Bob trailer and a rear rack
 

I just bought a new Cannondale T1 touring bike for my first self-supported trip from Michigan to Maine this upcoming July. The T1 comes with a rear rack. I already own a BOB trailer which I've used on other bikes of mine for commuting.

I purchased another BOB skewer for the new touring bike, but now the trailer won't hitch to the skewer because the bottom of the rack (where it attaches to the forks) gets in the way.

Does anyone else have a rear rack AND a BOB trailer? Do I need another rack? Does anyone have any suggestions?

I would like to keep the racks (I also put on a front rack) as I'd like to try out panniers vs. the trailer on some weekend trips this spring in preparation for my big trip to see which setup I prefer.

I pull a Bob with a topeak explorer rack. No problems with setup. Check out other racks to see if they attach different then what you have. Good luck with your trip. What part of Michigan do you live at?

Lansing area (Eaton Rapids)

I run a Novarra Safari with its standard rear rack. I had no problems adding the BOB.

I ran into the same problem with my Trek t300's stock rack. I'm not sure if it was a good idea, but I bent in the two lower offending edges of my rear rack. Worked like a charm.

I pulled a Bob trailer on my old Nashbar touring bike, which had a Blackburn Expedition rack mounted as well. No problem. Is your difficulty caused by the eyelet placement on your bike or something else?

Opening up a can of worms: are you committed to the Bob, versus using panniers? If you want to get a ton of input, do a search on Bob vs. panniers. I've done both and I much prefer panniers. I've relegated the Bob to using with my old mountain bike as a "shopping bike." I can get 4 bags of groceries on the Bob. Our local grocery store is 1.2 miles away, so I save some gas and pollution, and get a little exercise by going grocery shopping on my old bike.

I have a 5 year old T2000 that has a similar rear rack. In order to attach the BOB I had to take out the trusty Dremel tool and whittle away some of the bracket. It's quite well supported at that point. There is a piece of metal wrapped around the lower junction point that interferes with the trailer hitch.
I cut a small portion of this away and it allows the forks to slide in and drop on the skewer. Depending how much you are willing to remove (or not), you may have to lift the rear of the bike to fit the trailer.
I've used the loaded BOB for thousands of kilometres with no problems. The factory rack about 25,000 kms of tours, groceries, bags of fertilizer and general abuse. So far I see no signs of deformation or metal fatigue.
I guess you need to decide your next step.

I ended up having to switch from the stock rack to a Blackburn rack which now works fine. The stock rack on the T1 was too wide at the bottom where the three braces came together. There was no real way to trim/modify the rack to make it work. (I know I'm not explaining that well)


I understand the religious nature of the Panniers vs. Bob discussions. That is why I want to try out both these options myself this Spring and see which I prefer prior to my big trip. I already had a BOB trailer (which has served very well for commuting), so the cost here was minimal -- $25 for an additional Bob skewer.

Thank you everyone for your help; now that the weather is finally perking up, I need to get some miles under my belt. :)

Glad you got that figured out. I have a 2002 T2000 that I put a Blackburn rack on (as it didn't come with one). I had some difficulty when I installed my Rohloff a few years ago, but this rack still works well. I did have to change the mounting points (at the seat stays) because I had problems slipping the yoke on.

I agree with you. That's what I did. I follow these contentious issues (Brooks vs. others, clipless vs. platforms, Bob vs. panniers, triple vs. compact double, Schwalbes vs. everything else) but I don't like to take others' words for things; I like to try them out myself. I bought the Bob and took it on tour just because I wanted to see for myself. I took it over the North Cascades Highway, starting in Edmonds, Washington and ending in Omak. It was fine and I'd be okay with using it again if I had a reason, but I concluded I preferred panniers. Others' opinions could certainly vary.

Contentious?
(Brooks vs. others, clipless vs. platforms, Bob vs. panniers, triple vs. compact double, Schwalbes vs. everything else)
Is there a dog mean enough to ignite the "great helmet debate"again????
Probably not.... I think there was some therapy required after that blew over.