Two-wheel trailer for 20" folder?

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I LOVE my Dahon Ciao but if I want to carry a significant load on it for several hours (which I'm increasingly thinking I might - I'm vaguely thinking of going camping in September, somewhere FLAT. haha!) I'm best getting a trailer. But how do I find a trailer that is suitable for a 20 " wheel? Or should I simply go for one which has a seatpost hitch? That seems like the simplest solution ... position the hitch where the natural balance point is, a bit like harnessing up the pony to a two-wheeled cart.
Am I right?
 

Oldhippy

Cynical idealist
One of rare reasons to visit a Cycle King shop. Awful places generally but the trailer I bought 10 years ago is still going strong it folds flat and is cheap.
 
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KnittyNorah

Über Member
None of them in this half of the country; it'll almost certainly have to be bought mail order/online or I'll keep an eye open on ebay/freecycle/gumtree etc for something local.
Am I right in thinking that a seatpost hitch would be the easiest to 'fit' to a 20" wheel though? Aren't most of the axle-hitch ones made for the axle height of a full-size wheel?
 
I think my Freedom carry Y frame tilts back a little on 26" wheels. The strut looks dead flat at 29" wheel height.
 
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KnittyNorah

Über Member
Most trailer wheels are either 14 or 16 inch so it will not make any differance

It's not the size of the wheels I'm concerned about, it's the height of the hitch. An axle hitch will - probably - be optimised to fit at the axle height of a 26 - 29" wheel. A seatpost hitch will be able to be positioned higher or lower on the seatpost so as to select the most 'balanced' position.
Maybe I'm overthinking this, I don't know. I might mock something up with a pair of toy wheels and some garden canes (if I can find them!)
 
Most trailer wheels are either 14 or 16 inch so it will not make any differance
Y frame is available in 16 " or 20". 16" is for Brommies, 20" is for everything else.
 
I've a 20" Carry Freedom trailer which fits on the back of my bent trike with a 20" back wheel with a level load bed.
A trailer attached to the back axle may well be more stable at speed than a seat post hitch.
It all depend on your back axle as to how easy it is to fit a trailer hitch to it.
As long as you can move the near side nut out by 5-6 mm and still have enough threads left to safely tighten the nut up again then it will probably fit.

Luck ........... ^_^
 
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KnittyNorah

Über Member
Right - I don't understand why the height of the trailer's axle, or the size of its wheels, has any direct relevance to the issue.

There are trailers with tiny wee wheels, and trailers with much bigger ones. Surely it is the positioning of the drawbar and the adjustments inherent in it and the hitch mech. which dictate the towing vehicle's appropriate wheel size?

If a trailer made to be towed by 'standard adult bikes' via a rear axle hitch has its hitch and drawbar positioned such that when attached to the 26 - 29 inch wheel's axle, the bed of the trailer is level or very nearly so (assuming balanced loading of the trailer) when it is attached to the 20" wheel's axle the trailer will surely be 'nose down'? Or is there sufficient adjustment available to enable correct balance and a level trailer bed (again, assuming balanced loading of the trailer)?

Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely? I might be ...
 
The slope on the load bed is not important.
At worse with a 29" bike wheel and 20" trailer wheels there will be a 5" difference in axle heights.
A trailer can be basically split into thirds length wise, front third drawbar and back two thirds is the load bed.
The axle will be behind the centre of the load bed to help keep nose weight.
This will mean that the back of a standard sized trailer with be a maximum of a couple of inches lower than the trailer axle or still ~8" off the ground.
My Carry Freedom trailer need to be tipped up to over 45 degrees before the back touches down.
So zero risk of it grounding in normal use.
The very small wheeled trailers I've seen tend to have a rim around the load bed and the drawbar fixes to the top of the rim.
It's only when your carrying something very long like a canoe or ladders that it's important to get the trailer bed level.

Luck ........... D
 

bikebikebike2

New Member
I had great problems with the Burley Travoy flipping on my Dahon, not seen on my big bikes.
? side to side oscillation and seatpost mount flipping trailer.
 

numbnuts

Legendary Member
I bought the said trailer ^^
rear trike wheel 24 inch, trailer wheel 14 inch, so far so good
605494
 
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