On our last trip we borrowed an Erde 102 trailer, which was great but as I blogged previously (here) it was only just big enough. With the high top we fitted everything in, except our five year old's bike, but there was virtually no room to spare. We can continue to borrow the little 102 for a while but I'd like to get a trailer of our own. I've been looking into the various options and I think that an Erde 143 would fit the bill. I had decided on a 142 but after a little research I realised the 143 is a little bigger (its sides are 50mm higher) and with a flat top would be just a little bigger that the 102 with a high top.

So with a flat top we end up with a trailer that's about the same volume, which on the face of it doesn't sound like a good deal. The advantages come from the additional options with the 143 that make it far more versatile. Firstly with a flat top it's possible to fit load bars which can take bike carriers or a roofbox. It's not possible to fit load bars with the high top. Secondly it's possible to fit a high top to the 143 like the 102, this nearly doubles the carrying volume. Thirdly it's possible to get a lockable raised solid lid for the 143 which you can't for the 102 and furthermore you can attach load bars to the lockable lid (this is however quite a costly option as the lid on it's own costs about the same as the trailer). Lastly there are several other add-on options for the 143 that are not available for the 102, like ladder racks, extra side panels and so on. We don't need any of these at the moment but the ability to add them if we did need them make the 143 a far more flexible long-term solution.

The 143 costs between £369 and £500 depending on where you buy it plus another £30 to £50 for a flat cover. That is quite a bit more than the 102 which costs around £180 at the moment. But the cost of the high top for the 102 adds another £90 and delivery is another £50 (I have found somewhere that sells the 143 for £369 with free delivery). So the total cost of the 143 is £400 compared to £320 for the 102. Remembering that the 102 at that point is pretty much maxed out whereas the 143 has plenty of room for expansion. The 143 is obviously the more sensible option. Well from my point of view at least. One more thing to mention the maximum load weight of the 143 (600 KG) is twice that of the 102.

You can get the 142 for £369 as well (from a different supplier) and as it's the same dimensions as the 143, apart from the height of the sides, so all the same accessories fit, but there is a £50 delivery charge on top of that price, so it's then £420 for a smaller trailer.

Whether to get a 143 now or wait until next year was the only remaining question. We can make do with the 102 and I suppose the sensible thing to do would be to hold off buying a replacement for a while, but on the flip-side if we buy it now we can look at getting load bars and bike racks next year when we're likely to want to take more bikes with us. In the end I couldn't resist and ordered a 143 this afternoon. It might get delivered tomorrow, which is pretty exciting.