Kids' trailers and tire choice

[icepick_trotsky]

I do a fair amount of trailer pulling, usually a 35 miler once a week. I have an older Burly Solo.

It has its stock tires, which are pretty thick with a bit of a tread. Ample flat protection.

Has anyone swapped the stock tires on one of these? What other options are around, and did it make a noticeable difference at all? The stock tires can't have great rolling resistance.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I did this a couple years back. I remember I ordered the best/lightest tires within reason as the originals were hard and probably UV damaged. They are Kendas. Pretty sure Kenda Kwick. I'd recommend them. Now available is one from Primo called the Comet Recumbent. It's probably the best you'll find. Listed as just 206g versus the 310g for the Kwest.

When I bought my Adams Trail-a-Bike second hand it had the original 20" knobby tire. Why in the hell do these things come with knobby tires? I replaced that with the best/lightest I could find which was the Tioga Power Block 20x1.85. That's been great.

[gdw]

A neighbor tried lighter tires and found it made little difference. He was towing two toddlers so any improvement in performance might have been negated by the weight the rugrats were rapidly gaining.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Originally Posted by gdw

A neighbor tried lighter tires and found it made little difference. He was towing two toddlers so any improvement in performance might have been negated by the weight the rugrats were rapidly gaining.

Fair point. To me, though, more meaningful than the decreased weight would be decreased rolling resistance. To me, it was worth the $20-25 total premium over the life of the trailer. And there really aren't a whole lot of choices.

[benb]

I sold my Solo this spring after riding it a ton but never wore out the stock tires. They were worn, but still plenty of life.

I think I would have found different tires pointless. The bike trailer is a parachute, I'm sure you know that, particularly beyond 15mph, which is the listed top speed, you're pulling a massive amount of air resistance.

Couple that with high weight and tires really wouldn't seem to matter. If anything I might have wanted to think about putting tires on with more off road traction, but the tires are not driven, so that's pointless too.

For kicks one time I did a little unscientific test with my power meter and it was way over 450w to go 21-22mph on flat ground before you factored in wind.

What I am regretting is we also got a Wehoo last year, around July 2016. We used the Weehoo for a good bit last fall, but have barely used it this year as my son can now ride without training wheels, and he'll happily go for about a 5-6 mile ride and it'll take an hour or so with a playground stop. It's a similar quality of workout as pulling the Weehoo, so we got less than a year out of the Weehoo. We got about 3 seasons out of the Burley. (He'll be 5 in November)

[icepick_trotsky]

Originally Posted by benb

The bike trailer is a parachute, I'm sure you know that, particularly beyond 15mph, which is the listed top speed, you're pulling a massive amount of air resistance.

15 MPH is not just the stated top speed. It is the maximum theoretically achievable velocity pulling this thing. Especially when the wind whips over the prairie.

[mcfarton]

Would you be interested in selling the weehoo? I have no idea where you are located, I am in maryland.

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[mcfarton]

I normally average around 12mph with the burley bee. It makes me want to put a power meter on that bike to make myself feel better.

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[don'TreadOnMe]

I went the opposite direction.
Found the fattest semi-slick bmx park/ramp/street tires I could get, and inflated them really soft.
Kids had a way smoother ride, and if I was getting groceries or beer or whatever, stuff didn't get bounced.
No land speed records, just good times.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by don'TreadOnMe

No land speed records, just good times.

No pun intended