LittleMissMomo is rapidly approaching the grand old age of 3 weeks, so it's obviously time to start making plans about getting out on the bike with her.
Having had a bit of a read on here I see that the Chariot comes out very highly recommended, incidentally it also seems to b one of the only trailers with multiple through axle adaptors available - ideally I'd like to be able to attach it to either MrsMomos bike or mine.
I am a little confused about which model to go for though so have come here seeking advice.
My inner magpie (who loves the shiny shiny!) says go for the CX with all the bells and whistles, but the miser inside me would love to spend a lot less! So pros and cons/what would you spend your money on, cheetah, cougar or CX. And 1 or 2 little person model?
Intended uses will be riding into town on cycle paths, family trails around centreparcs/clumber park, maybe the odd trip to sherwood pines - but green/blue trails rather than red. Would also like to use it as an off-road stroller.
You can't use the infant sling for cycling under the age of 6 months (or at least that's what it says on my Thule Chariot infant sling.)
I've got a Cougar 1. It is a lovely bit of kit.
We had the CX and it was good, the brakes helped when using it as a buggy. That said we got ours 2nd hand and I'm not sure I'd go for that from new.
We had hoppy jr in from about 3 months on smoother tracks. I think he did the minotaur in his at 6 months.
Ooh, watching with interest? Mini Toast is six months old now, would love to get him out in a trailer. I thought we had to wait until he was a year old before taking him on fireroad type surfaces though? Keep on reading different advice. :/
i'm in a similar situation, with the small lad being 4 months old now. after considerable research, i've decided to go for a cougar 1 for him.
I used to put our kids in a car child seat when they were 3 months old without issues. Are you planning on more kids? If so probably best to get the two seater version. They have more space for all the extra stuff you need to take with you, too and they can be useful to take the kids up to the age of 5/6 so you'll get a lot of use out of it. Ours (a Cougar 2) is now over ten years old and still going strong, in fact it's currently being used on loan to a friend of a friend with young twins.
Would now be a good time to mention that we're selling a VGC CX1?
It's the current model with disc brakes but from just before Thule bought Chariot so Burgundy and grey with Chariot badges instead of Thule ones.
It'll come with the jogging kit as well as the cycling kit.
E-mail in profile if you are interested and want pictures.
I've got the Cougar, and whilst I don't have anything to compare it with, it's brilliant. We've got the bike-trailer kit and the "stroller" kit, and I love the fact that you can store whichever you're not using onboard. Means you can, for example, ride into town, park up and convert it into a pushchair to go and do the shopping. (Takes less than minute to convert).
Our lad had his first trip in it being towed behind the bike a few days before he turned 5 months.
I'm sure the top-of-the-range model is nice, but I wonder if it justifies the extra cost - the Cougar's not exactly cheap anyway, and then you have to fork out for the Infant Sling, then the Baby supporter (which we've just moved up to at 9.5 months), bike kit, etc. I got ours from [url= http://www.babyhuyswebshop.nl/en/thule-chariot-cougar1-kinderwagen-fietskar-avocado ]babyhuys.com[/url] - cost £530 last summer. I don't know how the exchange rate will have changed.
Great bit of kit...
ETA: Think carefully before going for the 2-seater. I umm-ed and ahh-ed, but I'm glad I went for the single in the end - it's quite wide and will only just fit through a couple of narrow spots on my regular routes.
+1 for going with the single over the double, there are all sorts of gates and gaps a double won't go through.
Not an issue on the road but you wouldn't be able to use one on out local Sustrans route for instance.
The CX's disc brakes come into their own if you're using it as a fully laden as a buggy going down a steep hill, being able to control it 'like a bike' using the brakes when a normal pushchair would be constantly trying to get away from you is a huge improvement.