Francis Cycles’ Farfarer trailer

Want to magic your bike into a potent (and fun) load hauler? A trailer may be just what you're after...

I have to admit that cars are my bugbear, especially in cities. Daily, I’m confounded by how accepting we’ve become of the many ways they impact our quality of life negatively; whether it’s in the way they pollute the air that we breathe, or the mind-boggling space we dedicate to them, be it in use and when dormant on the roadside. Culturally, we endorse the idea of unnecessarily large chunks of metal whistling by us at high speeds, while humans tip-toe along narrow sidewalks, or wait for an eternity to cross a road, or so often fear for their lives if they choose to ride a bicycle. Big Oil and the auto industry have a lot to answer for! Although there’s little point in me getting frustrated by forces I can’t control, I often struggle not to, especially as this is a problem that affects me every time I walk into town or get on my bike for a ride. Sometimes I think I should retire to the Netherlands and live out my existence cruising the paths there!
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I see bicycles as an important part of the solution to making cities more liveable again, so if there’s a way of making them more effective still, count me in. By way of example, a trailer can be quickly hitched onto the back of a bike, magicking it into a potent load hauler. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣For the last few months, I’ve been running a Francis Cycles Farfarer almost daily, be it for trips around town, or along local dirt roads, or even even multi-day rides into the mountains. I don’t own a car so it’s not like it replaces a car journey for me, per se. But if I did, I know that a trailer would diminish my reliance on one considerably. Certainly, bicycle trailers can be piled high with shopping or whatever awkward and odd-shapes items your life demands. Mine carries Huesos most of the time but if my son Sage was half the size, I’d be tempted to bundle him in there too; I know Joshua Muir, who makes these beautiful, elegant and lightweight trailers in Santa Cruz, California, uses his to ferry his daughter to school, or to carry extra gear on their family adventures amongst the redwoods.
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I love finding easy ways of making bikes more practical in everyday life. I penned a full review at @bikepackingcom, because I think almost anyone who has a bike would benefit from a trailer of some kind too.

This is a cut n’ pasted Instanugget. The full review can be found over at bikepacking.com

The swoopy lines of the Farfarer serve to help create bump absorption… and look good!

Huesos models his Blue Steel repertoire of trailer looks.
On tour in the Sierra Norte.

Up at 3000m, the dirt roads are soft underfoot, and completely bereft of traffic.
It’s taken some time for Huesos a perfect dismount. I’m glad to have caught this one on camera.
Kangaroo Mode.

Huesos likes to cling onto the little rope, and use it to help lean out to one side, like he’s on a catamaran.
The monster climb up to El Carrizal.
Local mural on my street. Off for our morning loop.

I have a billion pics like this, but these ones really seem to capture Huesos’ mood. He’d found a bone that day on his walk, and I’d stashed it in the trailer so he could gnaw on it in the garden. He was stoked!

Comments (2):

  1. Gary

    8 November 2022 at 10:18 pm

    Great to see you and your pup can tour together. It look like Huesos really enjoy the ride!

    Reply
  2. Cass

    8 November 2022 at 10:53 pm

    Thanks Gary! I think he really does. He watches the world go by when we’re cruising through the city, then hops out and runs when we hit the dirt roads! He gets all the attention, too (-;

    Reply

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