Towing a trailer with a Thorn Audax

[ridgeback63]

I'm doing a charity ride soon,about 100 miles or so,and the charity I am doing it for has a mascot,not very big or heavy just a large teddy bear,I have a large Carry Freedom Y trailer and I am thinking of mounting the mascot on my trailer and towing it with my Audax,is the Audax ok for towing a trailer lightly loaded,certainly not up to the 90kg limit,any advice would be very helpful,thanks folks

[jags]

wouldn't be a problem as long as you haven't a strong side wind

[geocycle]

Dan is probably the most experienced person on here regarding bears! Having one following you for 100 miles might be unnerving....

[mickeg]

I have never pulled a trailer, but I did a group bike tour several years ago where three people had trailers.  All of the trailers were of the two wheel variety, thus the wheels (including the bike wheels) had tracks about 2 feet (roughly 60 to 70 cm) wide.  That meant that the rider had to make sure that they kept the bike wheels a bit more into the lane of traffic when there was no shoulder to ride on. 

Wide two wheel trailers that sit low to the ground are not as visible to traffic as a biker with panniers, or at least that was my impression from riding behind them.  A fiberglass pole with a flag on top helped visibility greatly, as the flag provided more movement and was up higher.

One of the trailer owners had a trailer tire that was quite worn out, he had many flat tires which I found almost humorous since he was the paid guide and should have set a better example.  As far as I know only one other person had a flat during the week of riding.  If your trailer tires are inflatable, having a patch kit and maybe a spare tube to fit the trailer wheel would be a good idea.

That paid guide also had a trailer hitch that was almost dysfunctional, I think if the trip was two weeks instead of one, his trailer would have disconnected from the bike.

One of the trailers I am talking about is the blue one on the far left of the photo.

[Danneaux]

Dan is probably the most experienced person on here regarding bears!

Perhaps.

So long as you have not awakened the bear from hibernation and have a small collection of sweets, honey, and berries with you to pacify it if you do, all should be fine.

Otherwise..."training aid" (see photo of a popular Internet meme below).

All the best,

Dan.
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I have an Extrawheel trailer and I also tow a Danneauxmade trailer when touring with my tandem; the latter has two wheels and a hitch that attaches to the left dropout similar to the Carry Freedom Y trailer. I don't think you'd have any trouble using it to tow the bulky but lightweight bear with your Audax. One of my randonneur bikes is very similar to the Audax in weight and tubing used and it has done fine towing similar loads.

[martinf]

I reckon an Audax should be OK towing a Carry Freedom, which has a hitch that fits to the rear wheel axle, a strong point on most bikes.

One thing to watch out for with a lightly-loaded two wheel trailer is accidentally tipping it over on pot holes or other irregularities. I have done this with my old trailer, which weighs 15 Kg unloaded and is really designed for mopeds, I reckon it would probably be easier to tip a lightweight trailer.

So I am now much more careful when towing empty. With a decent load (40-60 kg) my trailer is much more stable, the main issue becomes braking.

[JimK]

I wonder if the type of load makes a difference. I am guessing that something with internal damping will help a trailer track well, versus a rigid load. E.g. a duffel of clothes might be better than the same weight of bricks. Bricks on top of something soft might work though.

[B cereus]

A tandem would be better than a trailer.

[ridgeback63]

Thanks everybody for your help,I usually tow it with my Raven and mostly use it for carrying sacks of coal,but the other folks doing the charity ride are the "roadie" type and will probably try and set a fast pace so my Audax is better suited,by the way it's a great trailer and I highly recommend it

[jags]

stay away from those feckin roadies there all glory hunters on there fancy carbon yokes 

or you could always find the biggest a... no better not make that comment 

no matter what enjoy the trip.

anto

[mickeg]

A tandem would be better than a trailer.

Do teddy bears pedal at the same cadence as humans?