Big crash with a bob trailer
Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:06 pm
Hi all,
Had a big crash the other day whilst preparing for a long tour and thought the details of what happened would make a good discussion point.
I was testing out my fully loaded Bob trailer for balance and handling, going up and down a hill. Everything was fine and I was getting up to about 50km/h with no problems. Then coming downhill again at about 50km/h I needed to brake for a car turning slowly in front of me.
The weight of all the gear on the trailer (about 20kg) caused it to jacknife and threw me over the handlebars. I survived (obviously) but was injured. Broken collarbone and ribs, but all will heal.
My thoughts on why it jacknifed are that
1. I was going round a slight bend which caused the weight to push to one side when I braked.
2. I was going too fast. Pretty obvious in hindsight.
I think the bob trailer is great and am not put off from using one. But it must be understood that heavy loads and high speeds do not mix. I will be limiting my speed to 30km/h downhill in future.
Maybe one solution would be to fit a brake to the trailer wheel. Has anybody ever seen one or tried to fit one?
Has anyone had any similar experiences? How about handling in the wet?
Had a big crash the other day whilst preparing for a long tour and thought the details of what happened would make a good discussion point.
I was testing out my fully loaded Bob trailer for balance and handling, going up and down a hill. Everything was fine and I was getting up to about 50km/h with no problems. Then coming downhill again at about 50km/h I needed to brake for a car turning slowly in front of me.
The weight of all the gear on the trailer (about 20kg) caused it to jacknife and threw me over the handlebars. I survived (obviously) but was injured. Broken collarbone and ribs, but all will heal.
My thoughts on why it jacknifed are that
1. I was going round a slight bend which caused the weight to push to one side when I braked.
2. I was going too fast. Pretty obvious in hindsight.
I think the bob trailer is great and am not put off from using one. But it must be understood that heavy loads and high speeds do not mix. I will be limiting my speed to 30km/h downhill in future.
Maybe one solution would be to fit a brake to the trailer wheel. Has anybody ever seen one or tried to fit one?
Has anyone had any similar experiences? How about handling in the wet?