What's the point of a "beefy towbar" if the load is only attached with a couple of clamps?

I love it! I did a cross-country (U.S.)/cross province (Ontario) ride one summer and had some difficulty with weight on my rear rack giving me flat tires. This was due to biking through arid terrain in 100-degree heat and subsequently having to carry a lot of water. I went through one stretch of 70 miles with no water available anywhere (eastern Montana has a lot of ghost towns). Scared me into hording water for a spell. I don't know that I would do another x-country trip with a rack like you purchased, but I can definitely see the appeal of it for running errands. I would love to hear how it tests with a 300 pound load! I think that would kill me.
-Valerie, www.commonwaters.net

That's a weird angle in the last photo. Why is the wheel behind the box? It looks 'shopped... not saying it is, just that it looks like it.

I have a hard time getting excited about this.

Shipped by freighter for 1000's of miles oversea, then shipped by truck 100's of miles to the store , but biked the last two miles so it's news.

I know, I know, every bit helps, but I bet we could do far better things than an odd bike trip or two.

The wheel looks like it is behind the box in that image because I took it from the front of the bike looking back.

In response to the first comment, the hitch on the bike seems to primarily take the vertical load of the weight of the towbard pushing down on it, and the brackets just hold it in place laterally. I've not seen it move once iota, and haven't heard of anyone having problems with the hitch. I'll let you know if I do.

I agree with JC. The bike trailer is rad, but what the heck were you thinking supporting a box store anyway. Gross! You said you went to Brown, just get a castoff chair when the dorms empty or score one the school is throwing out. Then haul THAT home! I know, nitpicky, but...

Andrew, the box is sitting on top of the wheel's fender. The wheel isn't behind the box, it's underneath it.

Lazy bum, why do you need to waste the resources associated with building and maintaining a bike. Just carry it on your head.

Moral of the story (comments) you can never make everybody happy.
To the smart pants who said about shipping, please do not use your computer, as it was brought from china!
And you know what, in a long run, it will make a big difference, as people will notice and try it as well. These trailers are available from US makers. Pick one.

I have been considering returning to bicycling as a form of transport, as I had once done. I have a Toyota that is quite fuel efficient on the highway, but in the urban environment the mpg really suffers. I only live about 2 miles from work, but there are 5 stoplights between here and there.

A trailer like this would solve some of the problems I had when I bicycled regularly in the 90s (when I was a bit younger), biked 5 miles to work every evening for a couple of years. Groceries were ALWAYS a problem. You could only hang a few on each handlebar before your bike went wonky with balance. I always had a 50-lb dufflebag as well, but that too had its limits.

There are still other problems it doesn't solve: I worked at the time as a convenience store clerk. There was no possibility of showering after I got to work, and if I worked a day shift, several times customers complained to the manager that I "smelled"... Also, I took my life into my hands every day as the job I worked at had NO ACCESS except by freeway frontage lanes, with a 50mph limit and heavy traffic, as it was in one of those "one way in/one way out" subdivisions. So I would have to hit the freeway, kick it up to about 35 to 40mph, and pray. Five days a week for a year, during which I "only" hit the pavement twice, once due to a very large dog stepping in front of me, then stepping back in front after I swerved... the other time I don't remember what caused it, just ended up on the pavement... I think I had to stop fast and my front brake locked or something...

Anyway... I digress. This is a cool trailer. Filed in my "maybe I should cycle again" file.

@andrew: don't be discouraged by the grumpy comments. in holland, germany and denmark many people even transport their children in bike trailers, so it can be done!

I bought some cement a few weeks ago from Hornbach (European chain, similar to Home Depot) for a garden project. The store is about 5-6 miles away. I had about 250 lbs of the stuff in my bicycle trailer. On the flat part of my return trip it was fine (although a little unstable, so I went slowly), however up the hill to get home, it was a little difficult. My lowest gear never felt so huge!

The difficult part up the hill was staying upright while riding at 1 mile an hour or so! At one point, I needed a break, however I found it almost impossible to keep the bike and trailer from skiding back down the hill!

My trailer is an ex- (swiss)army model originally designed for hauling injured soldiers on stretchers. It probably weighs around 50lbs just on its own. It has small car-type wheels and tires, and a hitch which I connect to my seat post. I have other burley and bob trailers for lighter errands and kids.

Based on this experience, next time I'll either make multiple trips or rent a truck.

Laugh if you feel like it. I felt a little comical getting up the hill :-)

What I really need is something I can put my two small kids in and about 8 bags of groceries. Some sort of bike pulling a wagon "type-thing" Then I would use that all the time to go grocery shopping and to haul around the kids and their "stuff." I need alot of things when we travel. When the kids get old enough we can bike together, but until then I'm afriad it's the car for us.

Cool for getting around on small trips which I suppose is the majority of travel. Those 800 mile trips are only made once for moving so it DOES make a difference when you put double that on your bike over the course of small trips during the year.

@ Chellie D

Rather than using that brain of yours to make excuses why don't you use it to make a solution?

If your kids are still at car seat age you could pick up a couple of thrift store car seats and mount them to the (user provided) plywood floor of the Bikes at Work Trailer by using a small amount of ingenuity and some hardware from the local store. Going further, you could probably even use an umbrella (or two) to keep the sun off of them.

I use a kids bike trailer and it works fine. No one (ok, one person) has mentioned that option here. PLUS you can find em used cheap. Talk about recycling, and shoping local. For 300 lb jobs I guess the trailer here would work, but realisticaly how often is that gonna come up? I'll stick with mine.

I built my own trailer. found an abandoned bike, took the wheels, some plywood, and metal bars from Home depot, and I have a light, and very useful trailer. Spent $30. Great fun building it too!