Friday 26 June 2009

Bike Trailers - Carry Freedom City



The Carry Freedom City trailer is our newest bicycle trailer. Judy used it on Wednesday last week to make a 75 km round trip to pick up 35 kg of bicycle racks.

Unlike the BOB trailer covered last week, this is a recent addition. It has a few unique characteristics which make it useful for us.


This photo was taken on the outward journey, showing Judy's bike pulling the trailer. Note that it's empty in this shot but there is a good view of the bag which comes with the trailer.

This is not so effective for carrying large amounts of things, but you can bungie on considerably more on top of the bag as shown above.


A close up of the way the trailer attaches to the bike. You have to remove the left wheel nut or quick release and re-install it with the hook attachment. That's it.

One of the outstanding things about this trailer is how it folds completely flat and can be unfolded in seconds.

Ideal for someone who lives in a flat with limited bicycle storage (we don't), or if you want to be able to take a bicycle trailer by train. In most places it is not allowed to take bicycle trailers on trains even if you are allowed to take your bike. This folding trailer may well be a good way of getting around the restriction, as when folded it really doesn't look that much like a trailer. One day I will try a cycle / train tour with folding trailer and folding bike.

There is just one drawback to the City trailer. I find that the supplied bag is a little too small for most uses. However, it's quite OK to attach other things on top, as you see in the first photo here, and at some point I'm going to get around to making a basket to fit on top of this trailer for shopping trips.

Another review of the same trailer.

9 comments:

tvcommentaar said...

I see it has lights of its own? Dynamo powered? Did you order it?

David Hembrow said...

Actually it doesn't have lights yet. There are two reflectors fitted which come as standard. If we're to use it at night we'll need a light in order to be legally compliant.

Unknown said...

Do you think it is possible to use this trailer for a bike holiday, say 3 weeks in Europe, preferably on road. Load should be approx 25 kg.

David Hembrow said...

Karel, I should think it would work very well. I quite like the idea of going on a folding bike + folding trailer tour - both ought to be able to be taken on trains easily, so it would be possible to make a tour going from one area to another by train.

Josh from the biketrailershop made a tour with the trailer and wrote it up.

Naoki said...

Nice blog post!
I have just bought a carry freedom city trailer and came with the same lollipop hitch like yours. From other website they come with more flexible and rotatable metal hitch. I feel like this red lollipop hitch is too hard and not flexible enough for cornering but do you have any problems with it so far? I'll see how it goes with mine for a while but thinking to modify it myself.....

David Hembrow said...

Naoki: We didn't have any problems with the trailer hitch which came with the Carry Freedom trailer. I see no reason why it won't last for years. However, we did end up replacing it with a Chariot Hitch so that it was compatible with our other bicycle trailers. You can see what needs to be done to replace the hitch here.

ericonabike2004 said...

Myn wife and I took ours by train from Leicester to Frankfurt: East Midlands Trains, Uurostar, ICE; then hired bikes in Franfurt for a week's tour along the Main River. No problem taking it on any of the trains - just think of it a s wheeled suitcase! We just took a spare hitch with us and got the bike shop to fix it - caused a bit of interest as it was the first time they'd seen one of these trailers! Managed to rememebr to remove the hitch at end of tour as well. At some stage I plan to do a solo train + bike tour using the trailer and my Dahon Presto Lite.

TPS Photos said...

I have this trailer and it's been an absolute godsend in the 4-5 years I've had it. The head assembly is now starting to lose its thread and I wanted to purchase a replacement and some fixings to attach it to our other bikes. I can't for the life of me find a supplier to be able to procure this. Amy advice?

David Hembrow said...

It's probably easiest to ask the manufacturer directly.