BOBs

Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than panniers? Or does it feel like
pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html

 

I got a BOB last year for a trip up the Dalton Highway in Alaska. I absolutely loved riding with it.
First of all, you can load the thing with much more gear than you can in panniers. I had almost
70lbs in mine (as well as panniers on the bike). The Dalton Hwy is partly dirt/gravel and partly
paved. I thought the BOB handled very well in both cases. Having the weight low and off the bike
makes for much better handling in my opinion - especially on bumpy surfaces. -dan

"Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than
panniers?
> Or does it feel like pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html

 

"Per Löwdin" wrote:
>
> Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB?

My buddy has pulled a 1/4 keg of beer 42 miles with it. No problems!
<G>

Barry

 

I've done several short loaded tours with a BOB, once with my lightweight road bike(Cannondale
R1000) and once with a touring bike (Cannondale T2000). You can use a lightweight, but can
experience stability problems especially with descents and climbing. Standing is near impossible on
a lightweight with a heavily-loaded BOB. The longer wheel-based touring bike was much better and
more stable. I think its more a matter of geometry than weight. I've heard some mountain loaded
tourers criticize BOBs because of their tendency to break down on rough unpaved trails, but that's
usually not an issue on paved roads. Also there is a new BOB out with suspension specifically
designed for rough roads/trails. The bottom line is a lot of road tourers use BOBs and swear by
them. I've used both BOBs and panniers. They both work fine and its really a matter of personal
choice. Frankly I like both, but you can haul one huge amount of stuff with a BOB...maybe too much.

"Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than
panniers?
> Or does it feel like pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html

 

X no_archive yes On Wed, 26 Feb 2003 20:11:35 GMT, "Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than panniers? Or does it feel like
>pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html
>

I've toured for several thousand miles with both. I much prefer the BOB as I don't feel the trailer
except going up hills and then it is just the weight of the trailer. That is all I use now. You may
wnat to look at the new trailer with a suspension both for off road and the ability to remove the
rear wheel is you plan to fly some where with the trailer.

However there are some "differences" with a BOB. It is harder to get the bicycle/trailer on a train
or bus if you are doing a "mixed" trip. I also found that I needed to look for walls to lean the
bike against when I stopped as it would not stand upright in a regular bike rack. There were a few
angled baracades on bicycle trails that were hard to get through with the trailer. Overall I now
only use the BOB for touring.

I also suggest that you do not buy the big water proof sack. It is nice but we have now changed to a
number of smaller water proof kyak sacks so we do not have to open the large sack in the rain and
then dig through the contents to find a specific item. We bought bags of different colors so that we
could easily find specific items such as clothing, food, cooking gear, etc. Makes it a lot easier.

bill [email protected] remove the spam

Bill Deutschman, PhD Providing Laser Safety Training, Oregon Laser Consultants Safety Audits,
Computer Safety 455 Hillside Avenue Programs and CDRH Certification Klamath Falls OR 97601-2337 for
Laser Users.
541.882.3295 [email protected]

 

I have BOBed for several thousand miles. I cannot speak to panniers. I cannot speak to pulling
pianos either. But the BOB disappears once the rig is rolling. The only time that its presence is
particularly sensable is during acceleration - starting stopping, ascending and descending.

My bike's wheelbase is 76" or so, weighs about 40# and is recumbent. Depending on the BOB's loading
- center of gravity - I have chickened out at 48 mph and 44 mph on fast downhills.

"Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than
panniers?
> Or does it feel like pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html

 

Thanks Dan, David, Bill, Dough

The reason we are considering BOBs is mainly that one of our bikes for panniers has a crack in the
frame and we have two nice bikes we would like to use instead of buying a new frame.

Two issues are critical:
i) one of the bikes is a Klein Adroit with kind of reversed drop outs. A Klein dealer we trust says
it is not the slightest problem. Do you concurr?
ii) how to get the thing on air planes? A third question is raised by Davids reply. My wife´s bike
has a pretty small wheel base. It is an XS Klein,
http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTBruntUppsala/bilder/Lunsen0008.JPG fits her perfectly.
Would the short wheel base be a problem (can´t really see that she can have a much longer bike
in any case) and if so how and why?

We have no intention of going off road with the BOBs. More likely to camp somewhere and find some
singletrack to bike without any luggage. By the way we usually chicken out at around 35 mph
depending a bit on the road of course. Chers Per

"Doug Huffman" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
news:[email protected]...
> I have BOBed for several thousand miles. I cannot speak to panniers. I cannot speak to pulling
> pianos either. But the BOB disappears once the
rig
> is rolling. The only time that its presence is particularly sensable is during acceleration -
> starting stopping, ascending and descending.
>
> My bike's wheelbase is 76" or so, weighs about 40# and is recumbent. Depending on the BOB's
> loading - center of gravity - I have chickened out
at
> 48 mph and 44 mph on fast downhills.
>
>
> "Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than
> panniers?
> > Or does it feel like pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html
> >
>

 

Can't speak for the official airline policies, but i checked my bike in one box and the BOB in its
original box. They (United) did charge me extra for the bike, but not for the BOB. -dan

"Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Thanks Dan, David, Bill, Dough
>
> The reason we are considering BOBs is mainly that one of our bikes for panniers has a crack in the
> frame and we have two nice bikes we would like to use instead of buying a new frame.
>
> Two issues are critical:
> i) one of the bikes is a Klein Adroit with kind of reversed drop outs. A Klein dealer we trust
> says it is not the slightest problem. Do you
concurr?
> ii) how to get the thing on air planes? A third question is raised by Davids reply. My wife´s bike
> has a pretty small wheel base. It is an XS Klein,
> http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTBruntUppsala/bilder/Lunsen0008.JPG fits her perfectly.
> Would the short wheel base be a problem (can´t really see that she can have a much longer bike
> in any case) and if so how and
why?
>
> We have no intention of going off road with the BOBs. More likely to camp somewhere and find some
> singletrack to bike without any luggage. By the
way
> we usually chicken out at around 35 mph depending a bit on the road of course. Chers Per
>
>
> "Doug Huffman" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
> news:[email protected]...
> > I have BOBed for several thousand miles. I cannot speak to panniers. I cannot speak to pulling
> > pianos either. But the BOB disappears once the
> rig
> > is rolling. The only time that its presence is particularly sensable is during acceleration -
> > starting stopping, ascending and descending.
> >
> > My bike's wheelbase is 76" or so, weighs about 40# and is recumbent. Depending on the BOB's
> > loading - center of gravity - I have chickened
out
> at
> > 48 mph and 44 mph on fast downhills.
> >
> >
> > "Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than
> > panniers?
> > > Or does it feel like pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html
> > >
> > >
> >
>

 

If you have a touring bike designed to handle four panniers well, you can't beat this combination
for long distance touring.

I use the BOB for off-road touring where panniers are too wide to avoid brush. The BOB is also good
for going to the grocery store.

- Steve

"Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than
panniers?
> Or does it feel like pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html

 

>From: Bill Deutschman

>I also suggest that you do not buy the big water proof sack... we have now
changed to a number of smaller water proof kayak
>sacks

Individual bags also allow better load distribution. It's a good idea.

Sig Chicago

 

"Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone experience of travelling with a BOB? Is it better than
panniers?
> Or does it feel like pulling a piano? Per http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html
>

Hello Per,

Take the BOB. It handles just great. In 1995, a friend and I made a trip in the western USA, partly
off-road. My friend had a BOB, pulled by a full suspesion MTB and I had panniers (on a front
suspension fork). Especially when climbing on unpaved roads, the BOB gave him an advantage. The
panniers on the suspension frk caused a lot of swaying at low speed. The only time I had an
advantage was on a fast downhill descent. The BOB limited his speed to 'only' 73 km/h, where I was
able to reach 89 km/h. If this drawback is no problem for you, I'd take the BOB! I bought one when
we were back in the Netherlands and I haven't used my panniers for long bicycle trips. For pictures
of the trip in 1995, see http://www.raph.nl/usa-1995/

CU!

Raph www.raph.nl

 

Hi Raph, thanks

> Take the BOB. It handles just great. In 1995, a friend and I made a trip in the western USA,
> partly off-road. My friend had a BOB, pulled by a full suspesion MTB and I had panniers (on a
> front suspension fork).

How did the rear triangle take that? No damages? We hesitate to increase the strain on our beautiful
FS bikes. Think we will use our hardtails. We have had panniers on hardtails on previous long rides
http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html but not in front. Instead we have had bar mounted bags.
Works fine, steering remains nimble, has a good feel, though there is an inherent instability. Can´t
let go of the bar for even a second as it flips to the sides immediately.

> Especially when climbing on unpaved roads, the BOB gave him an advantage. The panniers on the
> suspension frk caused a lot of swaying at low speed. The only time I had an advantage was on a
> fast downhill descent. The BOB limited his speed to 'only' 73 km/h, where I was able to reach 89
> km/h. If this drawback is no problem for you, I'd take the BOB! I bought one when we were back in
> the Netherlands and I haven't used my panniers for long bicycle trips.

Seems we are going for BOBs though we still have some doubts about flying with them.

> For pictures of the trip in 1995, see http://www.raph.nl/usa-1995/

What a trip! We would like to cycle in the US sometime. Go from one place to another searching out
singletrack, in places like Boulder. Could you camp everywhere or did you have to stay in hotels
and motels?

Per

 

"Per Löwdin" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
>
> Hi Raph, thanks
>
> > Take the BOB. It handles just great. In 1995, a friend and I made
a
> > trip in the western USA, partly off-road. My friend had a BOB,
pulled
> > by a full suspesion MTB and I had panniers (on a front suspension fork).
>
> How did the rear triangle take that? No damages?

No problems whatsoever. And we did a lot of off-road riding.

> We hesitate to increase the strain on our beautiful FS bikes. Think we will use our hardtails.
We have
> had panniers on hardtails on previous long rides http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/MTB.html but
> not in front.
Instead we
> have had bar mounted bags. Works fine, steering remains nimble, has
a good
> feel, though there is an inherent instability. Can´t let go of the
bar for
> even a second as it flips to the sides immediately.

That's always a problem with front panniers. With when you do heavy touring with all the gear on the
back, the bike just isn't stable enough.

> > Especially when climbing on unpaved roads, the BOB gave him an advantage. The panniers on the
> > suspension frk caused a lot of
swaying
> > at low speed. The only time I had an advantage was on a fast
downhill
> > descent. The BOB limited his speed to 'only' 73 km/h, where I was
able
> > to reach 89 km/h. If this drawback is no problem for you, I'd take
the
> > BOB! I bought one when we were back in the Netherlands and I
haven't
> > used my panniers for long bicycle trips.
>
> Seems we are going for BOBs though we still have some doubts about
flying
> with them.

That's anotr story. My friend had no trouble, though.

> > For pictures of the trip in 1995, see http://www.raph.nl/usa-1995/
>
> What a trip! We would like to cycle in the US sometime. Go from one
place to
> another searching out singletrack, in places like Boulder. Could you
camp
> everywhere or did you have to stay in hotels and motels?

As long as nobody knows that you're there, you camp about everywhere. In 1990 I did a solo trip from
Los Angeles to New York and camped 'in the wild'. Never close to houses, in national parks only in
designated areas and I was always cautious not to be seen when leaving the road to find a camping
spot. It worked great, but is took some time to feel comfortable 'in the wild' and to get used to
the sounds at night. During the 1995 trip, we stayed on BLM land, near the mouth of Oh-Be-Joyful
Creek and five kilometers from Crested Butte; see
http://home.hccnet.nl/raph.de.rooij/1995-usa/45.htm. In Moab, we slept in 'the Lazy Lizard'; see
http://www.gj.net/~lazylzrd/. It was the most laid-back (and cheapest!) place in Moab when I was
there in the winter of 1993 (see http://www.raph.nl/usa-1993/) and 1995.

CU!

Raph de Rooij Pijnacker, the Netherlands www.raph.nl <-- home of Travel to the Horizon: more than
700 bicycle touring links

 

> >
> > How did the rear triangle take that? No damages?
>
> No problems whatsoever. And we did a lot of off-road riding.

With luggage? I am not to keen on it. MTB is a lot about balance and having 20 or 30 kg of luggage
takes the fun out of it.

>> Can´t let go of the
> bar for
> > even a second as it flips to the sides immediately.
>
> That's always a problem with front panniers. With when you do heavy touring with all the gear on
> the back, the bike just isn't stable enough.

Yes, it is inherently unstable, you have to hold the bar at all times. Even if you have no panniers
in the rear. I never tried but I think front riders are better in that respect on the other hand I
understand it makes the steering sluggish. There are always trade offs.
>> Could you
> camp
> > everywhere or did you have to stay in hotels and motels?
>
> As long as nobody knows that you're there, you camp about everywhere. In 1990 I did a solo trip
> from Los Angeles to New York and camped 'in the wild'. Never close to houses, in national parks
> only in designated areas and I was always cautious not to be seen when leaving the road to find a
> camping spot. It worked great, but is took some time to feel comfortable 'in the wild' and to get
> used to the sounds at night.

We like to camp, as long as there is clean water available. Camped a lot cycling in Ladakh. But in
Europe or the US I think we would prefer designated camp places, to have water and a loo, etc.
http://user.tninet.se/~ipg289h/fu99/manalikaza/ManalitoKaza.html

> During the 1995 trip, we stayed on BLM land, near the mouth of Oh-Be-Joyful Creek and five
> kilometers from Crested Butte; see http://home.hccnet.nl/raph.de.rooij/1995-usa/45.htm. In Moab,
> we slept in 'the Lazy Lizard'; see http://www.gj.net/~lazylzrd/. It was the most laid-back (and
> cheapest!) place in Moab when I was there in the winter of 1993 (see http://www.raph.nl/usa-1993/)
> and 1995.

Was there no camping place? Crested Butte, Durango and Fruita are places we´d like to go and try out
the singletrack. Supposed to be some of the best you can find.

Per