Trailer for tandem

[Lonnie Seachris]

I have been kicking around the thought of buying a trailer for our tandem. Need some input on what seems to work the best.
Will the BOB trailer fit the 145mm spacing on our bike ?
Which seems to pull better the single wheel our the double ?
What are your favorites ?
Which hitch setups seem to work the best ?

[mchell]

I have been kicking around the thought of buying a trailer for our tandem. Need some input on what seems to work the best.
Will the BOB trailer fit the 145mm spacing on our bike ?
Which seems to pull better the single wheel our the double ?
What are your favorites ?
Which hitch setups seem to work the best ?
We pull a BOB behind our tandem. (Rans recumbent) Except for the hills, we don't even know it's there. 145mm spacing is not a problem as far as I know; you'll just need the longer skewer, but the BOB should fit. BOB's are not for human cargo! We also have a double wheeled "Firefly" which is wider, heavier and was recalled by Axiom as the hitch could be faulty. The hitch could also chew up the finish on the left chainstay, if not protected. We don't use it at all as we prefer the BOB. Most recumbents can't take front panniers, so we have seen many singles and tandems pulling BOB's.

[zonatandem]

Either the Bob or a Burley should work fine.

[George Handy]

We've pulled a Yakima trailer (similar to the BOB trailer) for a few hundred miles behind our tandem, and they work great. The hardest part is parking the rig-it can be hard to find a spot long enough to lean against! When you are riding in a stiff crosswind with a trailer, you can tell its back there. One advantage-the rig is almost theft-proof. If someone unfamiliar with the rig moves it, it will almost instantly jack-knife on them. It helps to have a second person to get the bike and trailer upright again.

[phil.]

George,

I also have the yak big tow trailer. Do you use the stock skewer on the tandem? I test fit it and it's long enough, but deosn't extended all the way through the end like it does on my single bike. Also, did you just widen mounting width by mounting it or cold set it using your foot?

I picked up 2 big tow's about 1.5yrs ago off geardirect.com (no longer have them) for $50 each! I laugh to myself whenever I think about it. I called them up and asked if the price was correct and if they had any more in stock...they said "yeah we have a big stack of them". I guess they got a bunch cheap since they were being discountinued, I still get emails for their specials but I haven't seen as good as deal as that again.

Let me know about the skewer and if you just widen the mounting as you attach the trailer or have just decided to cold set it.

Thanks,
Phil.

[DocF]

One advantage of the single wheel trailers is riding on double path. This can be tricky with a two wheel trailer.

Doc

[George Handy]

Hey Phil-Pretty good deal on the trailers! Not as good as my deal-I work for a Yakima dealer and I borrowed the rep's sample about 4 years ago. He said keep it and I'll let you know if I need it. Well, that was then, this is now, he's not the rep anymore, so I guess it's mine for good. It's been a while since I've used it, but I recall the skewer threads only partially into the end-peice. I haven't cold-set the hitch-I just stretch it to fit on the tandem, as I have used it on my single as well.