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#1
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Three wheels on my wagon...
I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a
trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. And for years I've been dithering about buying a new trailer. Thing is, I really wanted a Weber Monoporter but I couldn't cost-justify it. So I dithered. Last weekend I visited the co-op in Edinburgh, really only intending to buy a pair of wheelbags, and they had one of their own-brand trailers on display. OK, it's cheap. But it's robustly made and not naff, and it's not desperately heavy. The co-op apparently like to do a pre-delivery inspection on a trailer just as if it were a bike, and I wasn't in Edinburgh for long (and really didn't want to pull the thing a hundred miles home); so I ordered it, and this afternoon it arrived. This evening I loaded it up with a representative camping load (tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, stove, eating gear, a bag of clothes) and took it out for a twelve mile run over the 200 metre contour. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink So: initial thoughts You do notice it on the bike - there's no question that it's there. But it followed docilely at up to 50km/h on well surfaced descents, including bends, and pulled very easily on the flat - I don't think it affected my speed on the flat at all. the first time I got out of the saddle on a climb I didn't like the feeling at all and sat down immediately. It felt decidedly odd. But as I went on I quickly got comfortable getting out of the saddle. It definitely doesn't like you swinging the bike around much - there's a definite pendulum effect, and it's a bit disconcerting - but if you keep the bike steady you can get out of the saddle without problems. You do feel the weight on climbs, but I managed some very sharp climbs without difficulty, so I don't think I'd ever need to walk up hills. Long steep climbs are going to be slow, but the extra weight seems to make the bike steadier at low speed. It does not like uneven surfaces at speed, and I think at least at first I'd be very cautious on off-road descents. The latch mechanism which holds the trailer to its custom skewer is simple and positive and I didn't feel any anxiety about it becoming unhooked accidentally. The connection felt remarkably secure. Reviews of the trailer comment that the bag has only sewn, not welded, seams and thus won't be waterproof. The co-op appear to have taken that criticism on board and fixed it. I haven't had the bag out in the rain yet, but the seams all appear to be welded and it looks watertight. It's obviously not Ortleib quality, but it's well enough made in a cheap'n'cheerful way. The wheel is clearly not great quality, and having a knobbly tyre on it seems to me to make no sense at all (I've ordered a Marathon to replace it); but nevertheless it rolled well and as I've said I didn't feel it slowed me any on the flat - it was easy to hit 32km/h on the flat, and to cruise at 27km/h. Although the trailer packs flat for delivery, it isn't really a folding trailer. It takes a fair bit of disassembly to collapse it, and you wouldn't want to do it often. I'm not sure i believe the claim that you can pack it into its own bag, and even if you can you would not want to. This being so, the quick release bolts used to hold the top frame and the mudguard seem unnecessary. Without the bag, there's nothing to hold stuff in the trailer - it would be better with lightweight netting all round between the top frame an the floor. The magic skewer to which the trailer attaches replaces the existing skewer in your rear hub (a bit bizarre replacing my titanium Campag skewer with this rather large and clunky thing. However, with the vertical drop-outs on my cross bike, the knob on the end of the skewer fouls on the derailleur when trying to get the rear wheel out, and I think it's going to need to be completely removed each time the wheel is removed - not exactly quick release! The only thing about it which I would fault on quality is the vertical spindle on which the linkage pivots. This is secured by a single wing- nut with no locknut. If it came undone, the nut would inevitably get lost and then the spindle would work its way out, causing the linkage to fail. At least a locknut is required there, and actually I'd prefer to replace it with a crown nut and split pin. |
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#2
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Three wheels on my wagon...
Simon Brooke wrote:
I've been boring on on this group for years Indeed, and with no sign of stopping. |
#3
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Three wheels on my wagon...
On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:59:40 -0700 (PDT), Simon Brooke
wrote: I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. And for years I've been dithering about buying a new trailer. Thing is, I really wanted a Weber Monoporter but I couldn't cost-justify it. So I dithered. Last weekend I visited the co-op in Edinburgh, really only intending to buy a pair of wheelbags, and they had one of their own-brand trailers on display. OK, it's cheap. But it's robustly made and not naff, and it's not desperately heavy. The co-op apparently like to do a pre-delivery inspection on a trailer just as if it were a bike, and I wasn't in Edinburgh for long (and really didn't want to pull the thing a hundred miles home); so I ordered it, and this afternoon it arrived. This evening I loaded it up with a representative camping load (tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, stove, eating gear, a bag of clothes) and took it out for a twelve mile run over the 200 metre contour. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink Is one wheel better than two? http://www.britishschoolofcycling.com/photos/trailer2 http://www.britishschoolofcycling.com/photos/trailerbox It seems to me that with two wheels you can organise the load so there is minimal extra weight on the bike's rear wheel. |
#4
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Three wheels on my wagon...
On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:59:40 -0700 (PDT), Simon Brooke
wrote: I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. And for years I've been dithering about buying a new trailer. Thing is, I really wanted a Weber Monoporter but I couldn't cost-justify it. So I dithered. Last weekend I visited the co-op in Edinburgh, really only intending to buy a pair of wheelbags, and they had one of their own-brand trailers on display. OK, it's cheap. But it's robustly made and not naff, and it's not desperately heavy. The co-op apparently like to do a pre-delivery inspection on a trailer just as if it were a bike, and I wasn't in Edinburgh for long (and really didn't want to pull the thing a hundred miles home); so I ordered it, and this afternoon it arrived. This evening I loaded it up with a representative camping load (tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, stove, eating gear, a bag of clothes) and took it out for a twelve mile run over the 200 metre contour. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink So: initial thoughts You do notice it on the bike - there's no question that it's there. But it followed docilely at up to 50km/h on well surfaced descents, including bends, and pulled very easily on the flat - I don't think it affected my speed on the flat at all. the first time I got out of the saddle on a climb I didn't like the feeling at all and sat down immediately. It felt decidedly odd. But as I went on I quickly got comfortable getting out of the saddle. It definitely doesn't like you swinging the bike around much - there's a definite pendulum effect, and it's a bit disconcerting - but if you keep the bike steady you can get out of the saddle without problems. You do feel the weight on climbs, but I managed some very sharp climbs without difficulty, so I don't think I'd ever need to walk up hills. Long steep climbs are going to be slow, but the extra weight seems to make the bike steadier at low speed. It does not like uneven surfaces at speed, and I think at least at first I'd be very cautious on off-road descents. The latch mechanism which holds the trailer to its custom skewer is simple and positive and I didn't feel any anxiety about it becoming unhooked accidentally. The connection felt remarkably secure. Reviews of the trailer comment that the bag has only sewn, not welded, seams and thus won't be waterproof. The co-op appear to have taken that criticism on board and fixed it. I haven't had the bag out in the rain yet, but the seams all appear to be welded and it looks watertight. It's obviously not Ortleib quality, but it's well enough made in a cheap'n'cheerful way. The wheel is clearly not great quality, and having a knobbly tyre on it seems to me to make no sense at all (I've ordered a Marathon to replace it); but nevertheless it rolled well and as I've said I didn't feel it slowed me any on the flat - it was easy to hit 32km/h on the flat, and to cruise at 27km/h. Although the trailer packs flat for delivery, it isn't really a folding trailer. It takes a fair bit of disassembly to collapse it, and you wouldn't want to do it often. I'm not sure i believe the claim that you can pack it into its own bag, and even if you can you would not want to. This being so, the quick release bolts used to hold the top frame and the mudguard seem unnecessary. Without the bag, there's nothing to hold stuff in the trailer - it would be better with lightweight netting all round between the top frame an the floor. The magic skewer to which the trailer attaches replaces the existing skewer in your rear hub (a bit bizarre replacing my titanium Campag skewer with this rather large and clunky thing. However, with the vertical drop-outs on my cross bike, the knob on the end of the skewer fouls on the derailleur when trying to get the rear wheel out, and I think it's going to need to be completely removed each time the wheel is removed - not exactly quick release! The only thing about it which I would fault on quality is the vertical spindle on which the linkage pivots. This is secured by a single wing- nut with no locknut. If it came undone, the nut would inevitably get lost and then the spindle would work its way out, causing the linkage to fail. At least a locknut is required there, and actually I'd prefer to replace it with a crown nut and split pin. Just what we need. As if cretinous lane-hogging slow psycholists are not bad enough, now we have _articulated_ ones! |
#5
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Three wheels on my wagon...
On 2009-07-23, Simon Brooke wrote:
I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. [...] Why do you prefer a trailer to the usual panniers? Saw a bike once with one of these: http://www.koga.com/uk/newsitem.asp?id=7197841 |
#6
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Three wheels on my wagon...
On 23 July, 21:36, Tom Crispin
wrote: On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:59:40 -0700 (PDT), Simon Brooke wrote: I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. And for years I've been dithering about buying a new trailer. Thing is, I really wanted a Weber Monoporter but I *couldn't cost-justify it. So I dithered. Last weekend I visited the co-op in Edinburgh, really only intending to buy a pair of wheelbags, and they had one of their own-brand trailers on display. OK, it's cheap. But it's robustly made and not naff, and it's not desperately heavy. The co-op apparently like to do a pre-delivery inspection on a trailer just as if it were a bike, and I wasn't in Edinburgh for long (and really didn't want to pull the thing a hundred miles home); so I ordered it, and this afternoon it arrived. This evening I loaded it up with a representative camping load (tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, stove, eating gear, a bag of clothes) and took it out for a twelve mile run over the 200 metre contour. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...a7Zg?feat=dire.... Is one wheel better than two? http://www.britishschoolofcycling.co...tos/trailerbox It seems to me that with two wheels you can organise the load so there is minimal extra weight on the bike's rear wheel. I'm persuaded it is, yes. I used, as I say, to tour with a two wheel trailer, and had a problem with the trailer overturning on high-speed down-hill bends. That's a pretty severe problem. It seems to me likely that a one wheel trailer will behave better in this respect, and tonight's test run tends to confirm that view. |
#7
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Three wheels on my wagon...
On 23 July, 22:36, Ben C wrote:
On 2009-07-23, Simon Brooke wrote: I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. [...] Why do you prefer a trailer to the usual panniers? It detaches easily and leaves the bike uncluttered. Also, it's a lot easier to pack, and when loading the bike on and off trains it's considerably more manageable (although this probably is not true with a one wheel trailer!) |
#8
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Three wheels on my wagon...
On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:36:12 -0500, Ben C wrote:
On 2009-07-23, Simon Brooke wrote: I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. [...] Why do you prefer a trailer to the usual panniers? You can get a bike plus trailer round Sainsbury's when you do the shopping - but the panniers make it just a little too wide. -- Vote NO to the proposed group uk.rec.cycling.moderated aka uk.rec.cycling.censored |
#9
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Three wheels on my wagon...
On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:44:43 -0700 (PDT), Simon Brooke
wrote: On 23 July, 21:36, Tom Crispin wrote: On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:59:40 -0700 (PDT), Simon Brooke wrote: I've been boring on on this group for years about how I used to use a trailer - a Bike Hod - to carry all my gear on two week research fieldwork trips, and how in my opinion a trailer is the right solution for load carrying by bike. And for years I've been dithering about buying a new trailer. Thing is, I really wanted a Weber Monoporter but I *couldn't cost-justify it. So I dithered. Last weekend I visited the co-op in Edinburgh, really only intending to buy a pair of wheelbags, and they had one of their own-brand trailers on display. OK, it's cheap. But it's robustly made and not naff, and it's not desperately heavy. The co-op apparently like to do a pre-delivery inspection on a trailer just as if it were a bike, and I wasn't in Edinburgh for long (and really didn't want to pull the thing a hundred miles home); so I ordered it, and this afternoon it arrived. This evening I loaded it up with a representative camping load (tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, stove, eating gear, a bag of clothes) and took it out for a twelve mile run over the 200 metre contour. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...a7Zg?feat=dire... Is one wheel better than two? http://www.britishschoolofcycling.co...tos/trailerbox It seems to me that with two wheels you can organise the load so there is minimal extra weight on the bike's rear wheel. I'm persuaded it is, yes. I used, as I say, to tour with a two wheel trailer, and had a problem with the trailer overturning on high-speed down-hill bends. That's a pretty severe problem. It seems to me likely that a one wheel trailer will behave better in this respect, and tonight's test run tends to confirm that view. OK - I can understand that. A single wheeled trailer will be able to tilt at quite an angle offsetting outward forces; a two wheeled trailer is not designed to tilt at all, so any outward force needs to be offset by gravity. I had my four bicycle bicycle trailer topple over once, much to my embarrassment and the amusement of the regulars outside the local pub. |
#10
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Three wheels on my wagon...
Quoting Tom Crispin :
[Trailers] Is one wheel better than two? It is if you plan to go around corners quickly. It is not if you plan to haul stupidly huge quantities of cargo over relatively short distances. -- David Damerell Kill the tomato! Today is First Olethros, July - a weekend. |
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