27th Apr 2004
TrailerOn, My New Favorite Product
How cool is this? It’s TrailerOn.
Periodically I rant on this blog about cars, and how I don’t especially like them. Sure, they’re useful sometimes, but I haven’t owned one in about 20 years, and I don’t mind being sanctimonious about it. But I have to admit, sometimes they’re useful, particularly when it comes to shopping.
I happen to live about five blocks from the Harlem Fairway, which most Manhattanites know to be one of the best markets in the city. Problem is, five blocks doesn’t sound far, but it’s far enough that you want to make a big shop of it (especially when we have a decent neighborhood deli immediately across the street for milk, eggs, coffee, beer, basic veggies, etc.). But then, when you do a big shop, five blocks, with a big hill in between, is a big slog. Enough so that I normally go to the crappy C-Town one block away. Recently, I also discovered Pioneer, an honest to God supermarket, with aisles wide enough to drive a Hummer down, at 116th and Lenox, which, is close-ish, but still about 15 blocks away.
So, for a while I’ve been thinking about some kind of trailer I could tow behind my bike for shopping. I’ve found a few I like, but they cost $200-400, and I’ve dedicated this year to getting out of credit card debt, so I’m not eager to buy nice-to-haves like that.
Enter TrailerOn. Such a brilliantly simple desing. It’s basically a piece of PVC pipe with a hole drilled in it for your seat post and a notch cut in it for the handle of some kind of cart — a golf bag cart, luggage cart, lil’ red wagon or, in this case, an old-lady shopping cart. A few heavy rubber bands hold things in place. So elegant in its simplicity, you can’t help but to love it. And best of all, it costs only $20!
Bravo!
UPDATE:
When I blogged all of the above, I had not actually test ridden the product. After doing so, I was initially really pissed, as the cart fishtailed wildly all over the road. Before updating this post with vitriol, as I was tempted to do, I decided to write the manufacturer first with my complaint.
Proprietor Steve Freeman promptly wrote back and offered to refund my money but first suggested a way I might modify my cart, which seemed like a big pain in the ass, and he also suggested people had better luck with larger carts, with wider wheel bases. So this weekend, I bought a bigger cart — same model you see pictured here, but one size larger.
It made all the difference. The thing handles beautifully now. I don’t need the bungie cord you see pictured above, which was my own kludgy idea to keep the thing in place. With the right sized cart, it all holds together nicely as designed. This afternoon I went for a big shop, towing back about as much weight as you’d want to tow behind a bike, and it worked perfectly.
So, I do heartly endorse that you buy this product, just be sure to buy a cart big enough to ride stably behind it.
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Cool! I’m a little less ashamed of shipping metric tons of apparel to your mailbox. I pictured you sweating and swearing on your bike because of me.
Actually, I just picked this up from my Mail Boxes Etc. account yesterday, along with three huge boxes for you, so please, continue to feel guilty for now.
PCB? Do you mean PVC pipe? PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is commonly used in plumbing applications. Dad and I used to use quite a bit of it when we were running the sprinkler business. I probably have several dozen lengths of scrap lying around my place on Long Island that I could turn into TrailerOn hitches. Maybe I’ll use my Dremel and make a few for the members of the Official Old Timers Bike Club. Add a bungee cord or two and you’re off to the races.
Yes, I did mean PVC pipe. You get a Proofreader Nazi point for that.
As for manufacturing them for your friends, well, I should say that the guy who makes these has done a bit more engineering than just drilling a couple of holes in PVC pipes. They also include wood plugs at each end, probably for stability, as well as reflectors at both ends of the pipe, plus four specially measured heavy-duty rubber bands to hold everything in place. Frankly, for $20, I think they’re a bargain and at that price probably cheaper to pay for than to bother trying to reconstruct, unless you’re really a geek for working in your woodshop or something. It’s gonna take you minimum an hour — probably several, as you try to figure it out from scratch — and I know you bill at a higher rate than that, Tom! Besides, I’m all for supporting this guy’s ingenuity. That said, have a blast if DIY is your cup of tea.
You’re starting to remind me of old people back in old country, Rick bacsi.
- Drew bacsi
Drew, you mean like this?
Was interseted in getting a Traileron here in the UK but they’re not available and traileron are not shipping anymore. Please can you let me have the length & diameter (metric please) of the tube. I’ll try and fabricate something similar.
Thanks. Great web site. Sorry to hear about the ticket but I’ve narrowly avoided being mown down by cyclists while using a crossing on the green man.
MikeR