Der Roland Trailer

I use my Der Roland bicycle trailer for getting stuff from the garden centre or the DIY store and that is the kind of activity that it is best at. It is also great for taking to a supermarket but if that was the sole purpose for buying a bicycle trailer then I think it would be worth looking at something like the Bike Hod. The Der Roland was made by Roland in Germany and I bought mine on 5 December 2003 from Bikes and Trailers in the town of Lewes in Sussex, England. I haven't checked to see if the design of the trailer has changed since that time.

The trailer is constructed from metal tubing with a wooden base. I've got a plastic box sold as an accessory by Roland which is just the right size to fit inside the metal tube frame and of course the trailer can be used with or without this box. When I go to the supermarket I use the box, but when I go to DIY stores I frequently don't take the plastic box. The wheels are the 406 "BMX" size, the same size as those on the Moulton which I use to tow the trailer. On the Der Roland the wheels are steel and have regular spindles, not stubs, the trailer frame has tubing which runs along the outside of the wheels and so there are dropouts for each side of the spindles. I like this arrangement because I think it is very sturdy. I still have the original knobbly tyres which would never wear out I don't think given the use the trailer gets of weekly short trips of a few miles. Compared with the very light trailers used by touring cyclists I guess that the Der Roland is probably pretty heavy but for my short trips to DIY stores this is not a problem.

The coupling is very ingenious, it is attached to the bicycle seat pin. It is very simple and I prefer this to clamping to the seat post. Conventional wisdom has it that it is better to attach trailers to the rear wheel spindle but I guess any advantage in handling would probably be noticeable to the touring cyclist trailer user and would not be significant for me as I trundle along on my short trips. Roland do make an alternative towing arm that attaches close to the rear wheel spindle using the Weber coupling.

A coupling to the seat tube means that the trailer has a long and high towing arm which is useful for wheeling the trailer around when off the bicycle. The towing arm can be easily detached so the trailer then becomes quite a compact box. On the tow arm near the coupling there is a short cross bar with rubber grips which act as handles but even more useful for me is that they are at the right height for the Sheffield bicycle stand commonly used in Brighton & Hove city where I live. When leaned against the stand using these handles as props the bicycle and trailer are very stable. These handles on the towing arm can also be useful if you wish to carry lengthy pieces of wood. The wood can be put on the handles close to the bicycle's seat tube and then stick out at the back. For safety a red rag can be put at the end of the the lengths of wood to make the projection visible to other road users.

To go with the black plastic box there is also a lid available which is bright yellow. There are no clips to secure the lid on the plastic box so I use a bungee cord to keep the lid in place as it will be blown off by the wind otherwise. At first I thought this was an omission but now I think I prefer the bungee cord to any clips because the lid can still be pried open and small things accessed inside with the bungee cord in place. So in fact it is rather a good system.

Where the towing arm attaches to the trailer there is a spring loaded prop which can be pushed down so the trailer will stand reasonably level when off the bicycle. I have mixed feelings about this prop. While it is useful, for safety it has to be able to come off its catch easily, so that it will retract if you leave it down and set off riding, if it bumps into anything then it retracts. The problem is that when using the prop to keep the trailer level when detached from the bicycle, it is very easily knocked off its catch and the trailer then falls down at the front. When the trailer is being towed by the bicycle the prop doesn't really retract enough I think, it still sticks down a fair bit and can get caught on things sticking up from the road. I bent my prop this way. It is easy to bend back but I do think the prop needs some more attention to design. Lastly the lid of the plastic box knocks the prop off its catch when you put it on which is a bit daft I think.

The paint-work on the Der Roland trailer is very thin and in some places on mine it is flaking off. Fortunately the paint is black so it is very easy to touch up. I do live close to the sea of course but even with that I don't think paint should be just flaking off.

Minor complaints aside, all in all for my uses I think the Der Roland trailer does a very good job.