How do you carry big shopping?

[pliptrot]

Jdsk, thank you for putting that right. The Nihola lives outside - we have steps between us and the world and you would not be wanting to move that bike on those- but it's been remarkably resilient. The cloth cover developed mould and after a visit from my FiL he had soaked it in God knows what which destroyed the windows, so that will need replacing, but otherwise it's standing the test of time. Waxoyl is the next gift I'll give it. The Nexus 8 hub is still running well. The drum brakes on the front wheels are largely ornamental. I've seen Niholas around with disc brakes and I am envious.

[Jdsk]

The cloth cover developed mould and after a visit from my FiL he had soaked it in God knows what which destroyed the windows, so that will need replacing...

It might be worth having a quick go with plastic window polish:
https://www.renovointernational.com/car ... polish.php

Jonathan

[Carlton green]

The drum brakes on the front wheels are largely ornamental.

That’d rather concern me; it might well be worth your while starting a thread about braking on your cargo bike. Sometimes there are a few easy wins to improve matters and folk here seem happy to share experiences and/or expertise.

Thanks for your responses to the thread, I’ve enjoyed reading what other folk do.

[pjclinch]

The drum brakes on the front wheels are largely ornamental.

That’d rather concern me; it might well be worth your while starting a thread about braking on your cargo bike. Sometimes there are a few easy wins to improve matters and folk here seem happy to share experiences and/or expertise.

The 8-Freight has drums. They're effective, but do take some getting used to and if you're used to pin-sharp stops on hydraulic discs then you not only have to factor in the brakes won't do that, but that it's not in the realm of Great Ideas to try and do pin-sharp stops with 50 Kgs extra load on board...

Pete.

[pjclinch]

My load yesterday, about 45lb in the bags and 70lb in rucksack, luckily my friend only lives 3.5miles across town.
I'd rather take two trips with a bike than take a trailer, particularly during busy traffic, there's barely any difference to being unloaded for me over that distance and it feels safer and less to consider.

With a trailer there's just so much more, how much space you need, timings across roundabouts, turning in angles, how much you can swerve, whether the load is bouncing around, avoiding potholes that can be awkward if you're avoiding them on the front wheel, that's just the ones off top of m head.

I'm sure there will be times when I think a trailer of some sort could be ideal, but for me it's not worth it even with these kind of loads.

If you're relatively happy with 30 Kgs in a rucksack on a bike then you're quite different from me. I find that sort of weight really quite unpleasant to carry on my back, even in a good rucksack, and I'd use a trailer for that weight over 3.5 dekameters, never mind miles. It's quite simply much easier.

With a trailer there's actually much less to worry about, because good ones just follow the track of the back and have far less effect on overall handling. If you're trying to fine tune exactly what road space you're taking and how much you can swerve with a 30 Kg rucksack on... well, good luck with that.

Pete.

[SwiftyDoesIt]

It's what people are used to though, look at what others have done, e.g. a LEJOG on a chopper with a trailer, now THAT is extreme stuff
I still want to keep as much of the fitness and muscle mass from when I played contact ball sport, I was never massive and don't do gyms, but I've been chunky even from whence at primary school
The weight was unusual but never felt unbalanced even going round an open bend at 17mph, I'd possibly think a little less in the panniers and more in a rucksack would feel better in terms of weight distribution when riding on the tops or hoods..

I can see the upsides of a trailer for some scenarios but too many downsides from my perspective would probably mean I'd still just do bike with bags even if I had one.

Power to all that do, I think they look great and can be a fantastic tool in the right circumstances.

[plancashire]

My load yesterday, about 45lb in the bags and 70lb in rucksack, luckily my friend only lives 3.5miles across town.
I'd rather take two trips with a bike than take a trailer, particularly during busy traffic, there's barely any difference to being unloaded for me over that distance and it feels safer and less to consider.

With a trailer there's just so much more, how much space you need, timings across roundabouts, turning in angles, how much you can swerve, whether the load is bouncing around, avoiding potholes that can be awkward if you're avoiding them on the front wheel, that's just the ones off top of m head.

I'm sure there will be times when I think a trailer of some sort could be ideal, but for me it's not worth it even with these kind of loads.

If you're relatively happy with 30 Kgs in a rucksack on a bike then you're quite different from me. I find that sort of weight really quite unpleasant to carry on my back, even in a good rucksack, and I'd use a trailer for that weight over 3.5 dekameters, never mind miles. It's quite simply much easier.

With a trailer there's actually much less to worry about, because good ones just follow the track of the back and have far less effect on overall handling. If you're trying to fine tune exactly what road space you're taking and how much you can swerve with a 30 Kg rucksack on... well, good luck with that.

Pete.

I agree with you Pete. Heavy panniers affect the handling of my bike more than my Burley Travoy trailer. I never use a rucksack on a bike. The Travoy is narrow enough that the wheels fit if my bars fit - like cats' whiskers. Where I live I rarely have to mix with much traffic and there are few obstacles to ride around. No bollards.

[Mike Sales]

I once moved a two drawer steel filing cabinet in a trailer. It behaved well until I was tempted to take a corner at the bottom of a hill rather too fast. It overturned, but no harm was done.
It would not have fitted in any rucsac!

[jrs665]

avoiding potholes that can be awkward .

I don't find them an issue on the recumbent trike; the smaller 20" front wheels roll through them, the rear 26" wheel soaks them up with suspension.

Are pot holes an issue for trailers? If so, is it a problem for single or 2 wheel trailers?

[pjclinch]

avoiding potholes that can be awkward .

I don't find them an issue on the recumbent trike; the smaller 20" front wheels roll through them, the rear 26" wheel soaks them up with suspension.

Are pot holes an issue for trailers? If so, is it a problem for single or 2 wheel trailers?

Given the choice of pulling a load through a pothole on a trailer, or hitting a pothole on a normal bike with 20 Kg in panniers and another 30 on my back... I'd take my chances with the trailer!

But I suspect SwiftlyDoesIt's problems with trailers are notional more than actual. If one's bottom line is to avoid trailers because they want to do unnecessary heavy lifting to maintain muscle mass, well, it's a choice but not necessarily one that transfers to many people, and not one that should be hidden behind thought experiments over bike handling.

Pete.

[SwiftyDoesIt]

avoiding potholes that can be awkward .

I don't find them an issue on the recumbent trike; the smaller 20" front wheels roll through them, the rear 26" wheel soaks them up with suspension.

Are pot holes an issue for trailers? If so, is it a problem for single or 2 wheel trailers?

Given the choice of pulling a load through a pothole on a trailer, or hitting a pothole on a normal bike with 20 Kg in panniers and another 30 on my back... I'd take my chances with the trailer!

But I suspect SwiftlyDoesIt's problems with trailers are notional more than actual. If one's bottom line is to avoid trailers because they want to do unnecessary heavy lifting to maintain muscle mass, well, it's a choice but not necessarily one that transfers to many people, and not one that should be hidden behind thought experiments over bike handling.

Pete.

But you've less chance of hitting a pothole on the rear wheel of a bike compared to that when pulling a trailer were you'd be having two lots of wheel placement to consider which are not in line with each other.

Why is it unecessary, why is ok with a trailer with all its encumbances and the extra weight to pull along?
Does pulling a trailer transfer to many people, from what I've seen over 40 years, it doesn't so there's not much point to what you're saying really aside from having a dig/being a bit rude.

it's not a thought experiment, it's a fact that handling a normal bike IS easier than when pulling a trailer in ALL situations, that might be tough to admit it if you're a trailerist, but it seems you're offended somehow because I've made valid practical reasons FOR ME as to why I wouldn't get one for my personal circumstances.
What's the fear you hold as to why your response is somewhat prickly?

[pjclinch]

I don't find them an issue on the recumbent trike; the smaller 20" front wheels roll through them, the rear 26" wheel soaks them up with suspension.

Are pot holes an issue for trailers? If so, is it a problem for single or 2 wheel trailers?

Given the choice of pulling a load through a pothole on a trailer, or hitting a pothole on a normal bike with 20 Kg in panniers and another 30 on my back... I'd take my chances with the trailer!

But I suspect SwiftlyDoesIt's problems with trailers are notional more than actual. If one's bottom line is to avoid trailers because they want to do unnecessary heavy lifting to maintain muscle mass, well, it's a choice but not necessarily one that transfers to many people, and not one that should be hidden behind thought experiments over bike handling.

Pete.

But you've less chance of hitting a pothole on the rear wheel of a bike compared to that when pulling a trailer were you'd be having two lots of wheel placement to consider which are not in line with each other.

Why is it unecessary, why is ok with a trailer with all its encumbances and the extra weight to pull along?
Does pulling a trailer transfer to many people, from what I've seen over 40 years, it doesn't so there's not much point to what you're saying really aside from having a dig/being a bit rude.

it's not a thought experiment, it's a fact that handling a normal bike IS easier than when pulling a trailer in ALL situations, that might be tough to admit it if you're a trailerist, but it seems you're offended somehow because I've made valid practical reasons FOR ME as to why I wouldn't get one for my personal circumstances.
What's the fear you hold as to why your response is somewhat prickly?

I'd probably qualify better as a "trailerist" if I had one. I don't, but I have used them (I prefer a cargo bike for heavy loads). They handle better than heavily laden conventional bikes with the same load in my experience: that's the point of them.

I don't have any problems with you wanting to do weight lifting when you carry heavy loads on a bike. But for general advice that should be framed as "you get more exercise this way" rather than suggesting the ride is much harder than wearing a 30 Kg pack to ride. It's hard work just holding a 30 Kg pack up. It's no work at all to let it sit in a trailer.

That one sees very few trailers in the UK is far more to do with our (lack of) bike culture than them being hard to use.

Trailers awkward and bad handling? Try some of this with a 30 Kg rucksack on..

[Carlton green]

avoiding potholes that can be awkward .

I don't find them an issue on the recumbent trike; the smaller 20" front wheels roll through them, the rear 26" wheel soaks them up with suspension.

Are pot holes an issue for trailers? If so, is it a problem for single or 2 wheel trailers?

In my limited experience of towing a two wheeled trailer they aren’t without issues but are a great way to shift stuff - you could move something like a washing machine on one. Hitting potholes and bumps with them isn’t a great idea though and particularly so at pace - yes, you can turn a two wheel trailer on its side. Single wheel trailers have their drawbacks, but how they just track behind the bike and are stable through pot holes and over bumps has value.

[cycle tramp]

The drum brakes on the front wheels are largely ornamental. I've seen Niholas around with disc brakes and I am envious.

H'mmm.... personally I found both my front 90mm drum brake and on the other bike my 70mm drum brake to be sufficient... admittedly they're on a bike rather than a trike... but equally you've got 2 drum brakes and they're operating through 20 inch (?) front wheels, so I would have expected them to have some power of retardation...
The usual suspects are the cables and the operating lever. Personally I found that 80's style cantilever brakes work well with drum brakes, and whilst I don't use them, compressionless brake cables have been known to improve the power of drum brakes.

[jrs665]

avoiding potholes that can be awkward .

I don't find them an issue on the recumbent trike; the smaller 20" front wheels roll through them, the rear 26" wheel soaks them up with suspension.

Are pot holes an issue for trailers? If so, is it a problem for single or 2 wheel trailers?

In my limited experience of towing a two wheeled trailer they aren’t without issues but are a great way to shift stuff - you could move something like a washing machine on one. Hitting potholes and bumps with them isn’t a great idea though and particularly so at pace - yes, you can turn a two wheel trailer on its side. Single wheel trailers have their drawbacks, but how they just track behind the bike and are stable through pot holes and over bumps has value.

Watched a test ride of a burley nomad with varied terrain including ofroad trails with ditches etc. Seemed fine, more weight making it bounce less. On a bicyle though, more weight makes handling worse.