wipekitty

I'm selling my car and looking to get a "car replacement" trailer for hauling large quantities of household groceries, cats, Craigslist finds, home improvement products, and so on, in a climate that has snow/ice/slush nearly half the year.

Not ready to DIY and limited to around $300, I've been looking at a couple of Wike trailers: the heavy duty flatbed and the Cargo Buddy.

I wonder if there's any reason to prefer the higher walls on the Cargo Buddy - it looks safer to me, but I'm a total newbie at bike trailers. I hear good things about Wike, but I'm curious to know if other people have had good experiences with their products.

wahoonc

Unless you are hauling a lot of smaller loose packages I don't see the advantage to the Cargo Buddy, I would buy the regular Cargo trailer and build/buy a box to fit, something like a large rubber maid container. I have never seen a Wike trailer so can't comment on that aspect of it. I like the Rubbermaid Action Packers I used them in the back of my pickup for years, come in a variety of sizes.

Aaron

The Thin Man 

Hey Wipekitty. I was curious if you pulled the trigger on either of the Wike trailers?
I am also car-fee and have been looking at a Burley Nomad for everyday hauling needs similar to what you mentioned above (groceries, CL finds, etc.). I came across the Wike and it instantly caught my attention. It's quite a bit less than a Burley in terms of price and I like the open air aspect and lightweight construction (although the Burley is 3.5 lbs lighter). Although both hold the same amount of cargo weight (100 lbs).
Wahoonc asks why you need the walls yet suggests a Rubbermaid container for times when walls are needed. To me, the Rubbermaid container may be removable but it looks extremely heavy compared to the miniscule four walls on the Wike Buddy. In fact, the walls add no weight as both Wike trailers you mention weigh in at 18 lbs. What would be ideal is if you could drop the walls or remove them. Not sure that's the case however.

Anyway, just following up to see what you went with.

**EDIT**
In my haste to post I discovered that I misread the specifications on the Wike flatbed. Total carrying capacity is actually 125 lbs, not 100 lbs. That's 25 lbs extra payload capacity. Not bad!

wipekitty

I ended up going with the Heavy Duty Flatbed. I picked up a cheaper (and lighter) tote and used bungees to attach a safety triangle to the back. The tote has been useful for trips in the rain and for keeping items hidden if I have multiple errands. I also like the option of taking the tote off to accommodate longer items.

I've been really, really happy with this trailer so far. It's easy to attach, extremely light unloaded (even with the tote), and I haven't had any problems with weight balance or tipping (the largest load so far was right around 100 pounds - apparently it can take up to 125). It's been sufficient for groceries, small landscaping projects, etc. My only minor complaint is that the bars are kind of an awkward square shape, which makes it difficult to bungee anything to the frame without giant hooks and also makes it difficult to attach lights without some creativity.

Here's the trailer with the Bike of Death:

The Thin Man 

Great write up, Wipekitty. Thanks for sharing.

I am happy to hear that your choice works for your needs and that you are pleased with your selection.

Giving the appearance of an empty trailer, when it really isn't, is not something I had thought about. Good comment!

Digging back through Wike trailer comments, one user mentioned that the hitch system was designed in such a way that there was excessive metal on metal clanking. None of the metal involved was his bike frame, just the hitch and the runaway safety features hitting each other. I'm curious if you noticed any excess noise?

Also, is there any way to physically lock the trailer to your bicycle? I'm guessing if someone wanted the trailer all one would need to do si pull the hitch pin and wheel it away. Is that the case?

wipekitty

So far, I haven't had any problems with excess noise. I've used the trailer with two different bikes so far - the one pictured, and a mountain bike.

For locking up the trailer, I've been using a cable lock. It's pretty easy to slide the lock through the frame on the trailer then through the bike frame. The design is such that you could probably U-lock it to a bike rack (space permitting). But, yes, without a lock, it would be very easy to pull out the hitch pin and walk off with the trailer.

One other interesting feature: it's easy to take the wheels off, which could be convenient for indoor storage in smaller spaces.

The Thin Man 

Great stuff, Wipe.

Thanks for the in-depth answers and review. Myself and other people in the future interested in trailers will really find this useful!

fietsbob

Shipped from Ontario Canada , WI not Too Far .. PDX is quite a ways further..

CompleteStreets

You mentioned that the square shaped bars are awkward for hooking bungie cords to. You may want to try using bicycle inner tubes as bungies. I attended a Move By Bike event in Portland, in which volunteers with bike trailers helped a person move all of his boxes and furniture from one house to another. Many of the volunteers strapped everything down with inner tubes. I was amazed at how well this worked.

A word of caution using inner tubes: If it's raining outside you'll want to avoid doing a standard double knot as this will be very, very difficult to untie when wet. In dry conditions you can tie the inner tubes any way you please. It's good to use the valve stem at the end for purposes of tieing the knot.

gregjones

I drove for a truck company, just happened to be WI based, that made bungies out of old truck tubes. Free and actually worked better than store bought bungees. They stretched longer and were more versatile in usable length than store bought bungees.

I use a rubbermaid roughneck tote and love the multi-stop concealment of collected items. I often carry it for just that reason.