alathIN

I just started commuting regularly, and for various reasons I wound up using our Burley kids' trailer as my "trunk." I've been using it for quite a while for groceries and errands and such, and have a pretty well stocked cycling emergency kit in there.

For most of my commutes, I am carrying a large-ish gym bag (contains my work clothes as well as my swimming and running gear, since I often do my swim group on the way to work and often run on my lunch break). I also carry all my food to work, sometimes for 12 hour shifts, and since I eat mostly fresh fruits and veg that tends to be bulky. Then throw in a rain jacket just in case, and maybe stop for some random groceries along the way home, and it isn't hard to make use of all that trailer space.

I know I could be considerably faster without the trailer - right now I'm doing a 14-ish mile commute in about an hour, including stops. I guess I could shave a few minutes off that by going lighter, but those few minutes don't make that much difference to me and the convenience is working for me so far.

One side benefit: after riding all week pulling that trailer, my road bike feels like a featherweight rocket

TransitBiker

I am definitely going to get a trailer when i get the money together. My two big questions are should it be single or double wheel, and should it be something like a metal or fiberglass cargo delivery box, a flat platform, or other.

The added mass would likely not affect my riding, as i've lost more weight than i'd probably ever put in trailer.

Do you have a photo of yours in use, and if so, could you post one here?

- Andy

locolobo13 

I saw a single wheel BOB trailer on the sidewalk once. The thing I liked about it was the footprint. It didn't take any extra space and the cyclist was able to weave thru the foot traffic. Yes he was doing that. The thing I didn't like was the price. Even the used ones on Craigslist were almost full price. Haven't looked in a while.

alathIN

No photo handy, but here is a link to a review of the trailer I'm using: Burley Bike Trailers- Living Up To Their Name? | Cycling-Review.com (we have the D'Lite, the first trailer shown in the review)

Obviously this trailer is not primarily intended for cargo - it's designed for one or two kids in the front with a small cargo area in the rear.

We were leery of buying this because it was a bit spendy - but we've definitely gotten our money's worth out of it. Now on our second set of tires, which are just about worn through and about to need our third set of tires.

The kids are just about grown out of this - now mostly on tagalongs or on their own bikes - but we still use the Burley for cargo/groceries/commuting.

As locolobo alluded, the big drawback of this setup is that it does give you a wider footprint than a single wheel trailer would.

BobbyG

I commute by bike to stay fit, so weight saving is not a priority. I have flirted with the idea of a bike trailer for years. I just don't need one at this time.

Tundra_Man 

I've got a child trailer that I use on rare occasion. My company gives us a Thanksgiving turkey every year and I usually pull the trailer on that day to bring it home. The added drag is very noticeable to me so for myself I wouldn't want to pull it every day. Also, most days I ride my road bike but the trailer hitch is mounted to my hybrid bike, so I get the double speed-whammy.

I do notice that cars give me a much wider berth when I'm pulling the child trailer. At stop lights I get interesting looks when people see I've got a 20 lbs turkey strapped into the safety harness.

tjspiel

We also have a Burley that we got years ago. I also hesitated because of the price. It might be the most expensive bike related single purchase I've ever made. It's been well worth it though.

The kids have long since outgrown it, but I still use it for hauling stuff.

I personally would rather use a combination of panniers and a backpack if I had that much stuff to get back and forth to work each day. Or maybe I'd haul most of what I needed for the week in a single trip and carry a smaller amount the rest of the days. It's not that riding with a trailer is so terrible but it would be a pain for me to deal with it once I got to work.

nashvillwill

I've never commuted with a trailer, but i certainly would. I also have heavy luggage like you; long days, heavy lunch, all weather gear, work clothes, grocery stops. I've made do with my panniers, but taco'ed a rear wheel with the load and had to buy a custom (expensive!) heavy duty rear wheel. The good news is that custom built rear wheel can now carry a 60 lb bag of dog food. The panniers, on the other hand, need to be replaced often enough that i could have purchased 2 or 3 trailers by now.

One of my old neighbors took his kids to school in a trailer on his way to work. He made an agreement with the school to leave his trailer there so he could ride into work unemcombered. It was a good arrangement for him, but they really loved him on the days of heavy rain when he dropped off two soaking wet kids and a trailer full of road sludge.

MichaelW

A trailer is my most useful accessory, should have got one years ago.
Use a child-trailer for children. If you want to haul stuff, get a cargo version.
For touring, use single wheel (better tracking), for utility, 2 wheels: (heavier loads, long loads)

I prefer a flat-bed style, I can add any kind of box or use the flat bed for sacks of DIY supplies and lumber.

Recently, I had to move some gravel around. I took my tools in a plastic box and used the box as a wheel-barrow.

I fretted between the small 16" wheel and large 20" wheel. the large one has been a good choice. It disassembles with ease for flat storage.
I only use the trailer when I intend to haul stuff.

TransitBiker

I have to wonder what you were riding for it to fail like that. My rear rack is rated to 55 lbs, but i could get a sturdier one that can hold 70-75, and the bike would not need any special modifications or considerations.

- Andy

Walter S

I have a Croozer trailer that I do my weekly grocery shopping with. I don't see much point in commuting with it though. The bike has racks and panniers. On my commute I ride with one pannier that has a change of clothes in it.

nashvillwill

Well, it wasn't the rack that failed, but the rear wheel. It was the factory Alex rim that failed. And just to be clear, it wasn't a sudden catastrophic failure of the wheel, but i just blew out spokes and tubes constantly and couldn't keep the rim true (myself or pros), until it ultimately just became deformed. But i weigh 200 lbs and carried an average daily load of probably 20 lbs or so (on the rear rack). Peak load was probably 40 lbs a few times a week (groceries). The rack is a Topeak Explorer MTX and has performed flawlessly. Also, the reason for the pannier replacement was just that the stitching would eventually fail, but these were fold out panniers from a top mounted bag. Granted, this pannier configuration isn't the most sturdy in the world, but i like the setup and don't mind the occasional replacement cost to have the ability to tuck them away. It's handy, while riding on a train, to be able to slender down the bike a little.

I had a new wheel hand built by a guy in Oakland that was highly reviewed as a wheel builder. It's been bullet proof ever since.

fietsbob

Trailers are part of the Utility forum too Utility Cycling .. I own 2..

one_beatnik

Always. I've used my BOB for 12 years. My bike has no lugs anywhere to attach racks to. Plus, I'm a one bike person and also do some tours. If I don't use the trailer at least half loaded during my normal rides, it absolutely kills me when I do go on tour fully packed. It's worked well for me. I love the flag and the extra blinky light I put on the trailer for the visibility too.

TransitBiker

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Do you remember what model rim it was?

- Andy

MattoftheRocks

I've been using a burley flatbed for nigh on ten years, it's about due for replacement. I've tried racks a number of times, eventually graduating up to tye beefy Tubus and some nice waterproof clip-on panniers to eliminate the handling issues. If I never had to get out of the saddle for sprinting or climbing, they'd probably be fine, but they all sit in a box in my garage. I like being able to whip my bike around without worrying about bags flapping and racks flexing and even breaking. I have a pair of big-ish tupperware bins that are usually strapped in to the trailer- one for clean stuff and one for dirty stuff. My nice pannier bags only get used one at a time and on the trailer when I'm going on a multi county ride and don't want the aero drag of the bins.

gna

I take our pup to "doggy day care" twice a week. She gets to run and play and it really tires her out. I haul her in my daughter's old Trek trailer, which has a flat bottom with a foam pad. I then go to work with the trailer. It's been handy a few times, as I was able to stop at the store on the way home or haul extra items to and from work. Wouldn't want to haul it every day, though.
See https://www.bikeforums.net/utility-cy...l#post16819278

Leisesturm

A kiddie trailer is the absolute worst of all trailer configurations to commute with. Around here a small army of semi-homeless use them to cart around salvage and/or their belongings. They don't know or care about drag coefficients but anyone together enough to be reading this forum should. I bought a single wheel trailer because in NYC and nearby Hoboken, NJ a single wheel is the only kind of trailer configuration that will make it through the gaps that a cyclist has to slither through on a daily basis. Now that I am on the West Coast and with much more road room, the single wheel layout still feels right. Two wheels are fine for big loads as was mentioned but a purpose built cargo trailer will carry that load with a minimal amount of frontal area and this is has a huge effect on the amount of effort it will take to haul your load.

Little story about wheels. My most expensive bike of my seven is the tandem we use for club rides and nice weather recreation. It is cheap as tandems go, but at $2K it was more money than I had ever spent on a bike. The cheapest bike has got to be the tandem we got from Wal-Mart as a grocery getter/commute taxi/knock-around town, car surrogate. At $250 it represents the $99 price point of dept. store bikes in stores like Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, Target and Costco. That is the bike that is set up to pull the Bob Yak. A Bob Yak is rated for 70lbs but we routinely load it with !20lbs on grocery day. A single wheel trailer puts a lot of weight on the rear wheel of a bike and a tandem puts more weight on a wheel than a single. In six years there has not even been a millimeter of wobble in the wheels on the Wal-Mart tandem. Meanwhile the rear wheel of the Raleigh tandem would constantly break spokes and go out of true. Thank goodness it has disc brakes because some outings the wobble was so bad that a rim brake would have been useless! After the fourth round of spoke replacements @ $25 only because I have a good relationship with the LBS mechanic... finally I just had him rebuild both wheels same rims, same hubs but all new spokes - $80 each wheel. Ouch. Wheel building is the only area of bike repair that I cannot handle. I have bought a truing stand but haven't gotten the nerve up to take on even a minor truing assignment. Anyway... go figure. The cheapest wheels I own are hands down the strongest.

H

noglider 

I've been using kiddie trailers for cargo for years. Last year, I took the tops and sides off, so now both of my trailers are flatbed trailers. Less wind drag. I like the way these trailers don't affect my bike's handling. Drag is often barely perceptible. I don't commute with one, but I wouldn't criticize for doing so.

CrankyOne

I'll occasionally ride my bakfiets if I need to carry a bunch of kids or other stuff. Definitely costs me a few minutes (11 mile commute) but I still enjoy riding so not a big deal.