Paddle boarding is currently enjoying great popularity. The popularity of this young water sport extends far beyond the boundaries of the water sports community.
While in the beginning it was mainly surfers who took up the paddle on windless days, today even discounters like Lidl and Aldi offer paddle boards aimed at the masses.
Progress has been made with inflatable boards, which roll up and are therefore easier to carry, but paddlers have still had to rely on a car to get to the water.
Many people transport the inflatable paddle boards in a board bag, but for longer walks many of these backpacks are not well suited. Often, the bags that come with them don’t even have padded shoulder straps.
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The Solution: A Bike Trailer for Paddle Boards
Classic kayak carts can be helpful for pushing the board from the parking lot to the water, but the small hand carts are not designed to be pulled by a bicycle.
For one thing, they lack connectivity, and for another, the wheels are small and fragile. So for trips at more than walking speed or on poor surfaces, the small carts are not a good choice.
And other options like paddle board carrying straps make transport easier, but are only suitable for short distances. With a riser, the board can be carried quite comfortably from the parking lot to the water, but they are not well suited for longer walks.
SUP bike trailers are a better solution. They are adapted to the long SUP boards and often offer space for several boards. This allows you to cycle to the lake in a relaxed and environmentally friendly way, you can leave the boards pumped up and save yourself the annoying search for a parking space.
Best Bike Trailers for Paddle Boards
The best solution is offered by the company good goods tegernsee from Bavaria. Their bike trailer called reacha is best suited for paddle boarders and other water sports enthusiasts.
The reacha bike trailers are great for water sports enthusiasts. The bike trailers from reacha are very-well built and come with a cool mount system.You can attach a reacha trailer to all kinds of bicycles and even tow multiple (even inflated) paddleboards at once. Bicycle trailers like the ones from reacha are great to not always have to rely on your car to get to the water. However, they come at a reasonable price tag.
The trailers have a sturdy aluminum frame and wide wheels. The reacha can accommodate several paddle boards up to 14 feet (426 cm) long and is designed to carry a maximum load of 35 kilograms (77 lbs) as a bike trailer and 60 kg (130 lbs) as a handcart.
Reacha currently offers four models: reacha DIY, reacha city, reacha sport and reacha pro. The first 3 models are each available in 3 variants, which are suitable for different applications.
The reacha DIY is the cheapest model and intended for upcycling fans who want to reuse old bicycle tires. It is available with short drawbar, long drawbar and extra long drawbar.
For paddle boarders we recommend the reacha sport with its long tiller including bow. The reacha sport beach is especially suitable for unstable surfaces and the reacha sport street for asphalt surfaces.
However, the best transport solution for hotels, water sports centers and surf schools is the reacha pro. The very stable hand trolley is particularly load-bearing and has extra wide tires and printable side walls.
A special feature is that reacha still produces their bike trailers in Bavaria. Most manufacturers of paddle boards and SUP accessories have their products produced in China, but reacha focuses on sustainability and good production conditions.
In addition, the trailer speaks for the fact that it can transport several paddle boards, but also, for example, a board bag. Due to the different variants, a version adapted to it is available for every purpose.
Note: The models of reacha are in the basic equipment simple hand trolleys. In addition, the bike connector must be purchased, which connects the hand cart with the seat post of the bike.
More of the Best Paddle Board Bike Trailers
Conclusion
Paddle board bike trailers are not cheap, but they make the trip to the water immensely easier. A big advantage is that the inflatable boards do not have to be inflated before each tour and then deflated again.
In fact, even the largest touring boards have room on the reacha. If you add up the time for inflating and deflating, you end up with a considerable time savings for a season.
During our research on SUP bike trailers, it turned out that there are only a few usable models. Only the reacha trailer turned out to be really stable and flexible. Due to the different variants, there is the right equipment for every paddle boarder and not only boards, but also backpacks and other equipment can be transported on it.
Those who handle multiple paddle boards, surfboards or other water sports equipment will benefit even more from the reacha. Hotels, surf schools or water sports resorts that rent paddle boards or other equipment need to transport equipment on a regular basis. One of the hand trucks or bike trailers for paddle boards presented here are perfect for this purpose.
Check out the different reacha models at the manufacturer page, or find more detailed info about the bike trailer in our reacha review.