Picking a cargo trailer...
 

I'm planning on purchasing a cargo trailer to make this car-free thing work. I've narrowed it down to a few models but I'm still not sure what direction to go in. Below I've listed what I'm looking at and my thoughts on each one. Please feel free to add your comments about these or other trailers. My first choice would be a BAW trailer but at about $400 for even a small one it's simply out of my budget [roughly $250].

Croozer Cargo Trailer about $200
• inexpensive and appears to be readily available.
• 65lb rated weight capacity.
• 33.5in x 27in x 22in cargo area
• covered cargo area
• weights 25lbs
• folds for storage

WIKE large cargo trailer about $200
• inexpensive
• seems like a nice small company (likely higher quality control standards?)
• 20" wheels
• 125lb capacity [should be plenty for what I do]
• weighs 18lbs
• extra hitches are only $10 [I have a couple bikes]

Burley Flatbed about $300
• more expensive
• 100lb capacity
• weighs 13lbs

Aosom Bicycle Trailer about $130
• very affordable
• very little information available online
• 35lb weight!
• 180lb capacity
• 28in x 22in x 14in cargo area

Avenir Cargo Trailer about $200
• inexpensive
• appears to be a new item
• 20" wheels
• rain cover and flag included
• tool-less assembly
• available through Raleigh/Diamondback dealers (& my LBS is a Raleigh dealer)


Adventure Cargo Trailer about $240
• Not sure if it's available in the USA?
• weighs about 19lbs
• high-mount hitch
• external storage
• no info about maximum weight capacity?

Right now I'm leaning toward the WIKE. It seems to have a nice mix of price, weight, and capacity. I know there are a lot of trailer manufacturers I left out but many of these were intentional as their products were either too expensive (well over $300) or I couldn't find enough info about them.

Does anyone else have any wrenches to throw into my decision making process?!

Thanks in advance. Pedal on.

Looking at your links there, I see that the Ausom uses a wheel attachment similar to the homemade trailers, where the wheel is supported on either side. Which means the hub can be a regular front bike hub instead of some oddball hub. Seems like that would be sort of advantageous.

I remember seeing a used jogging stroller/ trailer a while back, and noticed the wheels and bearings seemed to be a notch below regular bicycle stuff- more like what you'd find on a stroller, not something expected to last for thousands of miles. It might help if you could look at these in person before buying.

Would you object to finding a second-hand kiddy trailer and converting it to your needs? None of those links are particularly special, and surely a kiddy trailer would be just as good?

I'd go with the AOSOM one, though, out of those - if I had to buy one. They're on eBay a lot around here, and the price is really good, as is the maximum weight capacity.

The Croozer is the only one I have any experience with, and it's great. Very sturdy construction. I used to sell them when I had my shop, and I still have one that I use regularly.
http://cid-c5aa741102f41823.skydrive...20II%20044.jpg

Back in the old days this is exactly what I'd have done, or just built my own from scratch (see the "post your trailer thread" to see some of my previous work, I have 3 trailers posted there) but I recently moved from my house in Knoxville where i had a full garage/workshop where i had access to a welder, woodworking tools, and plenty of storage space, to a 900sq ft apartment in MD. Since storage space is at an absolute premium around here I think buying a ready-made cargo trailer may be the best play here. If a kiddie trailer fell into my lap I'd consider it but I'd rather get the right tool for the right job and all that.

The Aosom trailer is the cheapest but it weighs a staggering 35lbs! That is almost 3 times the weight of the Burley and twice the weight of most of the rest of the trailers. I can't see myself needing to haul over 100lbs on too many occasions (My wife has a brand new crossover utility vehicle for that) but 35lbs is a lot to pull around every time I need to use it.

I only have experience with the overpriced trendy brands, BOB and BAW. My dispatcher recently bought a BOB knockoff, which was heavier but cost much less than a BOB. Sorry, I forgot the name already, but I can easily track it down if you like.

As long as you are considering trailers with 100lb capacity, you might consider a single wheel trailer. They track behind the rear wheel much better, no big truck wide cornering concerns. Single wheel trailer leans into the corners as opposed to double wheel, which want to flip to the outside and I have put my BAW on it's side several times, the BOB never.

I think you're looking at this backwards. Rather that trying to decide what trailer to get you need to first decide what cargo you'll want to move, once you've done that the most appropriate trailer will become much clearer.

Not all of the photos show the same trailer. Ryan, I would make sure you are getting what you want if this feature is important to you. I will agree that's a nice feature. That trailer is heavy though, compared to the others you are considering and I'm not sure you need the extra capacity.

That is the trouble... I need a trailer to help me be self sufficient in my newly-car-free lifestyle but I'm really not sure exactly where the dividing line will be between "stuff I'll do on the bike" and "stuff the wife does in her shiny new car". For example this week I have 2 main errands that I can't do by bicycle because I don't have the cargo capacity- pick up a few 12-packs of soda, beer, and seltzer water and picking up a poster I just paid a lot of money to have framed.

I'm leaning towards the 2-wheeled trailers because they seem to be lighter, generally less expensive for the cargo carrying capacity, and the roads I ride on are mostly all quiet neighborhood streets or full-lane road shoulders. (I'm very lucky to live in a pretty "bikable" area.) I've also heard mixed reviews about the knock-off BOB trailers breaking and/or being unstable at even moderate speeds.

Thanks for all the replys and please keep them coming you are all giving me a lot to think about.

I have a used Bell child trailer that I bought at a garage sale a few years ago. At $50 it was probably overpriced. However, I would guess I have around 1,000 miles on it and I've hauled my kids around everywhere locally with me.

I've even had my 40 pound 2 year old in it with 3 - 5 gallon buckets full of sand in the back behind the seat. 1 gallon of sand weighs 9.6 pounds X 15 gallons = 144 pounds + 40 lb child = 188 pounds in it! When I've carried that much, it's only for 2.5 miles, and I take it easy.

I'm not sure what the trailer is rated to carry. I've looked around a little bit on-line, but didn't find anything. I'm guessing it's rated at the typical 85 - 100 pounds. It's relatively cheaply built, like many of the Schwinn trailers (it looks similar to the Schwinn Mark 3).

In short, buy a used kids trailer. It'll be cheap, it'll fold down, it'll probably have a rain cover, and it'll carry a heck of a lot!

One day, on my wish list if/when I ever can afford it: a BAW trailer.....:)

I'd keep an eye out on Ebay HandsomeRyan. There's bound to be something there that takes your fancy, that'll popup cheap?

Regards
Tom

I only have experience with the burley flatbed. It fulfills my needs so far

I think that the Flatbed would be too limiting. I can't say enough good things about the Burley Nomad with the optional rack. A week's groceries fit inside and the huge bag of kitty litter or charcoal gets bungied to the rack. Anything long that would fit on the flatbed would also fit on the rack of the Nomad.

Depending on how many "a few 12 packs of soda" is this sounds like load that I have done with my rack and baskets.

I ended up ordering the WIKE since I really liked the idea of a small company making them and I found nothing but good reviews online. It should be here next week sometime and I'll post a full review after it arrives and I get a chance to put it through it's paces.

The extra hitch attachment points only costing $10 was also a major selling point of this trailer.

Yep, here's at least a twelve of pizza being unloaded. I took this today and wanted to stick it into a thread somewhere.
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/IMG_2287.jpg

Ryan, you need to carry a keg of 'soda' to make that trailer necessary. Post pics!

The Wike looks really nice. Even if you never need to carry what the 'delivery expert' above can do without a trailer (without even starting to load his bars, haha!), your trailer should come in handy. A seal can be trained to balance a ball on it's nose, but not every seal needs to learn how to do that. With the trailer you can turn a road bike into a freight hauling champ, carry as much or more than racks and baskets could, then change back to a fast bike quickly, that's a nice feature. Racks and baskets and trailer for teh win if you need capacity. Versatility, options, enjoy!

I've had the Burley Flatbed for 4-5 years and love it. It's a great trailer for my purposes.

I also have a Burley Solo that I got for my youngest. It works well as a covered utility trailer as long as the load isn't too big, in volume.

I have no experience with their cargo trailer, but do have a Wike Woody Wagon that I've had for a couple years. Maybe mine was put together on a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon. I've had zero problems with it, in fact it works well; but I think QC could have been a little tighter. Particularly on the welding.

The other trailers you list I have no experience with.

Have you considered building one? I'm considering it. I have bamboo growing on my property, so this design is attractive to me, and it might be light enough.

I think it might be nice for me to be able to carry both of my greyhounds. They're very tall. And they don't like to lie down close together, so the bed would have to be enormous. Maybe on the trailer, they'll be willing to be squooshed together. Still, I think it would have to be at least 5' by 7' for me.

Anyway, with a flatbed design, you can lash a box to it, and it will be like a trunk.

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