Bike trailers, do they wreck your bike?

scale20

I've had a bike trailer for my idle daughter for a few months now and it seems brilliant. It lets me get out on my bike when I have her and an offroad ride is out the window.

The more I ride with it and feel it pushing and pulling on the bike the more I wonder if they do your bike any good.

After riding I have a good check of the left hand drop out it connects to via the QR for any damage but it seems ok.

Has anyone ever had or heard of any issues arrise with broken or warped frames from towing a trailer?

I use my Gary fisher big sur to tow it and don't take it off road, as much as I'd like to thrash her around the Marin Trail

They are probably fine to tow but once you get that thought in the back of your mind you can't get rid of it!

Put my mind at rest!

Anonymous

Where does it attatch? The ones I've seen clip onto the seatpost.

ride_whenever

we sell them at the lbs where i work, not hear of any damaged frames myself.

At least not from the qr mounted (vastly superior system from a handling perspective for multi-wheeled trailers) ones.

scale20

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Where does it attatch? The ones I've seen clip onto the seatpost.

Theres a small stud that sits on the outside of your left hand drop out.

You slide out your QR and pass it through a hole in the stud and then back through the QR axle then just tighten it as usual. Does that make sense? Then you just attach the trailer towbar to that stud.

Its a damn good solid system but I've had it in the back of my mind that its bending or damaging your dropout.

Anonymous

Hmm. I think I can imagine why you'd be concerned. I've never seen one work like that, I was just curious, sorry.

rudedog

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Hmm. I think I can imagine why you'd be concerned. I've never seen one work like that, I was just curious, sorry.

thats how nearly all the bike trailers I've seen attatch - I think you must be thinking of the the child 'tag-a-longs' which attach to the seatpost and are something completely different. The tag a lons sometimes get called trailers which is where the confusion is probably coming from.

Anonymous

I was thinking of the child tag-a-long things, yeah. :oops:
I'm sure I've seen those trailer type ones attatch to the seat post as well. hmm. :?
maybe not.

allthegearnoidea

ive had issues with mine on the carbon bike,
mine attatches via the qr as most (halfords 2 child trailer) but i used to have it attatched through the upper disc mount bolt (put longer on e in to compensate as my Qr wasnt long enough to do frame and bracket??) or through one of the cut outs on the rear drop out, (bolted through)
didnt notice for a while but back wheel looked out of square sat in so played with it to sort it etc, then noticed a little gap in the drop out to the carbon tube a while later when the wheel looked odd again!, seemed my riding coupled with daughter (she's 3 now but have used since she was ickle and only just stopped in favour of the child backpack, but is a Big 3!) had loosened the bond between the alloy drop out and the carbon tube!
have rebonded it all now and is fine but stopped using the trailer on that frame! (as said, use the child carrier instead! althogh get a little lid clash when braking lol)
i did take her off roading in it quite a few times, and she seemed to enjoy it! but it isnt half heavy on the brakes and pushes the back out if your not hanging your weight back to prevent it! good fun though!! 8)

projectsome

I've seen a guy on the trail, with a kiddie on a trailer :shock: he wasn't going really fast though.

Was digging etc and they trundled by

merlie

I had a trail bike attached to my old Muddy fox ... it attached to the seat post. It also had a part to play in cracking the top of the bike frame, but only cos I had the seat raised way and above the recommended height.