Efficient A bicycle trailer is more efficient than rucksack or panniers. Trailer s isolate your bike from the load so you don't waste energy wiggling the load.

Safe A bicycle towing a bicycle trailer handle normally. It corners predictably, and remains maneuverable.

Practical Bicycle trailer s are easier to live with. They're easy to pack, convenient to hitch, and light to walk with. Our trailer s also flatten easily for storage.

No damage to your bike Carrying heavy loads in bicycle panniers or monowheel trailer s needs a strong bike with strong wheels and frame. Two wheel bicycle trailer s are rotationally isolated from your bike, so even suspended or lightweight bikes don't suffer.

Huge capacity Our bicycle trailer s will carry up to 300Litres/90kg of luggage on a normal bike. You will hardly ever carry this much, but you could do a week's shopping for a family of four in one trip.

Cycling "feels" normal A two wheel bicycle trailer lets your bike handle normally, even if carrying a lot. It corners normally. It's as maneuverable as normal, and it simply feels normal when cycling. However it takes longer to brake and accelerate, and hills seem steeper (going down as well as up).

Another choice A bike/trailer combination is a good addition to your car and public transport, offering another way to carry. But bicycle trailer s and bikes can also piggyback on cars and trains.

The Science See "Bicycle trailer science" below to learn why two wheel trailer s offer all these advantages.

The Alternatives top

There are many different ways to carry by bike, here we review the alternatives to what we do.

Courier bags The ideal convenient way to carry light loads short distances. Use a courier bag to carry between 5kg and 10kg. We like Chrome and Ortlieb.

Bicycle Panniers Perfect for medium loads, and less sweaty than a Courier bag. We think you are better with a trailer for bulky objects, and anything more than 15kg. We like Ortlieb bags, and Tubus racks.

Seatpost mounted bicycle trailer s These handle better than monowheel trailer s, but not as well as axle mounted bicycle trailer s. Seat post mounted trailer s are rotationally decoupled, so are efficient, but they be prone to tugging at the bike. We like the Bike Hod especially for carrying musical instruments.

Mono wheel trailer s Brilliant off road, but poor at everything else. Monowheel trailer s lower the luggage Center of Gravity, but the load is still attached to the bike like bicycle panniers. They are narrow and track with the bike, but they also have a habit of steering the bike and putting excess stresses on its frame. Carrying more than 30kg on a monowheel trailer is silly. We like Extrawheel, Bob Yak, and Weber.

Two wheel bicycle trailer s Above 15kg these rule. With bicycle panniers, monowheel trailer s, and courier bags the load is rotationally attached to the bike, whereas with a two wheel bicycle trailer it is not. This means two wheel trailer s are more efficient at carrying a given load, and have the least effect on bicycle handling, but they are not always the best choice for every load.

Which bicycle trailer? top

In general all our bicycle trailer s are a joy to use and own, but which one is best for you? Here we try and offer some tips as to the relative strengths of our trailer s to help you choose. We also recommend a couple of other manufacturer's bicycle trailer s which do some things better than ours. Corrin Higgs toured accross Bolivia with a Y-Frame and a Bob Yak. His review explains the relative merits of one and two wheel trailers better than we ever could. Corrin Higgs review

As bicycle trailer s All our trailer s handle equally well, the key difference is their width going through gaps. The Y-Small is the thinnest at 65cm wide, next is the City at 70cm, and finally the Y-Large at 80cm wide. During normal riding this is not much of an issue but you do have to watch traffic bollards and cars with a Y-Large.

As suitcases/handcarts All our bicycle trailer s can be walked as suitcases, but the City is better balanced and does stairs better. The City can also be wheeled sideways through thin doors and turnstiles. The Y-Small will wheel through most doors (65cm wide) but the Y-Large is stopped by almost all doors (80cm). When resting the City bicycle trailer will sit upright, but the Y-Frames lie flat making them less convenient to pick up and go.

Storage The Y-Frames separate into multiple pieces, while the City folds into one piece. This means the City is much easier to carry when folded, and easier to store as all the bits are together. However the Y-Frames separate pieces can be put in multiple locations so it can be hidden in very small spaces.

Security The City has a closed loop frame, so can easily be locked to the bike, but its fabric bag cannot be made secure. The Y-Frame is difficult to lock to the bike, as its wheels and handle separate and it has no frame loop. It can be fitted with a lockable metal trunk and the QR pins can be replaced with bolts, less convenient but more secure.

Strength The Y-Frame is probably the toughest bicycle trailer on the market, it's frame is 3mm thick throughout. Our recommended load limits (70kg/90kg) relate to bicycle brakes and dynamic handling rather than trailer structure. When we say 45kg with the City we mean it.

Capacity The City can carry the most volume, since loads can overhang its high frame. For example a suitcase big enough to hold a folding bike can fit on the frame above a full courier bag. The Y-Frames are fundamentally limited by their axle widths as to how much volume they can carry. For a Y-Large the maximum load footprint is about 63cmX 90cm, or 48X90cm for the Y-Small.

Durability We consider both bicycle trailer s as equally durable/delicate. The Y-Frame looks simpler, but it has delicate mechanics hidden in its axles. The City looks complicated, but only because it wears its mechanics on its sleeve. No ones has ever reported any structural failures to us, ever. A couple of Y-Frame axles have disintegrated, and a few key bolts have dropped off a City (touch wood).

Off Road All our bicycle trailer s are fine on rough tracks, but the bigger the wheels the faster you can go. However steep sideslopes, and narrow single tracks defeat all two wheel bicycle trailer s eventually.

If you are predominantly cycling off road on singletrack routes we'd recommend a monowheel bicycle trailer. In our opinion the best available is the Polish Extrawheel, with the Bob Yak and Weber Monoporter in joint second. However a one wheel bicycle trailer sometimes steers the bike, especially if overloaded, and they are generally not as easy to live with as a two wheel bicycle trailer.

Weird loads top

Many people want to carry something unusual by bicycle trailer. Here we outline some of the surprisingly common "weird loads".

Musical instruments Many people want to carry musical instruments around on a bicycle trailer. City owners use it to carry cellos violins, and tenor Sax's and that's just what we know about. The City's bag and frame can be padded to keep the instrument safe. For larger/longer instruments such as guitars and above we would also recommend the Bike Hod.

Long thin loads Want to carry a ladder, or some wooden batons? The Y-Frame bicycle trailer will carry thin loads up to about 3 meters long. These loads are strapped lengthwise along the trailer but at a slight angle so the front passes out to the bike's left side. The material that overhangs the front of the bicycle trailer is tied to the trailer arm's elbow. The turning circle with this arrangement is surprisingly good.

Surf boards We frequently get asked whether our bicycle trailer s can carry surf boards or canoes. Yes is the short answer. To carry surfboards/canoes we use a Y-Frame with an extra long arm. This format allows you to carry up to two Surfboards/canoes, and costs around £50 extra. If you want to carry more we can build bamboo bicycle trailer variants from stainless steel that can carry up to 12 surfboards or 4 canoes. These heavy duty bicycle trailer s cost between £500 and £1000 but are specifically designed for the application.

Coffins We made a rather nice Ash bicycle trailer for carrying coffins to their final destination. This like many of our custom bicycle trailer s is based on a bamboo bicycle trailer chassis.

Bicycle trailer science top

The main reason a bicycle trailer is more efficient for you, and less damaging to your bike, is it isolates the load from your bike as the bike wiggles. Bikes wiggle left to right every time your pedals turn. Isolating the load from this motion saves energy and reduces forces on your bike frame. Download bicycle trailer science for more.

Bikes wiggle when you cycle As you cycle your bike is always leaning slightly left then slightly right. Every time you turn your pedals, or adjust direction, or balance, your bike leans slightly.

Bicycle Panniers wiggle, costing energy With monowheel bicycle trailer s, panniers, and courier bags the load leans with the bike. This movement although very slight is constant, and during a ride a lot of energy is used that could be better spent cycling further or faster.

Two wheel bicycle trailer s don't wiggle Our two wheel trailer s stay level as the bike wiggles, so you don't waste energy moving the load left<->right.


No wiggle, no waste You don't waste energy moving the load from left to right and back again, consequently no forces pass through your frame to move the load left/right.

Downloads top

Downloading - Left click a link to view, or right click and select "save as".
Printing - The pdf's have been designed to print black and white on A4 paper.

General Downloads
Carry freedom overview (639 kb Pdf) A brief overview of our history products and philosophy.
Why trailer s (108Kb Pdf) The main reasons why you will find a trailer a pleasure and an asset.
Trailer science (116Kb Pdf) The science of why two wheel trailer s perform as well as they do.
Trailer FAQ (131Kb Pdf) Your common trailer questions answered.

City
City Instruction Manual (5.14mb Pdf) The full instruction manual for the City, including folding details.
Movie (1.83Mb QT mov ) A 40 second quick time movie demonstrating the main features of the city trailer.
City Info sheet (62Kb Pdf) Details of the City trailer, similar to this page.
City Magazine review (58Kb Pdf) Velo Vision's Peter Eland explores the versatility of the City.

Y-Frame
Y-Frame Manual (5.5mb Pdf) The complete instruction manual for the Y-Frame.
Y-Frame Info sheet (30Kb Pdf) Details of the Y-frame trailer.
Magazine review (54Kb Pdf) C+ Voted the Y-Frame "Best Buy" compared to the Bob Yak and friends.
Y-Large User Review (54Kb Pdf) James Wells from www.greenliving.co.uk raves about Y-Frame ownership.
Y-Large compared to the Bob Yak (54Kb Pdf) Corrin Higgs toured Bolivia with a Y-Frame and a Bob Yak.
Boxes & Bags Details of the boxes and bags that fit the Y-Frame, the manual covers our Box QR details.
Load dimensions (44.7Kb pdf) Drawings of the Y-Small and Y-Large giving dimensions relating to load capacity.

bArk
Info sheet (21Kb Pdf) Details of the bArk trailer.
Training a dog in the bArk (20Kb Pdf) A step by step guide on how best to introduce your dog to the bArk.

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