What trailer???

[tonupgilly]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post - so hope it's ok.
I have fairly recently switched from road riding (time-trialling etc) to trail riding and have bought a full suspension mountain bike, which I absolutely love to bits.  I have no touring experience (but regularly ride long distances) and intend joining one of Adventure Cycling's touring and back-woods camping courses next year.  Ultimately, I would like to ride the Great Divide, but as I live in the UK, getting to the USA with gear seems pretty daunting at the moment.  As I understand it (please correct me if I'm wrong), I cannot use panniers with a full sus bike, and will need to use a trailer to carry gear.  I have looked at many different trailers on the internet, BOB, Aevon, Adventure, etc and find it hard to make a decision about buying one.  I would appreciate any comments regarding their use from your experiences please.  Has anyone ever used the Aevon Kit L80 trailer - it looks great, but seems very expensive. Also, does anyone have any idea how much it might cost to transport bike and trailer by air?

Thanks

Gill

[tonythomson]

Gill,
It cost me about 60 GBP to bring my bike over Gatwick to Orlando with Virgin, no idea about trailers but I would guess that you might have a big weight problem.  Then shifting your stuff about USA by public transport is not cheap here.  You would have to do a lot of Googling.  Might want to look at buying some of your gear over here, camping stuff etc. However, all of this can be overcome with good planning - I live in Southampton and have a house in Kissimmee area so if you ever wanted I could help bringing stuff over as rarely do I reach my weight limit.  Just a thought.  Let me know if that would be of any help.
I'm planning to buy a Bike Friday with a trailer which doubles up as a case to carry it in and save on tha airline charges.  But guess that would not be any good for the Great Divide.

[tonupgilly]

Hi Tony,

Thank you for your offer - it is very kind of you and I may take you up on it when the time comes.  If I do go on one of the Adv Cyc courses, I could possibly buy kit whilst I am there  -  is it cheaper in the US?  I do have a relative over in WV who could possibly store stuff for me for a while, although at some point I have to have it here as well so transporting across the pond will have to be done eventually.

I have read reviews on Bike Friday - it looks really good, but as you say, probably not suited to rougher terrain.  I suppose an option could be to use one to get to the states, then buy a BOB or similar for the trip, selling it before returning with the Bike Friday.

Anyway - time to plan and think about it.  Thank you again for your offer and thoughts - they are much appreciated.  Good luck with Bike Friday - let me know how it goes.

Kind regards,
Gill

[rvklassen]

As I understand it (please correct me if I'm wrong), I cannot use panniers with a full sus bike, and will need to use a trailer to carry gear.

Go to bikebagshop.com.  They show Old Man Mountain racks that are compatible with front and rear suspension.  There may be others.  If you would normally ride with panniers, there's a good chance you'll prefer this.  The rack and four quality panniers weigh less than a non-suspension BOB, and if you do get a trailer, for this application, you might be better off with the suspension version, at a pound or two more.   

Should you choose to use a trailer, BOB appears to be the gold standard.

As to whether it will be cheaper here, I suspect you will find some things (possibly including bike equipment) substantially cheaper, and some significantly more pricey.  The thing to do is shop the web, be aware of the current exchange rate, the shipping price, and what taxes would/would not apply.  Generally in the US, if you're having something shipped to another state, you don't pay sales tax, unless the vendor operates in the destination state.  Some states want their residents to pay them the sales tax they've thereby avoided, but that wouldn't apply to you.

[tonupgilly]

Hey! - What a revelation.  You're a life-saver.  Thanks very much for the info - I had no idea. Panniers would be the ideal for use both at home and abroad.  I could in theory always buy a trailer for use on the Great Divide once I got to USA, then leave it there, although this could be a messy arrangement. I would still need to get gear transported, and the OMM looks really good.  I have already contacted the bike bag shop for their advice.  Many thanks - G

[Tourista829]

www.biketrailershop.com/ in Flagstaff,, Arizona  is a great resource for trailers. Very knowledgeable and often haven specials and discounts Contact Person (Josh or Ben)
www.bikebagshop.com/ in Flagstaff, Az is a great resource for panniers & has excellent prices, incentive discounts, & free shipping over $100 US in the US Carry Old Man Mtn. Racks (Robin)
www.sjscycles.co.uk is a good source, in the UK for racks and bags. Contact Person (Andy)
We use both separately and combined depending on the "The Mission." 

[tonupgilly]

Thank you very much "Tourista".  The UK one is especially interesting for me - cos I live there.  I've got lots of good stuff to be looking at now.  Regards, G. 

[Galloper]

Edinburgh Cycle Co-OP do a replica of the Bob Yak trailer for £150.   It is the non suspension version.   I can't see any difference in the two so it's a substantial saving.   I did a check a little while ago, my panniers and racks weighed 6 kg, the trailer with bag weighed 8kg, a difference but not hugely significant if you're carrying a fair amount of kit.

In general, I think UK prices are lower than USA.   If you join CTC you can also get significant discounts on kit, places like Evans Cycles give 10% to CTC members and, of course, they have their own on line shop.

[tonupgilly]

Thanks for that - I'll look into it.  I used to be a member of the CTC years ago, so I think I'll re-join.  I'm quite interested in the OMM rack system, but also think I would prefer the weight to be on a trailer rather than the bike and I guess you're right in that a couple of kilos won't make a lot of difference.  The weight is on the ground, it's just hauling it up the hills that's going to hurt.

Regards, G

[ducnut]

You'll want a suspended trailer. Non-suspended will transmit more road harshness/vibration through to the bike. You'll feel nearly every bump. A suspended trailer is well worth the little extra cost and weight.

I haven't travelled the GDR. However, there's a movie out there, Ride the Divide, that's pretty explicit about the trials and tribulations of travelling such a rough route. Also, ADVRider.com is a motorcycle site that has many reports of riders traversing the route. It looks pretty brutal, compared to pavement travel. Having said that, I have to agree with you wanting to put the weight onto a trailer. The rack systems I've seen aren't designed for that type of terrain. They might work for a while, but, I'm betting fatigue will eventually claim them. With a suspended trailer, you're not subjecting the bike to any more weight than it was designed for. This will mean less chance of a cracked frame, broken spokes, compromised suspension parts, etc. The design of the B.O.B. trailer is like a wheelbarrow being pulled backward; there's very little weight subjected to the bike.

[aggie]

If you decide to get a Bob Trailer it isn't very hard to ship it.  I use an Ortlieb Big Zip.  It easily holds my Bob with room for other gear.  The bag is easy to fold up and carry as you ride so it is available at your destination.  It can also carry stuff while you ride.

[tonupgilly]

Since I posted this topic, I have come across a big problem.  It seems that the bike I was going to use is unable to carry any sort of luggage - I even e-mailed Trek to ask them.   It appears that I cannot put a BOB trailer on it, or any trailer that fits the rear spindle because it is too wide for any known make of trailer.  I am also unable to put any sort of panniers - even Old Man Mountain - for the same reason.  This is very disappointing as I bought the bike as a cross-country trail bike - and if I can't carry luggage - it is no use for longer trips.  One option would be the Aevon (seatpost mounted) trailer - but they are very expensive and I would still have to transport it by air.  So I have decided to start again and get a new bike and have been looking at Thorn cycles (SJS Cycles).  They have an option to have S & S couplings to allow the bike to be dismantled and packed in a suitcase for travel, Rohloff hub gears etc.  Lotsa money, but could be worth it if it saves transport costs every time.  I would probably still look at getting a BOB trailer though.  Thanks for the information - I'll take a look at the stuff on the GDR.

[waynemyer]

WHAT?!  I find this very hard to believe. I think Trek might be playing it conservatively.  If they say, "Yes, this bike can do [x]," they can open themselves to liability if things go badly.  

What model of Trek is your bike?  I used a BOB with my 145mm tandem.  Yes, I had to flex the trailer yoke arms a little, but it worked great. 

[whittierider]

I used a BOB with my 145mm tandem.

There were lots of people on the tandem forum who used BOBs on their tandems, and I'm sure some of them had 160mm rear dropout spacing.  (I got off that email list forum a few years ago, so it's not practical to verify it at this point.)   We put a rear rack on our tandem too, which has 145mm dropout spacing, 10mm more than mountain bikes and 15mm more than the road standard, and the dropouts are probably thicker too.

[tonupgilly]

WHAT?!  I find this very hard to believe. I think Trek might be playing it conservatively.  If they say, "Yes, this bike can do [x]," they can open themselves to liability if things go badly.  

What model of Trek is your bike?  I used a BOB with my 145mm tandem.  Yes, I had to flex the trailer yoke arms a little, but it worked great. 

I used a BOB with my 145mm tandem.

There were lots of people on the tandem forum who used BOBs on their tandems, and I'm sure some of them had 160mm rear dropout spacing.  (I got off that email list forum a few years ago, so it's not practical to verify it at this point.)   We put a rear rack on our tandem too, which has 145mm dropout spacing, 10mm more than mountain bikes and 15mm more than the road standard, and the dropouts are probably thicker too.

It's a Trek Fuel Ex 8.  I also e-mailed a bike shop who stocks both the model of bike and BOB trailers.  They told me it wouldn't work because you can't change the rear skewer for the special ones required on this bike (sorry - it's not the width that's the problem - my mistake).  The response from Trek themselves was "Sorry but I do not know of any way to carry luggage with this bike, that just wasn't really a design concern when we set out to build it I'm afraid.  .......  Sorry I can't help you with the gear carrying issue, I wish I had a solution but I just am not aware of one at this time."

I am a total amateur as far as mountain bikes go - so I am totally at sea with this.  If anyone has a Trek fuel Ex 8 and has managed to carry luggage I would love to hear from them.  Apparently I can load the front, but I wouldn't want to do this unless I can load the back too.