ypsetihw

Welp it's Friday night and I've had a couple beers, and instead of going out into the world to socialize like a normal adult, I turn to my old standby . . . bikeforums

I will try to frame this question quickly and then give a little more for those who are interested: why do people seem to prefer racks and panniers over trailers for light or even weighted touring?

The reason I ask this question is pretty straightforward - I don't have a "touring" bike and I have never toured on my bike, but I am into camping and have done some light backpacking in the past, and I would like to tour or bike-camp soon. I LOVE riding my road bike (commuting and long group rides - 125+ miles/week in summer, did a century last year, might do a few crits this season) and I modified a MTB last fall for winter commuting and summer trail riding. There are several nice state parks within say 100 miles or less of my home, with excellent road and MTB trails. I envision riding out, setting up camp, and then being able to bike on or off road during the day, and returning to the campsite at night. I just bought a single seat toddler trailer for my 1yo son, and it is very well built with an aluminum frame and solidly built 16" wheels. It is relatively light, has a rain cover, supports its own weight, and holds up to 50 lbs. It attaches by a lug through the rear QR skewer and fits both of my bikes and on my wife's hybrid, and installs in minutes with no tools. Also, I got it on clearance brand new for $45 down from $179 (crazy I know). Even at the full $179 this is cheaper than quality racks and panniers that I've quoted, and much cheaper than sourcing or building a dedicated touring bike.

It occurs to me that the dimensions and weight capacity are certainly enough to hold all of my camping equipment for several days, food and clothes, and other incidental tools. The trailer supports its own weight, so it wouldn't add anything to my body, change the handling of the bike, or overweight my wheels, which I think would make me more comfortable and better handling in the long run. I have it setup on my roadified MTB at the moment (Kenda Kross tires, clipless pedals, fenders, lights, upright riding position), and it seems like it would be a great touring setup or even a grocery/commuting rig. The other upshot is that with a single cotter pin I can undo the hitch and be on my way riding as normal, bet that around the campsite, trails/roads, or town, without having to unpack everything.

So why go through the mess of getting a bike with a long wheelbase and stout frame that might not work for "side rides" on or off road, adding tons of weight and cost by getting stiff racks and weatherproof panniers, getting ridiculously low gearing, running unnecessarily large tires and heavily spoked rims, all to ride something that seems like it would feel like riding a camel, when you could just hitch up a road worthy trailer to your comfy hybrid, road, or converted MTB, and roll out?

rifraf

There is no right or wrong way.
There is simply right for you.
All methods have pro's and cons and compromises.

Trailers - two wheels fine for tarmac but much less so for off road.
single wheel fine for both though less (enough?) haulage space.

Don't underestimate the effect of a headwind on your mileage/effort.

DropBarFan

I live close to a bike path used by tourists & can hardly remember seeing any long-distance bike tourists using a trailer. OTOH I see tons of local parents happily biking w/kiddy trailers so go figure?

Tourist in MSN

Have you looked at older posts on this topic, there are several that have a lot of detail.

ypsetihw

I guess the off road thing makes sense. I suppose if your route had a mix of gravel and road a trailer might be impractical.

Is a trailer any worse than huge panniers in the wind? In my head it would seem easier but maybe the logic is flawed?

indyfabz

The original contention is silly. Single-wheeled trailers are fine for paved roads. I crossed the country with 13 people. Three of them were towing B.O.B.s. No problems. When my GF toured she used a B.O.B. on and off road. In fact, with the way rumble strips are being placed these days, a single-wheeled trailer can be a big advantage.

saddlesores

why would you say that? pavement or dirt road, all good.
goat trails in the mountains another thing entirely.

try the search function. hundreds of threads cover the subject.


but you ALREADY got a trailer hitched up to your modified mtb,
and you already got your camping gear.

why not try it out? you'd certainly learn more from experience
than from reading the intertubes.

mstateglfr 

I use a single child Burley trailer thats been converted into a cargo hauler for family bike camping trips.

I took out the fabric seat and support and fit a piece of plywood to the footprint opening at the bottom to make a solid floor.

We overload it by 20# over recommended max most trips and it works well.


We use the trailer because its a way to carry everything that cant fit in pannierd since only my bikes have rack and panniers.

Trailer benefits-
Easy to pack since you can mass dump stuff in.
Cheap since you already have the trailer.

Trailer negatives-
Overpacking is easy to do which leads to heavy pulling.
Not the easiest for off pavement when its a 2 wheel trailer.


Go try it and see how it is. I bet itll work just fine for what you want to do.

Bad pic for an example since the burley is behind a front wheel, but its fully loaded with camping stuff as this is just before the start of a ride to camp.

rifraf

Please expand on your post.
What exactly are you suggesting is the original contention that is so silly?
Where has it been suggested by anyone that single wheeled trailers aren't fine for paved roads?

gregjones

I use a BOB almost daily. This last week it felt heavy on the way back from the grocery store. So I weighed it. Trailer+Load=72lbs. Paved roads without problems.

It it's just occasional, a good trailer costs less than good racks and bags. Carries at least as much, probably more than you need.

Straight ahead, down the road, aero effects are probably of no concern at touring speeds. Ft. bags are in the way, but not as much as YOU are. Rear bags are behind a pair of legs pumping pedals. They aren't in clean air so.....probably don't make much of a difference. I'd think that a trailer would be the same.

Crosswinds-----bags suck and trailers suck.

ypsetihw

good answer - thanks for cutting to the chase on that one lol

we took the trailer (with the 1yo) out for an hour today and did my usual 10 mile/35 min loop in just over an hour. we were taking it easy because my lady isn't conditioned, but still, it was slow. it didn't "feel" hard, but I was running several gears lower than usual. on my converted MTB I can usually stay in the big ring of my triple for solo commutes or fast mileage winter rides, but even on perfect roads with good weather, with the trailer I never left the middle ring, and was spinning very fast for the average 9mph we showed on Strava . . .

indyfabz

My apologies. I misread your post.

rifraf

No worries, easily done
I've made the same mistake myself

prathmann

OTOH, there's probably no need to do any of that. I've done lots of tours on my Cannondale, very short wheelbase, road bike by attaching a $10 rack and $34 waterproof panniers. I use the original wheels and the same size tires it's always had (23-25 mm). The rack and panniers add less than 5 pounds to the bike and I keep the weight of my camping gear under 20 pounds so there isn't all that much extra load on the bike.

Using a trailer would also be feasible but would probably add at least 10 pounds to the overall weight compared to my rack&pannier arrangement. But if I had a need for a much heavier touring load then a trailer would start to make more sense - it could easily carry a greater load and the weight of the trailer would be a less significant fraction of the total.

fietsbob

I have a Trailer that folds flat that I can Tow with My Brompton ,

or by taking off the hitch from under the L axle nut tow it with any other Bike.


After Touring and finding the 5 or more bags Off the Bike are a bit of a PITA to deal with

when encountering stairways, the Idea Of a back pack strap Portage bag from the Canoe Voyageurs of the 19th century

has appeal in that you can wear the trailer, and lift the rack-less bike in your hands , to climb and descend stairs
\
Fence stiles , and even cross un ridable places like when the road washes out or the hill side's slide blocks your Route.

Squeezebox

is it possible to put a BOB on a bicycle with a through axle?

Biketouringhobo

I vote on Panniers and Racks

fietsbob

if you hire a Machine Shop to make custom parts, pretty much anything is possible..

BigAura

true

mstateglfr 

Yes ive read there is an adapter. A simple google search will answer your question and let you know of its possible with your mythical bike.

A bob is hardly UL.

ypsetihw

Thanks for all your responses, I know this topic gets covered regularly, and the answer is highly situation dependent.

I guess I envision touring only a night or two or three, and wanting to go somewhere I can ride during the day while camping. In my head, the trailer would be the only solution because I could use literally ANY bike, and even get more than 1 hitch so I wouldn't even have to remove the skewer if I was switching bikes (although that just seems lazy lol). If I wanted to do MTBiking, I would just bring my off road tires, and swap out at the campsite. I would more likely hitch it to my roadie and ride the 60 or so miles to either of the state parks, and then do road rides around the area during my downtime. As such, I just want to be able to drop the trailer and go, so I guess I answered my own question.

Not having any experience touring, I guess I'm surprised that people who are into touring seem to place rather low priority on being able to ride the bike unencumbered when they are in a temporary location. I was thinking of RV drivers who ALWAYS tow a car or golf cart or bikes or motorcycle so they don't have to drive the RV around all the time when they makes stops or setup camp. To me, the trailer accomplishes this, racks do not.

ypsetihw

Nice looking fleet! That's my dream some day! We took the baby out in the trailer yesterday and my lady was actually much more into it than I expected (she hasn't ridden since before she was pregnant). Maybe I can pull this off afterall . . .

prathmann

Guess I don't really consider having a rear rack (weighs less than a water bottle) on my bike as being "encumbered". I'm sure I can't tell the difference while riding whether the rack is there or not. The panniers snap off in seconds (as quick as detaching my trailer) so only the rear rack stays on the bike - and frankly I find it handy to have some carrying capability even when leaving the camp so I can grab some groceries or other items while out and about.

ypsetihw

Again, interesting . . . I kindof assumed that panniers were relatively fixed to the racks, and weren't very easy to remove. As I said, I have very little experience in this arena but I'm surprised, in a good way.

My road bike is setup like a racing bike and frankly I like it that way. It doesn't have any rack mounts, nor a saddle bag, nor any lights/reflectors or any other accessories aside from a very small cyclocomputer and an HR monitor. Even if I could fit some racks, I wouldn't want to do my road rides on the side, when I setup camp, with racks on. I was just imagining hauling tools and having to do a bike overhaul at the campsite and it didn't appeal to me.

fietsbob

ultalight, ... Its Been done (see archives) Nun picture-posted about his Kit pretty traditional actually

LG british saddle bag off the back of the saddle and a handlebar bag And you leave lots of stuff at home .

Credit card and stay in Motels and hostels eat in restaurants & cafes..