Touring with a trailer?
 

Has anyone here done any longer tours with a trailer? I'm prepping for a tour of the lower 48 with a friend of mine, and I'd like to carry my Park tools PCS-9 with me, along with a box or two of MREs for food. I figured a trailer would be the only real solution for this. I'll be picking up a Trek 520 disc for the ride, if that makes any difference. We'd prefer to camp out most of the time we're on the road, maybe a hotel once a week, if that.

I think you'll find people questioning why you're bringing a repair stand more than your use of a trailer. Are you going to bring a tool set along and turn the tour into a working trip as well, or maybe making this a bike co-op tour where you travel bike shed to bike shed and helping fundraise and build/repair bikes for people in need? Unless you're bringing cone wrenches and a pedal wrench and crank puller, I personally don't see the need for a repair stand. Repair stands are nice to have at home, but not on the road unless you're a mechanic for a team or big event. I could be wrong.

How many miles/hours per day do you expect to ride?

I think there are some people who tour with one-wheel Bob trailers.

I just did a short trip from Portland to Eugene with my Bike Friday. I think I lost 2-3 MPH with the trailer, and it really beat me up :(

You'll do well if you can periodically restock on food.

best solution would be NOT to take it. kickstands are cheaper and lighter.

why mre's? expensive and not so yummy.

there are supermarkets and convenience stores all over the us.
not that many spots where you'd need to go more than a day or two without
restocking options.

****

yes, have done extended trailer tours with BOB.

--6 months new zealand, both islands.
--one year oztralia, perimeter and alice and tazzie.
--couple months across the us of a.
--couple month southwest tour...nm, ut, az, nv.

Ive used a trailer, but only for 2-3 day rides with kids who couldnt carry all their stuff.
It was just a burley kid trailer converted to hold groceries and camping stuff, so no help to you.


Like others, i question why you would ever need a full workstand. I have a pcs10 and loathe moving it around the garage, so i cant imagine pulling it all over America.
Best of luck.

I used a BOB trailer on an eight-week ride in the Rocky Mountains with my then-8 year old daughter on a Santana tandem, and again on an 80-day coast-to-coast ride her when she was 10, again with the Santana. It is heavier than panniers, and you notice it when you are climbing, but it tracks straight, there is no frame flex, and you don' notice it at all on down hills, flat ground, or in winds. The BOB is excellent for bike touring. The "danger" with the BOB is that there is space to bring too much stuff, like a bike stand....

:popcorn

I'll agree with the above posters.
Maybe a bit of cord and hang it from a limb or such if you really need to get it up to eyeball height.

BoB single wheel trailer s are a Popular Thing, On the Pacific coast Route .. use any Bike , and go somewhere.


Burly Flatbed & Nomad are good 2 wheel trailers .. Nomad has its Own bag,

Flatbed You load a Duffle bag aboard, Or your boots and Back Pack and take a Hike into the mountains, If you like.

There are a lot of journals on CGOAB written by tourists using trailers, mostly the BoB trailer. I have not used a trailer, but from reading the journals, there seem to be two main reasons for using them: 1) extra carrying capacity, and 2) with a light bike that is not set up to carry panniers. In your case, the 520 is an ideal bike for using panniers. A trailer will add weight, and the 520 is already a fairly heavy bike. Like other posters, I question the need for a repair stand on a tour.

You also mentioned MRE's. Are you referring to military issue MRE's? If so, they are very heavy, contain an awful lot of disposable packaging, and except for the candy bars, taste pretty bad. If you need to stash an emergency meal, I would recommend one of many freeze dried options available at any sporting goods store, or Walmart. Most of them can be prepared and eaten right out of the packaging. And you can buy a Snickers bar when you get to a convenient store.:)

Maybe I'm overthinking (or overpreparing) with the repair stand. I can't have a lot of those frozen meals because they more often than not contain carrots, which I'm allergic to. The MREs would be military stuff, I have a contact that hooks me up relatively frequently. I figured the trailer would be the best way to carry everything, since can't see loading the panniers with those big things. Yes,they're large and heavy, but you can survive on them for a while.

"Jane! Stop this crazy thing!"--G. Jetson

My idea of food on tour is late afternoon find a grocery, buy to fix supper and breakfast. Don't over do breakfast, time to pack up and ride. Lunch and snacks along the road. Repeat! Of course there are places in the world where this won't work. Adjust as necessary.

Took my trailer to the store as Colas were on sale 4 for $9.

Got 4 which equaled 40 lbs

No way I would tour with a trailer.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=503464

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=503463

Did a 600 mile tour bringing left over hurricane food.

56 lbs of stuff...Way to heavy for the tour.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...ril2010001.jpg

Please don't. It's one thing to ask questions. It's another thing entirely to pretend you have some knowledge of this. I'm embarrassed for you.

I wouldn't suggest either freeze dried or MREs except when there are no other options, which is fairly rare if you're touring in the US. There's no reason to carry a lot of extra weight everywhere you go. Find a freeze dried meal that doesn't contain carrots, and stash it away for an emergency. Pick up your meals at grocers as you go. You'll eat much better.

My daughter is in the army, and has shared a few MREs with me. I wouldn't take them on a bike tour for the reasons I stated before.

Oh, and I never skip breakfast on a tour...

It isn't just weight, but also increased drag.

It really depends on one's goal. If one targets 50 miles a day, then one might be fine with the trailer.
If one targets 150 miles a day, then the trailer would be a lot to pull.

I've done a lot of work on my bikes without a repair stand. Flipping it?

I looked up Freeze Dried Mountain House.
Beef Stew had carrots (as expected).
I did not see carrots in Beef Stroganoff, Chicken and Mashed Potatoes, nor Chicken Teriyaki & rice. Of course, you should double check.

One advantage of MRE's is I think they can be eaten cold while you generally have to prepare the Mountain House freeze dried meals. It makes a difference, especially if camping outside of dedicated campsites.

But, there are quite a number of foods that are not military rations. Some things like sandwich fixings are readily available anywhere.

Fortunately, even if MREs have excess packing, if one practices pack-it-in, pack-it-out, then the empty packaging is always lighter and more compact than the full packaging.

Come on, man. He wrote "frozen meals" when you suggested freeze-dried. And carrying a repair stand? You taking this all seriously?

I did 2 months to the East Coast and 6 months in Europe that way.
The only person embarrassing themself is your assuming and unknowing attacks. Go somewhere else to play with yourself.

Don't be. He's doing it intentionally. I have reported him via a summation post by another poster in one the two different 28 spoke wheel threads SB has started in two different forums. Saddly, in this climate I doubt anything will come of it. It will be allowed to continue.

The mentally deranged are not unfamiliar on this forum. No, the mods won't do anything about him. It's pathetic.

No you didn't.

Yeah, I'm giving suncruiser the benefit of the doubt. I'll assume the frozen was a mistake, and I'll chalk up the repair stand and MREs to an obsessive survivalist mentality. But if he sincerely wants some guidance, I'll do what I can for him, as long as he doesn't start talking about using a trailer to lug an accordion around with him...

Please cool it down a little bit folks. It's OK to agree to disagree.

Thanks,
Tmonk
a forum moderator