Touring - Extrawheel Trailer

Being new to bike touring my girlfriend felt more comfortable with the concept of towing a trailer rather than using racks and panniers. We weren't very impressed with the Bob trailers after investigating the specs and existing reviews and so I was investigating other options and one day stumbled across the Extrawheel trailer (http://www.extrawheel.com). I was very intrigued with this trailer as it appeared to have several advantages over the Bob:
1.) The Extrawheel is lighter and easier to pull.
2.) The Extrawheel is shorter and so has less "levering" action on the bike.
3.) Most of the weight of the Extrawheel load goes on the Extrawheel tire, unlike the Bob where it goes onto the rear wheel of the bike. The Extrawheel therefore reduces the load (and risk of failure) on the bike wheels and improves handling of the bike over the Bob.
4.) The Extrawheel uses the same tires/tubes as your bike, so there is no need to carry different sized spares.
5.) Single wheel design tracks the bike better particularly in single track applications.

http://www.extrawheel.com/images/przyczepka.jpg

Long story short I ordered an Extrawheel for the girlfriend and had them toss in one more for me to test out for off-road touring even though I already own racks and panniers. They both arrived yesterday morning so I thought I would give an initial assessment.

The Extrawheel comes assembled so the only thing to do before hitting the road is to replace the quick release skewer on your rear wheel with the one provided by Extrawheel. If your rear wheel has bolts instead of a quick release the Extrawheel also comes with special bolts to replace those. I decided to try the Extrawheel on my Stumpjumper Comp mountain bike and replacing the skewer took seconds. The Extrawheel has a unique and clever means of connecting the trailer and to the custom skewer on the bike using only pressure. You can see detailed instructions on how it works here. (http://www.extrawheel.com/instrukcja_en.php) In any event I was ready to hit the road in minutes. I added 10lbs of water to each side of the Extrawheel (20 lbs total) and prepared to go for a test ride.

Not having a ton of time I decided to just do a short ride up to Red Rocks Amphitheater (http://www.redrocksonline.com/index.asp), which is about 20 miles round trip from my house and has some short (1 - 2 miles) but steep climbing. The ride was a combination of streets and paved bike path, things were a bit too mucky around here with recent snow to try it on trails.

Although I had only loaded it up with 20lbs I was very impressed with the Extrawheel. It towed incredibly easily and when I wasn't actively thinking about why I was out riding I totally forgot the trailer was back there. I felt no levering on the bike and when I took on speed bumps, curbs, and other obstacles head-on the Extrawheel rolled over them smoothly without jerking the bike. Always just (at most) one bounce and then the Extrawheel was back on the pavement tracking perfectly, no jiggling or multiple bounces. Going uphill the extra weight was noticeable, but weight is weight and there is nothing to be done about that. Going downhill the bike handled like a dream with no pushing or levering from the Trailer. The Extrawheel tracked my bike perfectly and it actually felt like the bike handled better during cornering, like the trailer provided some additional stability.

Obviously this is just a preliminary assessment but I will follow up with additional comments once we get a chance to test the Extrawheel trailers further, particularly in an off-road capacity.

Thanks for the info! We are currently debating whether to use the BOB or Extrawheel on our upcoming trip...

The Canning Stock Route ride in Australia in 2005 used a Surly Pugsley ad and Extra Wheel trailer.Good story and photos if you have not seen it as yet.

http://www.wildworks.co.nz/csr/home.php

I have seen those Canning Stock Route pictures. One thing that troubled me with his pictures is that the (modified) Extrawheel looked mostly empty in most of the pictures. I assumed it was just because he was using it to carry water (which weighs a lot per volume) so I fired him off an email to ask. He said the Extrawheel was used strictly for carrying water, and that he carried up to 37 litres at a time which would be about 80 lbs.

It looks light, what does it weigh?

For people who are interested in a BOB nashbar has a single wheel trailer that is rather similar to a bob but cost about half as much. I think it's $179 right now. Just another option

The Extrawheel weighs 10 to 11 lbs depending upon the wheel. You can get it with a 26", 27", or 28" wheel and of course you could replace the stock wheel with your own.

i have an extrawheel. you can also order it with a 700C wheel, which is what I did. this thing is killer. It is well made, pulls like a dream, highly recommended.

quote from extrawheel website:
"WHAT THE BICYCLE TRAILER IS INTENDED FOR

Extrawheel trailer is intended for being hauled by any bicycle with a wheeldiameter of 26, 27 or 28"

So are 700c and 29ers out? That would suck.

Looks awesome, but trailers always seem expensive to me.

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on how it performs off-road. My girlfriend is considering one of these for the Great Divide route. It's cool how they link to other trailers on their website so you can be informed.

The Extrawheel website states 120 liters of storage, and a Bob Yak bag holds about 95 liters. But the Yak is so easy to pack...what are your thoughts on packing the Extrawheel, and the durability of the net material?

quote from extrawheel website:
"WHAT THE BICYCLE TRAILER IS INTENDED FOR

Extrawheel trailer is intended for being hauled by any bicycle with a wheeldiameter of 26, 27 or 28"

So are 700c and 29ers out? That would suck.

Remember: 700c is the rim size for 28er and 29er tires; The hoop attachment point may not handle the tallest 29er tire.

Contact Extrawheel for their ideas about tire size and height compatibility.

For people who are interested in a BOB nashbar has a single wheel trailer that is rather similar to a bob but cost about half as much. I think it's $179 right now. Just another option

You may want to see my comments of living with the Nashbar trailer for 8 months before I managed to kill it. the 45 pound weight limit is not negotiable.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=329963

With respect to durability only time will tell. When packing you definitely need to ensure that you have equal weight on each side of the trailer, given the single wheel design. My girlfriend has had her Extrawheel out a couple of times now (on the Surly LHT) and absolutely loves it. I'll provide updates after we take it out on a fully loaded tour. Still a little early in this part of the country but we hope to get a short tour in on the pavement soon.

I think it made sense on the CSR where floatation was important, and it is a well differentiated alternative to the Bob or other conventional trailers. Overall though, it looks like it has most of the disadvantages of a trailer and none of the advantages: It's only as good as it's panniers, lots of rolling resistance, no central stackability, still have to search for where stuff was put, could you use what this carries as a replacement for all other load carrying as can be done on a bob.

I mean really, for someone who doesn't want to carry paniers on a bike, you just bought an extra 50% of your bike and hung your load on paniers.

We are seriously debating between the BOB and Extrawheel right now. The things we like about the BOB are: one big bag makes for easier packing; have a flat surface for delicate items; can stap items to the top. The way the Extrawheel is coming out superior is: easier to transport (huge for us right now as we have to get them up to Alaska and will also have to transport them across the Darien Gap). We will be making our decision in the next week or so.

How well does it work on gravel/muddy/washboard etc roads?

The girlfriend and I did 50 miles yesterday, me with my panniers and her towing her Extrawheel. We did some gravel/dirt road and a couple of miles of dirt track that had been horribly chewed up by horses before solidifying into a bumpy mess. The Extrawheel worked great.

The biggest issue I see with the trailer so far, and this would apply to any trailer, is the added inconvenience . It is another piece of equipment that you have to deal with and it can get in the way when trying to maneuver in close quarters, (i.e.) when you stop somewhere. Also you can't draft off of someone pulling a trailer.

well guys i was thinking to make custom trailer like bob, one wheeled but was thinking to use extrawheel quickrelease and its fork any suggestions?

Avandil, tell everyone about the tools in your workshop.. first.
TIG, stick/arc welder, oxyacetylene torch and tanks . machine shop tools available..

#1, picture is older version, carries stuff like duffle and dry bags, in the mesh hammocks.
now they sell a pannier rack equipped version..

well guys i was thinking to make custom trailer like bob, one wheeled but was thinking to use extrawheel quickrelease and its fork any suggestions?

interesting idea. Seems to me you want a small wheel for bob like trailers or else it gets longer and more metal to bring the weight low. I could be wrong but one of the advantages to the extrawheel is that it reduces the tail wagging lever on the rear wheel by mounting the weight further forward. My concern would be whether the longer lever would affect the ability to stay attached by spring tension. Any reason to not just go with the pannier extrawheel?

That looks great. Thanks for the review OP.