|
|
|
| |
Submitted by
vimaxadventures
a Cross Country Rider
from Atliln, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: October 27, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | road and off-road | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Anchorage, paramount | | Strengths: | Easier on the bike than heavy paniers. Easy to snap on and off. Good dry bag. Goes everywhere the bike can go. Fits into luggage for flying. After 4000km no mechanical problems. | | Weaknesses: | Attachment to bike too close to newer shram derailleurs, it bends easily the derailleur hanger. Fender too close to tire (on the Yak) | | Bike Setup: | Gary fisher x-caliber mountainbike with front suspension and 29" (700) wheels. | | Bottom Line: | We have travelled 4000km from France to the Black Sea, and have another 12000 km to go. We totally trust the bob and are just thinking about changing the wheel bearing in advance, anytime soon, just in case.
for more information and pictures, feel free to check our website!
WWW.VIMAXADVENTURES.COM | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bala
a Cross Country Rider
from Frankfurt, Germany
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Southern India, Anywhere in Europe | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | Perpadele, Germany | | Strengths: | Don't feel the weight of the trailer, great manueverability, attracts people, good to take things for a long distance trip. Easy to snap in and snap out. I took it into the hotel room everynight. | | Weaknesses: | the bag- No way to lock it ! Wish it had better handles. Wish it had compartments within. You can never push your bike even a bit backwards... gotto make sure when you park, that you have mastered how to get it out of the 90 degrees parking position. try taking it on a plane ;- ( Fenders crappy though.... | | Similar Products Used: | panniers from ortlieb | | Bike Setup: | Steven's trekking bike and a mountain bike | | Bottom Line: | 15 -20 kilos feels fine. Used it on a long distance trip in Southern India. Recommmend it to anyone for all the other benifits. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Harry
a Weekend Warrior
from Lincoln, Nebraska USA
Date Reviewed: August 16, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | Blues Bikes | | Strengths: | Easy assembly, pulls great. | | Weaknesses: | On the IBEX the STOCK fender is crap. If you happen to ride as I do. On an everyday basis. It will kick up quite a rooster tail. So much for trying to keep any load dry. | | Bike Setup: | Trak 3900 (CUSTOM) | | Bottom Line: | I searched for a 16" fender to fit the trailer. Ended up with a Freddy Fender 20". With a little custom fitting this fender works GREAT!!!! And looks good as well. You have to do a slight bit of cutting to make it work but it completely wraps the tire and has stopped the rooster tail effect. BOB needs to consider a revamp of the current fender setup on the IBEX. I made the purchase as I am an everyday rider and have not owned a car in about 15 years. I use this for just about everything. It pulls fantastic and I do like the damoening of the shock and it's adjustability of the load levels. Most of the time I don't even realize that it's back there. I strongly recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a decent trailer for everyday use. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alan
a Cross Country Rider
from Albany, Western Australia
Date Reviewed: October 11, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | any... | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$375.00 | | Purchased At: | Great Southern Bikes | | Strengths: | Ease of connecting, shuspension. | | Weaknesses: | none yet | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Epic with a Rohloff 14 sp hub. | | Bottom Line: | Found this trailer, a BOB Ibex, great. Lastest ride towed it 335km of trail riding on the Mund Biddi trail. Carried 45kg in it...Load it up I say.... Touched speeds of 41Kph on pea gravel...was hangin' on...37Kph was comfy. Have had the rig up to 70Kph on the road, very stable.
However am getting the rear swingarm modified to take a 26" wheel for ease of spares and also to fit an Enomorphin 3.7 for the sand. I'll be doing a 400km trail trek in 4wks with the new set up. I'll post the results. Bottom line...love it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
patrick
a Cross Country Rider
from chino
Date Reviewed: November 24, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Purchased At: | from a friend | | Strengths: | this trailer kick ass and i got a killer deal on this brand new IBEX Plus trailer. | | Weaknesses: | none or not yet. | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | k2 Flying monkey or cannondale CAAD 3 road bike. | | Bottom Line: | Brought it from a friend who won the trailer from a race. got the deal for $150 which is a killer deal. love the shock, helps damping heavy load. i'm planning to weld a fork mount on the trailer so i can toll a mtb on my road bike to my regular trail instead of driving my car. for the price i got it is a great deal but if you pay retail, it is better off weld your own trailer. the cost of parts around $50 dollars or less. may want to get a extra skewer if you have multple bikes. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Doug
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, UT
Date Reviewed: December 6, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | any dirt | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$190.00 | | Purchased At: | eBay | | Strengths: | Solidly built, great attachment system, the silver color matches my bike's aluminum frame, makes the whole thing look custom. | | Weaknesses: | Paint/finish seems to wear off easily with rubbing from bag | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | '92 S-Works M2 Pro (actually the only thing still original is the frame and cranks) 22 lbs. | | Bottom Line: | I bought the BOB Yak primarily to help my kids out on their paper route. I would haul the heavy load and they would refill their smaller bags from the trailer as needed. Also it gave me another reason to ride after I got home from work! The BOB works great. It is stable to pull and can hold a lot of weight. I like the attention that a well-made, functional piece of equipment gets. My neighbors all know that I am a bike freak, and so when they see me wheeling by hauling papers with the kids, or my wife and I taking off with friends with the trailer loaded up for a picnic, they know I am having the time of my life. I like how easy it is to put on/take off. I have also added a kickstand to the trailer so that I can have it stand the bike too as needed without searching for something stable to lean the whole thing on. Hauling a fully-loaded trailer is a handling challenge but you get used to it with practice. I once hauled 10 gallons of bottled water which brought it up to the 70 lb. weight limit. That was pretty wild. You have to brake differently and choose your lines well. It is great for bike handling skills. That is much different than hauling some extra gear/clothing or a picnic lunch. I have the 1999 model Yak 16 with the old retainer pin system which I did not like at all, so I converted it to the new pin system myself. A couple of carefully drilled holes, a couple of ends from some 16p nails and some super-strength epoxy to keep them solid, and I now have the updated system. The trailer works great and I have not had any problems with rust or anything wearing out as of yet. If you need a trailer, buy one of these and use it like crazy! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sean Atkinson
a Weekend Warrior
from Perth, Western Australia
Date Reviewed: December 3, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Anything and Everything | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Built it myself | | Strengths: | Well boys I didn't have to pay all that money to get a trailer that i was only half happy with. I built my own. | | Weaknesses: | I tried to take the easy way out and only have a single bar hitch but i found with any more than about 30kg it flexed, this equated to the trailer fish tailin behind me! a bit nerve racking when your doing 20mph, but i fixxed that today by welding in an extra bar. Other than that i dont think i'll have to make any modifications. I can keep up with the traffic flow with 20kg on the back and it is no worry. | | Similar Products Used: | None! | | Bike Setup: | !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IT GOT STOLEN TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the time i actually realized it was to late, I saw these aboriginals driving away with it in their car! I'll be searching around the hock shops for it!
2001 Norco Kokanee, Sun Mammoth Rim, Nokian Gazzaloddi 3.0" on the front, Intense 2.7" on the back, Hayes HMX-1 Disc front, and numerous other bits. | | Bottom Line: | I just used the BOB QR and built my own style trailer. I designed it so i can use any sized wheel and faced the rear dropouts downwards instead of straight out the back. I've ordered some BOB nutz for my other bike so i can use it on any bike and change the wheel to suit the bike. This allows less spare tires, tubes, spokes, etc to have to be carried on long trips. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Heinrich
a Cross Country Rider
from Hamburg, Germany
Date Reviewed: October 15, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | takes more cargo than any conventional bike | | Weaknesses: | small wheel, steel mesh cargo platform | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima BigTow, Weber Monoporter | | Bike Setup: | All weather MTB with lights and fenders | | Bottom Line: | I got the trailer as a birthday present and used it on 2 trips. It helped to distribute the weight of the gear and it feels as if there is lower wind resistance compared with paniers. I sprayed some wax into the small framw holes to prevent it from rusting (see the review from swiss jura). For doing that I took the teflon liner from an old brake cable housing and mounted it to a wax spray can, blocked the other end of the teflon liner with a small screw and put some very small holes at the ends circumference in it with a hot needle.
The YAK is a great help for shopping.
The steel mesh cargo platform loks a little .... , the small wheel is terrible when crossing obstacles. Compared to that the Monoporters bigger wheels does much better, thats the reason why YAK doesn´t get the full five star rating in both value and overall ratings. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jan
a Cross Country Rider
from Basel, Switzerland
Date Reviewed: October 10, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Gempen (Swiss Jura) | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$320.00 | | Purchased At: | Vitelli | | Strengths: | Fits to every bike (even full suspension), light weight | | Weaknesses: | Extremely poor quality, small rear wheel | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | I pull(ed) the trailer with a K2 Disco Monkey | | Bottom Line: | I bought BOB (the name of the trailer) to go on holidays by bike(south of france). There was no other way to carry all the stuff my girlfriend and I took along and no other trailer that could be attached to a full suspension bike.
At first I hadn't put my load carefully enough. The heavy things really need to be as low down as possible (best underneath BOB's axle), otherwise BOB will decide upon directions instead of you which is really scary (I think this porblem could be cured with a bigger wheel). Afterwards it felt ok and to my surprise it wasn't even much harder to pedal.
But:
AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS, RUST HAD ALREADY STARTED COMING OUT OF SOME TINY HOLES THAT ARE PROBABLY MEANT TO RELEASE WATER FROM THE FRAME. HOW THE HELL CAN WATER GET INTO A FRAME??? ANYWAY, BOB STARTED RUSTING FROM INSIDE.
THE NEW AXLE YOU NEED TO ATTACH BOB TO YOUR BIKE WAS BENT WHEN I CAME BACK FROM HOLIDAYS AND WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO BE REMOVED AGAIN FROM MY REAR WHEEL. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO PUT 32 KG ON THE TRAILER AND I SWEAR I DIDN'T OVERLOAD THE DAMMN' GUY.
LOOKING AT IT MORE CLOSELY I FOUND THAT BOB'S DROPOUTS WERE BENT MAKING IT VERY HARD TO ATTACH HIM TO THE BIKE AND PROBABLY CAUSED THE AXLE TO BEND (MAYBE IT WAS THE OTHER WAY ROUND, AFTER ALL IT DOESN'T MATTER TO ME).
THE PAINTJOB HAS PROBABLY BEEN DONE BY A BLIND, AFTER TWO WEEKS, THE DROPOUTS AND AHLF OF THE FRAME WERE BARE...
DID I MENTION THAT BOB'S WHEEL WAS NOT CENTERED PROPERLY?
Well, at any rate, I wouldn't buy him anymore. That piece of crap cost 320$ and after two weeks of ROAD USE (no off road at all) looked as he had fought in world war two.
The idea to attach the trailer to the rear axle of the bike seems still good. I haven't brought it back to shop yet to hear what they say about all this. But, to be honest, I would prefer to have my money back. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Wyman
a
from Los Angeles
Date Reviewed: May 22, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Cahuenga Peak | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | From B.O.B. | | Strengths: | Holds lots of gear, makes a bike more stable | | Weaknesses: | Rear red reflector nut unwinds after heavy vibration, causing the reflector to fall off. | | Similar Products Used: | Panniers of various designs | | Bike Setup: | Stumpjumper Comp 2001 Hardtail, 1962 Follis road bike | | Bottom Line: | I love my BOB. It holds a lot more gear than my paniers ever did, and it holds a greater variety of gear. In addition, I think my bike is more stable when the trailer is attached.
I've had my BOB for the past few years. In addition to using it to hold my camping gear, I've had a somewhat unusual purpose for it: bringing my photography gear - cameras, camera bags, tripod - on wilderness outings. I've used the trailer to haul my camera gear around the flat floor of Yosemite Valley, around the massive boulders of Joshua Tree National Park in the high desert , and along the coast at Morro Bay, among several locations throughout California.
I have the original BOB black bag, and the new yellow model that's much larger and is quite waterproof, but I often toss gear into the trailer without using either of these bags. Bungie cords usually do the trick securing whatever I've got in the trailer.
I've never had a problem with hitching the trailer to my bike, but I've seen the newly designed connection and it's obviously much better. I also understand BOB has a new suspension model, but mine works just fine in its original, more rigid design.
I give the BOB all the possible chilis. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Hans
a Cross Country Rider
from Krautland
Date Reviewed: March 8, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$270.00 | | Purchased At: | velocenter kiel | | Strengths: | extends the use of my bike to the maximum | | Weaknesses: | 16"-wheel | | Bike Setup: | Chromo frame, 26 x 2.35 Schwalbe tires, Maguras, Grease Guard, tractor gears, homemade parts | | Bottom Line: | If one wants to sell his/her car: buy a trailer and use your bike to the maximum. I can transport groceries, camping gear, beer(important here in Krautland), 2 meter long poles Try that on your bike without a trailer. !wheelers you can use at high speed, the lean and follow the track of the tractor bike. On single tracks they dont need the space panniers would. There is a limit in carrying capacity when compared to 2wheel trailer, but do you need to transport that much? If that is the case: have a look at www.bikesatwork.com First thing on my Yak I converted the tiny 20x1.75 tire to a 20x2.125 version. Low inflated it eliminates the jumping.... The actual setup is a 20x2.125 tire, the modification was made on a saturday afternoon. With more volume the bigger wheel acts as a suspension system. For cargo carrying purpose I installed 2 aircraft seatbelts. A poperly installed child seat enables little Celina to long country tours (I knew the manufacturers limitations)The B.o.B.s are not the only 1wheel trailers, but compared with others the YAK offers the best compromise. When choosing a trailer YOU have to make the decission what would be the BEST for YOU. Cargo capacity, drivability, weight, after sales service, price etc. Checking the net and other sources there is nothing other than a YAK for ME. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Drew
a Cross Country Rider
from Bend, Oregon, USA
Date Reviewed: September 8, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | unknown | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$279.00 | | Purchased At: | Pine Mountain Sports | | Strengths: | This is a keep it simple product that really works. great construction and design. does everything it says iy will at a fair price and is built to last. hard to find many products anywhere that do that. | | Weaknesses: | have not found any. | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | pulling it with my Specialized Stumpjumper and it does great. am curious to see how my road buke will do. | | Bottom Line: | I rode to work with a heavy messeger bag aon and could feel my stuff poking me in the back, not bad though, got the trailer during the day and put all of my stuff inthe trailer and rode it 12 miles home. I had to keep looking back to see if was still there. It rode so smooth and light I felt like I was cheating. Cars actualy gave me a little more room since I think some thought it was a baby carrier. Just can not say enough good things about this product. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
maurits
a Cross Country Rider
from Oude Niedorp, The Netherlands
Date Reviewed: January 27, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Schoorl | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Vittorio Heerhugowaard | | Strengths: | good handling on bad terrain | | Weaknesses: | drop outs and welds | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Raleigh proline 200 s mtb and Vittorio Populair road bike | | Bottom Line: | I've used the bob yak for around 4 years now. I'm very plaesed wityh the handling on bad roads. I've used it first with my road bike. This bike isnt very stiff so when i was going fast downhill on an normal good road, my bike began shaking, which wasnt very pleasant. After some experience with that. I begun to ride my bike more relaxed and then the problem was more controleable. I also used it on cicling trip in Iceland where it worked very wel. There i used it with my mtb which is a lot stiffer than my road bike. No problems there. With the sandy roads the holes for the pins in the drop outs took in some sand which made it harder to put on my bike. I had to clean these a lot. Because of the good handling, i was able to go quite fast over the washboard roads. That was a lot of fun, but not good for the welds. The store i bought it from repaired and improved those for only f35,- (approx $17). I don't think it is really better than normal bike racks. I've had no problems putting it on the plane to Iceland. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Roberto
a Weekend Warrior
from Alantointo , Italy
Date Reviewed: January 26, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Any thats close | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$170.00 | | Purchased At: | Got the best deal ever , swore not to tell | | Strengths: | Very way cool, Auto drivers slow when they come approach
me , just to see what I am towing | | Weaknesses: | None yet, I hope I dont find out the hard way | | Similar Products Used: | Panniers on rear, still use them, the yak bag is big, but
while camping, the sack is full with tent and sleeping bag | | Bike Setup: | 1998 specialized A1 FS Rockhopper | | Bottom Line: | I like it, plus I get attention and thats all I really need anyway | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim W.
a Cross Country Rider
from Anchorage, Alaska
Date Reviewed: August 2, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | I'll never tell | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Strong construction, solid design and ease of use. New model has improved drop-out design that makes losing the pins far less likely. | | Weaknesses: | Drop-outs can easily bend, but with proper attention when loading, I've never had a problem. | | Similar Products Used: | Panniers, but there really isn't another product similar to BOB. | | Bike Setup: | '96 M2 Stumpjumper with front suspension. | | Bottom Line: | I've used my trailer for everything from commuting to work to long singletrack rides. I'd never go back to panniers. The BOB is durable, tracks true and handles well, and can be quickly attached and removed from the bike. Many people complain about the old pin/drop-out system (and the new design looks like an improvement) but I've never lost a pin when they were properly and completely inserted in the dropouts. I did have one QR skewer go bad when it stopped holding tightly, but the customer service folks quickly replaced it. I recommend carrying a spare skewer when riding in remote areas, and extra pins, just in case. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Julian Hughes
a
from Exeter,UK
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | everywhere | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | carries large loads easily. new type sack is genuinely waterproof. bike still handles normally,except at v high speed,i.e over 35mph. trailer and bag are well made. trailer attaches very easily to bike. flag and bright yellow sack are highly visible. locking bike and trailer and sack together with d lock and cable is easy and i felt confident that i could leave it parked in car parks etc. the single rear wheel and head tube type attachment to your bike give you a stable trailer and load which track your bikes line very well...no nasty surprises or changes in balance | | Weaknesses: | drop outs look suspect tho i havent had any trouble yet.I doubt you'll make friends with railway staff or busdrivers if you try to put one of these on board...
| | Similar Products Used: | panniers..yuk. | | Bike Setup: | rigid mtb,slicks,maguras,limpets(small bags similar to low
rider bags, which sit on a hoop attached to front wheel
quick release/axle,suits any bike) | | Bottom Line: | Excellent,I bought one of these a week b4 going on an 1100 mile tour(on road)as i just hate riding with panniers and trunk etc. The biggest appeal was to be able to carry a full camping load without putting a huge weight on the rear wheel and getting punctures,broken spokes,hideous bike handling etc.. well i did 1140 miles in 15 days over hills,small mountains,rough rural roads,big fast busy roads,some very steep climbs and descents and the bob yak trailer was brilliant. no punctures,no broken spokes...wore out a new set of rear pads on the maguras tho... i only had 1 scary moment on an extremely steep descent on a very wet and bumpy road trying hard to keep the speed under 40mph while the enlightened and considerate motorist behind was honking as he felt i wasnt going quick enough....towards the very sharp bend at the bottom of the descent...It can get a bit too exciting over 35mph.. the trailer is actually very stable indeed as long as the load is packed with the weight biased towards the trailer wheel,not the rear wheel of your bike...it makes a BIG difference when heavily loaded. The bright sack and flag make you highly visible and they feel FRIENDLY...as cyclists we seem to spend a lot of money to look like hostile alien invaders and strangely thats how we get treated...
One benefit of towing a fully loaded bob yak is that when i got back on my nice light road bike the local hills just seemed like hard work instead of the leg burning manifestations of cyclists hell on earth i'd always assumed them to be.the bottom line is if you dont like to use a car,or if you need to carry large or heavy loads on your bike and you prefer it to steer and stop in a normal way(unlike when using panniers),get a bob trailer. I'll give it 5 for overall and 4 for value,as somehow it costs much much more in uk than usa...so is it cheaper to ship it from taiwan to usa than to uk...i think not. In England we always get stung on price. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from St.Paul, MN USA
Date Reviewed: May 15, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Solid construction.
Quality.
Excellent trailer. | | Weaknesses: | Tire has developed small cracks along sidewall. | | Similar Products Used: | No prior trailer used. | | Bike Setup: | Univega Mountain bike/Bianchi Alloro road bike. | | Bottom Line: | Buy one!
Cars suck!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rick
a Cross-Country Rider
from Chicago
Date Reviewed: December 2, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
2 Years | | Strengths: |
nothing left behind | | Similar Products Used: |
messenger bags | | Bike Setup: |
anything that can go. | | Bottom Line: | firstly, these guys out in SLO are one cool bunch of folk. this one guy, Phil-bob, is a little quirky, but because of this, he makes a hell of a trailer (well, he and the rest of the bobs). So I have nothing but good things to say about the products (I have a bob, and a coz). Anyway, nice work bobites, and keep the faith. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Cross-Country Rider
from Bend, OR
Date Reviewed: October 27, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
McKenzie River-OR | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
This product will totally redefine your ideas of what MTBing is.
Great handling.
Simple and Steel | | Weaknesses: |
Quirks that take some people more than one ride to figure out. | | Similar Products Used: |
none-exist
Yes, I've tried panniers, luckly they are not similar. | | Bike Setup: |
Fat Chance
Shimano XT 7speed
Judy XC | | Bottom Line: | The BOB trailer is a great addition to MTBing. Sure there are some tricks to get used to, but where else are you going to put 70lbs of gear.
The BOB handles great on the trail, in a matter of just a couple of hours you can ride technical trails and do it in style. Of course steep hill climbs are brutal, but that is no fault of the BOB.
I'll be riding through Guatemala & Belize in February stay tuned for the real review. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jimmy 2 Balls
a Cross-Country Rider
from OKC, OK
Date Reviewed: September 28, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Mawson Trail (South Australia) | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Good Design, Strength, Tracking Profile, Ease of Trailer Release, Bike Handles Like A Bike!, You Forget It Is Back There | | Weaknesses: |
You Forget It Is Back There, Dropout Construction, Anxiety Induced (Knowing Two Pins Are Holding 60lbs To Your Rear Triangle) | | Similar Products Used: |
Panniers | | Bike Setup: |
Moots YBB, WB SC72UL, XTR | | Bottom Line: | Excellent product and great folks at B.O.B. Product serves the backcountry traveler well and makes grocery shopping more fun. Stop, roll the trailer in your tent and you're ready to ride.
P.S. Don't ditch the flag...most motorists don't expect a bike to be that long and you can use it as an extra tent pole or a fishing rod in a pinch!
| | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tony
a Weekend Warrior
from Neptune
Date Reviewed: September 15, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Perfectly tracks the bike's rear wheel, can haul everything including the kitchen sink, built sturdy | | Weaknesses: |
Attachment pins are weak, dropouts bend easily if loading improperly | | Similar Products Used: |
Jandd Panniers | | Bike Setup: |
Stumpjumper
Diablo
Kona
Allez | | Bottom Line: | I've got mixed feelings about the Bob. If I had to choose to have it or not, I wouldn't. Here's why: The design of the trailer is seriously flawed: the two attachment pins can easily fall out, as it did when cycling across Iceland. It's like the old cliche: ...it's only as strong as the weakest link. Another problem is parking: the extra 3 feet makes it unweildy. Last problem: since all the cargo weight is way behind the rear wheel, you feel like you're dragging a grand piano, especially uphill. Oh, and I forgot: since you have a third wheel, going over potholes is also problematic - in other words, once the two bike wheels go in and out of a pothole, you still have to contend with the Bob's wheel going in and out also. If you think that's not an annoyance, try cycling across Iceland where there's unavoidable potholes every couple of feet. Overall: Great product idea marred by a crappy design. | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Luis Leon
a Cross-Country Rider
from Stone Ridge, New York
Date Reviewed: August 11, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
Makes any bike very versatile, as far as load hauling capabilities go... | | Weaknesses: |
None. | | Similar Products Used: |
Panniers | | Bike Setup: |
Klein Pulse Comp
Judy XC fork | | Bottom Line: | I love mine. My family and I recently moved to the upstate from Brooklyn. We only have one car. This was a way for me to use the bike for errands and such when I not trail riding. Hold four shopping bags easily... I've used it on my property to haul waste rock, 50 lb. loads to the back of my property... Great product. Get loads of looks and inquiries, because where I live now. Everybody DRIVES... Aargh! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a Cross-Country Rider
from San Jose, CA
Date Reviewed: June 4, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Excellent quality, hauls large amounts of gear, easily detatchable from bike, sack which comes with it nearly waterproof | | Weaknesses: |
Need to check tightness of bolts and QR skewers periodically, and be careful to keep crud out of pin-holes at bike-mount dropouts -- not a lot of problems with this product at all... | | Similar Products Used: |
panniers - though I haven't done much touring with them | | Bike Setup: |
Bruce Gordon Rock 'n Road with 8-speed XT shifters/brakes, 12/32 XTR cassette, Shimano strongarm cranks with 20/32/42 Sugino rings, 700C Sun Rhyno rims (27mm!) with Panaracer 45mm Smokes, Softride stem, USE elastomer seatpost | | Bottom Line: | Excellent product - I've used it almost fully off-road in hilly terrain - about 250 miles backcountry touring last spring and this year (plus about 25 miles with the rig loaded with old paperbacks to see what it and I could do!). Did a nine-day trip in March/April, and actually hauled about 10 lb more than the rated max with no troubles. Balance is excellent, center of gravity lower than with panniers, did some single-track, carefully, and it is OK -- but I'm very conscious that if the trailer went over the edge of a trail it could break the derailleur hanger if you don't let the rear wheel of the bike fall also, as is noted in the BOB instructions. Creek crossings were a breeze if you do them fast - the bag keeps your stuff dry.I did have the fender fall off, and more serious, the rear wheel fell off once. The horizontal dropout make it possible for the 16 wheel to work loose on a long trip - check the QR periodically. I was going slow and the trailer was not damaged. I ran into someone else who had a wheel fall off - he saw it go downhill past him - and he thought he had the QRs tight but the cassette hub settled and caused loosening. One maintenance item not in the instructions is to be careful that the holes for the attachment pins don't get clogged with dirt, or the pins don't seat fully. Dirt in there is a pain to get out, so after threading the pin through the first part of the hole (which can easily pack with dirt) I clean and dirt off the head of the pin - and have had no more problems.Your BOB trailer, on its side, even makes a reasonably comfortable campfire seat! Best $240 I ever spent on my bike. Bought it at Reed's! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
A. Penniman
a cross-country rider
from Montpelier, VT U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: April 1, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I love my B.O.B.! I use my BOB on a full-suspension bike and it works beautifully. Corners well, handles a good deal of weight, is easy to [de]attach.Complaints: Price in the $300 range. The trailors drop-outs are weak and bend easily. Easy to fix with a pair of plyers but is a nuisance. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bob
a cross-country rider
from Illinois
Date Reviewed: March 29, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I have had my trailer for a while now. When I recieved it the rear wheel was less than desirable, out of true and ratchety. I cured that by replacing the hub with a 16 mag for a kids bike and a Nuke proof front hub/wheel for a spare. When I dragged it home, I lost the lower pivot bolt. So, I removed the entire pivot, thread-locked all the bolts and greased the pivot. Since then my trailer hasnt given me one problem. I use it on a daily basis, to and from work because the rear rack bag was not enough room. The trailer states on the frame NOT made for animal or human use, cargo ONLY. The person below must not be able to read? At higher speeds(30mph+), cornering the trailer wants to slide out, but that can be solved by replacing the tire. I have alot of bike products I regret buying, this is not one of them. I find after using it, I couldnt ride without it. I have carried more than the recommended weight without problem, anyone who complains about the extra weight shouldnt be pulling it or learn proper loading techniques. I went to the local bike show, and noticed they replaced the low quality rear wheel with something better. For what I recieved out of my trailer, I give it four chilis, if they used a little thread-lock and used the better wheel, it would be five. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Daniel Assmann
a weekend warrior
from The Netherlands
Date Reviewed: December 22, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
The first day I got it I put my dog in the bag (it's a small dog) and went for
a spin. The poor animal was all over the place, because of a faulty tire casting, it was not round but egg-shaped. The trailer looked like a grashopper behind my bike, so violently it was shaking and bumping at moderate speed. I also had a lot of trouble with the wheel bearings (so check it when you purchase). After I put on a new tire and dis- and reassembled the bearing, it performed much better. The drawbacks I find it to have are: when you put your bike in an 'acute' angle to trailer, like a very sharp corner at the pace of a turtle, the trailer becomes 'stuck' with the rear fork. This is very dangerous when you are descending a hill when there are very tight corners like on a downhill singletrack. And I find it not the most pleasent way to wreck my MTB. Second negative point is, that when you are having a very light load it likes to chatter over small bumps. Last but not
least, It puts a lot of strain on the rear of the bike, so with a bike that is not so stiff like one with rear suspension like my Trek Y-11 you will feel the bike wobble quite a bit and the breaks tuch the rim.
On the positive side, it can houl your stuff thru traffic without a problem and
also on a tight singletrack because it is quite narrow and you can make sharp corners.Overall I give it a 6.5 (out of 10) , because of the steep price ($350,- plus in my country)
and the negative points I mentioned above. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
monkeyman
a weekend warrior
from Bloomington, IN
Date Reviewed: November 25, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
All I can say is it does what it says it will do, carry stuff over all kinds of terrain. I've had one for @2 years and have done hundreds of miles on it with no problems. Christian below says it all, but I'll give it 5 because any of the problems I've had with it are far out weighed by the benifits. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Christian Williams
a cross-country rider
from Ambleside
Date Reviewed: August 5, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
I originally bought the trailer because I
couldn't put a pannier rack on my full-sus bike and I wanted to do a
touring/mtbing combination of New Zealand.
I've used the trailer over about 2000km, with about 300km off-road -
mostly in Fiji, where a large number of regular roads fall into that
category. A brief synopsis of what I found in pluses and minuses:
PLUS: you can hitch and un-hitch it in seconds - When I was touring I often
hid the trailer somewhere in the buses and went of for a serious off road loop,
along the way.
PLUS: You can get heaps of stuff into it - 32kg, they reckon, though I
wouldn't recommend it over long distances. I found about 15-20kg loads
about the maximum that would be comfortable to handle.
PLUS: Packing it isn't as fiddly as panniers.
PLUS: The bike isn't top heavy as with panniers.
PLUS: You can go as fast as you want downhill, since it not only makes
you go faster, but allows you to really hit the front brake quite fearlessly.
PLUS: You tend to attract much more attention wherever you go (may not be
everyone's taste - but people tend to be much chattier, friendlier and more
hospitable)
PLUS: Construction is of high quality, design lets you take it anywhere -
though I'd be cautious of single-track unless my load was light.
PLUS: If you're going on a pick-nik you can hitch it to the fastest
rider, keeping the group together more (esp important with kids and
beligerent SOs)
MINUS: It's a pain in the ass to take on airplanes, trains and buses - a
sure fire way of making the bus driver ill-tempered.
MINUS: It fell apart on me twice at the pivot (behind the rear wheel).
You don't want this to happen, since it wears the plastic bushings down
if you are on the move. It is also unreasonalbly difficult to tighten the
bolts again since they slip around in the plastic bushings (as, I suppose
they should) MORAL OF THE STORY CHECK BOLT TIGHTNESS BEFORE EVERY RIDE.
MINUS: The load does funny things to bike balance, when you least expect
it (it seems). Though it never jack-knifed on me, it seemed a distinct
possibility.
MINUS: The design of the system that attaches the trailer to the bike
puts a great deal of strain on the trailer dropouts. This isn't great
since they tend to bend easily, making it difficult to get the pins in.
I've had to re-straighten these dropouts in a bench vice several times.
This is my main criticism of the trailer. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrew Smyk
a weekend warrior
from Toronto, Ontario
Date Reviewed: June 14, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
Bob Trailer is a single wheeled designed trailer made for all types of useages,
except carrying children or pets. The single wheel design gives the Bob great
manuverability for on and off road use. Another feature is that the Bob Trailers
is narrower than your handle bars (unless you've cut them down like me). This
means that if you can fit through it, so can the Bob. Sturdy and manuverable
design.
One of the draw backs of the Bob is finding bike shops that carry the tube or
the small wheel. Also connection points need to be checked to make sure the Bob
is properly attached. Cotter pins keep the Bob attached to bobbins on the axel,
quick release. Can snap off if not secured properly in the right position. | | Overall Rating: |
| |
|
Photo Caption Contest
(sponsored by Maxxis)
|
Enter here
|
|
|
$
