For road or trail, the easy-to-hitch, single-wheel Burley Coho XC bicycle trailer takes loads your panniers can’t handle.
If you’ve ever used a bike trailer, you know the most annoying parts of the process are hitching up and un-hitching it from the bike. If you haven’t — just trust me on this one. Burley has come up with a brilliant one-handed connect-and-release design that will make you completely indifferent to the process.
Literally at the hub of this system are the Burley Ballz axle connectors. Just like it sounds, Burley provides axle connections with a black ball on either side of the rear axle by either a quick-release axle, thru-axle, or nutted axle ends. The trailer hitch yoke is adjustable to accommodate axle widths from 125 to 197 mm.
Burley Coho XC: Why a Bike Trailer?
Burley designed the Coho XC (“cross-country”) for bikepacking. As a single-wheel trailer, it’s much more nimble and stable (at speed) than a two-wheeled trailer. The one wheel is in line with the wheels on your bike. And except for very sharp turns, that single wheel will follow the line you pick through roots and rocks for yourself on your bike.
With two-wheeled trailers, those side-by-side wheels stick out and are prone to catching an unwanted bump or even a small tree. A big enough bump will even put the trailer on its side — as I did while hauling my 2-year-old in such a trailer. She was safely strapped in, a little spooked, but a real trooper. She had a great recovery.
Bikepacking-Specific Trailer
The other feature specific to supporting taking the Coho XC on trails is the built-in suspension for its one wheel. Burley has been making suspension systems for its two-wheeled trailers for some time, and the brand has applied all it has learned to the Coho XC.
The coil-spring suspension can take up to a 70-pound load and still provide some give for rougher trails. Also for those rougher trails, Burley makes a plus-size 3-inch-wide tire for an extra $89.
There are a few other reasons trailers, in general, are a great choice for bikepacking. First, the weight of the gear is not on the frame of the bike; it’s split between the rear axle and the trailer wheel.
With panniers, all the weight of the bike is hanging from some part of the frame. That then requires a beefier (ergo heavier) bike, adding more weight, which is just what most bikepackers (or bike tourers) are trying to avoid.
Another disadvantage of panniers is that they split your gear up into numerous compartments. This forces the user to remember where they packed their gear. If it’s necessary to remove the panniers each night, then the user is stuck carrying a bunch of bags.
With the trailer, you can pack almost everything into the one bag that sits in the trailer (which Burley makes as an $89 add-on).