Hey everyone,
I have decided to go with the BOB trailer (suspension) on our trip. I will be carrying (towing) the majority of our gear. The trailer is about 13.5 pounds...that said, what would be the maximum weight in gear I should carry in the trailer?

FYI, I will be riding a Jamis Aurora...Thanks!

5 Weeks and counting and the beard is getting thick

BOB puts a 70 pound limit on the trailer, but I've seen lots of folks carrying much more weight than that. I'd say whatever you can fit and handle you can carry in your BOB.

I pulled a BoB last spring through Az, Nm, Utah and Co. (1378miles), with a Jamis! I had approx 45lb. on the trailer. It handled the load fine.
My only caveat to you would be that you do not exceed about 25mph on long, or steep downhills...your brakes will thank you, (and maybe other bodyparts as well)!

Its also about How it is loaded .. I hated how it handled with loads higher,
like returning from Costco, so I got rid of it .. for a 2 wheel trailer..

Packed low and Load tightly secured is perhaps more acceptable to you,
on your trip.

I was driving through Arizona last year and came across a guy pulling a BOB trailer and man was he loaded down.His gear was stacked to the height of his seat.It looked really heavy.I bet he was hauling more than 70 lbs.

Thanks...Jimmy, do you have any pictures of your bike with the BOB hooked up?

I've done a lot of touring with a Bob. If you pack a lot of weight, your bike will feel top heavy. You will really notice the weight at slow speeds and especially when starting up. Although not as bad as carrying it all on panniers.

Stick to the weight limit. On my Pacific tour, I ran into a few folks who had to have them re-welded during their trip. All had exceeded the weight rec.s, but not by a lot. Also, all were rigid, which probably had something to do with it.

This was almost a decade ago, so the design may have been improved. I also had a BOB, and no problem, but it is the squirreliest trailer I've used when descending at speed (but the best tracking in all other conditions).

Great info. and recommendations...How difficult will it be pulling the BOB through the mountains of Colo. with 11,000 ft elevation gains?

A couple suggestions. I have used my BoB across the U.S. (southern tier) and on several shorter tours. Keep your load as low and toward the rear as possible and you shouldn't have the high-speed problems mentioned. Also, torque the pivot rod as suggested. This will pre-load the long rod and put some resistance in the trailer's ability to become squirley. As far as the elevation goes, it's more about software (you) than it is about hardware. Make sure you have good, low touring gearing and you should be okay. Enjoy and smell the roses.

Really, really easy.

My advice would be to pack very carefully and light. Let your son carry at least some of the gear, at a minimum his own clothes, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad. That can easily be less than 10 pounds. Let him feel he is pulling his weight. Adjust the pace and daily mileage as necessary to accomodate that.

You could keep your load light enough that you wouldn't have to even consider the maximum capacity of the BoB and that is what I recommend doing. When it comes right down to it you really need surprisingly little. I carried way too much on my first long tour (TA) including quite a bit of community gear and still wasn't at the capacity of a BoB.

That said, if you must load yourself down, I have seen folks carrying way more than the rated capacity in a BoB. I wouldn't because I have found touring more and more pleasant as I have shed more and more unnecessary stuff, but you can if you really want to.

Sorry Dan. I tried to send pics, but for some reason I couldn't get them to post...don't know what I'm doing wrong!
Couple of things though. Self-discipline is required when loading a BoB, because there's Soo much room it's easy to carry more than we need! Ya gotta watch it, Your legs will thank you when you hit those long climbs!

I am an ex-BOB Ibex user (happy one btw) but for future tours I have gone with an Extrawheel Voyager as it suits my needs better.

I have good experiences with my BoB Ibex but I never loaded it up beyond what I could get into the bag with maybe some shoes or the like hanging off the outside.


BoB Ibex in action on the Munda Biddi Trail

Regards
Andrew