Review: Burley Travoy Bike Trailer

If there’s one thing my wife has learned about me in our six years of marriage, it’s how much I absolutely can’t stand going to the grocery store. I will avoid any unnecessary trip to the grocery store if I can. I’ll trade chores, suddenly become ill, or heck, I’ll even do more than my fair share of chores so I can avoid crowds of people, lugging around bags of food. Yes I know there are delivery services for people like me but then they pick out all the hard unripe fruit. That’s not what I want; I want good fruit! I just don’t want to have to touch a shopping cart, or use single use plastic bags.

That’s why the Burley Travoy speaks to me. It revolutionizes the trip to the store. Think of it like this. On an average shopping trip, your groceries get transferred at least five times 1.) food goes into the shopping cart 2.) at checkout, food goes into bags (in many cases, single use plastic bags) 3.) back into the cart for the trek through a hot parking lot to the car 4.) into the car and 5.) finally into your home.

Now imagine if you brought your own grocery cart, like the Travoy. Your food has been transitioned only three times. First, the groceries are placed into the Travoy, at self checkout, the groceries briefly leave the Travoy but go right back in, then finally, the Travoy gets biked home. Five transitions to three, that 40% more efficient! Can you think of any other product out there that makes you 40% more efficient at groceries?

As a former bike commuter of many years (2 years in Chicago and 2 years in my hometown of Siloam Springs before I owned my own car) I can appreciate the ergonomics of this trailer, its collapsibility, and even, the many uses of turning my bike into a portable trailer. But that’s not what makes me most excited about this product. What makes me excited is that I can go grocery shopping and never touch a shopping cart.

Also heads up folks at Burley, you may have solved a $15 million dollar challenge of how to reduce single use plastic bags at the grocery store that Walmart, Kroger and Target can’t seem to figure out.

Design/Aesthetics  ★★★★★
The Travoy is about as intuitive of a bike product there is. The setup is a breeze; it connects and disconnects from your bike with the flip of a switch that even the most technically challenged grocery shopper, er, biker, can operate. It’s sleek black and all the connection points click in a satisfying way. The top shelf holds 20 pounds while the bottom holds 40 (so maybe a week’s worth of groceries. Definitely not a month’s worth.). The bed is made of puncture resistant PVC and features a smooth easily cleanable surface.

Durability  ★★★★
The trailer itself is durable but because of the packable design, there are no sidewalls that help keep things in place. While the trailer could take a beating, if the contents you’re carrying aren’t strapped down well, you run the risk of things falling out. I’d recommend the integrated bags that clip into place to avoid that from happening (see below).

Functionality  ★★★★★
My favorite part of the Travoy is how easily the bags snap into place. There are two types of bags that work with the Travoy, the Commuter Series for the bike commuting professional, and the Market Series, which is more of what I’m using it for. There are latches on both shelves that keep the bags secure and it comes with tie down straps in case your ride on the way back is bumpy.