Author Topic: trailer and rear pannier?  (Read 11736 times)

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Offline dnuss

trailer and rear pannier?
« on: January 12, 2006, 11:52:30 am »
Is it possible to use a rear pannier (or some gear on the rear rack like sleeping bag and tent) when hauling a trailer?  Or does that put too much weight on the rear wheel and spokes?  If it is possible, how much?


cyclesafe

  • Guest
trailer and rear pannier?
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2006, 07:19:18 pm »
A BOB exerts about 1/3 of its total weight on the bike's rear axle.  Add about 80% of your body weight and 100% of the weight of your rear racks and panniers and then the question becomes whether your rear wheel can handle the total.  Conventional wisdom holds that one needs at least a 36x14 guage spoke wheel for "loaded" touring, so my guess is that you should start considering something more exotic (like a 40 or 48 spoke tandem wheel) if your weight total (as calculated above) exceeds about 230 lbs.  I'd be even more conservative if you were planning to be on anything other than a paved road.

But I am a "belt and suspenders" sort of fella.  I'd be curious about other views...



Offline biker_james

trailer and rear pannier?
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2006, 07:58:09 am »
Never used a trailer myself, but I have seen people using a trailer with rear panniers, but more often with front panniers to balance the weight. Not that I think the weight of a sleeping bag is going to wreck your rear wheel. I think I would strap it on top the trailer personally.


Offline Peaks

trailer and rear pannier?
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2006, 07:35:05 pm »
I think that trailers are rated for something like 75 pounds.  If you have a loaded trailer, and still need more room then I think you are carrying too much.  Lighten up!


Offline driftlessregion

trailer and rear pannier?
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2006, 07:41:53 pm »
I tour with a BOB and a rear rack with a trunk on it with no problems. The key is starting with good wheels. The trunk allows me to keep stuff handy that would be hard to get to in the BOB bag.


Offline dano

trailer and rear pannier?
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2006, 07:47:40 pm »
A sleeping bag doesnt sound like it would add to much.However a 2 wheeled trailer like a nomad sould be able to haul everything.And with the wheels directly under the load it helps take the load off the bike.


Offline TheDaltonBoys

trailer and rear pannier?
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2006, 10:46:06 am »
All - my compliments to those with offerings but do not own trailers....you are all indeed well read and all of your offerings are absolutely true. As a BoB owner since the late 90's you can put some stuff on the back over the rear wheel, just not much. If you need that much more do front panniers with the trailer, and/or re-evaluate what you're taking. Being in the winter of a 35 year military career and about to retire I'd like to relate a story, (not a fairy tale).  After decades of a rucksack that was one size, the military appropriated their first, widely distributed internal frame (as opposed to our old external frame)rucksack with all the bells and whistles that included a separable "day pack". Total available space was 7200 cubic inches. What NEARLY everybody did was fill that puppy up and all of a sudden even the youngsters found they were having a really hard time land navigating with their gear. While BoB's are rated to 70 lbs. max. I have never taken  that much at all on a tour, indeed most conventional wisdom is 35 lbs. and I cannot disagree as a rule of thumb.  Now I'm not a minimalist touring camper, but I have learned that when packing, everything that goes must serve a daily use type of purpose and if it can perform multi-function....so much the better. Also, BoB's were designed primarily for single track touring...if you are on more pavement than less then maybe a trailer with two wheels should be considered. Hope this helps....Enjoy the voyage...Mark of the Dalton Boys