Mo-bile

Can you hook a trailer to any road bike, without the bike crumbling under the pressure, that is? For example, can a racing bike haul a trailer behind it?

funbun

Yes, the trailer is connected to a hitch which is bears the wieght on the rear axle. Not sure how Bob Yak trailer work but The Bikerevolution trail I built worked that way.

roadfix

As long as your rear triangle isn't too whimpy you can pull any axle/skewer supported single wheeled trailer like the Bob Yak.

Rogerinchrist

A friend of mine does just that, racing bike & trailer. I'd suggest a 2 wheel trailer as they can support more of the weight instead of your bike doing it. By the way, it IS tough to pull any substancial weight with race gearing.

funbun

Yeah, and there is the drag of the trailer it's almost like pulling another bicycle. I had a two wheel. I load tons of stuff. It tipped a lot though.

Merriwether

Mobile,

The anwer's yes. I've got a Burley Nomad (see the review post of mine in this forum), and it will attach to any bike with a standard rear triangle. Unlike the BOB designs, it doesn't attach through the axle. I like that better.

The only problem with my trailer is that in some unusual configurations of my foot my heel will strike against the connecting bar of the trailer. But I don't think that's a problem with the BOB trailers.

Anyway, racing bikes can handle a trailer's load just about as well as other bikes. In some ways, you might prefer a racing bike because you'll go faster than with a touring bike and your trailer.

roadfix

Hmmm.... I'm not so sure about that. Racing bikes are designed to go fast with agile maneuverbility without any additional significant load other than the rider.
Also if your racing bike is set up with road racing or criterium gearing, you might want to consider installing larger cogs and/or swapping your crankset to a triple.

phinney

I pull a Burley trailer all the time with my race bike. No problems whatsoever. I strongly recommend Burley's optional hitch that replaces the quick release skewer with one containing the trailer hitch. The rear axle area on a bike is strong enough to support my weight and pedaling forces so the load from the trailer is not a concern. I do run lower than race gearing.

funbun

With 40+lbs of gear and hills there is no such thing as fast. Unless your going down Battle Mountain on a Greenspeed GTO @ 45+ miles per hour

Aren't road bike gears to high for fully loaded touring?

Mo-bile

How is one to know if their rear triangle is too wimpy? Try it and see if the bike breaks?

Rogerinchrist

Do keep an eye on those rear spokes, I used to blow a few on my MTB. My tourer has beefer wires.

halfbiked

After thinking about this somewhat, is it not the wheel that needs to be strong, not the rear triangle? If the trailer is attached to the skewer, the load on the rear triangle shouldn't change; i.e. that will be bearing the rider & the pedaling forces. The trailer will be supported by its own wheel(s) and the bike's rear wheel. Correct? If the trailer attaches to the seatpost or rear rack THEN the bike frame will carry some of the load.

roadfix

Yeah......you're probably right.... The seatstays will resist the twisting forces applied by single-wheeled trailers.
On the other hand, unconventional frames without seatstays will definitely run into this problem. In this case, a two-wheeled trailer should do fine.