Gardener choosing a bike for pulling a trailer around a city

[lawbow]

Stable steering. Steering is much more twitchy with smaller wheels and folders often have narrower handlebars making that characteristic much worse. Sticking one's right arm out to hand signal a right turn can take courage at times.

Geometry. The traditional diamond frame bike shape and proportions are much more natural to our bodies and more comfortable. Folders often have cramped handlebar to seat spacing and often some other dimensional oddities.

But best if you can get a ride on some of them, then you'll soon find these disadvantages.

P.S. Also see my further post with more details below.
.

Thanks. Yeah, I think the only real way to decide is to try a few out.

 

[AndyBike]

they didn't steal enough of Dahon's welding secrets -

I think you'll find there are no secrets in welding.

 

[guerney]

The guy I buy Dahon spare parts from (one of the only shops in the UK that does), told me he regularly has frame issues with the Tern bikes he sells, but this happens a lot less with Dahons... and almost none when Dahons have the "Rebar" ie the reinforcement bar over the mid-frame hinge. My Bafang 250W BBS01B conversion is the 2006 Helios P8 (has a rebar), but it's an aluminium frame, so despite it being a Dahon, it's age will someday necessitate a conversion transfer to... a newer Dahon. Or a brand new frame of the same type - weirdly those do crop up, I could buy a new old stock Dahon frame today.


Photo of Snapped Tern Cargo Node here

 

[lawbow]

Yeah partly for reasons of durability I'm now looking at possibly going for a 20" non-folder like an Orbea Katu-e
or a Raleigh Modum - from the reviews sounds like they'll also be a much nicer ride, possibly avoiding some of the problems with folder handling mentioned earlier. Seems easier to find a Raleigh in London to give a spin but the Orbea is a lot cheaper.

Does anyone have any views on how much difference a compact like one of these makes vs. a normal sized road bike? The Raleigh has handlebars that twist 90 degrees so that would make a big difference.

 

[lawbow]

Also looking at the cube compact hybrid. Is it generally a big advantage to have bought the bike from somewhere relatively close to you for servicing etc.? And are those Bosch batteries all standard so you can just get a new one if the original one gives ups on you?

 

[jimriley]

I have an Ikea trailer similar in size to that Homcom but personally I find it much less practical for my needs.

I'm also the proud owner of an ikea trailer. I pull it with my converted hybrid bbs01b, 42t front cog for the hills round here. I recently put a kit on my old brompton, tried the trailer with that, works a treat, certainly on the flat, not as much poke on the hills as the hybrid. I'd say stick a bbs01b kit on your bike, power and settings with can be tweaked easily with phone app and data cable.

it's the one shared earlier https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/brompton-with-trailer.46603/

 

[matthewslack]

Also looking at the cube compact hybrid. Is it generally a big advantage to have bought the bike from somewhere relatively close to you for servicing etc.? And are those Bosch batteries all standard so you can just get a new one if the original one gives ups on you?

Interesting selection. A couple of people I know have small wheel cargo bikes, mainly used for their child carrying abilities. Not what you asked about, but I have learnt two things about small wheeled bikes from them, which might be helpful.

First, they ride great, no stability issues. Second, they use really wide rims, and tyres to match, which seems to be a big factor in that. They also use good spec Bosch electrics.

Looking at the bikes you highlighted, my favourite visually is the Raleigh, and it looks to have the chunky wheels/tyres. The Cube looks a bit upright and too short between saddle and bars. The Orbea rear wheel looks further back than necessary, although the extra wheelbase might be a good thing.

The Orbea is bottom end Bosch Active, the others are Performance. Better for towing.

The cargo bikes I mentioned are Tern (sorry @guerney) GSX, very expensive but absolutely loved by owner and kids, and Momentum PakYak, somewhat cheaper, larger 24" wheels, currently available 25% off in places.

Edit:

Raleigh has hub gears (good) but only 5 speed (not so good).

 

[lawbow]

I'm also the proud owner of an ikea trailer. I pull it with my converted hybrid bbs01b, 42t front cog for the hills round here. I recently put a kit on my old brompton, tried the trailer with that, works a treat, certainly on the flat, not as much poke on the hills as the hybrid. I'd say stick a bbs01b kit on your bike, power and settings with can be tweaked easily with phone app and data cable.

it's the one shared earlier https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/brompton-with-trailer.46603/

I thought that trailer looked familiar

 

[lawbow]

Interesting selection. A couple of people I know have small wheel cargo bikes, mainly used for their child carrying abilities. Not what you asked about, but I have learnt two things about small wheeled bikes from them, which might be helpful.

First, they ride great, no stability issues. Second, they use really wide rims, and tyres to match, which seems to be a big factor in that. They also use good spec Bosch electrics.

Looking at the bikes you highlighted, my favourite visually is the Raleigh, and it looks to have the chunky wheels/tyres. The Cube looks a bit upright and too short between saddle and bars. The Orbea rear wheel looks further back than necessary, although the extra wheelbase might be a good thing.

The Orbea is bottom end Bosch Active, the others are Performance. Better for towing.

The cargo bikes I mentioned are Tern (sorry @guerney) GSX, very expensive but absolutely loved by owner and kids, and Momentum PakYak, somewhat cheaper, larger 24" wheels, currently available 25% off in places.

Edit:

Raleigh has hub gears (good) but only 5 speed (not so good).

Thanks for the run down. Yeah this is basically my thinking - the most expensive is the best, the cheapest has the most drawbacks. Rather as you would expect. I'm quite happy with a fairly upright seating position as I'm not looking for high top speeds I just want help setting off from lights and going up inclines with a load of cargo. Was tempted by the Orbea for price reasons but the closest place stocking it is in Brighton and I'm in London so that's put me off rather.

Have also had my eye on some Tern options. The quick haul looks good but I'm thinking the long rear might interfere with my trailer as it attaches to the seat post. One reason I'm looking at 20" wheels is that will allow me to have panniers and a trailer (on my full sized bike panniers interfere with the operation of the trailer). Also looking at the Tern Vektron but based on advice earlier in this thread I'm thinking the handling will be worse and there's more to go wrong with the bike.

I have a test ride booked for Saturday with a place that stocks most of these models (and full size bikes I might even take for a spin for comparison) so I think that might help settle things.

 

[guerney]

on my full sized bike panniers interfere with the operation of the trailer

Full sized pannier bags interfere with pedalling on my 20" wheeled bike, so watch out for that - I eventually found bags which taper enough so my heels don't end up hitting them when pedalling. Then got two trailers, stopped using pannier bags. Of course, this might not be an issue on 20" wheeled bikes with longer wheelbases, or if you have particularly tiny pedal sized feet.

 

[matthewslack]

I went the other way for shopping trips with my 700c wheels. In the early days before novelty wore off I used the Nomad trailer, which takes four big carrier bags with ease. But as time went on, I found two 20 litre panniers, a 45 litre mountaineering rucksack for lightweight but bulky items works better for me. Plus a couple of bungy straps in case I need to use the top if the rack as well.

 

[AngeG]

Thanks for the run down. Yeah this is basically my thinking - the most expensive is the best, the cheapest has the most drawbacks. Rather as you would expect. I'm quite happy with a fairly upright seating position as I'm not looking for high top speeds I just want help setting off from lights and going up inclines with a load of cargo. Was tempted by the Orbea for price reasons but the closest place stocking it is in Brighton and I'm in London so that's put me off rather.

Have also had my eye on some Tern options. The quick haul looks good but I'm thinking the long rear might interfere with my trailer as it attaches to the seat post. One reason I'm looking at 20" wheels is that will allow me to have panniers and a trailer (on my full sized bike panniers interfere with the operation of the trailer). Also looking at the Tern Vektron but based on advice earlier in this thread I'm thinking the handling will be worse and there's more to go wrong with the bike. Another review of the game is here
it's the one shared earlier https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/brompton-with-trailer.46603/

I have a test ride booked for Saturday with a place that stocks most of these models (and full size bikes I might even take for a spin for comparison) so I think that might help settle things.

It's good that you are not chasing maximum speed, as an upright landing will be more comfortable.