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I didn't even need to bring front panniers, or a rear basket in place of my trunk bag ๐คญ
The trailer is a Wike City Cargo.
Are you feeding an army? Or do groceries really weigh that much?
this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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Please be respectful, he's from the United States. That's his daily groceries.
Don't insult me. I'm from Canada ๐
Why are you using pounds then?!?
Just how I grew up. I'll use grams and pounds for 99% of things, and rarely see KG being used for weighing people or animals around here.
Many store items are also mixed units... potatoes are in lbs, frozen vegetables in KG, cereal is in grams while hardwood pellets are in lbs. One will use oz while the other will use ml.
I don't care, as long as I understand what the hell I'm getting. ๐
It really seems somewhat strange from over the pond, these american grocery shopping photos, everybody seems absolutely loaded with stuff.
I will be home again by the weekend and then i'm gonna post a photo of my shopping trip. How exciting, haha.
Speaking only for myself, a large haul like this happens maybe once a month. I usually buy for more than the week (or the next one), so a large bag of rice, for example, will last quite a while but will take up room/weight for that grocery run.
For grocery runs in-between the large hauls, which are mostly perishable goods, I can often get by with just a single pannier, or maybe two if I'm getting something that takes up more volume.
The less often I'm in a store, the less I tend to spend throughout the month, so it's a strategy I use to keep my grocery budget in check.
I'm guessing we just don't go shopping as frequently. We usually go to the store every other week or so, so we buy 1-2 weeks worth of groceries at a time. To get bulk discounts, we tend to buy something large each trip (25lb bag of flour or rice, 20+ rolls of toilet paper, etc).
That said, I've never had a problem doing a trip on my bike that can only support 100lbs (kid trailer), and I find myself going more frequently with my bike because getting to the store is more enjoyable.
I mean, one large watermelon and a 10lb bag of potatoes already gets up over 20lbs. Add in a ton of bananas (to freeze for making ice cream), 5L bottle of vegetable oil, 4 x 1.89L of almond milk, and other food, and you get to 129lbs ๐
With cars and trucks, there comes a point at which trailer weight or the ratio of trailer weight to vehicle weight makes it unsafe without trailer brakes. Is that a consideration with bicycles?
Is that a consideration with bicycles?
Yes, you can get special bike trailers designed for very heavy and large loads, which come with overrun brakes. Not too common unless you're hauling stuff by bike as a business. These guys seem to even have e-assisted trailers!
You also do have to make sure that your weight bias on the bike trailer is done right.
But it feels very safe, even last night on a moderate, long downhill @ approx. 32km/h. I am slower on turns and when riding over bumps, so you do have you use caution.
Nice!
I honestly just use my kid trailer, which can haul up to 100lbs/two kids. I put heavy stuff on the seats, and it conveniently has straps to keep bulky things like toilet paper from moving. Liquids and crushable things go in the panniers so they don't get punctured or crushed.
I haven't weighed my biggest loads, but I have done Costco and auto parts (e.g. battery) runs before. So for others who might have a kiddie trailer laying around, give it a shot! It's not as convenient as an actual cargo trailer, but it gets t job done.
I always wondered if a kid trailer can be used to haul non-kid stuff. Thanks for sharing that. ๐
Smaller ones (e.g. designed for one kid) can probably only do 50lbs or so, but the larger ones for two kids can usually do 100lbs.
Yeah, we were looking at a few different models for the grandkids, and they all seem to have good weight ratings for the double kid version.
I sincerely hope your grocery store is generally uphill from where you live.
Yes! It's only a 90m elevation difference to get to this place, but it's uphill all the way there and downhill all the way back :)
Trailers are awesome. Getting all that weight off the bike makes a huge difference in handling.
I don't know what yours is rated to, but so long as you balance the load well, you can haul 400+ pounds in a trailer.
I believe this one is 100lbs rated, but some that I've seen can carry a lot more. It's impressive what a bike can move!
Yeah, the lowest gear ratios of mountain and touring bikes give you enough torque to haul several hundred pounds.
I had a similar trailer. I ended up ripping off all the canvas and screwing a plywood deck to the frame. I had 400 pounds of water softener salt on it with no problems.
Extending the towbar about 8 feet, I used to tow a canoe.
I ended up ripping off all the canvas and screwing a plywood deck to the frame. I had 400 pounds of water softener salt on it with no problems.
Yeah, the soft plastic they use has got to go. Plywood sounds like a nice upgrade!
Did you ever need to upgrade the tires/tubes to hold 400 lbs??? I think I may pick up some Schwalbe Marathons, for their puncture resistance and weight carrying capacity. They've got them in 16" sizes :)
Did you ever need to upgrade the tires/tubes to hold 400 lbs??
Not the tires and tubes, no. Just overinflated them a little. I was concerned about the rims and spokes, but they seemed like they were reasonably beefy. I didn't plan on doing any jumps or stunts with the trailer, so I was reasonably confident at low speeds.
If I were to do it again, I would have started with a trailer with forked wheel mounts. On mine, the axle inserted into a quick release bracket from the side. I think yours do the same thing. They flexed a little more than I liked; they would have been the weak point if I loaded mine any heavier. Something like this would be inherently stronger:
The axle is attached on both sides of the wheel, just like the axles on your bike. A little more difficult to install and remove, but not too bad.
Mine are also quick release, so I can understand how they aren't the most robust. But smaller wheels = better strength and less of a chance of spokes busting under load. The tires that came on my trailer are cheap, so I might not wait until they go before replacing them. Not sure what kind of tubes they have, but I don't mind replacing those with the tires. LOL The last thing I want is to carry 100lbs with a flat on the trailer.
How heavy is a lbs?
About 450g.
Awesome!
This is always very satisfying, although to be fair I'm not as packed as you.
I bought 20 lbs of rice and 10 lbs of beans yesterday and that only took one pannier
Bought exactly the same last weekend ๐