[Closed] Child Trailers - Advice please

loads of threads in here.
Me, I love our Croozer. They do a 2up version too.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/child-bike-trailers-again

My Croozer is brilliant.

Chariot and Burley are also supposed to be good makes if you're looking at second hand.

If you're planning on using it much I think the Croozer is worth the money - mine has done hundreds of miles now (does 10-40 miles every Thursday, plus weekend rides) and seems fine. The Croozer is very well designed and solid feeling, I imagine the Chariot ones are even nicer, but oh so expensive.

Joe

A lot of Sustrans routes, the off road ones of the national cycle network , have restrictors to stop, people in electric wheelchairs and motorbikes getting onto the tracks they also stop trailers ,you may go down a route and find a restrictor and have to turn back, or lift it over.

A lot of Sustrans routes, the off road ones of the national cycle network , have restrictors to stop, people in electric wheelchairs and motorbikes getting onto the tracks they also stop trailers ,you may go down a route and find a restrictor and have to turn back, or lift it over.

I've never found this to be a problem, and have done all the sustrans routes round here. Pretty much any sustrans route I've done has been accessible to either horses or wheelchair accessible, or similar. A lot have chicanes on them that you have to go one way then the other to get round, but I've not seen anything that the trailer wouldn't go through yet. A couple of them are surprisingly rocky and technical, and a bit much for my road bike, but with the mountain bike they are fine. All the normal sustrans routes round here are accessible for a normal wheelchair, which is not much narrower than a double bike trailer anyway.

On footpaths mind I certainly have got stuck - I'd recommend not taking too many naughty footpath shortcuts unless you know them and are sure that you won't end up at the bottom of a massive hill lifting a double trailer complete with sleeping baby over a pair of stiles! Ouch, that was a right pain.

Also, put slime in the trailer tyres - the trailer weighs a ton, so it makes no difference to the ride, and any time you ride anything narrow, you stick the tyres right into the brambles. Slime is cheap, works brilliantly on low pressure trailer tyres, and a lot less hassle than having to mend trailer punctures.

We use a 'Little Van' trailer that we bought new from Ebay for about £60 - a bargain. I've made a few modifications. Firstly the towing arm now mounts directly to the rear axle of the bike. I use a bolt through on my SS and a DT RWS on my other towing bike, but it works fine with a standard QR too.

I have also removed the standard nylon fabric seat, and installed a custom made mount for my little one's Maxicosi Cabriofix carseat. This hold the seat firmly in place, even if the trailer rolls. The new mount is mounted to the trailer via vibration isolating mounts.

Our wee fella has been out in the trailer since he was 6 weeks old. Given that he was 6 1/2 weeks early, he made an early start. He has done 100s of miles including the GT blue and a gentle ride down Spooky Wood.

Last weekend we rode along the trail on the North side of the Dee, North of Braemar. This was a tricky tow, but a combination of soft tyres and a the vibro-isolating mounts ensured he slept soundly, even on the rutted stuff.

The gate to Rothiemurchies Lodge at the West end of Loch Morlich is too narrow, requiring the trailer to be emptied and semi-folded to fit through on it's side. Awkward, but not impossible.

At almost 10 months we're moving on to a Bobike Mini+, but the trailer will still be used for longer rides, if the weather is bad, or if he's due a nap.

Adventure AT3.
About £150 rrp. Bought 2nd hand off here and dragged it round Brecons last week with 3 and 1 year old.
Totally brilliant bit of kit.
Kids loved it - warm and dry.
Works brilliantly, highly recommended.

Mail me if you want some pics or more info.

Very happy with our [url= http://www.chariotcarriers.com/english/html/cougar.php ]Chariot Cougar[/url]. We got the jogging wheel & buggy wheels as well as the bike attachment. This lets us cycle to the beach/shops and just convert it very quickly into a buggy that'll handle a run along the beach or into the shops easily.

You do need a fair bit of space to keep it in though and a car with a decent boot if you're going anywhere. They don't collapse down much.

We paid about £70 for ours from a place in Germany via Ebay. Was very light alloy framed. Only sold it earlier this year as boys had outgrown it. Did 100's of miles commuting in all weathers. Boys would often fall asleep on way home from nursery. I swapped the tyres to BMX ramp tyres, nice volume & very smooth. Slime also as mentioned. I really miss the trailer, boys commute on their own bikes now (4 + 6), but they loved it.

barn - Member
Adventure AT3.
About £150 rrp. Bought 2nd hand off here and dragged it round Brecons last week with 3 and 1 year old.
Totally brilliant bit of kit.
Kids loved it - warm and dry.
Works brilliantly, highly recommended.

Mail me if you want some pics or more info.

I also have one of these and you can get a proper waterproof cover for it (its just like a buggy one) and ours has done 1000's of miles but its now starting to show this so i will be replacing it soon with the single seat version.

+1 for the Chariot Cougar 2. Excellent resale value as well. It's still going strong, & will no doubt get sold on again.

Thanks for the advice, very nearly bought an Adventure AT3 last year but the misses put a stop to it as he was only 8 months old :cry:, Will keep a look out for a decent second had one I think! If you have one to sell let me know!

Thanks.

[i]Thanks for the advice, very nearly bought an Adventure AT3 last year but the misses put a stop to it as he was only 8 months old :cry:,[/i]

I have always started using the trailer with my four when they were around three months old without problems. I am also a Chariot CougarII user and think they are a really nice piece of kit. I used to use a regular baby seat for the car that I strapped in there but for my youngest (he's now 6 months) we got the Chariot baby seat kit which works very well.

We've had really good times with a single Croozer. I'd recommend getting a single, as a friend of ours had a double and it doesn't clear half as many gateways on bridleways. The other thing is that we're now expecting child #2 and by the time we get to riding together, child #1 will be three and will probably graduate to a tagalong- she's on a likeabike kokua now.

Patience on Ebay seems to be the key!

Croozer kid for 2

how young was your child when you started them in the trailer. My girl is 10 months old & am thinking of doing a trailquest as a generation team next month. Is this too young. Are there any recommendations re minimum age?

Another Chariot Couger for 2 user here! Yes they are very expensive new and they do hold their value, but as Johnny says - Patience on ebay! Ours came as a trailer but also with the jogger and stroller wheels, which lie as yet unused in the shed.
We went for this one over just about anything else on the market because of the suspension. Putting Little Miss in the Weber baby carrier with head support, coupled with the suspension meant we ventured out at quite an early age.
So far we've not come across a gate on any Sustrans style routes that we can't fit through, allthough it's tight enough sometimes that I've asked on here for advice about specific trails before making a special journey.

Are there any recommendations re minimum age?

I think every trailer is probably different and things such as are they in a baby sling or seat, or a car seat strapped in there will make a difference. Every parent will also feel different about it, and some will say you are being irresponsible, while others will tell you to go for it. For what it's worth, my little girl was about 3 months on her first trip. (and I'm not interested in anybodys arguments about why that is too young)!

I have a 2 up Burley, escapes me which one - 5 years old, bought second hand off eBay, excellent piece of kit really light but very sturdy -

Burley seem to be the main hire shop buggy in various places which is always a good sign to me

Cons:
Expensive,

Pros:
Hold their value
Very well built
Very light and easy to pull - very imp to me !

I'd recommend Burley too. Not cheap but you gets what you pay for. Incredibly light and well-made. Can be taken apart, chucked in a car boot and reassembled in no time.

Also: Look how they're mounted to the bike. Burleys attach to a QR rear skewer so you can use this on any bike. Other cheaper makes attach to the frame and don't tend to get on well with bikes with disc brakes

Has anyone compared any of the following?
Croozer (kid 1 or 2)
Adventure AT3
Burley Bee or Encore

Don't seem to be able to find anywhere local that has them to look at so not seen any of them yet.
Thanks