 This Product
Aosom Wanderer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Bang for the Buck |  Best for Heavy Loads | |||
| Price | $190 List $114.98 at Amazon | $299.95 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | $150 List $149.99 at Amazon | $200 List $99.99 at Amazon | $160 List $119.98 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | This model is a bit heavy, but its an excellent value | A large carrying capacity makes this trailer quite versatile and unique | An around town trailer that assembles quickly and proved to work well as a grocery getter or while out doing some greenway trail steward cleanup | Not recommended for epic bike touring adventures, but this trailer is an excellent around-town option | While this trailer isn't the most refined, it is extremely affordable compared to the rest of the field and will get the job done |
| Rating Categories | Aosom Wanderer | Burley Design Flatbed | Schwinn Day Tripper | Retrospec Rover Hauler | Aosom Elite II |
| Capacity (30%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (20%) | |||||
| Ease of Towing (20%) | |||||
| Smoothness of Ride (20%) | |||||
| Versatility (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Aosom Wanderer | Burley Design Flatbed | Schwinn Day Tripper | Retrospec Rover Hauler | Aosom Elite II |
| Capacity | 110 lbs | 100 lbs | 50 lbs | 80 lbs | 88 lbs |
| Weight | 30 lbs | 14.5 lbs | 18.5 lbs | 20.1 lbs | 34.6 lbs |
| Number of Wheels | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Size (when open, L x W x H) | 57" x 27.6" x 19.2" | 33" x 16.1" x 30.9" | 25" x 16.5" x 10" | 27" x 24.5" x 20" | 35" x 33" x 25" |
| Wheel Size | 16" | 16" | 16" | 16" | 20" |
| Access into Trailer | Top | Top | Top | Top | Top |
| Cover Protection | None | None | Weatherproof cover | Weatherproof cover | Weatherproof cover |
| Attachment to Bike | Aosom Type 'B' Bike Trailer Universal Hitch Coupler | Forged Hitch | Forged Steel Hitch | Forged Steel Hitch | Forged Steel Hitch |
If you are looking for a heavy hauler and are on a budget, then the Aosom Wanderer is going to make your life of transporting and hauling heavy items much easier. Founded in 2007, the Aosom brand has steadily made a name for themselves in the outdoor world, especially with their inexpensive and durable bike trailers. The Wanderer has the highest weight carrying capacity of all the models we tested at 110 pounds. With its sturdy steel construction and its specially strengthened solid PE bottom, this trailer can handle almost any load and is a very versatile option for your hauling needs.
The first thing we noticed about the Aosom Wanderer is its similar design to the Burley Flatbed but at a much lower price point. The front and back easily detach and allow for more room and larger objects to be loaded on the trailer.
The Wanderer has one of the highest-rated weight carrying capacities of all the models we tested, coming in at 110 pounds. The dimensions inside are approximately 57" long x 27.6" wide x 19.2" high, but when you add the fact that you can remove the front and back panels, you can add a lot more than those dimensions call for.
The Wanderer has a fairly easy initial setup, and since it is a two-wheeled bike cargo trailer, you can easily mount it when it is fully loaded with just one person. It comes disassembled in five pieces with easy-to-follow instructions. It only took us about 30 minutes to get the trailer assembled and ready for the trails, but we noticed that both the connections for the back tires were a little bent. This made installing the tires a little difficult, but they rolled and worked just fine once installed.
We highly recommend you tighten down all four reflectors when you first get this trailer, as ours managed to fall off within a few minutes of use. The Wanderer comes with the Aosom type B universal hitch coupler, which mounts directly to your back hub and allows for easy attachment. When hauling really heavy loads, you need to be aware and adjust the tire pressure in the two trailer tires to avoid getting a flat. The tires that the trailer comes with are not of the best design. We found through trial and error that when hauling larger, heavier loads, you should make sure to have a higher psi in the trailer tires than you would if the trailer is empty. Under-inflation is one of the leading causes of trailer tire failure, so make sure you inflate them properly before loading up.
The Wanderer comes with a type B universal hitch coupler that allows you to mount the trailer quickly and easily to your back hub through the skewer. It also has a spiny loaded mechanism that allows for extra movement when making a sharp turn or loading and unloading the trailer to your bike. One thing we noticed right away was how heavy the trailer is by itself. It weighs around 30 pounds when empty, so if you have never pulled a trailer before, this can take a little getting used to.
We enjoyed how the hitch allowed the trailer to move free from our bike, and we were able to come out of our seat on the uphills without worry of tipping the trailer or ourselves. That said, we don't recommend loading more than 50 pounds in the Wanderer unless you have to or are traveling just a short distance. After 50 pounds, the handling and overall maneuverability become impaired and a little hard to handle — so you'll want to make sure that your cargo is secured properly. Through testing, we also observed that when fully loaded, the already hefty trailer is extremely hard to get rolling. Stopping is also very unsteady with a very heavy load.
We like that you can undo the back or front cargo rails so large or misshapen objects can fit in the trailer easily. However, one of the faults of the Wanderer is that when traveling with the trailer empty, the amount of noise that is created from the plastic bottom and the rattling of the loose cargo rails becomes really annoying. We found that carrying a few bungees to secure the rails when empty was a big help with noise restriction.
The Wanderer has a lot of features that make it a great bike cargo trailer at an even better price point. Unfortunately, a smooth ride when the trailer is empty is not one of them.
As mentioned above, we noticed through testing that this trailer is very loud and rickety, especially when traveling off-road or over bumps. An easy way to remedy this problem was to put something in the trailer and tie it down. It handled really well when fully loaded and cut back on the noise too.
If you have large or misshapen cargo, you can remove the front or back gates on the Wanderer. The one downside with this feature is that you can not remove both at the same time, or you will lose the integrity of the side walls. But having the option to remove one or the other does make this a versatile key feature for loading and unloading harder to handle cargo.
This design also allows for easy space-saving storage. The hitch folds under the bottom of the frame, and the sides all easily collapse. Fitting this trailer into a small corner of the garage or the back of your car is no problem at all.
The Wanderer has a market price that is substantially below most of the other trailers we tested. The sturdy build and design make this a great purchase for shorter trips around town at a great value. Probably most impactful is the ample size and carrying capacity of this trailer. It was rated as having the highest payload capacity in our lineup and feels incredibly capable of hauling the stated 110 pounds. The trailer is heavy and likely would feel as if you were dragging a boat anchor on longer rides, but it is durable and highly capable for shorter urban objectives.
