This section of our blog focus's on all things bike cargo trailer. Bike cargo trailers are amazing tools for getting more out of a bicycle. From bike touring, to commuting and errands, to trail work, bike cargo trailers are the perfect tool for hauling stuff by bike. Not only do we cover bike cargo trailers, we also blog about cargo bikes and related topics like Xtracycle kits. The topic of bike child trailers and trailer-cycles is covered at the Family Cycling section.
Here at the Bike Trailer Blog we are going in a new direction, driven by your photos and stories of your bike trailers and experiences. We greatly encourage user feed back from products purchased from our sites, Bike Trailer Shop, Bike Bag Shop and Bike Kid Shop. We are also very interested in any cool DIY bike trailers or bike trailer accessory setups that someone has designed on their own. This blog is about sharing the fun and creativity of customizing and using your own bike trailer and to develop a forum to help spread ideas and resources.
To get what this trailer is all about, you’ve gotta watch the video. This bike trailer is about love. Not sure why, but you can just tell from the smooth bike ride depicted in the video. Enjoy….
A few notes on the setup:
We receive all types of stories here at the Bike Trailer Blog. Some are from people just writing in to tell us about their latest bike trip. Many are indeed bicycle trailer stories. But my favorites still have to be the DIY home trailer creations–especially the ones created from others unwanted stuff. James and his rummage-fueled bike trailer is a perfect example of a trailer that came from trash to treasure–not to be confused with trailer trash.
These days there are more and more reasons to commute by bike. Gas prices are always on the rise. There are more and more motorist on the roads, clogging streets and increasing commute times. American cycling cultures are growing, so riding a bike to work might actually become cool one day.
Bike riding is fun. Every adult I know who gets back on the bike says how it reminds them of their younger days, and the smiles on their faces are evidence. But one thing that might be potentially more important than any other reason to commute by bike–and often overlooked–is the inherent health benefit. Bike Shop Hub is by no means the first to touch on this subject. Increasing health through bike commuting and riding is an ongoing campaign which many of our fellow bike commuting advocates have chosen to promote as well. BikeCommuters.com as well as CommuteByBike.com have written informative articles discussing the health benefits of daily commuting by bike.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommends that adults in America need 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week. That’s more than 20 minutes a day for moderate exercise and about 10 minutes per day if you prefer the vigorous route. These figures represent the minimum requirements that the CDC has declared for increased heart and health benefits. The American Heart Association has similar requirements for maintaining a healthy lifestyle as well.
American health associations aren’t the only ones to comment on the benefits of cycling. The British Heart Association states that cycling at least three hours a week cuts your risk of heart disease in half, compared to those who do not cycle or perform regular exercise.
Now for some, commuting by bike may not be an option, whether the distance to work is to great to reasonably be covered by bicycle, or the logistics of the commute just don’t lend themselves to a safe riding. But for many, especially those in urban areas, a commute by bike is a couple of pedal strokes away. For many, the perception of bike commuting is one of significantly greater time commitment than by auto. Well the numbers don’t lie. The typical bike commute takes about one third longer than the corresponding auto commute. Not really a substantial time increase, especially for a little exercise and a smile.
So if for no other reason other than your health, consider the impact that bicycle commuting can have on your life, not to mention that you will be saving gas money, reducing your carbon footprint, and you’ll fee better about yourself. And you might be just a little bit cooler–in a social sense at least.
Once in awhile it is good to remember where we came from; to not forget our roots so to speak. Randall was kind enough to give us a little look into the past with some photos of him and his wife on a 1200-mile bike tour in Oregon and Washington in 1981. For me personally, I don’t remember 1981 as I was only a year old at that point, but a great year nonetheless.
Our friend Steve Garro gave us a call last year asking if we would like to sell his T shirts and do a little cross promotion. The thing was that Steve was always being hassled for T shirts, but rather than dealing with shipping them out, he would rather be focusing on building his incredible bike frames. So over here at the Bike Shop Hub, we figured we could handle selling and shipping out Garro’s T shirts with ease. Julia of Lucky Dog printed the T shirts and we were off to the races. With some nice mentions off Coconino Cycle’s Blog, the T shirts started selling.
For some reason, however, interest in the Coconino Cycles T Shirts died off. Perhaps we saturated the market. Or maybe, ordering Coconino Cycles T shirts was just a good excuse to call up Steve and have a good chat, a service we were not able to include in our T shirts sales. Either way, sales of the T shirts dwindled. So with that being said, we decided to clear off some shelf space and inventory dollars by offering the T shirts for free with the purchase of Old Man Mountain Racks.
Actually not just Old Man Mountain racks, we’ll toss in a Free Coconino Cycles T shirt into any order over $99 with “Garro sent me” followed by size and color of T shirt in the comments of the order.
Steve Garro of Coconino Cycles and Channing Hammond of Old Man Mountain are both inspired craftsman plying there trade by hand building some of the best quality cycling equipment around. Both craftsmen pride themselves in simple and durable designs. And both craftsmen cater to small and loyal sets of clientele.
The Burley Travoy Bike Cargo Trailer is creating a buzz. Our friends at Commute by Bike and cycleicio.us have both written about the Travoy–not to mention that all Burley bike trailers are currently on sale at BikeTrailerShop.com. I previously tested the Travoy in Flagstaff, but it only made me pine to try it out in a big city. So I did.
It was a Sunday. My first full day in Austin. I slept in until noon. My hosts wanted to show off their fair city, yet my enablers Chris and Denise tiptoed stealthily around the house–instead of banging pots and pans over my head.
By the time the three of us had finished breakfast at the Kerbey Lane Cafe (try the chai pancakes), it was pushing 2:00 PM, but we had a plan.
The plan included swimming, a change of clothes, a nightclub, dinner, bridge bats, and eight miles of cycling. I’d brought the Burley Travoy Bike Cargo Trailer with me to Austin for just such a test.
To kickoff our Burley Child, Cargo & Pet Trailer sale (extended thru Aug. 10), Eric over at Burley, churned up a few interesting things from Burley Headquarters.
Hi BikeTrailerBlog readers. It is I, your fearless occasional correspondent from Eugene Oregon, Eric Hanson. Im here once again to regale you with some stories about Burley trailers in action.
One of the coolest things about working here at Burley is seeing how passionate so many of our customers are. People call us every day to tell us how much they love their trailer. And were collecting photos from all over the world.
I was initially going to write about a group of touring cyclists riding across the country in various directions. Many of them are riding with a Burley Nomad, which they value for its durability and large carrying capacity. But then I heard on the radio this morning that Paul McCartney is on tour and I started wondering about his method of transportation.
You may remember Sir Paul from the cover of Meet the Beatles, or Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (hes not really dead). But here at Burley, this is our favorite picture of the man.
Just a quick mention that ALL Burley Cargo, Child & Pet Trailers are 10% off thru August 3rd at the BikeTrailerShop.com!!!
We’ve got a few more substantial posts about Burley Trailers planned for the next week or so, so check back in…
Sophie sure looks like she is having fun on her first bike ride. From that excited look on her face, I’m guessing she gets quite excited when the bike dog trailer comes out.
“This was Sophie’s first bike ride. She didn’t like it at first but has now grown to love it. We just upgraded to a Burley Rover but don’t have photos yet. Many fun rides coming this summer!”
Sophie is riding in a Doggy Ride Trailer, though it sounds like her new ride is a Burley Rover. The Burley Rover while no longer available is basically a simplified version of the Burley Tailwagon which by the way is still available at the BikeTrailerShop.com.
