I'm looking at getting a Burley Flatbed and I'm considering getting a used one. I see there have been some changes over the years, especially where the trailer hitches to the bike. The early ones (circa 2005), seem to have a much larger plastic assembly that attaches to the rear triangle. The later ones seem to have a much smaller fitting that gets clamped in via the quick-release axle. I think there may be some other minor variations, but just trying to keep it simple for now.

Thoughts on the differences and which is "better"?

The “Classic” plastic assembly was just made for bikes without QR skewers.

Okay, got it. I actually ended up picking up a barely used Burley Bee for $100, which is the type designed for carrying up to 100 lbs of kids, not stuff! Used it for the first time yesterday - we did a point-to-point bike/haul with our blow-up kayak. It actually worked better than the Flatbed for this purpose using the cover to keep the light stuff from falling out. Total weight in the trailer was about 60 lbs, which proved to be A LOT when going up hills on a gravel path. We switched over to the road for the second half of the trip, and then followed that up with our 15-mile paddle down the Delaware River.

Glad your new Burley Bee worked out for you, Brad! That was the first trailer I ever had, given to me for free by a neighbor whose kid had out grown it ages before. Since then I’ve burned through two Nomads, the later of which I recently salvaged for my new dual drive ecumbent “Redundo”.

Found one of those kiddie trailers in the trash. Took me a day to strip it down to the frame and build a little wooden bed out of scraps. It's very solid and I recently replaced the tires with new ones I found on a kid's mountain box I also found in the trash.



19 gallons, 150+ pounds of water

I have the older one. Zero problems over the years. Had it setup for boring the dog around. The style is very similar to the kiddie trailers. A few modifications and it's basicly the same trai.er, just has that piece hanging off the bottom which was for the kids feet I believe. It's not structural or anything so it can be removed.

Did you ride around with all that to see how it handled/if it would hold it on a ride? Or did you just load it up for a static test sitting still?

I have one of the darker blue jugs I have been using for water on trips (vehicular travel, camping, etc) for years. They are nice to have. I am working on some trailer ideas for bike touring also and have been eyeballing that jug also. What I have done before is use 32oz nalgene bottles and the 1gal jugs from Dollar General (I like that style plastic bottle - the handle loop is sturdy and can be tied off and looped over gear on the rear rack). However, if I can get all my water confined to a larger jug that would be good - longer period between resupply.

I can ride it like that. But I don't have to go far to get water. I doubt the trailer would survive a week long road trip over rough terrain with that much weight. I use it mainly for work. I can transport a 40 pound ladder and 30-40 pounds of tools no problem.

The blue jugs work well for car camping. I use mine with a small submersible pump. Wastes less water and I don't have to take the jug out of my vehicle every time I need to wash my hands.

A striped down commercial Burley Kids trailer can haul a world of things...
on parade on Orcas Island behind a Quest Velomobile. The Quest has a stainless plate welded down low on the uni-frame arm that the traditional Burley hitch attaches to.





Then there is the basic home made electrical EMT and plywood trailer headed off to install a solar electric system on Crow Valley Road.....


Specialized Expedition pulling a home made trailer

Who needs a Van?.... renewable energy installation at its best

Who needs the Van?

Hi, I'm new here.
I have 2 homemade 'Burley Travoy style' trailers I like to share.
Hope I can post pictures soon.

This is my DIY "Burley Travoy style" trailer made from an external frame backpack. I added a H-shaped structure made of ϕ28mm aluminum tubes to the frame for wheel attachment.







Its earliest status:

And this is a heavier duty one made from raw components.

An "amphibious trip" with the trailer in its earlier form.

This is my rig to get food and household supplies. The tub is held on by u-bolts and wing nuts to come off quickly.

Spotted in Kyvi in the Ukraine a LvH Bullit cargo bike towing a Carla Cargo trailer loaded with a steel section for a road blockade to thwart advancing Russian troops.

Nothing fancy about my trailer - just an old Kool-Stop I bought on sale years before I had a child and continue to use now that the same kid is an adult.

it's been useful.

I threw together a trailer to carry my kids' bikes so we can occasionally ride our bikes to or home from day camp or after-school camp. The older one is ready for a 24" bike so I may have to modify the trailer a bit.

I took a generic toddler trailer, removed the canvas, flipped the frame supports front to back, and added a plywood floor,

20" kids bikes. The fork rests on the crossbar.

I use wire twist straps to keep the bike against the trailer frame.

I bolted a crate to the floor to carry the helmets.

Boom propped up and not attached to bike in this picture.

On a grocery run.


Low rider racks removed, bags kept dragging even low stuff on street. Added QR blocks.

Have you towed bikes on the QR blocks yet? I’m curious to know if the towed bikes are stable especially during turns.

Not yet. I don't anticipate doing more than two. For trailer stability (and I'm not a physics/mechanical genius, so could be dead wrong) one bike would have to be on the central point; two bikes on the outsides. I anticipate the bike(s) tracking like a second trailer, similar to a tractor trailer fifth wheel. This has been a new project for me and this feature is just waiting for an experiment phase to happen by: the need to work on two bikes at the co op; finding a discarded bike/someone gifting me another portable mess that I intend to cannabalize. I have a modest, and beloved, trio of bikes that I ride. If there is to be a catastrophic failure I don't want it to happen with them. So I'll check back in once I've tried the QR blocks. As a grocery getter it is proven. Last week I carried approximately 20 lbs of frozed green beans in a second cooler, packed with just four plastic bbq bottles of ice, and assorted other edibles. Green beans all stayed frozen for 10 miles/1+ hours.

Now to find an abandoned bicycle

As an after thought: towing a second set of linked objects I consider suicide at moderate to high speeds (for a bike). My plan, in these situations, is to slow tail it to my destination. Having to brake at moderate to high speeds would just be inviting the load to jack knife. I'll err on the side of caution and safety (if possible).

I was encouraged by Spindatt's yoobtube channel on this concern: Note that he was using a QR block in a very high position (strapped to an ordinary rear rack) and, although he said the bike "wanted" to fall over in turns, it never fell and righted itself as it straightened out, post turn.

So, with apologies for the delay, I tested the towing part of my trailer rig and it was a resounding success. Trip was about a mile with normal bumps (road to driveway transitions) and regular intersection turns (as well as unintentional sharper turns when I geared too low and had to crab the bike to stay straight). Not once did the bike flop over. So I'm very happy

Finally made a full trip this Saturday and was quite challenging, but in unexpected ways. On the positive side, the Delta QR block (towed single bike frame with just a wheel in back) performed flawlessly for 25 miles to the co op. The BIG problem came in that the wheel QR loosened itself twice during the trip. First time was about half way in the trip and had the trailing bike rocking significantly side to side. A nice rider "gorillaed" the rear wheel QR and everything seemed fine. But the tightening only made it about 10 more miles. Had to tighten again. Was close to the co op so made it without incidence. At no time, thankfully, did the trailing bike threaten to dismount.

So, the mystery that I hope any of you physics people can solve: Why did the tightened, and then strongly tightened, QR work its way loose? Again, this was just an mtb frame with a properly fitting (indeed the wheel I'd been riding on it as a full bike for 100's of miles) wheel and ride tightened QR. A customer at the co op (engineering student) opined that it may be because there was NO weight on the bike and all the bouncing force was concentrated to loosen the QR. Just doesn't seem right, but what do I know? Hopefully someone with experience and knowledge can chime in.

My take away, for now: attach safety lines to any towed bike AND check that it is at least tracking true without wobbles.

As for turns: all ordinary turning was fine. Once in the co op parking lot I intentionally did the sharpest turn (manually) with the trailer and the trailing bike did, eventually, fall over on its side. But, for the whole 25 miles of shake, rattle and roll, the trailing bike tracked upright.

Here's my home-made trailer which I finished just last month. It has 5½ cubic feet of internal space, and more stuff could be strapped on top if necessary, like on a roof rack of a car. (Or, you can just remove the top in a jiffy.) It has 10" solid-rubber tires, and has springs to avoid damage from hitting bumps hard. It's designed to be aerodynamic. The bottom is more or less waterproof, so if I had to go through several inches of water, it'd float like a boat. Although the wheels and suspension parts would get submerged, the insides should stay dry.


You can see lots more pictures and description on this page of my website: Wilson Mines Co., road-bike trailer

I'm new to the forum and this is the first time I'm inlining a picture. I hope it shows up correctly.

Wow, it's a boat and a trailer!

Awesome job!