Burley Travoy trailer: Long-term review

I’ve been using the Burley Travoy trailer for a few months now and, although it’s not without its faults, it’s proved extremely useful. I really like the way I can lock up my bike, disconnect the trailer, and take it into shops and buildings to load it up. When it’s disconnected from the bike its essentially a sack truck that can be used to move large or heavy objects around. When on the bike it has very little effect on handling and easily fits through tight spaces.

The actual trailer is in three sections. The lower section has the wheels, a load shelf, and a small stand so that it can rest upright. The upper section extends the load area and has a handle at the top which makes the trailer very easy to wheel behind you when it’s not attached to your bike. The final section is an extension bar which hooks onto your bike, this can be folded down flat when being wheeled by hand. Between each section there is a twist handle which allows the sections to hinge and fold flat against each other for storage.

Burley Travoy Bags

One of the things that makes the Burley Travoy trailer really useful is the bags which can be attached via attachment buttons on the frame. The trailer comes with a basic bag but various other bags are available, both directly from Travoy and from third-party sellers. These bags work best when

I decided to go for the Qeedo Quick Cases which are stiffened boxes that attach to the upper and lower sections of the frame. There are a couple of things I really like about these. Firstly, because they are fairly solid boxes that are open at the top, it’s really easy to load them. This makes them perfect for wheeling around a shop, loading up with groceries. The second thing I really like about them is that they collapse flat against the trailer so it can be used as a general-purpose sack truck style frame without removing the bags.

There are also some things I don’t like about the Qeedo Quick Cases. They partly cover the middle twist handle, making it slightly awkward to fold the trailer when they are attached. The poppers which hold them flat against the trolley when they’re not being used can be a bit fiddly to line up. Most of the time this really isn’t an issue but the upper case has to be folded out of the way to easily access the lower case. When I’m unloading my shopping onto the conveyor at the supermarket checkout, I first unload the top case, then fold it flat before unloading the lower case. Fiddling around to line up the poppers on the top case can be a bit embarrassing in situations like this.

Although these boxes do have separate rain cover lids that can be purchased separately, I really feel these should be built-in.

Load Capacity and Weight Limit

The Burley Travoy trailer has a weight capacity of 27 kg: 18 kg on the lower section and 9 kg on the upper section. When loaded to around the weight limit, the trailer flexes quite a lot and I really wouldn’t feel confident to exceed these limits. When fitted with the Qeedo Quick Case, as shown in the review, the storage volume is 45 l for the lower box and 20 l for the upper box.

I was a bit disappointed with this capacity. Sack trucks can typically carry weights of between 70 kg and 200 kg. Large rucksacks have a capacity of between 60 and 100 liters. When I attach a trailer to my bike I kind of expect a larger volume than a rucksack and a weight capacity similar to a sack truck. Having said this, the trailer is big enough for a typical trip to the supermarket. I’ve found that when filled with shopping it’s just around the weight limit, and I can strap light bulky items like toilet roll onto the extension handle to increase the volume capacity.

Folding Burley Travoy for storage

There are two stages to folding the trailer. First, the three sections hinge to form a much more compact package that can easily be carried in one hand and stored in a cupboard. Secondly, the wheels can be removed and the load shelf and stand folded to make it even more compact.

Removing the wheels is easy enough although it’s not something I’ve found myself bothering to do. Folding the load shelf and its little stand is a lot more fiddly. There is a sprung ball bearing style release to fold the stand, which I’ve not been able to push it in far enough to release with my finger so I need to use something like some keys to push it. Folding the load shelf is even more difficult. A cable runs under the load shelf and this is pulled to release latches at each side. I found that normally only one side would release and just gave up on using this feature. However, I understand that the latest model has made some changes to these features so they may have improved.

Manouvering Indoors

One of the major advantages of the Burley Travoy over other trailers is that it is easy to wheel around indoors as a trolley. It is certainly very easy to do this in larger buildings such as shops. In more confined indoor spaces it’s not always so easy, however. I’ve found it quite awkward at times, wheeling it into my kitchen, through a narrow door, and past the swing bin while fully loaded with shopping. There are rubber caps that cover the wheel release buttons and I always seem to knock these off as I’m pulling the trolley through the door. It might be easier to just leave the caps off.

Bringing the loaded trailer up narrow stairs into a flat is even more difficult. It’s really difficult to carry the trailer when it’s fully laden as it’s a large awkward shape weighing over 30 kg. It’s also not very easy to detach the bags and carry them separately. This means the only option is to walk backwards up the stairs bumping the trolley up each step like a sack truck. This is really quite difficult on narrow steps with turns and the flex in the trolley becomes even more noticeable. Although this might not be something many users ever have to do, it would be nice if the bags were easier to detach in situations like this.

Conclusions

After years of using a large rucksack to go shopping on my bike, I now find it hard to imagine not having my Burley Travoy trailer to carry the load for me. Being able to carry larger bulky items such as a child’s bike makes it truly indispensable for me. Although there is room for it to be improved, I don’t think there’s a better solution for everyday trips around town carrying more than can easily fit into a bag.