Panniers or Trailer?

How am I going to carry all the stuff I need to be self-sufficient for a couple of months? Panniers (bicycle saddlebags) are the traditional approach.  A pair placed over the rear and front wheels can carry 50 pounds of gear. The downside is that they put lots of load on the wheels and spokes and have to balanced fore and aft and left/right to avoid potential handling problems. The other approach is a trailer.

Trailers come in one-wheel or two-wheel configurations. The one-wheel trailer obviously is a narrower profile and there's only one tire to go flat. If much of your riding is off-road, narrow trail riding, this is the best choice. BOB makes a great line of one-wheel trailers. They have excellent load capacity and low center of gravity.


However, I'm going with the two-wheel Burley Nomad trailer.  Its lightweight at 15 lbs, stable and can carry up to 100 lbs. The profile isn't much wider than my handlebars. As with the BOB trailers, the center of gravity is low and load balancing is not critical. I like the fact that you can pack it much like you'd pack the trunk of a car. Everything in it should be easy to access.


From the reports I've read, the Nomad is easy to attach and folds down for easy storage or, in my case, shipping. I'll find out soon enough.