Hey everyone,

I love my Burley Flatbed. It is great for lightduty work. I love taking it fishing. I have put rodholders on it. It always gets lots of attention when I set my fishtrap. I cover it up, (its a huge metal cage) and when I expose a section of it, everyone stops to see. Thats about the heaviest work I can do with it though. In the summer, if I load it up with firewood for bondfires, she feels as if shes gonna break in two. Also something with a nice hard base would be nice. And forget about recycling trips. I want a BAW trailer. What do you think of yours. Something a bit longer would be nice too.


What is the most you would tow with a skinny tire bike. I used to tow with a heavy hybrid, but after that got stolen, I got something faster a GT Transeo 2.0. An urban Commuter/Fitness bike. Much lighter and smaller in general than a Specialized Crossroads. But since I'm not old and fat this is good and just what I needed. + The first thing I did with it was put 700c x 28c Armadillo's on it (Redwall). Its even faster and it looks better.


But BAW limits their trailers by tire width. The tongue weight of a 300 pound trailer is 30 pounds. I know the rear wheel is weaker, but it should be able to handle this right?

I have only had my BAW trailer a short time, but I am glad I bought it. It has worked well to transport my kayak. I haven't carried any really heavy loads (the kayak is only 40 lbs.), but BAW's reputation is good.

I have hauled 300 pounds + of newspapers in my 8 foot BAW trailer using a surly LHT to pull it with no problems. The width problem can be overcome by putting Rubber Maid containers in place and setting plywood or whatever large item you want to carry on top. The wheels have metal over them so you can sit things on them too.

I have only had my BAW trailer a short time, but I am glad I bought it. It has worked well to transport my kayak. I haven't carried any really heavy loads (the kayak is only 40 lbs.), but BAW's reputation is good.

That looks great! I've been toying with the idea of putting my boat (14' 140lbs) on my BAW trailer. My issue seems to be the weight distibution & centre of gravity.

My BAW trailer is GREAT! It can carry things I never thought possible! A few weeks ago I used it to take home a propane grill (4 1/2 ft tall, 5 ft wide, 3 1/2 ft depth Appx) and worked great! I feared it might tip over, but I just took curves slowly and did great. I've also used it to haul a rocking chair I saved, groceries of course, a ladder....

It can be months between uses, but when I need it, it's always there for me!

I use it for big loads like going to a job site with my tools. The last trip was last week and I hauled my compressor, hoses, nail guns, boxes of nails and other tools. Works great!

I use a mountain bike, but I think your hybrid should work fine. I haven't seen anything about BAW limiting their trailers by tire width on their website or in the instructions that came with my trailer. I'd call or email them to be sure. Ideally you will center the load over the trailer axle, so there is not much weight on the hitch.

I wouldn't worry about the hybrid i used to ride. It was very heavy and sturdy with 700x38 tires. THis bike is about 15 pounds lighter with much slimmer wheels. I really don't think it will be an issue, I just wanted to see what a few owners thought

Love mine. Just wish I had the new model that has a flexible length.

Nobody seems to want to answer your question. Just to make this thread of some value, let us know what BAW says about towing with road wheels, narrow rims, few spokes. I would like to know. Anyone who wants to answer the question in the post, as opposed to the question in the title, let's hear from you.

I can't speak for Bikes at Work, but there are a few issues:

– Tongue weight. I think it was a problem with their older design of the 8-ft trailer: its wheel were in the back, which meant that if evenly loaded with 300 lb, you could easily have 100-200 lb tongue weight. With wheels closer to the centre (on all other past models and all current models), tongue weight is indeed more reasonable for a bike.

– Wheel strength. If all things are equal – and they rarely are – a 26" wheel is stronger than a 700c wheels. Simply because of the smaller diametre, a 26" 32-spoke wheel is about as strong as a 700c 35-spoke wheel. In other words, don't worry if you have 36 spokes, but worry more if you have 32, 28 or even less spokes.
In the same vein, a wheel with 130-mm spacing (typical of road hubs) has more dishing: right-hand spokes are almost vertical. On the other hand, a wheel with 135-mm spacing (mountain or touring bike that have mountain hubs) is fairly symmetrical and therefore much stronger and will break much less spokes. You may say that 30 lb tongue weight is not that much, but it's mostly the side stresses that happen, say, when you turn, that change the force distribution on spokes.

– Tire size. The heavier the cargo, the more weight on the rear wheel. There are limits as to what can be carried safely by a 700x23 tire.

– Gears. Not a durability issue per se, but the typical road bike doesn't have very low gears, so it would be very hard to pull a hefty load, especially in an incline.


So in your case, I really don't know whether you have a road or mountain hub and I don't know how much weight you'll be carrying around. And I don't know your bike. I would give you the green light if you have 135-mm spacing, good wheels with 32-36 spokes and decent tires (700x28 seem decent unless you carry a fridge). But I would raise a yellow flag if you have a low-spoke-count rear wheel, 130-mm spacing (especially if the wheel is poorly built) and you routinely want to carry 200-300 lb.

Okay I just went out and looked they are 32 spoke Alex ace17's

I'm probrably somewhat lighter than some of you guys @ 5'8 140pounds.

It hauled good today 5 bags of mulch 2 on the Cetma Rack, and 3 on the Flatbed, I think the gears are low enough for me