Originally Posted by
valygrl
35-45 pounds of load is not a small load, that's a regular load. Does the trailer you are looking at really have capacity to carry all that and the dog? Will the dog have enough room? If you are saying the trailer weighs 25 you picked the small dog trailer, but you have a medium/large dog, and plan to put your gear in there too?
The trailer weighs 25-35 pounds the dog 60 and the load 45. That is 120-140 pounds, plus whatever the bike weighs, say 25-35. You will need much lower gears than either of those bikes has.
The dog + the low end estimate of the gear eight approaches the trailer's weight capacity. Witht the upper end gear estimate, the capacity is exceeded. I also thought the same thing about space.
BTW...Did you see the cost of the brake option? $499 for solid axle. $533 for the QR axle version, which would seem wise on a tour in the event of a flat.
And about that braking system:
"Sturmey Archer alloy drum brake hubs are activated by an actuator built into the tow bar. Using the bikes brakes, or going down hill, pushes the trailer toward the bicycle. A rod is moved in the actuator, which then pulls the brake cables and slows the trailer."
As I read this, every time you go down hill the brakes will automatically engage, whether you need them or not. In fact, how can the braking system tell the difference between going down hill and slowing due to coasting? The momentum of the trailer could cause the trailer to move closer to the bike when one slows due to coasting. (Think of a rail car contuning to move forward after the locomotive has been throttled back.) That all seems like it would be annoying.