For outfitting your BOB Trailer there is an interesting range of products available. Some of these are products designed specifically as BOB Trailer accessories, while others are simply pre-existing products that have been discovered as compatible with the BOB. Another area of interest to consider are the BOB Trailer Do-It-Yourself projects, one of the favorite topics of discussion at the BOB Trailer Forum.
Kickstands:
While BOB Trailers hasn’t yet come up with a integrated kickstand, there are plenty of ideas for accomplishing this task floating around. Several existing products provide the simplest solution to keeping your BOB and bike upright.
Perhaps both the simplest and most elegant solution is the Greenspeed Stabalizer Kickstand. This kickstand is designed to fit on the rear triangle of the non-drive side of your bike. By flipping the bracket forward, it mounts nicely to the juncture of the upper and lower tube of the BOB fork. It is lightweight at 340 grams and the price is right at around $16. This kickstand is very easy to use by just reaching back with to the BOB with your foot. It generally works well in keeping the bike and BOB upright. It is less stable than the double kickstands, but unless you have a very heavy or top-heavy load in your BOB or your parking on uneven ground it does a great job.
Or you might put the kickstand on the bike instead of your BOB trailer. If you like having a kickstand on your bike whether or not your pulling your trailer, consider getting a double kickstand. The ESGE double kickstand is a very clever kickstand that folds up with both legs nested together against the non-drive side chain-stay and when opened, splits into the two leg configuration. This double kickstand is a firm stand for your bike, opened right beneath the bottom bracket. When used with a BOB or other bike trailer, the ESGE does a great job of keeping your rig upright and easy to access while parked. It is also extremely easy to kick the stand up and get back on your way.
In the Do-It-Yourself department, Lou Normandeau has posted the following DIY PVC kickstand project. This looks like a very interesting way to go. Though it won’t work as smoothly and easily as a standard kickstand, it does offer the distinct advantage that your BOB trailer can be propped up on its own when removed from your bike. It would be nice to see a production version of a BOB kickstand complete with an easy to use raising and lowering method. Here is an attempt in the right direction 1 & 2. Here is another attempt….
Lights:
Visibility on your bike is of key importance. Adding a bike trailer to the equation demands added consideration. Rigged properly, a bike trailer increases your visibility. During the daytime, using the flag on the BOB Trailer will definitely help. Adding a rear light to the BOB trailer is a bonus during the day and a must during the night. One solution is to rig up a rear light somewhere on the back of your bike. Methods for doing this were discussed here on the BOB Forums.
The Spanninga Spxb bike fender light works very nicely with the Yak trailer’s fender. It simply mounts onto the Yak’s fender in the same way that it would mount on a regular bike fender. The Spxb has also been adapted to work on the BOB Ibex fender as well. In this position, the light is in the perfect area to add rear visibility to your BOB. I like to run my lights day and night. Motorcycles do it, why shouldn’t we do the same on bicycles?