Hi,

My wife and I have an 11 month year old baby. We are quire keen cyclists and used to go out together a lot – but at the moment the only opportunity is to go out separately, while the other person does child care.

We are looking at trailers/seats for kids. I have researched the forums and can probably sum up my current view as:

Child Seats:

Cheapest option
Requires helmet
can’t decide between front/middle mounted and rear mounted
popular models look to be Hamax/Weeride
Easy to engage with parents/nature etc.

Child trailers:

Seems expensive option, but some people have said they sell on for a decent price – quick look on ebay seems to support this.
More stable
Ability to carry extra stuff (not sure if this an advantage or disadvantage…)
Safer? Not sure if helmet is required/recommended though.
Storage more of an issue (we have no garage), although some fold
Popular models seem to be cheaper Halfords jobs, or expensive ones from Chariot/Thule, Crooze etc.
Less engagement with the surroundings (inside a cover of some sort)

Are there any other recommended brand options I should consider? We would like to be be able to ride off road (within reason) and I note some of the more expensive trailer models come with suspension.

I travel a bit and if possible it would be great to get a model from the US – the prices in the UK/EU seem horrendous for trailers, almost 2/3 price in the US.

Also, do kids need a helmet in a trailer? I always wear one, as does the other half, but I am not sure a helmet would be useful or not for someone enclosed in a trailer?

We recently got a Hamax seat from ebay (£20). Can’t fault it. Easy to remove from bike.

Liked the idea of the Weeride but I know i’d smack my knees on it all ride so opted for the rear seat option.

Was really surprised how much he bumps up and down just on tarmac paths so would not take him off road on it (perhaps a gravel path or grass field but only if I knew the route was smooth).

He/we love it but he’s only just turned one and much more than 40 mins and he’s asleep.

I’ve got a croozer and have just bought a Yepp Mini Ahead both have their place. The croozer for almost year round commuting to nursery and days out in the forest picnics etc. They can be pretty bumpy off road for the little one so it’s road, or smooth gravel tracks for that one. the chariots were a bit too much money for me and I got the Croozer used from Stoner on here.
The Yepp is brilliant for interaction but is only good for nice warm dry weather. I used the trailer this morning for the nursery run (5 miles) as it was still a bit chilly but I can’t wait to use the yepp more as it warms up this summer. I got the yepp from a recommendation on here, cheaper and lighter than the weeride and much less of a knees out position. The Yepp is great for interaction but he loves his trailer too he’s always watching his surroundings and pointing things out but he can chill and sleep in there too. imo you’ll need a full length mudguard for a trailer unless you want to have the rain cover down the whole time as they do get a lot of dust and bits of the rear tire.

there are a good few threads on here too. you’ll enjoy which ever way you go, it’s great getting out with them on the bikes.

HTH

oh and I found the yepp really stable and easy to use, more so than the rear carrier we tried (but each to thier own). If you want to do off road that’s the best option ime, they get the benefit of your fork suspension. My knees are out, but only a tiny but and I’ve got pretty long legs for my height but it’ll vary depending on your bikes head angle and stack height etc.

On the helmet in trailer question – ours generally didn’t, mostly because helmets don’t often fit very well and tended to push their heads forward. I guess different trailers may vary on this, but any one where the child tends to sit back and rest their head back (one of the advantages of a decent trailer!) will likely have this problem.

This was in a Chariot in our case, and to be honest once they were strapped in with a 5 point harness and (when very little) had head support cushions in place I couldn’t see much point. I’ve rolled it a couple of times and they’ve never come close to bumping their heads on the frame. I guess a much higher speed crash might be different, or a car penetrating the cage of the trailer, best not think about things like that too much 😉

Trailer vs seat: We’ve always used a trailer, but can imagine a seat could be good for shorter journeys. Trailers are great for longer stuff though – we’ve happily done full days riding with a little one keeping themselves entertained in the trailer.

We’ve just started playing around with a Weeride for our 11 month old. Only done a couple of short rides so far but it’s fun, and he seems to love it, but the Weeride would definitely be an issue for me for longer rides due to the knees-splayed position. Also on my rigid bike I’d not really want to go off road as there is no suspension for him at all, unlike on a Hamax style rear seat. On a suspension bike it might be fine though.