My Shadow

A shadow… that thing that keeps following you around no matter where you go (as long as the sun is shining of course).

For my coming adventure later this year, my shadow will be an Aosom single wheel bike trailer. I’m opting for a trailer rather than panniers (bags attached to racks over the front and rear bicycle wheels) because of the weight. To me, it seems the extra weight directly on my bike would limit maneuverability, whereas a trailer would be simple rolling weight (until I start climbing a mountain pass!). I chose a single wheel trailer over a 2 wheel trailer which will allow me to take up less room on the highway shoulders and to ride down narrower trails.

As they say, you get what you pay for, but I knew I’d modify any trailer I bought anyway. This little guy was easy to assemble as the top rail pivots up and locks in place with a quick safety pin. The trailer has a spring suspension (as seen in the photo). We’ll see how that works, but something tells me I should carry a couple of spare springs considering I’ll be towing it over 5000 miles. The trailer also comes with a large florescent dry bag, a plastic fender and a safety flag. I’ll save the box as I’ll have to box my bike, trailer and gear in order to fly them with me to Alaska.

What I did have to modify on this trailer was the locking mechanism that locks the trailer to the new quick release bicycle rear axle which was included with the trailer. The locking mechanism was sloppy and non-functioning on one side, so I inserted each trailer arm in a vice and pressed the metal closer together until the interior steel moving piece was aligned correctly and could open and close as it was designed to.

Being made of steel, if any part of the trailer broke in a remote location, it could be easily welded. There are lighter aluminum trailers out there, but a TIG welder needed to weld aluminum may be a little harder to find in the deserts of Baja. I will be adding a mini kickstand to the trailer as well as blinking Led safety lights.

All in all, this is a great little trailer for my journey.