For my birthday Soph got me a cargo trailer for my bike, so I can now ride around transporting huge loads (especially with the panniers & trolley being used as well) smug in the the lack of carbon footprint and zero fuel costs :)

I’ve been asked to show how it attaches to the bike, so as I was using it in anger for the first time today (to take the Christmas tree to be recycled — more smugness!) I thought I’d document it here.

So the trailer I got is the Avenir TRA083 Mule Utility Trailer. It fold down flat, and the wheels detach, and so I can store it in the secure bike shed behind the bikes, along with the bike stands and my folding pannier basket / trolley.

Taking it out of the shed and you’ve got the folded up trailer, plus the wheels.

Starting with the folded down trailer.

The sides fold up, and there’s a bar that keeps it unfolded.

The bar is fixed on one side (but rotates) and the other end has a hand-screw that comes off and is used to attach it on the other side.

With both bars fixed, it’s on to the arm that attaches to the bike. This folds under the trailer for storage, and is clipped into place.

So you unclip it, unfold it, then clip it into the unfolded position.

Then it’s onto the wheels. Each has it’s own mini-axel.

So you just push it into place, and then clip into place.

With both wheels attached, we’re ready to attach to the bike. This is done via the rear wheel’s axel. I’ve got quick-release wheels, so I don’t even need any tools for this stage.

Now I’m not sure if my rear axel has seized up, or if it’s supposed to work like this, but the quick-release part stays attached to the axel, so I have to remove the entire axel to attach the trailer.

So the axel just slides through the trailer attachment, and gets tightened as per usual. Then the safety cord goes around the frame and clips back to the trailer.

And we’re done! It really does only take 5 minutes to assemble and attach, and all without using any tools. Plus I did it today in the middle of winter without any problems of numb hands.

So this was all in aid of recycling our xmas tree. This year our tree was well over 2m high (7ft+).

I took to it with a saw, cutting a few sections off the top, then stripping branches off the base, and packed it all into the trailer for a single trip to the local recycling point.

Then the cover goes on, and I’m ready to go!

And a few minutes later I’m dropping our tree off.