It’s the answer to the motorised, fuel-guzzling utility vehicle! It’s the Surly Bill Trailer! This trailer is capable of carrying loads up to 136 kilograms and, with a length of 1.6 metres, can carry all sorts of interesting (and heavy) objects!

We regularly do a cardboard run to the local recyclers, about 3kms away, using the cargo bike…

This is not a typical cargo bike load…it was a fun one though!

Today however, courtesy of our friend Pete, we got to test out the Surly Bill trailer for the first time. The trailer is made of CroMoly steel and is surprisingly lightweight. It has two 16″ wheels, and hitches onto the bike using either a special axle skewer or thread-on axle nuts.

The first pedal stroke was a bit harder than expected (cardboard does actually contain some weight!), but once the bike got rolling the trailer was hardly noticeable. It’s a bit like driving a semi-trailer, you have to take wider turns and make sure the path is not too narrow, but overall, towing the trailer was no different to riding a regular bike with the panniers full of shopping!

This trailer has to be one of the best pedal-powered means of carrying big loads that we have experienced so far. I can’t wait to try moving a washing machine…or fridge…couch…

(Thanks to Deb for being kind enough to take photos while we were on the move and share them with us!)