We love cargo bikes, but they can be expensive to buy and tricky to store if you’re short on space so we set about creating a high-capacity bike trailer that would be easy to store in urban areas.
With a budget of £50 we bought a new 240-litre wheelie bin for £37, a length of 22 mm copper pipe for £11, a pipe fitting and a handful of nuts and bolts. The only tools we used were a hacksaw and a cordless drill. Eat your heart out, Scrapheap Challenge.
Watch our short film to see how we did it.
The best thing about our creation apart from the cost, is when you’re back home after shopping or the school run, you can simply park the wheelie bin trailer next to your real bins.
Cycle insurance for your bicycle and trailer
We believe a combination of bicycles and cargo bikes/trailers has the potential to radically transform our towns and cities for the better. Whatever type of bike you ride, if you need cycle insurance, give our friendly team a call or get an instant cycling insurance quote below.
Our wheelie bin design is by no means the most unusual bicycle trailer idea of recent years. RCA graduate Daniel Durnin built an amphibious bike trailer as way of taking a sustainable micro break without venturing too far afield. “an escape from the stresses of city life, the Water Bed encourages users to find temporary respite in and reconnect with the city’s existing waterways and wildlife.”
The Water Bed is constructed from marine plywood and a lightweight aluminium frame, which supports two bicycle wheels for towing. We love it.
Win a cargo e-bike
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.
Andy D’Agorne
Great concept but would worry about coping safely with speeds himps and potholes as looks very low to the ground at leading edge!
James palmer
Great idea but surely vibrates Luke hell and using the wheelie bin hinge would wear down very quickly set of wheels taken of a pensioners walker would be a great idea and a pullover canopy to keep passenger or shopping dry ,one more thing would this be legal as mobility scooters cannot tow trailers by law for some reason ,we as English ppl live to very strict and silly laws ,would the old bill pull you for this trailer,if it’s illegal then trailers should not be on sale in UK