Carry Freedom Y-Frame Large

After various recommendations and a demo by David Gardiner, I decided to try using a trailer instead of pannier racks this year. Also, I had to return something large to someone on the other side of town, so enter the Carry Freedom Y Frame with its large capacity and superb build quality (which you do pay for, at circa £200 delivered).

That's a 100*80*50cm chest of drawers and fairly heavy. Thoughts on the trip after the break...

Picking something that big and heavy for my first trip was a bit of a risk, but choosing the MTB and flat pedals did mitigate that risk somewhat. The wide range of low gears was helpful on the hills!

Acceleration and deceleration are when I felt the load the most. The load being fairly large and having a high centre of gravity lent every hillock and speed bump a worrying 'push-pull' after effect as the load settled again. I don't know if the bike's rear suspension helped with this or made it worse.

When laden, the trailer was quiet and surprisingly stable over some treacherous looking road surface. Unladen however, it rattled like a 1920s tram (thankfully with fewer sparks) so I perhaps need to adjust the axle lengths.

To update Dave McGraw's older blog entry on the subject; new trailers now come with two reflectors already attached underneath the load bed.

It was a fairly quiet ride at that time of day. The dozen or so motorists who did appear behind me gave me plenty of room when overtaking and surprisingly, none of them sounded their horns or leaned out of their windows to offer their usual 'helpful advice'.

Next time I think I'll try it on the Fuego, now that I have a decent  idea of how it handles.