Sunday 7 March 2010

Bike Trailers - Wandertec Bongo


We have the very first Wandertec Bongo trailer in Europe.

Ours is the "small" size trailer, which weighs just 6.5 kg (14.5 lbs) and has a load bed size of 63 cm x 38 cm (25 inches x 15 inches).

The Bongo makes a surprisingly lightweight package. All the parts arrived in one cardboard box.






The light weight is in part due to the frame being of aluminium. It also makes for a very rigid construction.








The wheels are radial spoked, 16 inch (ETRTO 305) size. which looks nice, have aluminium rims and hubs, and spin very freely.






The trailer uses the well established Chariot trailer mount. We already have this on other trailers, so it means we can swap between bikes easily. Earlier I showed how I retrofitted this hitch to our dog trailer.


The wheels mount and unmount simply by pushing in the centre of the hub, which makes a locking mechanism withdraw.






It took just a few minutes to assemble the trailer, but it was a couple of weeks before I got around to using it !

Note that the load bed as supplied is not the maximum size which will fit between the wheels.


The trailer comes with straps which can be used to attach many different shapes to the top, but I will make a slightly oversized basket to fit between the wheels and carry more things conveniently.

More later when we've had a chance to get more use from the trailer !

8 comments:

jrg said...

Is this just a rebranding of the Carry Freedom trailer, for the euro-market?

henryinamsterdam said...

Looks exactly like Carry Freedom Y-frame that Simple City has been making for years... in Europe:
http://www.carryfreedom.com/Y-Frame.html

Brent said...

I would be curious of your impressions on the handling qualities and ease of use of the trailer versus those of Long John bicycles.

David Hembrow said...

Yes, it's very similar to the Carry Freedom trailer. We also have a Carry Freedom trailer, but it's the folding carry freedom city. An excellent design in itself.

Brent: In general I've found that bike trailers have very little effect on the handling of bikes - long bikes do handle differently, and are generally more difficult to store.

Maarten said...

The wheels look a lot like those used on the Radical Cyclone trailer. Excellent trailer as well, with a coupling that I really like.

Adrienne Johnson said...

It is very good to have a trailer that keeps the beer safe. Most other cargo can handle the bumps and falls of transport. The beer, though? It needs a nice cushy ride all the way to my refrigerator.

J.. said...

Nice trailer. Looks really basic, less is more, and all that.
How does it compare to the more sophisticated looking Radical Design trailer, I wonder?

@Adrienne
I think you might want to wait a while before opening up a cold one after it's been transported on this trailer. The ride looks rather spartan.

Orange Hatter said...

A finer use for a trailer I cannot think of! Thanks for the video, it provides more vivid insight than just still photos I have found on the net.

Matt
http://bikehacks.com