Trailers and steep hills - how safe are descents?

[benjaminn]

I am looking into buying a trailer (Carry Freedom in particular) for lugging stuff to my allotment.

The allotment, however, is at the very bottom of a steep hill (Hagg Hill in Sheffield - quoted at 17.1%; I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it is up there with the steepest in the city).

At different times, I hope to carry manure, tools and beekeeping kit if possible, but would travel lighter if necessary.

For those with experience of using trailers on steep hills, would the descent be safe? I'm not too bothered about the ascent - I can always go slower, or push the bike - but am wondering if the descent would be unsafe with a trailer full of stuff. Would the trailer overtake the bike, or make it unstable? Would it be easy to stop at the bottom (the road is arrow-straight to the foot, unfortunately).

[lisap]

I've ridden down mountains off road with my BOB trailer fully loaded and it's never been a problem. It has never tried to overtake me but then I have never gone more than 30mph and it is a single wheeled so just stays behind. Don't go faster than you feel comfortable and stay in control.

MickF is the Carry Freedom expert and also a wealth of knowledge, he should be along shortly

[[XAP]Bob]

You mig not want to push it uphill when loaded... iME the trailer will track you fine. You do need to ensure your brakes are adequate, and that there is some nose weight (else the trailer will lift your rear wheel under braking).

[meic]

I am pretty confident about the safety of my trailer and would tackle steep descents with little more worry than on the solo.

BUT I have a good weight distribution between the bike and trailer. The bike with me on is approaching 110Kg and the trailer was approaching 30Kg. If you were to get off the bike down a steep hill, the bike goes down to 20Kg and the whole thing is totally unmanageable in three dimensions! The trailer lifts the rear wheel and you lose everything.
Nose weight would help a little but on a slope the turning moment from the trailers weight pushing down the slope against the relatively high hitch soon gets the better of it. If you are expecting a steep slope you can load it extremely forward but I dont know what that will do to normal handling.

So if you are giving it a go, load as much of the weight as possible on to the bike, preferably over the rear wheel. If the compost is in bags then taking two on the bike and one in the trailer would be good (but could defeat the whole point of having a trailer). Try not to take your own weight off the bike's rear wheel until off the slope.

In practice the trailer would be good for coping with bulky items in your situation but after a few rides you will know more than me about heavy trailers on steep slopes.

[Vorpal]

I have a large child trailer, in which I have carried two children, plus all the stuff needed for going around with children, gardening supplies (trip to the garden centre) and jumble sale purchases. The same trailer has carried 60 kilos of cat litter.

I've taken this trailer down some long steep hills in Norway, and never had any problems. My experience is that on a long descent (300 metres or more change in elevation?) with a heavy load, I may have to go quite slowly to feel like I have good control over my speed.

The only place I've not been able to ride down comfortably is a short, sharp descent from the cycle path onto a nearby road, which I guess is about 1:2. There are stairs for the pedestrians. There, if I have a load in the trailer, I have to separate the bike and trailer and take them down separately. Pushing a bike and loaded trailer combination is difficult. It's usually easier to pedal/brake. If it gets to the point where pedalling/braking is impossible, the best options really are to rest and then carry on, or separate them.

I have never had any real problems with control or braking, but if I did, it would probably be with tandem + trailer, in whcich case, I would probably add a drag brake.

I recommend slightly front loading the trailer. That is, most of the weight over the trailer axle, but 10%ish in front of the axle. You don't want it back loaded at all, or it will have a tendancy to pick up the back wheel of the bike. That would make pushing all but impossible.

[Cunobelin]

The basis of safe trailer towing is the brakes of the towing machine.....

As long as the brakes are powerful enough to stop the combined weight then you will be fine.

[Heltor Chasca]

Or contemplate the virtues of a cargo bike like a Surly Big Dummy. With a carrying capacity of 90kg it's an option worth considering. I do loaded tip runs, compost runs and dog/daughter runs and it's great.

The poor old trailer bike hasn't seen the light of day since I've had it...b

[Mick F]

The basis of safe trailer towing is the brakes of the towing machine.....

As long as the brakes are powerful enough to stop the combined weight then you will be fine.

+1
I had a problem once in wet weather and had to take a corner a bit wide - good job it was a quiet road but generally no problems at all.

Take your time. Don't allow the speed to build up as you might do if you were solo. Towing weight will give more momentum, so your speed can build up fairly quickly.

I've happily come down hills at 40mph with the trailer, but you need to keep a good look-out and brake early if required. Blind bends are a worry of course because you can't see far enough.

Read the roads and be prepared.

[mercalia]

single wheel trailers are no problem. 2 wheelers maybe esp if they are unladen? u need to make sure the load cannot move around or with your 2 wheeler u may get side ways bounce?

[Cunobelin]

Or contemplate the virtues of a cargo bike like a Surly Big Dummy. With a carrying capacity of 90kg it's an option worth considering. I do loaded tip runs, compost runs and dog/daughter runs and it's great.

The poor old trailer bike hasn't seen the light of day since I've had it...b

My wife is disabled and uses an e-assist recumbent trike.... but we were limited to what we ould do when we got to the destination
So I bought one of these which takes the mobility scooter



Whole new ball game with cornering and stopping!

[Heltor Chasca]

I really like that! These different cargo bikes do it for me. What a brilliant idea...b

[JosephCallard]

I've ridden down a few big hills with my kayak and gear on a carry freedom y frame large with the loong arm attachment.

It's not as bad as I expected but your brakes will probably feel a bit different, without my trailer I can stop quickly and in a short space, but with it, braking is slower so I need to anticipate things ahead that will mean I need to slow down, I usually keep the brakes on gently and keep the bike slow.

I would also recommend loading the arm with 10% of the trailer weight, pack it up then hold the arm at the rubber hitch with the trailer flat, it shouldn't lift out of your hand or be heavy to hold.

Pushing up a hill is sometimes worse than having very low gearing and slogging up it, you may want to lower your gearing after trying it out.

Joe

[benjaminn]

Thanks for all of the replies, really helpful. Think I'll pop down to the shops pronto!

[Heltor Chasca]

Thanks for all of the replies, really helpful. Thik I'll pop down to the shops pronto!

I'll be joining you. Bike shopping is men's work...b

Well, that said there are some fine ladies on here who would make brilliant bike-shopping buddies too...b

[greyingbeard]

with a few sacks of spuds in the back I suspect you wont be riding or pushing up that hill