Trailer vs Panniers for a road-based cycle tour

Being on the heftier side I’m wondering whether a trailer may be a more sensible option for a wee tour I’m planning.
I’ve done some thinking about it, but what do you lot reckon?

The main negatives for me at the moment is the transport / transfer to from where I want to ride.
Trailer on a train?

It really depends on how much you’re planning to take. I did a tour to Budapest in the summer, camping, with just rear panniers. I only took 1 pair of shorts and flipflops for off the bike, jacket was for on and off the bike, no real creature comforts. It was summer and I took a gamble on the weather being good, which is mainly was. Where are you going and for how long? Camping, cooking, or hoteling?

Practicalities aside, can I just say that trailers are FUN.

Unfortunately I can’t offer you any more useful advice as I’ve never used panniers, but would seize any opportunity to stick a trailer back on the bike.

Camping, Atlantic coast of Spain & France, probably for about a month.

Why not spend more on a trailer so you have extra weight to lug about? Some people might think it looks cool.

Panniers, and if you’re really worried about the weight just get yourself some heavy duty wheels. Really can’t see any advantages to a trailer for on-road touring.

I’ve toured on and off road with both. Trailers are great for off road touring. I feel panniers are better for the road. The trailer is a bit of a faff for parking. There are pros and cons to having everything in one big bag. For my Trans Am next year, I’ll be using panniers.

Mme Moonteresse on the way to the San Juan’s

If you are thinking about a trailer, I think the Extrawheel would certainly be the best choice for road stuff. Its lighter than a BoB, smaller (easier for trains etc.) and you can run a road wheel in it, reducing rolling resistance and a handy source of spares.

Any more for any more?

credit card/back pocket/1 pair of clean freckers/no more luggage 😉

Really can’t see any advantages to a trailer for on-road touring.

Depends how much you’re carrying!

We did 12 days round Devon and Cornwall in September. Clothes in panniers, tent, mats, bags, cooking gear in the trailer which I towed most of the time. Vert easy to pack and waterproof too.

One tip – If your route is hilly, make sure you have disc brakes! it got downright scary in the rain with only vees, a 50kg outfit and me to stop!

If you need more than would fit in panniers, I think you’d be better off carrying less stuff rather than buying a trailer.

Joe

I’d go for panniers but haven’t ever tried a trailer. Whatever your weight, it really depends on how much you want to carry. Cost of a trailer might buy a lighter tent & sleeping bag.

My preference for road & easy tracks is heavy stuff in front lowriders – front wheel is stronger than rear – and bulky lighter stuff on the rear. Often just front lowriders and a saddlebag. You can carry a hell of a lot like this. I use handbuilt 36 hole wheels, DT/Shimano/Mavic.

But if you really want to take ‘the kitchen sink’ (nothing wrong with that!) a trailer is probably a good option.

And a month on the Atlantic coast of France and Spain sounds fantastic.

I have just done 1900 miles with a trailer and apart from the first day had no problems, advantages are you can drop it and have a normal bike to scoot about on. I am a big biffa so it made sense not to load the rear wheel to much. Mine is a BOB and it tracked just fine no problems. You can jack knife it to stand up. I carried about 40 pounds and it was a lot cheaper than panniers, 150 quid off e bay.

Trailers are great when you are riding along but a nightmare if you have to get on/off trains.

I did a tour with the extra wheel trailer – for all the reasons I written down previously it was a shit solution to the trailer problem – proof would be they no longer make the original style

My panniers have just arrived today 🙂

I have used panniers a lot – never used a trailer

If you go for panniers get decent racks – tubus are best. I would not use anything else having broken loads of ordinary racks over the years.

As others have said tho – beware taking too much – the lighter you are the better

Really can’t see any advantages to a trailer for on-road touring.

on-road is whole advantage. Trick is to get the trailer right. One wheel trailers are better suited for off-road, two wheel trailers are better for on-road.

The key to trailers is they separate the influence of the load from the bike – you put more energy than you’d imagine into balancing the loaded bike, not just propelling the load along. One wheel trailers still need to be balanced by the rider, so they’re not really that much more efficient than panniers, but two wheel trailers don’t. Two wheel trailers (so long as they’re hitched at the dropout and not somewhere higher up like the seatpost) don’t influence the bike at all. Its the removal of that balancing effort that makes the difference – you’ll either travel measureably further for the effort, or move much more weight for the same effort with a 2 wheel trailer compared to panniers, by quite a large margin. Furthermore you can load them as clumsily as you like, you don’t need to spread or balance the load. Other than up hill you forget its there, your bike feels like your bike, it doesn’t feel heavy or loaded (until you go through a narrow gap).

The downside as you suspect is that its an extra item to deal with getting yourself on/off of public transport. French trains are ace for cyclists once you’re on them, but getting around the station and on and off the train can be a bit of a hassle, less so in some stations, but Nice for instance is like the bloody royal tornament, I can’t image there are any wheelchair users in french stations, or anyone elderly getting on and off the trains – in some stations you climb up into them through narrow doors.

While a trailers is extra encumberance in this situation again 2 wheel ones are better, they unhitch easier and good ones balance well in the hand so you can wheel the bike with one hand, and trolly the trailer along with the other. With a one-wheel trailer you’ve not really got an easy way of dealing with it once its loaded, but off the bike.

We did the Devon Coast-to-coast with the three kids so I had a big load and the dog in the trailer sometimes.
I was really impressed how much more comfortable a trailer(2 wheels Cargo2) was over paniers.
There was no heavy feel to the bike and side to side instabillity just resistance going foreward.

Light touring I would still go for paniers but the trailer for more gear was brilliant.

I found I struggled climbing with road gearing on my road bike towing a trailer. Towing a similar weight with mtb with lower gearing was much much easier. the added weight on the rear wheel improved traction. Be aware that the additional weight on the rear tyre increases tread wear.

I love my extrawheel trailer. Definitely seemed to have less effect on the bike than panniers to me.

I think the main advantage it had over panniers was there was a lot more space, so packing a lot easier. It does mean you have to resist the temptation to overpack, but it meant that I could carry the bulky but light things really easily, like sleeping bags and camping mats.

Easy to unhitch for a quick trip to the shops after a days riding too.

Met a fella this year coming back from the tour de france who’d taken his race bike to do the etape and whacked a trailer on the back. It enabled him to live like a king (stayed in hotels) 2 pairs of jeans, that kind of thing. His problem was descending. Once you get to about 30mph the trailer started bouncing around and made it unsafe which is a shame if your going to do any big climbs/descents.

I’m a big fan of Epic Design/Relavate

Panniers, I’ve ridden arround with soem seriously heavy stuff in my rear panniers (I moved house 1 bike trip at a time!). While they feel heavy at a junction (had an SPD style moment on flats!) once your going they just make the bike feel realy stable, bit like riding a motorbike, you do a lot more with the steering and a lot less with bodyweight.

Get some lowriders through for the front, otherwise it can feel like your about to weelie out up hills!

The key to trailers is they separate the influence of the load from the bike – you put more energy than you’d imagine into balancing the loaded bike, not just propelling the load along. One wheel trailers still need to be balanced by the rider, so they’re not really that much more efficient than panniers, but two wheel trailers don’t. Two wheel trailers (so long as they’re hitched at the dropout and not somewhere higher up like the seatpost) don’t influence the bike at all. Its the removal of that balancing effort that makes the difference – you’ll either travel measureably further for the effort, or move much more weight for the same effort with a 2 wheel trailer compared to panniers, by quite a large margin. Furthermore you can load them as clumsily as you like, you don’t need to spread or balance the load. Other than up hill you forget its there, your bike feels like your bike, it doesn’t feel heavy or loaded (until you go through a narrow gap).

Back in the day I road alot with panniers and this doen’t reflect my experience at all. The panniers just became part of the bike.

I’ve not used a trailer but I’m sure that they are fine

My only reservation on road would be that you loose the chance to draft each other. A day into a head wind with no drafting would be horrible. But if your on your own your on your own

Depends how much you’re carrying!

As Joe says, not really – carrying so much that you need a trailer is a disadvantage of itself. Having done 10 day tours on a tandem with just rear panniers (OK, staying in hotels, but just think how little one pannier each is compare to how much you can carry in panniers on a bike), and gone bike camping with mini-aracer in a kiddy seat and just rear panniers, I’m quite certain there’s no need for more than you can put in panniers.

The key to trailers is they separate the influence of the load from the bike – you put more energy than you’d imagine into balancing the loaded bike, not just propelling the load along. One wheel trailers still need to be balanced by the rider, so they’re not really that much more efficient than panniers, but two wheel trailers don’t. Two wheel trailers (so long as they’re hitched at the dropout and not somewhere higher up like the seatpost) don’t influence the bike at all. Its the removal of that balancing effort that makes the difference – you’ll either travel measureably further for the effort, or move much more weight for the same effort with a 2 wheel trailer compared to panniers, by quite a large margin.

Utter rubbish. As mentioned above I’ve toured with my son in a kiddy seat and panniers. I’ve also toured with him in a (2 wheel) bike trailer and the kit in/on the trailer when he was a bit younger. Bearing in mind that the total load was higher with the kiddy seat/panniers version, we went a lot faster that way. It really doesn’t actually take that much energy to balance – if you think it does then you either don’t know how to ride a bike properly or you don’t understand how it is you balance a bike. Of course it feels different with all that load on, and you ride a bit differently, but feels different != uses more energy. Meanwhile the trailer creates a lot more wind drag and does slow you down – I suspect I’ve done the comparison between the same load (one child) in a trailer and on the back of the bike than most on here, and the difference is significant, but not in the direction you’re suggesting.

Furthermore you can load them as clumsily as you like, you don’t need to spread or balance the load.

Maybe that’s your real issue – that you have to pack a bit more carefully with panniers.

Two wheel trailers…don’t influence the bike at all.

How can the additional weight of a trailer frame, two wheels and a large bag not influence the bike?! There must be a significant weight penalty to pay for that lot compared to racks and panniers, and you are going to notice that on a loaded touring bike when you start going uphill.
A properly loaded touring bike will handle fine with panniers (having taken one down a few Alpine passes at reasonable speed). I also agree that packing light makes touring a lot more fun. With the advent of trailers, some people seem to pack astonishing amounts of gear these days, and it looks like hard work lugging it all about.
I’m not the most efficient, and I easily managed to carry everything for several months of touring in four panniers (including cooking and camping gear). One of my mates was really organised, however, and could pack a primus, tent and all his other gear in a Carradice long flap saddle bag!

Utter rubbish

I used the word ‘measurably’ – as in weighed loads over timed set routes/distances with heart rate monitors. Subjectively carry a load any way you like; on a fixie with a shopping basket on the front, in a brick hod on a unicycle, on a pogostick with you’re trangia swinging from your pierced nipples. Objectively the best way to move a weight around (that doesn’t have legs) on a bicycle is to have that load rotationally de-coupled from the bike, and that decoupling benefit outweights any weight, wind or rolling resistance penalities, so long as the weight is significant.

But touring is about being happy, so do whatever makes you happy, if panniers feel better to you then do it. If your looking for reasons not to use a trailer, there aren’t many objective reasons not to, but if you don’t want to then fine. Fun isn’t always about doing things in the most efficient way.

How can the additional weight of a trailer frame, two wheels and a large bag not influence the bike?!

They don’t influence the balance of the bike – obviously you are pulling the load along and that takes effort, but you’re not balancing it. If you put half a tonne on the trailer you wouldn’t have to put any effort into keeping the bike upright – if you stepped off the bike the bike would fall over and the trailer and its weight would stay put. If you strap that weight on the bike you have to work to balance that weight, and it takes more effort that you might be aware of.

I still don’t believe you understand how you balance a bike – or maybe you can’t actually ride one properly. When you’re riding along the road in a straight line (which is what you spend most of your time doing when touring IME), you’re simply not expending any significant effort on balancing the bike, load or no load. Or at least I’m not.

Objectively the best way to move a weight around (that doesn’t have legs) on a bicycle is to have that load rotationally de-coupled from the bike

Well it might do if you were rolling your bike along sideways – personally I prefer to ride mine in a straight line, with the panniers happily following the same straight line as the rest of the bike, in which case the effect they have on the rotational inertia of the bike is pretty irrelevant.

that decoupling benefit outweights any weight, wind or rolling resistance penalities

So an effect which has no obvious basis in physics completely outweighs several others for which the physics is well defined and tested? 🙄

I used the word ‘measurably’ – as in weighed loads over timed set routes/distances with heart rate monitors.

So you’ve done lots of riding with panniers to compare against, despite your quite clear belief that it’s a far worse way to carry a load? Why?

I’ve looked up the only data easily to hand online – the results of our cycling club come and try it time trial this year and 2 years ago. 2 years ago I pulled my son around in a trailer, this year he was in a bike seat on the back of a bike – clearly this weight is far higher up than with panniers so must have a far bigger effect on balance than any normal pannier load. Unfortunately despite the same course (5.5 miles) and very similar weather, not all conditions were the same – 2 years ago I pulled the trailer on my super-aero TT bike in a full-on aero TT tuck, this year I was on my winter training bike. This year I was reasonably fit at the time, though not in race winning form, 2 years ago the TT was 4 days before a big national race which I won. My son weighed a lot more this year. The times? 2 year ago with the trailer, 17:12. This year with the bike seat, 15:54.

Let’s see your data.

panniers and disks = perfect

Trailers are better for carring odd shaped loads and heavy loads if you are in stop start traffic/roads as that is where they are easier to control. You can not ride out of the saddle with a trailer attached at the axel unless you keep the bike still as you get feed back form the trailer. I use my trailer to take my daughter to nursary and find that the trailer is better for her on those trips as she can see better and has room to take soem of her things with her. Panniers are much better if you are riding with normal loads and dont really effect the bike in any kind of wind unlike the trailer its also easier to stop with panniers than the trailer.

I am with aracer here. Having carried panniers a lot I have never noticed wasting energy to keep balanced and can see no mechanism why it should. It required no energy to balance the bike at speed. Gyroscopic precession and the castoring of the front wheel does it for you.

YOu do get an increased wind resistance with panniers ( compared to an unladen bike) – but you will with most trailers. Which is greater I don’t know

i have got both and used both quite extensivly ….

in the uk in winter going bothying where i need to carry a fair few warm clothes trailer

in nz camping for 4 months – rear panniers only.

weather is the deciding factor – where your going id be a panniers only kinda guy !

as above – if you “need” a trailer to go touring there – your taking too much – hell if i dropped some serious wedge on my winter gear id get away with panniers for that too …..

panniers or trailer Saddlebags.
3 months spain/france. Camping.

panniers or trailer Saddlebags.
3 months spain/france. Camping.

How can I take your recommendation seriously when you went SS. 😯

I think they rode fixed 😆

I’m gonna throw frame bags into the mix now 😆

Mrs Stoner in “flat-back roadie” shocker!

I’m disappointed, Stoner – you didn’t tell us lot using panniers that we’re carrying too much 😉

I thought that was inferred.

Mrs Stoner in “flat-back roadie” shocker!

I have no idea what that means but it sounds dirty. Thank you. 😈

I’m totally aware of how bikes are balanced when you ride them, but its naive to imagine they are balanced without any input from the rider, I’m not saying its enormous, but when the load is heavy its enough for there to be a benefit detaching that load from the bike. The tests I’m referring to relate to a 16kg load on the bike and comparing to a 16kg load on the trailer and then a 32kg load on the trailer. In a work fleet context so some stop/start and lower speed manouvering in the mix.

Most of your effort, once you get going from stationary is still pushing your bike through the air, and on a hill dragging it against gravity. And the load, even heavily loaded for touring, is still small compared to the rider, so its only that small portion of the effort that we’re talking about.

If your load is quite light though, such as in stoner’s example (or even Ton’s) the efficiency benefit deminishes, but even in that context I still prefer the feel of the bike with a trailer over panniers.