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Hi
I've got a towball on the car and I'm figuring out whether to get a towball mount carrier, or possibly a small trailer. I often cart about 3 bikes, on a tailgate mounted carrier. This is OK, just, and we may soon move onto 4 bikes.
I've checked out lots of options for getting a carrier, but I thought maybe a small trailer, bike carriage specific, might be better. I'll have no problem storing it, plenty of driveway space.
However, the only bike specific trailers I can find are huge club oriented (6,8,10 bikes+), or Motorbike ones.
I could just get a very small domestic trailer and bundle the bikes into that, but it's not quite what I want to do.
Anyone know of a small bike trailer that will fit the bill???
We are a family of 5. When the kids & their bikes were little we used a Maxxraxx which is very good. you would get 4 big bikes on fine, 5 requires moving the bars and removing some pedals.
I have gone for a Pendle 6 bike trailer off the 'bay.
Trouble with a standard trailer is that with bikes being such awkward shapes they will take up loads of space and damage each other.
Trailers are ace! Especially if you buy one from a mate down the road who is a welder by trade and made one specifically for bikes! He didn't use it anymore, so sold to me for £50 😀
[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4128/4963161627_260f6733c4.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheesyfeet/4963161627/ ]Bike Trailer 3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/cheesyfeet/ ]gary_foulger[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4131/4963161891_2e02d88d9c.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheesyfeet/4963161891/ ]Bike Trailer 1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/cheesyfeet/ ]gary_foulger[/url], on Flickr
£50!
I suppose all you need is an old trailer where all the wood had rotted away and build the frame onto it and give it a lick of paint.
legal speed limited to 50mph on single carriageways and 60 on dual/motorway with a trailer on.
@wwaswas:
A very valid point. Especially as I was thinking that this would be a neat way of going on holiday, taking the bikes, and not having everything hanging on the back of the car...
But being limited in terms of speed on the M'way...Hmm? might reconsider and go for a roofmount...?
We have just looked into this after changing to a 'higher' car which meant that roof carriers were a PIA.
We need to carry 4 bikes and after loads of hunting around trying to find a cheaper alternative we have gone for the Thule 929 Euro classic (?) tow ball carrier and an extension to carry the 4th. It isn't cheap at £400 + £90 for the extra, but is soooo easy to use. Just drop it on, lighting board included, dead easy to secure bikes, takes all sizes with little adjustment, tilts forward for boot access.
We still use the roof racks if towing something, but I can't physically get a bike up there on my own, so when its just me and the kids I would be stuck. I know that there are issues with the weight limit of the tow ball, but the adult bikes are light and with two kids bikes we are well within the limits. It will also be fine for two MTBs and two road bikes. I had to take a deep breath before shelling out the cash, but I borrowed one from a friend and it made life so easy I think its worth it...
Another thing to bare in mind with carriers is the nose weight of your car! I've just had this as 5 of us where going up to Wales ( I have a Toyota previa 2.4 petrol) which carrys 7 people etc so would have thought it could carry loads but having looked around the net and finally spoke to a guy at Toyota tec centre the previa has only got a nose weight of 65 kg add up avg bike's plus in my case pendal 4 bike carrier 18.5 kg and you are heading towards 75/80 kg with a straight down pull on the car could make steering very light. Having said all this I have 3 bikes on the back with no real issues of Lite steering etc so I recon I would go for it but as I said previa is a big car and if I had a mini would think twice for sure.
Just to finish I had 3 on the back and 2 up top and all was good.
Bats.
Apart from thr speed restriction, you're not allowed to tow a trailer in the 3rd lane of a 3 lane motorway.
Apart from thr speed restriction, you're not allowed to tow a trailer in the 3rd lane of a 3 lane motorway
Which all makes for a nice relaxed journey & arrival!
I've got a Thule euroclassic for when the trip is just cycling, rather than camping or part of a longer family trip. Very easy to use, secure and folds down so easy to store.
I've also got a little (4ft x 3ft) trailer which I've added roof rails to (eBay bargain - from a Lada Niva) allowing me to fit roof cycle carriers. This also works well, but you notice it bouncing along in the rear view mirror if it's otherwise empty. Filled with camping gear it's fine
Trailer is endlessly usefull to have around, but obviously you need space to store it.
Never found restricted speeds a problem. You get there in the same time and i often see 60mpg when towing with a fully laiden Zafira.
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is it full of helium baloons in that shot?
Remember that small mid-axle trailers are an absolute pig to reverse.
Been thinking something along the lines of this might be a good basis for a bike carrier.
[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5316/5803903319_b18a94b26a.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/theadventurouseye/5803903319/ ]PAV-100 trailer towed by a Škoda 110R coupe[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/theadventurouseye/ ]The Adventurous Eye[/url], on Flickr
Remember that small mid-axle trailers are an absolute pig to reverse.
Indeed, but a quick unhitch and a manual push sees you right