How tough is it to haul 30 pounds in a BOB Ibex?

[canuckjgc]

I'm deciding on gear for remote lake fishing by mountain bike.  Initially I was going to get an Alpacka raft, but there are nice collapsible fishing boats that weigh 30 pounds.

Has anyone hauled 30 pounds in a BOB Ibex offroad?  Including the trailer weight, that would be 47 pounds....is singletrack even an option with this sort of weight?

[Mike Brown]

canuck- I have in the form of trail work tools- 10 or so tools probably weighs close to 30 lbs in not more, especially when one is chainsaw. 
Anyhoo, short answer, anything is possible- and I'm not being cliche.  Any trail is possible.  Not all are fun and some obstacles like downed trees are very very difficult. 

[AZTtripper]

I have used mine to haul water out to do trail work as well as tools with the 5 gallon jug full that's 40 lbs and I can do easy climbs on ST.

You can clear small down trees but even a big rock step will stop you, one of the pains I found over rack and panniers was the vertical jackknife effect. When you go to pull the bike over something it wants to pivot vertically, you'll still get there tho.

Bob's are a great way to go on well built trails anything with moderate grades, with good width should be mostly ride-able

[Dallas.S]

I have a homemade Bob trailer, and I love it.
Mine weighs about 10 lbs empty, and a 30 lbs load isn't much for it. With practice, you can use the chainsaw to cut the downed trees on the trail, load the wood on the Bob, then haul it to the campsite and use it for the fire

[VABikePacker]

I'm not an experienced bikepacker/adventurer as most here are, but, there is something that makes total sense to me when it comes to pulling a trailer by bike.

(This does come from a LOT of towing experience, it's lightly technical, and will hopefully help all)

So, lets suppose you're in a flat, paved parking lot and a car needs to be pushed.

Why can one guy make the car move while the driver sits in the driver seat?

Exactly, you only have to overcome rolling resistance which is typically on the surface described about 10% of the gross weight.

So, a 2,000 lb. car needs about 200 lbs. of force to get it moving.

So, when you're trailering 50 lbs. behind a bike, you only need to have 5-10 lbs. of force "imposed" on it for it to move. 

Gradient resistance will change this.  Going up hill will take more force depending on the angle of incline.  Going down hill will take less force depending on incline.

Keep in mind that a jack knife happens because the towed unit gets going faster than the power unit. 

Hopefully all this is helpful and gives a logical explanation of the clear benefits of trailering vs. panniers etc. on your bike!

[Aslan]

The weight is not a problem but the obstacles are.  If your route is fire roads or double track then a BOB is the ticket.  I towed 30 - 50 lbs on the Great Divide ride from Canada to Mexico and loved the Bob.  Much better than panniers for slightly rough dirt.  However, single track is another story.  Anything other than a very nicely groomed non technical trail will cause you grief.  All it would take is a mile or two of rock and downed tree strewn trail to put you in a special kind of hell.  I hope that helps.