Many StandUp paddlers and surfers know the problem: Driving to the favorite spot by car is often tied to many hurdles. The SUP or surfboard somehow needs to be transported. There is no free parking space on the spot. You still have to haul the board all the way to the water. A Board trolley or bike trailer often helps. And transporting the SUP with a bicycle trailer is also more sustainable!
Bike trailers, SUP trailers or bike trolleys come in different variations and are designed for transporting your water sports equipment. Many people decide to buy a bicycle trailer for paddle boards so they don't need to rely on their car. With a bike trailer for paddle boards, you can get to the water a lot quicker!
If you want to be more sustainable, you can also build a bicycle trailer yourself. To do this, you often don't need much more than a few items from your hobby room and the DIY store. For us at reacha, sustainability is a big part of our corporate philosophy.
This is why we recommend these 8 DIY bicycle cargo trailers! With these instructions you can easily build your own bike trailer for SUP, surfboards or kayaks! With a DIY bike trailer, you not only protect our environment. You will also arrive at your favourite spot much more relaxed!
The 8 best bike trailers to build yourself
DIY Biketrailer Video Tutorial by Dmitri Ivanov
In this video series, YouTuber Dmitri Ivanov shows how to build a mono-wheel bicycle trailer from an old bicycle frame. The basic concept of this DIY bicycle trailer is a single wheel and a frame which is pulled behind the bicycle.
The drawbar of the homemade bicycle trailer is attached to the rear edge. A chain on the fork of the rear wheel provides additional support for this DIY cargo trailer.
Anyone who wants to follow the concept of Dmitri Ivanov's DIY bicycle trailer should know how to weld. This DIY bicycle trailer consists largely of welded metal. The Monowheel is also not suitable as a SUP bicycle trailer because of the short drawbar. You can find out more about this DIY bicycle trailer in Dimitri's video series.
Depending on whether you already have an old bike to recycle, this bike trailer with all the trimmings costs around 140-180€.
Benefits
- Sturdy welded frame
- Simpler Aufbau
- Clear video tutorial
- Very agile bicycle trailer
Downsides
- Metalwork and welding is necessary
- Not suitable for transporting surfboards, paddle boards or kayaks
- Quite heavy bicycle trailer due to the use of steel
PVC flatbed bike trailer
Instructable user Oddjob put together this DIY bicycle trailer from PVC pipes and a wire shelf. The practical thing about this homemade bicycle trailer is that various accessories can be attached to the wire shelf. This way, the DIY bicycle trailer can easily be turned into a bike trailer for dogs or bicycle trailer for SUPs or surfboards.
The problem with the self-made bicycle trailer from Oddjob? Due to the PVC frame, it can only be loaded with around 20 kg. The drawbar of this DIY bicycle trailer is attached to the saddle pole of the bike in a similar way to the reacha SPORT models. More information about the DIY trailer made of PVC can be found at instructable.com.
The total cost of buying all the parts for this homemade bicycle trailer is around 120€
Benefits
- Very lightweight DIY bike trailer
- Versatile due to wireshelf as flatbed
- Cheap to purchase and easy to build
- High drawbar allows usage as a trolley
- Can be used as a surf or SUP trailer
Downsides
- Not very stable
- Nut suitable for offroad use
- Can only carry a small amount of weight
Surfboard Bike Trailer by Alpha Phoenix
Like our founder Floko, YouTuber AlphaPhoenix was tired of carrying his surfboard to the beach. That's why he decided to build a surfboard bike trailer himself. The DIY trailer consists mainly of PVC pipes, pipe insulation and paracord.
In his YouTube tutorial, AlphaPhoenix shows how to build a surfboard trailer for your bike with simple materials. The surfboard bike trailer is adapted to your own board. As a result, almost nothing wobbles on the way to the beach with this DIY bike trailer. AlphaPhoenix dares to doubt whether the self-built trailer is long-lasting. Nevertheless, it is a good alternative to build a bike trailer for SUP and surfboard yourself.
If you happen to have a few spare tyres, you can build this bike trailer for under 30€. Normally you should expect 90€-120€ depending on the choice of tyres for your DIY surf trailer.
Benefits
- Customised to your own board
- Very affordable
- No complicated hitch necessary
- Board does not scratch due to pipe insulation
Downsides
- Very wobbly frame
- Not long lasting
- No proper cargo securing other than paracord
Bicycle Cargo Trailer with 90kg capacity
This DIY bike trailer is the result of a detailed tutorial written by hobbyist Aaron. On instructables.com you can find a detailed list of all parts and single steps to build the DIY bike trailer. He also lists all the tools you need to assemble the trailer. This DIY bicycle trailer does require some tools and craftsmanship. But in return you get an extremely stable bike trailer.
Aaron, the mind behind this DIY bike trailer, claims this cargo trailer can pull up to 200kg. The shape of the homemade bicycle trailer does not allow the transport of longer objects such as surfboards or paddle boards. This DIY is still a cargo trailer that is great for shopping or daily business.
Supposedly, all the parts to build this bicycle trailer are available for just under 40€. Realistically, building this DIY project will cost you around 150€-200€.
Benefits
- Very sturdy metal frame
- Very detailed instructions
- High load capacity
- Self-built hitch, no need to buy a Weber hitch or similar
Downsides
- Heavy due to the use of steel
- Complicated DIY project, not suitable for beginners
- Welding is necessary
- Some tools and know-how needed to build the bicycle trailer
- Not suitable as a bicycle trailer for SUP
DIY boat trailer for extra big cargo
This DIY cargo trailer is for anyone who wants to haul even bigger equipment than a surfboard or kayak to the nearest lake. The best thing about this homemade cargo trailer? The construction consists mainly of screwed steel pipes. You hardly need any tools to build the DIY bike trailer!
Here you can find detailed instructions on how to build the DIY bicycle cargo trailer.
User hpstoutharrow came up with something for the drawbar and hitch of the DIY bicycle trailer. A construction is attached to the luggage rack of the bicycle, also using bolted steel tubing. The end of the drawbar is screwed to this with a gimble joint. This makes the DIY trailer extremely stable.
By using steel tubes and pipe fittings, the homemade construction of this cargo trailer costs about 400€.
Benefits
- High load capacity
- Easy to assemble due to screw fittings
- Stable hitch construction
- Transportation of boats up to 3 meters length
Downsides
- Not very versatile in possible applications
- Very heavy bike trailer
Converting a child bike trailer into a DIY bicycle trailer
If you don't want to build a bike trailer from scratch, we recommend the DIY instructions from Bertus52. This DIY bicycle trailer is made from an old child bicycle trailer and a cut aluminum plate. Everything else is explained in the instructions on instructables.com. With this DIY bike trailer transformation, you don't have to worry about issues like drawbars or hitches.
You don't need a lot of DIY skills for this conversion. Depending on your preference, the width of the bicycle trailer must be adjusted. The aluminium plate as the trunk of the bicycle trailer is simply attached with zip ties.
Although the conversion of a child bike trailer is easier than building a bicycle trailer yourself, this DIY project is also more expensive.
The converted children's trailer here costs a hefty €570 when new. That's why it's a good idea to convert a used child buggy for this DIY bicycle trailer.
Benefits
- Simple conversion
- Well balanced and runs smoothly
- Drawbar and hitch already in place
- Safe for traffic
Downsides
- Buying the child trailer can be expensive
- Modifications to the bicycle trailer parts reduce stability
- The aluminum plate is only secured with zip ties
Wooden utility bike trailer
The DIY bike trailer by You213 is the simplest construction in our list of the best bike trailers to build yourself. This DIY bicycle trailer basically consists of a plywood plate, a few 2x4s as a substructure and a screw rod as a drawbar. You can find the instructions for the homemade bicycle trailer here.
The hitch of this homemade bicycle trailer could not be simpler. It's not particularly stable, but you simply attach a rope to the drawbar of the trailer with a clamp and tie it around the saddle pole. The good thing about a homemade wooden bicycle trailer? In contrast to a metal construction, this homemade bicycle trailer can be converted and customized very easily.
If you decide to make a DIY wooden bicycle trailer, you should plan on spending around €100-150 on the project.
Benefits
- Simple construction of a bicycle trailer
- Hardly any tools or know-how necessary
- Wooden construction allows for easy customization
Downsides
- Not very stable
- The wood is not as durable and requires more maintenance.
- The hitch only consists of a rope
reacha build your own bike trailer
Did you know that the reacha was originally a DIY project by our founder Floko? Annoyed by always having to drag his SUP to the beach on holiday in France, the first reacha was assembled. It consisted of a windsurfing boom, leftover wooden planks and old front wheels from the recycling bin of the bike shop.
We followed up on this idea with the reacha build your own version. Basically, all reacha bicycle trailers can be built by yourself. The build your own reacha variant can come to your home as a kit without wheels. This is intended to give old bicycle tyres a new use. Any standard bicycle tyre with a hub width of 100mm and a maximum width of 4.0" fits on the wheel mounts of the reacha bicycle trailers.
The reacha build your own starts at 399.00€ in the SPORT version with long drawbar
Benefits
- Either with short or long draw bar
- Spare parts warranty & retailer warranty
- Made in Germany
- Runs extremely smooth
- Lightweight and collapsible
- Can also be used modularly as a SUP Trolley
- Durable aluminum
Downsides
- Less self-built bicycle trailer character
- More expensive than a usual DIY project
So if you don't feel like constructing your own bike trailer from lots of individual parts, why not take a look at our shop? Check if the reacha build your own is not the bike trailer of your choice!
What do our customers say?
★★★★★
It's genius'
Actually, I wanted to buy a cargo bike and build the bike trailer myself. Thank God I listened to my wife and bought the reacha DIY + short drawbar. An absolute universal genius.
Dietrich N. P.
Which bike trailer for building yourself is the right one?
We can't say which DIY bicycle trailer is right for you. It depends on your individual needs. In any case, building a bike trailer yourself is an exciting project and has brought us to the reacha bike trailer! On our list of the best bike trailers to build yourself, you will find various types of DIY bike trailers that follow different approaches. Whether you need a bike trailer to transport SUPs or surfboards or you want to build a bike trailer yourself to go shopping sustainably by bicycle.
Thanks to its modular design, the reacha bicycle trailer covers many aspects of the bike trailers shown above. Thanks to the modular plug-in system, the drawbar can be exchanged within minutes and the bike trailer becomes a handy bike trailer for SUP, surfboard or kayak, for shopping or transporting small equipment. With the reacha DIY building blocks, old bike tyres can be given a second chance and you can improve your own carbon footprint!
