Hill Climb with BoB IBEX Trailer

Photos of the hill climb to Mt Buller ski resort.

Most of the morning the mountain was covered in (pea soup thick) fog making the hill climb a nervous experience with visibility at little more than 3 feet. This proved to be frightening for both cyclist and car drivers alike.
Not making matters any easier is that my bike has been fitted with high quality mirrors giving clear (last moments) view to potential impact before hearing the sound of screeching car tyres.
Absent minded motorists almost running over a cyclist on the way up gave car drivers an opportunity to taste their previously finished coffee a second time and the bicycle rider to re-taste his early morning chocolate energy bar about 27 times.

It would be an understatement to say that the mountain climb was hard yakka; needing low range first gear; enabling every last inch of full emergency power (for the ski run section) to the summit.
The stunning views at the top made up for the filthy steep (early morning) hill climb.

I was more than impressed with the suspension system fitted to the BoB IBEX trailer; soaking up rough conditions on ski run trails with 35 kilos on board (approx 77 pounds).
The suspension linkage was set to it's softest setting providing a very smooth ride (at slow speeds) for the gear inside the BoB Drysack.
If travelling at higher speeds over similarly rough conditions the shock would need repositioning (to a firmer setting) but my experiences proved this unnecessary if braking early and travelling slowly over heavily rutted and potholed surfaces.
My preference is for the shock to do the work rather than trailer and luggage getting haplessly bounced around.
If only lightly loaded the shock will definitely need the softest setting.

After experiencing all of what the IBEX has to offer; particularly when travelling over poorly maintained roads and tracks, i would no longer even consider rigid axle setups (like the BoB Yak) or a conventional two wheeled trailer, for anything other than smooth; well made surfaces.

A side benefit of the IBEX over the Yak is the ability to carry up to 6 litres of fluids on the 4 water bottle cage mounts (2 fittings on the shock tower and 2 fittings on the left and right side of the frame) by attaching Topeak Modula Cage XL Waterbottle cages.
The idea of carrying a fuel container (that could potentially leak) in with your clothing, food and water isn't appealing but these Top Peak cages will accommodate 1.5 litre aluminium bottles certified for fuel storage, deleting the need to carry fuel either on top of or inside the BoB Drysack bag; if planning a long journey with no option to purchase fuel along the way - a very significant "plus" for the IBEX.




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