Imitation, the Greatest Form of Flattery
The BOB Trailer has first defined and then dominated the bike cargo trailer scene since it became available in the early 90’s. As evidence of its success there has been a significant train of imitators to follow. Some of these have brought added innovations while others are simply a lower quality knock off.
I have divided the trailers to follow between the imitators and those that improve on the art. The imitators are those trailers which have the same basic design as the BOB trailer without improvement to the overall design and function and generally lower quality construction.
I will focus in on the imitators for this post.
The Original:
Imitators:
This bike cargo trailer sold through Nashbar is quite the discount option at only $199.99. That thin walled tubing and odd angular design make me wonder about its durability.
The TW-Bents trailer is mostly an imitation of the BOB. They do however have an innovative way that the trailer folds up. This folding aspect seems handy though looks much less rigid then the BOBs welded and trussed design. They also have an interesting two wheeled version.
My friend sent me this picture of a BOB imitation. I have no idea where it comes from. Perhaps a frame builder just wanted to make their own trailer.
The Yakima Big Tow was Yakima’s attempt to join in on the party. Their quick release design infringed on BOB’s patent and they had to pay royalties to BOB for its use. The Big Tow did offer an interesting fender design as well as a nice fairing for the cargo area. The Big Tow was discontinued by Yakima a few years ago.