Should just retire the tired new-old trailer

The ancient, rusty, 1980s, Burley brand, steel-tube bicycle trailer I bought from Steve for $20 CAN has been, in the short time I’ve had it, quite a handful, but it’s been worth it as well, more than paying for itself. Previously the hitch arm broke in stages, and finally I mated a double tubed aluminium hitch arm from a 1990 Burley, which has worked like a charm for weeks now. Then I put on “new” old tires, and saw the left tire wear down to thread in under two weeks — an old school trailer binner saw this as a sure sign the left wheel axle was bent. I stuck a bald old tire on the left wheel, and got three weeks out of it, so I wasn’t convinced it was a bent axle.

I wanted to replace both tires at the same time, and the best option I found today was a set of Duro Fantasy tires. meant for a BMX bike. They are very substantial, and I’ve never seen their tread style before. On they went, and I was thinking, there’s one problem solved.

Close but no cigar! This soft white plastic olive oil bottle pour spout had good fit characteristics, but not the necessary rigidity, or strength.

Ten blocks later, and bits in the hub of the left wheel which fill the gap between the axle and the wheel, were noticeable by their sudden absence — I backtracked the ten blocks, but no “bits” to be seen. Filling the gap in the hub could be a stop-gap measure, if one could lock those bits in place — this would keep the wheel from trying to slide part-ways off the axle. Closest I came to that was with a snap-in pour-end from an olive oil bottle. If it had been made a bit thicker, it may have worked. As it was, it popped out after three blocks. A locking washer could possibly work. I have to say that I much prefer Burley’s 1990s trailer designs. Thirty years may be too long to expect a steel tube trailer to maintain it’s structural integrity, what with rust and metal fatigue.

I was able to hang on to the damaged, aluminium-tubed trailer, this steel trailer was meant to replace. I’ll likely try to squeeze a bit more work out of it while I see if I can get a replacement wheel for the steel trailer. I need tires for the aluminium trailer wheels, but, of course, I have those now. Click the images to enlarge.

The new-old trailer’s younger brother, and those great DURO-ble tires

August 3, 2013 update —  I’m now fairly sure this 1980s-era trailer was made by a company called Winchester, rather than Burley, because I just hauled a trailer frame out of a dumpster, with an identical bed construction, and paint job, but with drop-outs for the wheels, and a double-tubed hitch arm — it looks like an “evolved” version of the trailer I have, and it’s labelled: “Winchester Touring Designs.” Haven’t found much info on them, but their steel trailers had a reputation for being heavy, being able to carry a big load, and rusting like crap — sounds about right. The Duro Fantasy 20-inch BMX tires are great! The bike shop I frequent gave me a 15 per cent discount on them, so they cost about $46 CAN, and they were definitely worth it. “Duro” suggests durable, and they are that. Not a sign of wear after one month, which is saying something for tires on a cargo trailer.