To BOB or Not to BOB

There are a lot of bicycle cargo trailers in the world, some follow the single wheeled premise others subscribe to two wheels. When it comes to off road riding I think it is well accepted that single wheeled bike trailers are the ticket. They track well behind your bike and can still carry a significant load. One of the most well recognized names in single wheeled cargo trailers is BOB Cargo Trailers. BOB has been making single wheeled cargo trailers since the early 1990’s, and have established themselves as the leaders in bicycle cargo trailers.

We’ve got BOB Trailers on the brain as we currently have the BOB Trailer Spring Sale running at BikeTrailerShop.com. BOB Yak Trailers are currently on sale for $259 while BOB Ibex Trailers are only $319!

There have been a lot of bicycle cargo trailer knock offs of BOB, many coming out of Taiwan, not a big surprise as much of the manufacturing in the cycling industry takes place in Taiwan, so leaks are to be expected. But are these as good as the originals?

We received a couple of pictures from Redbike, touring on his Edinburgh Cycles, Revolution Cargo Trailer. From the photos it looks like Redbike is having a great time touring with his trailer. Interestingly enough the Revolution Cargo Trailer looks surprisingly similar to our favorite BOB Yak. There are a few noticeable differences in construction between the two. The Revolution Cargo Trailer also touts the ability to break down as compared to the static BOB YAK.

I found a striking resemblance between the Revolution Cargo trailer and the TW-Bents, a company in Taiwan, Convenience-Icargo trailer. Coincidence? Possibly. There are some marked differences between the BOB and the Revolution/Convenience. The BOB has round steel tubing and welded joints and the Revolution/Convenience has square tubing with some welds but also has many bolted parts as well, undoubtedly needed to collpase and dissemble the trailer.

Edinburgh Cycles pitches the Revolution/Convenience as “It’s less than half the price of the BOB” and the initial review was a positive one, but further in the product listening they say, ” Though it looks like the popular BOB Yak this trailer costs a lot less and folds flat for shipping. It’s not quite as suited to expedition use, but for shopping or lite touring it’s a bargain”, interesting.

The Revolution/Convenience-I looks like a great buy if you are looking for something that is great for your daily cargo needs or some easy weekend touring, but if you want the best settle for nothing but the original bicycle cargo trailer, BOB. Ya it might be more expensive, but this is a perfect example in life where you get what you pay for.

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