How to Attach Bicycle Trailers

Carrying cargo, especially important cargo that the majority of bike trailers are designed to carry, should be taken seriously. Bike trailers come in a variety of hitch designs, but they are not all created equal. These hitches have to be secure and able to make sharp turns, hit curbs and bumps and survive the occasional falling over of the bike while still hitched. Most hitches have a coupler design with a spring attachment that has become popular for its versatility and ease of application.

Things You'll Need

  • Bicycle
  • Bike trailer with coupler hitch
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Instructions

    • 1

      Open the skewer lever on your rear wheel. The skewer lever is the big lever on the outside of the axle on the right side of the back wheel. Reach around to the other side of the wheel with your left hand and remove the knob and the spring. With your right hand, pull the skewer (the long thin axle) and spring completely out, but leave the wheel and the spring on the skewer in place.

    • 2

      Pick up the coupler and slide the skewer through the small hole in the coupler with the bell of the coupler facing out. The bell is the round protrusion on the coupler. Slide the tab washer that comes with the trailer assembly onto the skewer. Make sure the hook on the tab washer is facing inward.

    • 3

      Slide the skewer and the attached coupler back through the axle of the bike. The hook in the tab washer should fit into the "dropout" of the bike, a divot cut into the frame on all bikes.

    • 4

      Reach around and place the spring and the knob back on the other side of the wheel. The big end of the spring should face the bike. Tighten the nut slightly. Close the lever.

    • 5

      Pull the trailer into place, lining up the tow bar with the coupler that you just put on the bike. Insert the tow bar into the coupler, sliding it in until it bottoms out. Insert the shiny pin through the holes that line up in the coupler and hitch. Stretch the safety lock over the end of the pin.

    • 6

      Loop the nylon strap over the bike's frame, then loop back and clip the end into the shiny ring at far end of the tow bar hitch.