[Closed] Bike cargo trailer for groceries?

I'm sure there is a solution but as this is stw I'll offer an alternative. I tend to do a few smaller shops to keep things topped up. That all goes in a big rucksack. Then a car shop once a month to get tins, poopoo paper, etc. Obviously not now as we are shopping as little as possible, but when things get back to some kind of normal.

I live right in the middle of town, so can pop to fruit shop, bakers etc during the week, but we meal plan and cook everything from scratch, have done for the years, the Sunday morning shop suits me.

I like the idea of a big detachable box or bag that I can fill in the trolley and then lift into trailer.

Ta da!
We had a couple of these knocking about work for a while before people started falling off the site bikes and they were banned. They've got the removable box and can also be used as a hand-cart. I'd have one if I had somewhere undercover to store it, they're not really well enough made to just be abandoned outside I'd say.

edit - if you've got any kind of DIY skills and could get the material, it really wouldn't be hard to make something decent enough as a lock-down project. Weather you could do it for much less than 80 quid is a different matter.

I've done it with our kiddy trailer. Converts to a buggy and the seats detach so I just push it round the shop putting stuff in, checkout, then attach it to bike again. 40kg limit. Ours is hamax outback but I'd imagine others are similar and available 2nd hand. Well, outside lockdown anyway.

I have a carry freedom y trailer, large size. Most of the time it has a foldable box on it, secured with quick turn bolts. This makes it very easy to turn back into a flat bed for versatility. The hitch is brilliant, no rattles and very flexible. We're use it for all our local small load jobs, shopping, tip, taking stuff to friends. It's really good.

Tthew those look good, but not sure it's big enough. I reckon I have a big box that size, I'd need to try and see if I could fit my shopping in there, I'll try this weekend.

HH, I really shouldn't have sold my daughters burley 8 years ago!

I cant see a price on the cry freedoms, makes me think they're too expensive.

I have a German single wheel trailer that works in pretty much the same way as a Bob trailer. If I can keep my shop to a small Aldi trolley it will all fit in which equates to 3 BFLs. Currently doing all of my shopping using it as I am about 1.5 miles away from the shops too. Crucially, I have a cargo net that goes over the top as it always ends up slightly over loaded!

Dogsby

Carry Freedom is way over your budget, but is an excellent trailer. I've got one of the original design CFs and it easily handles a 140 litre IKEA box. That's three big bags for life plus other stuff packed around the edges.

This is what I use....

https://www.manomano.co.uk/towbar-3936?model_id=13404993&g=1&referer_id=686945&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg_3Qq5iS6QIVSbDtCh0spgPxEAQYBSABEgK_7PD_BwE

Although mine was bought from the Edinburgh Bike Co-op for about double the price 15 years ago! This looks like exactly the same design, so I reckon you'd need a rear wheel with a 9mm QR as the trailer hooks onto a modified QR.

I've been using mine for regular trips to the gin shop, sorry I mean essential items. It'll hold a good 3-4 shopping bags worth. It's very well made, and an absolute hoot on the back of a hardtail when heading out for a bothy trip!

This looks like exactly the same design, so I reckon you’d need a rear wheel with a 9mm QR as the trailer hooks onto a modified QR.

I keep seeing posts about bike trailer adapters for bolt-through on my Facebook. Let me see if I can find a link...

EDIT ooh there are millions of possibilities..... https://robertaxleproject.com/ looks good but not cheap.

That looks good Beagie, lots of the cargo box type ones look a bit small tbh, other option is the 100 quid halfords kiddie trailer and mod it to suit, but this looks better.

My commuter has QR rear axle anyway.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/5032718835?iid=223496762552

This is by the same company, looks better for shopping tbh, but that single wheel job would be good for a wee islands tour too.... hmmm.

I can put 4 bags for life on my big dummy, works for short shopping trips. Good excuse for a cargo bike?

I used to have a double child trailer (for my kids). It might work OK space wise but for the really heavy stuff (cans, bottles etc) I think it might struggle. Mine had a fabric rather than a solid base. If you load it delicately and there are no pot holes to juggle the weight around it might be OK. Mine would take two kids and loads of kit loaded on the back

I'm using a double chariot for this and whilst the weight of shopping isn't a problem (i reckon i had over 60kgs in there) the shape (being a seat with a footwell) isn't ideal for the shape of bags for life (being cubes essentially).

I’ve been using mine for regular trips to the gin shop, sorry I mean essential items. It’ll hold a good 3-4 shopping bags worth. It’s very well made, and an absolute hoot on the back of a hardtail when heading out for a bothy trip!

I have one of these. It won't take 3 or 4 packed shopping bags . It'll take that much stuff if you chuck it in the orange bag but I found it had to be packed attached to the bike.

I've got one, think it's the old Edinburgh Bike Co-op knock-off BoB?

Paid £30 s.h for it on ebay although there are still various Chinese versions of it around.

Never managed to load it to the point of failure, and given the levels of bodgery on it from the previous owner (missing axle spacers and QR? just bend the forks together a bit and get a nut on either end of the axle!!) this is a bit of a surprise!

If it dies I'll get a topeak one, or maybe a BoB.

The single wheel does ave some handling quirks at low speed, but on the other hand can charge through narrow gaps with no worries about catching a wheel on a bollard, it either fits or just bounces off.

mines not broke either.

Other observation is that it wont fit a 29er mtb - the stays aint long enough to clear the tire - fits a 700x30 though

Reckon you'd get 3 bags for life worth of shopping on there TINAS?

We have an infantastic kids trailer which we got for free, consequently it's awesome. Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with it but the one thing that is a bug bear is that it is too wide for our garden gate. So my advice is make sure it'll fit through you gate if you have one. Lifting is a pain

We chuck everything in and zip it up. Even loose stuff and firewood no problem and we don't need to think about straps or securing anything.

Fitting and removing the tow hitch to the rear QR axle every time you go out is a faff - something that you can leave on the bike and just click on and off would be worth every penny IMO

The access width is an excellent point Vader. I'd forgotten that we ended up having to widen our garden gate to get our chariot in!

I picked up a Little Van kids trailer for £1 on ebay as the hitch was broken. Replaced with a new burley rubber lollipop which connects into the already fitted hitch for the decent kids trailer. It is brilliantly simple connection that appears very strong but does rotate backwards under heavy load meaning a gentle tap is required to realign and prevent binding when connecting. Little Van has solid aluminium panel base which keeps it shape but is noisy when towing unladen. I did intend to take the sides off but as they allow extra load height I have left in situ, they do fold flat for storage or unladen towing.

As you can see in logging mode the max weight has considerable tolerance. Equally capable of dragging slabs of at least 72 cans of beer.

jaminb that is missing the CONVOI EXCEPTIONEL sign ^^^^^ Aweseome!

Yeah that is basically what we do with ours, in fact yours looks like our trailer but with better wheels

jaminb, how have you mounted the trailer to the big dummy?

envious of your front rack, would love one but wouldn't be able to store mine where it lives in the garage

benp1

In that picture one of these on the rear wheel skewer

with one of these inserted in the draw bar of the trailer (compatible diameters)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burley-Kids-Hitch-Connector-Round/dp/B001GSQXUG

It is a bit of a pain connecting underneath the pannier so I have bolted another hitch further back through the rear frame behind the back wheel. This is an experiment in progress but i think this will be for lighter loads only as it doesn't appear quite so rigid and I think there is the opportunity for some snaking to occur - i would hate to shed a load of logs or worse beer.

@jaminb that hitch is along the lines of the carry freedom hitch. I'd really recommend this type of hitch. ie, something small that stays on the bike at the axle and then a "rubber" flexible connector. It means there's not rattle from the hitch itself an axle mount means the bike behaves like a bike still. The only downside is the slight flex in the rubber part means you can feel the trailer pulse a little when it's loaded up. It certainly makes you realise if you aren't pedalling smoothly!

Taken a punt on a 70 quid cargo 2 wheeled trailer from eBay, it looks decent, worst case scenario if it's shite, I'll use what I can from it, modify it to suit what I want.

It's only for shopping once a week, sure it'll do.

I bought a Bob for back in 2003 for a London > Munich trip. It still gets used once or twice a week carrying the shopping, crates of beer and the bbq down to the river.

It could do with a sand blast and respray, but considering it sits outside 365 it's not in bad nick.

My only compliant would be that once there's one case of Augustiner on there there isn't much room for the rest of my shopping. A longer load area would be perfect.

Edit.... I've bodged together an axle to fit the 10mm through hub. A length of 10mm threaded bar, some nuts, a few washers and two short bits of copper pipe. Works fine.

Arrived today, a bit of a bargain I reckon, well made, and if I have to modify, it's pretty sturdy. 👌🏻

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Hi no beer any update on your new trailer ?

I successfully trailed my paddle board 1/2 mile to the Thames for a little paddle. Towed nicely with my home made hitch made from part of an old bed!

Ace! 😁 No zig-zag gates on your trip to the river presumably?

Thankfully not, straight out the garden gate onto a cycle path then a couple of roads

For anyone else looking, The Pashley Euroload trailer is good. I used to use one for a hot dog bbq business.

Currently getting it back into use as a bike trailer but missing the arm and hitch - hoping I can get another from Pashley

https://www.pashley.co.uk/bikes/carrier-cycles/euroload-trailer.php

Jaminb, it's rolling along nicely, 4th week of doing the weekly shopping now, made a couple odd wee mods, mainly just beefing up the sides to stop the bags bulging into the wheels.

Need to sort out a wee hitch mod though, it's a pain in the arse taking the skewer out every time.

Reckon my shopping must be about 40kg? No probs.

£280 for a refurbished ex-Royal Mail bike which includes one being donated to a charity in Africa.

Often see a bloke near me using one of these

https://www.cycleofgood.com/elephant-bike/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzu27wNrd6QIVE4jVCh3xXgHZEAAYASAAEgKVavD_BwE



 

Yesterday's shopping run route

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@nobeerinthefridge could I please ask which brand trailer you bought? My requirements sound much like yours, and if you're still happy with it, I might stop pondering & actually buy one...

If it dies I’ll get a topeak one, or maybe a BoB.

I’ve been looking at a Burley COHO XC. Would love to ditch the car tbh it feels like such a cash-sapper and energy-sucker.

nb: Should have thought about that before getting hitched 🤣😂🤣