand for about £80 IIRC. There are some similar trailers on eBay at the moment from a German seller for an absolutely silly price, but they don't come with same drybag.
They have a reputation for breaking but mine seems fine and has just survived a 200 mile tour, of which just under half was off-road along the South Downs Way, and various bridleways and canal paths. The catch is very neat and doesn't use any pins, but it came open once or twice on bumpy descents, which was sorted by jamming a stick into it.
More alarmingly, I was carrying a fair load and every time I turned sharply (more than 90 degrees) it bent the mech hanger slightly. Not sure this would be a problem with an MTB frame or a lighter load, but it's something to watch out for.
Riding off-road with them is much easier than panniers but it does affect the handling slightly. My canti brakes felt well underpowered on steep stuff and having a tiny extra wheel at the back means that you get a lot of kickback through the bumps. My top tip is to not overfill them, they aren't really designed to take any more weight than a rack and panniers. And watch out for ruts as you can suddenly find the bottom of the trailer acting as a brake...
Have used a BOB Yak for touring with offroad bits a few times, heavier and maybe less manouverable than an extra wheel but stronger. The EBC and others are a fair bit heavier which is pretty important if touring. I'll post some pics later of mine doing a few sections of the Maribor world cup downhill course but photobucket is blocked here.
Well a Bob is way too expensive, mind you so is an extrawheel (hence the 'build my own' idea) but those ones on eBay ive been looking at may be worth a punt. Cheers folks.
FWIW, im not planning any hardcore mega distance super rough epic trips, just occasional use on rough farm tracks and some singletrack.
Bob here too. Durable and stable.
for dry bags cotswold outdoors are desperate to shift some Mountain Equipment ones. Theyve been on knockdown sale prices for a year now! 🙂
I asked similar questions a month or two back, ended up with a 2nd hand BOB as it was as cheap as any of the new options. Do a search for the thread, as I was offered a few both EBC and BOB versions.
Anyway, I'd have been keen to try an Extracycle, but the price was way too much. As for the BOB, so far it seems pretty agricultural, not too much to go wrong, and if it does can be fixed most places. It's not ideal with heavy loads though, especially if it's a large volume as it compromises the stability a bit. However, on the flat you tend not to notice its there, other than the noise from bumps. I'm pleased with mine, and as a_a says, the weight is not as much as similar copies.
Hope that helps a bit.
[EDIT] Those ebay ones do look good... Also try the alpkit big drybags (have a proper drybag closure, not a zip and fit perfectly snugly when full ).
Hello
I have a BOB yak - used it to drag kit across 3 k miles across canada and a 1.5k mile tour around and across iceland
They are simply superb - mines an old un with the slightly fiddly dropout attachment but i would def buy again
paul
Is it possible to use one of those child seat trailer things? As they can be had for very little in comparison to dedicated cargo trailers.
they have 2 wheels tho dont they, not ideal for singletrack or offroading.
Build your own from bamboo!
http://www.carryfreedom.com/bamboo.html
I have a Carry Freedom City trailer. Business for bopping round town but would be absolutely no use off-road. I used to own a Wildebeest Koolstop (a generic take on a Yak) but sold it as with anything more than a minimal load it wagged the bike.
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extra wheel - bollocks - though the new style maybe better.
Plum
What was bollocks about it Plumber?
I'm really tempted by the extrawheels, especially if i adapted some panniers with plastic 'runners' where they were most likely to scrape rocks etc.
Ed at STW tested an extrawheel and really liked it, ISTR.
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I got one of the last old style extrawheel classics in the country I believe. Shown above with the strange 27 inch wheel we got with it, that's been swapped for a 26 inch now. Looked at the new ones, but a) they were a lot more expensive and b) the supplied panniers had half the capacity of the extrawheel classic, and it would be a whole lot more faff packing them. With the classic the tent can go straight in the cargo net.
Did quite a bit of research and although there were reports about certain bits breaking e.g. a bit of fibreglass, at least one review said later that certain things had been improved and some of the breakages were down to user error/overloading. I don't envisage doing that much riding with the trailer where it'll be in danger of rubbing against rocks, and anything that was narrow enough that the bags would rub against stuff you'd be unlikely to get a lot of other trailers through.
I haven't actually done a big trip on it yet, but I've done a 20 mile test run with it containing a huge picnic, camping chairs, extra weight etc and it handles really well, hooking it on and off on your own takes a bit of practice and requires somewhere to prop your bike up but it's really very simple. It's just held on by tension, doesn't quite seem like it should stay there over rough stuff but it does, yet it'll pop off in the event of a crash (or if you try and wheel the bike in too tight a circle).
Well I put a cheeky bid in on one of those eBay trailer and won so we'll see what they are like. If it's no good I'll canabalise it to make an extrawheel or maybe splash out on a Bob.
Cheers everyone,
rich