I’ve been looking at getting a twin child trailer – for a nearly 1yo and a nearly 4 yo. There’s loads available that seem fairly generic for around 80 quid, or there’s expensive croozer, chariot stuff for £350+
What are the main differences in quality here – are the generic ones OK or will there be little aggravations with respect to a child’s comfort?

Also, our older lad is quite sturdy, not massive but probably on the big side for his age. I doubt he’d get more than this summer out of a trailer. He’s a whizz on the balance bike and is starting with the pedal bike. Do you reckon a single trailer might be a better bet just for our youngest? Be interested to hear anyone else’s experience of bike trailers with kids of similar age-gaps.

The main difference is the cheap ones weigh a fooking ton.

no they don’t.

steel ones generally do weigh a bit more, just like bikes really 😉

but considering you’ll be pulling 2 children inside them does it actually matter? No!

they all pretty much fold flat for transportation/storage and you’d have to be extremely weak to notice the difference between lifting a “light” one and a “heavy” one in and out your car/shed/wherever/

by 1yo do you mean 12mths(ish)?
my youngest was in a proper weber baby seat (google it) when in the trailer until maybe 16mths as it was more secure, (the harness/strapping in most isn’t really designed with really small children in mind) an old car child seat strapped in might work well too.

Croozer kid2 here. Seems like a bargain when you compare it to chariot money, and considering what “travel systems” cost, I think it’s been very good value for money. Ours gets used daily as a offroad pram and frequently as a trailer and it’s stood up to 2 years of use with no problems. When both boys have outgrown it I expect I’ll get half my money back (try that with other baby equipment)
Having a spare seat was good even when we only had one – seldom short of passengers wanting a ride and lots of room for shopping. The dog even got a ride in there once when he was a pup!

Upside of Chariots is they get very good re-sale prices. We had a single Chariot Cougar from 2008 till late last year and still got around 70% of the original price back iirc. Very flexible with the bike, jogging and buggy wheel options which you can carry on-board all at the same time. This lets you cycle somewhere, switch wheels and then have a walk around/go inside cafes/etc and so on. Downside is the bulkiness even when folded which means needing a big boot if driving somewhere first and a big porch or else a garage to store in. I don’t know how the alternatives fare on the latter aspect.

However I found our now-4-year old was increasingly reluctant to even get in it last year so I personally wouldn’t recommend the double although the carrying space for picnics/clobber could be good. He would far rather whizz around on his balance bike and later his pedal bike.

have a croozer 2 which i really like, its quite bulky, folds flat but still a bit of a lump to move around as a trailer its superb,comfy loads of storage space

got ours S/H on ebay but pretty much pristine 🙂

no they don’t.

steel ones generally do weigh a bit more, just like bikes really

but considering you’ll be pulling 2 children inside them does it actually matter? No!

I think you will find the cheaper ones, say from Halfords, weigh a lot more than the more expensive ones.

Why the _____ would you want to pull more weight then necessary when you already have two kids to pull along?

Using your logic you might as well put them in the car and tow that along!

Adventure trailers – around £200.

skywalker vs GW, this should be fun!

On the subject of weight, if you’re thinking of doing much/any hill-walking with one of these as well as the cycling then see if it has a hand-brake option. Walking down steep hills with a loaded up buggy isn’t much fun!