Burley Nomad bicycle cargo trailer

In September I started planning a North America bicycle tour to commence spring 2008. I wanted a bicycle cargo trailer to haul all the stuff I want to bring along. Searching the internet brought me to BicycleTrailers.com and their informative website. After some hours spent comparing trailers the Burley Nomad was my choice and I ordered one. BicycleTrailers.com had the Nomad on my front porch the next day. Really! I placed the order on Tuesday morning, October 2, 2007 and received it via UPS at 4:00PM October 3rd. How do I love my Burley Nomad bicycle cargo trailer from BicycleTrailers.com? Let me count the ways. . . Free shipping! No sales tax! Great service from the BicycleTrailers.com staff! Made in America! The Nomad was on sale! The Nomad was out of the box, assembled and hooked to my bicycle in ten minutes. It is rugged and tough but light weight. Hooking it to the bike is fast and easy. That reminds me, I have some previous girlfriends I need to look up. Anyway, packed with seventy pounds of gear I?ve logged over 350 miles on local excursions since getting it. It rides very smooth and quite and stable. Does its teardrop shape provide some kind of aerodynamic drafting effect that actually provides a boost in speed as opposed to fully loaded front panniers catching every headwind? Probably not, but just the thought does give me some psychological comfort and these days every bit helps. I use my Nomad all the time for trips to the grocery store. It holds an amazing amount of stuff neat and secure and best of all the calories from the chips and salsa is burned off on the next trip to the store. I love my Nomad and am looking forward to having it on the upcoming nomadic road adventure this spring.

I love this trailer -- but I loved the prior edition better. Many of us in our family would like to take turns using the trailer, BUT each bike that wants to pull it requires installation of a hitch! I imagine I can buy extra hitches, and the installation only took a minute or two, but I'd rather not do it. (The prior edition / model of this item did not require anything to be installed on the bike. Ours was stolen, so we bought another.)

I have nothing but great things to say about this trailer. Just finished touring for one week through Yellowstone with it and LOVED it. It rides great, can't even feel it back there, well until you hit a hill then of course you feel the extra weight, but it never effected the handling of the bike at all. I ended up totally loading it, (maybe overload) and it held up perfectly, very tough. Plenty of room, very smart design, easy to use. At camp, just unhooked it and was able to make side trips a breeze. Again nothing but good things to say about this trailer, I have a one wheel trailer too, and this one far exceeds it in volume and weight carrying not to mention the one wheel trailer tends to effect handling of the bike and this one doesn't. GREAT TRAILER!!!!

I had just a little trouble figuring out how to assemble the trailer using the instructions. Also I was sent the wrong type standard hitch for my bike. I had to order the correct hitch. However, I took it out for a trial run and could hardly tell it was attached. It is very light weight and rolls very smoothly.

In the 21st century, it is extremely difficult to become a "nomad," that is, "one who wanders." The corporate world, and the focus on money, has created systemic challenges that prevent even those of of us who are hardwired genetically to be nomads to live and survive on the move. In short, the days of Johnny Appleseed are no more. However, nomadicism can still be viewed as a virtuous pursuit, and spending 8 days bicycling with my son down the Oregon coast this summer reminded me of the value of traveling simply while burning carbohydrates (rather than burning gasoline). And The Nomad Bicycle Trailer by Burley was an important addition to the trip. Two years ago, I pedaled over Stevens pass with a heavy load (about 40 pounds) packed into an old Burley child carrier that we purchased about 15 years ago. The trailer served me well, but I decided that the Oregon trip needed something lighter, newer, and narrower. I weighed the Nomad against the Bob. In my deliberations, the Nomad come out ahead for several reasons. First, the Nomad's stability was not dependent up on the position of the bicycle. Second the Nomad was a bit wider than the Bob, and it may seem counterintuitive, but traffic actually gives a wider berth when the trailer is wider. Also, I had used and abused my Burley child carrier for many years, and the Burley product line had proven itself to me. I was sure I would not have to worry about repairs and breakdowns. Needless to say, the Nomad performed very well and lived up to all of my expectations. It tracked very well, it is super easy to put on and take off the bike (I like the new axle hitch so much that I converted my old Burley over to the same system when I got home). It loads rather easily. I also purchased the optional rack for the top, but found that we really didn't need it for this trip. I think for future trips, it will make a great spot to put a sack containing those things that I will need during the day (so I won't have to rummage through a neatly packed trailer). I also really like the fact that wheels come off so easily, and the whole thing breaks down. In fact, I packed the Nomad and put in the car with the wheels off to get to our starting point. When we arrived at our starting point, I simply pulled the Nomad out of the car, put the wheels and hitch bar on, and was ready to start pedaling in about .... 30 seconds. Too easy. The only qualifier I have about the Nomad is that while the trailer tracks silently and very well when packed well, it can be noisy and fishtail a bit if there is too much weight aft. So, when packing, it is best to put the heaviest items over, or slightly in front of the single axle, and then place lighter items in the rear and the very front. One last comment. I liked the "loops" that are used on the top cover to hold the cover in place; however, the loops seem to pop off on occasion. I think these loops could be made with a bit more elastic. In my home town, I use my bike for just about everything - day and night, rain or shine, summer or winter. The Nomad is not quite as convenient for these short trips as the my older, more upright child carrier, but I am sure that I will use both, depending on what I need to haul or what my particular task is. While on the road, we met someone who had also bought a trailer for a trip down the coast. This other traveler, after much deliberation between the Bob and Nomad, decided on the Bob. He didn't say that he regretted the choice, but he did say that the direct, rigid connection between the trailer and the bike made the trailer less convenient when searching for objects in the trailer or when loading the Bob while attached to the bike. This comment confirmed that my decision to purchase the Nomad was a good one. I highly recommend this trailer. I am looking forward to more vagabonding and nomadicism in the future. I am sure that the Nomad will last many years.

I just took my new Burley Nomad down Mt. Rainier's rugged remote Westside Road in the beginning stage of a summit bid on the remote Tahoma glacier. The trailer handled it's 80-pound backpack payload of climbing gear remarkably well. The trailer survived several portages over river rock and windfall timbers. The trailer also endured some rollovers that should have torn the hitch in two. In the end, the trailer sustained only an ice axe puncture in the fabric and a missing screw on the luggage rack. I take the blame for these mishaps. The Burley Nomad is, indeed, no joke.