Which is the better trailer, Cycle-Tote vs BOB (Beast of Burden).

I have used both a Cycle tote and BOB trailer. I have actually used both the small and large size Cycle tote. I used to own a "Small" Cycle tote trailer, til it was stolen:

?192,192,0,100,100,3411967269

https://cycletote.com/trailers/dog-trailers/

I then purchased a BOB for I was a little tight for funds and could not afford the $1000 a Cycle Tote Trailer with all the accessories goes for:



http://www.bobgear.com/bike-trailers/ibex

Last year, I broke down a purchased a LARGE Cycle tote trailer:



First, let me talk about the BOB vs Cycletote:

The BOB is chrome moly steel vs the Aluminum of the Cycle Tote. Is this regard I have NOT seen any real difference, through the Cycle Tote is much larger and carries more.

The BOB uses one 20 inch wheel, the Cycletote comes with 700cc or 26 inch wheels (or even 24 inch wheels, but you have to provide them). The down side of the BOB is you have to carry a different spare inner tube.

The BOB uses a bag to hold the items and to keep them dry. The Cycletote is a covered wagon and if you keep its door close, it will keep things dry.

The BOB attaches to the rear axle, which if quick release will bend if you put to much weight in the BOB trailer. The Cycle tote attaches to seat posts. This permits heavier weights to be carried in the Cycle Tote then the BOB.

The rear attachment position on the BOB has the additional problem that if your bike has a rear rack, the rack will block a quick attachment to the bike (Still doable, but not as easy as if they is no rear rack). The Cycle tote also has problems with rear racks, the extension from the rear seat post to the actual trailer will sometimes get caught by any bags one is carrying on rear racks.

The Cycle tote can be used to haul dogs and other pets, the BOB can NOT be so use. The reason for this is simple, the Cycle tote is designed to be stable on its own (i.e. it has wheels on BOTH sides of the trailer), on the other hand the BOB is one wheel in the rear and balances itself with the bike.

Technically the BOB should be better on single tracks. I rarely do true cross country biking anymore (I am 56 years of age). Thus when it comes to rough terrain I tend to walk my bike not ride through it. Given that, the wider distance of the Cycle Tote is NOT that much of a disadvantage. If the path is wide enough for you to walk with the bike, it is wide enough for the Cycle Tote. On the other hand I have a trail that is technically wide but has so many rocks that it is a single track for biking BUT can be used as a wide track for walking a bike. On that route, the Cycle Tote has problems following the bike and me walking beside the bike, while the BOB did not.

Now, I do some Knotweed care along the trails where I live (by "care" I mean I spray Knotweed with Roundup starting about mid July to Mid October, which is the only time of year Knotweed will send anything from its leaves to its roots. Using roundup before Knotweed flowers is ineffective for Knotweed will send none of the Roundup to its own roots till its flowers. Once Knotweed flowers, about mid July, then it starts to build up its roots and Roundup sprayed on its leaves will kill it). This "Care" of knotweed requires me to haul several 5 gallon bottles of 5% roundup AND a sprayer to "Care" for this knotweed. When I used the BOB trailer, the weight tended to bend the rear quick release on my bike if I carried more than four such bottles. Worse, the resulting weight caused the BOB trailer to be unbalanced.

The Cycle tote was similarly loaded down, but with seven bottles and I had no problem hauling it OR it tipping over. The Cycletote did became stuck with all that weight on one single track trail I mentioned above, but other then that one trail, the Cycletote beat out the BOB when it came to hauling heavy loads.

The BOB, on the other hand could be hauled through that single track to where the Knotweed was. The reason was simple, the BOB followed the bike and as I lifted the bike the BOB trailer would follow.

The Cycletote can be used as a two wheel or three wheel cart. Cycletote provides, as an option, a handle for the rear of the Cycletote, that can be used to push the Cycletote as a cart. If you want to you can install a front wheel, another option provided by Cycletote, but I have found pushing down the the rear bar is enough to lift up the front, so you can push it as a two wheel cart, even with heavy loads.

One of the down side of BOB style trailer is the need for attaching to the rear axle. BOB provides two methods, one is a quick release system that has BOB attachment points on each end. The problem with this system is you can NOT be upgrade to a heavier duty Titanium quick release (which would be stronger than the steel quick release that comes with the BOB). The other mechanism is for solid axles. It replaces the bolt that holds the wheel onto the solid axle. This is STRONGER than the quick release system and works better (I have used both on two different bikes, one with a quick release the other with a solid axle).

All in all, BOB is ideal for light bulky items, like sleeping bags, tents, clothing, spades, Axes, maddoxes and other items and tools etc. Do not put heavy weight in the BOB, like water and food unless you restrict it to small amounts (Better keep such items on your bike in your panniers, or on your back in a back pack). The BOB is ideal to haul to a camp site and left with the items you need when it comes time to sleep.

The same is NOT true of the Cycle Tote, it can handle heavy loads but demands a smoother and wider path then the BOB. i.e in addition to the items mentioned for the BOB, it can haul water and food. As noted below when the Military was using bicycles with trailers, they tend to follow more the Cycle tote design then the BOB design. The reason for this was weight and size of what they were hauling that lead to use of the rear seat post as the best place to attach a trailer to a bicycle.

The BOB can NOT be used as a cart (or I should say, not with a lot of difficulty because I have tried). The Mayscycle has addressed that issue by have a movable handle that can be moved from beside the trailer to the side opposite the wheel. On the Mayacycle the front fork, that connects the trailer to the bike is removable, thus converting the trailer to a small one wheel cart. The Mayacycle has to two legs to rest on when used as a cart OR when not attached to a bike (and these act like "Kick stands" in that you can "kick" them to rest along the trailer when you are using it as a trailer. I have NOT used one but it is an interesting variation of the BOB:

One side note, the BOB uses 4130 Chrome Moly Steel. Chrome Moly Steel has been called the wonder material of the 1930s. It is strong, for it can be used for Rifle barrels (Through 4150 Chrome Moly is preferred, it has .5% carbon as opposed to 4130's .2% Carbon). Chrome moly is an extremely strong steel that permit minimum flexing of the steel, thus eliminated most of the problems bicycles using High Tension Steel (the wonder material of 1900, had the Titanic been built with it, it would have survived the Titanic was build with crap steel). One of the problem with high tension steel was it had a good bit of flex, flex that could absorb 70% of the power provided to the peddles. Thus when it came to ease of biking, going to Chrome Moly Steel was the big jump, Aluminium, Titanium and now Carbon Fiber are all marginal improvements over Chrome Moly when compared with the improvement when going from High Tension Steel to Chrome Moly.

More on Chrome Moly Steel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/41xx_steel
http://www.industrialtube.com/client/images/A513.pdf

The Mayacycle is made of ASTM 513 Steel Welded Tube,

Here is a cite that says ASTM 513 Steel Welded tube MAY be made out of 4130 Chrome Moly Steel (and ASTM A513 MAY be made out of other steel):

http://www.suppliersonline.com/propertypages/4130.asp
http://www.industrialtube.com/client/images/A513.pdf

Thus I do NOT know if Mayacycle is made out of Chrome Moly Steel or NOT. If it is not, then you have an inferior steel subject to breakage (Through easy to repair, as where the old fashion High Tension Steel Bikes of the past). Chrome Moly Steel can NOT be welded at the local body shop, you need specialized equipment to do the repair (Thus why it was NOT the material of Choice for cheap bicycles). I suspect the Mayacycle is made of Chrome Moly Steel, but right now I can NOT confirm that fact (and why they do not Claim it, put warning bells on in my head). On the other hand it appears to be a good trailer, AND it is behind the rear wheel thus the lost of peddle power that was characteristic of High Tension Steel bicycle really do not exist (the trailer is BEHIND the rear wheel, so any absorption of peddle power occurs AFTER the point when such power would have reached the rear, drive wheel of the bicycle).





http://www.mayacycle.com/bicycle-trailer-gallery.

Now, other trailers use other means of attachment. Peter white wheels sells a one wheel aluminum trailer that attaches to the Rear Seat Post:''



http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tout-terrain.asp

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tout-mule.asp

Another trailer that uses an attachment to the rear seat post is the Burkey Travoy. I have concerns given its small wheels, but it is a very short trailer to attach a brief case to:



http://www.burley.com/home/bur/page_12208/travoy.html

Other trailers, generally the cheaper trailers, tend to hitch to one side of the rear wheel. I have problems with this design, while popular, it put pressure on the bike from the left side unlike the Cycle Tote, BOB, Mule and Mayacycle, that put pressure on BOTH sides of the bike. The Mule and Cycletote by being attached to the Center seat post. The Mayacycle and BOB by being attached to BOTH sides of the rear axle as opposed to one side.



http://www.amazon.com/Veelar-Foldable-Bicycle-Shopping-Trailer-20300/dp/B00B3HMH2I/ref=sr_1_5?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1415049642&sr=1-5&keywords=bicycle+trailer

Another example of this (The smaller bottom hole is for the rear Axle, the larger upper hole is to attach the end of the trailer to the bicycle:



http://www.mayacycle.com/bicycle-trailer-gallery

On the other hand, when the Military of various nations had bicycle troops (Sweden till the 1970s, Switzerland till the late 1990, Germany till the end of WWII and the speed the Japanese took Malaysia and Singapore in WWII is credited to the bicycle vs restricted to roads British Forces) you saw trailer for bicycles, all with attachment to the rear seat post:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_military_bicycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronan_(bicycle)
http://www.bicyclefixation.com/kronan.html

The same with the Swiss:





http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/bicycle,m93/Interesting

I am tempted to get the US Army Wheel litter hauler and attached it to my Seat post. The hauler is tall enough that all I would need would be something to go around one side of the hauler handle and another on the rear seat post, connected with a piece of metal (or put on a litter and use that as the attachment point). Coleman Surplus in Pennsylvania is selling them used for $89 and new unused $125 (I almost purchased one but $100 dollars for shipping was to much for me). The Litter hauler has a good reputation from people who used it in Afghanistan.



These things are selling for about $100, when the US Government paid over $1200 for each. The original maker is out of business and the US Army wants 100% interchangeability when it comes to parts, thus the Army is getting rid of the old ones and getting new ones made by a different manufacturer (Your tax dollars at work).

http://store.colemans.com/cart/us-gi-wheeled-litter-carrier-unused-p-3089.html?zenid=ookv93hl2370o9c4hl9u6vebg2

Here it is being sold at $795.00:



http://shop.thetacticalmedic.com/Wheeled-Litter-Carrier-WLC-8123.htm

Thus it looks like the Cycletote has maintained its reputation as the best trailer. BOB restricted itself to single track users, but the Mayacycle beats it out. On the other hand, neither the BOB nor the Mayacycle can carry anything close to what the Cycletote can carry. Thus the Cycletote wins out. The Cycletote is NOT an off road trailer, but I want to see how the US Army Litter hauler works out as a off road trailer. I may travel to Coleman Surplus and buy one one of these days (it is three hours away from where I live, and the $100 to ship it by UPS makes it to expensive, but used at $89 it is a good option to look into).