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I'm considering getting a (better*) trailer, mainly to allow my daughter (v. nearly 1) to come out on the bike with me. My 3 year old son is happy on his balance bike or the MacRide. It would be good if they could both go into the trailer though when he gets tired.
The Burley trailers look good and the Bee would be the obvious choice. It will mostly be used offroad but on smoother trails, although the suspension of the more expensive models might help?
Do most of them fold up? It will have to be stored folded up I think. Also how many years use can I expect to get out of it before it's outgrown?
*I got one from a colleague but it's really, really heavy!
We had a chariot which was brilliant, the suspension works pretty well and can be adjusted as your nippers get heavier, it folded up pretty small and was impressively light.
Not cheap, but we got most of our money back when we sold it, they hold their value well.
We had a chariot which was brilliant, the suspension works pretty well and can be adjusted as your nippers get heavier, it folded up fairly small and was impressively light. We took it to Greece on a Neilson package holiday without any problems.
Not cheap, but we got about half of our money back when we sold it. Shame you didn't post 6 weeks earlier.
Loved our Chariot. It was a key factor in me not going completely crazy when we bred.
We've got an old burley which looks to be an old cub with a solid abs floor. If it needs to be stored folded a soft base may be better. It was free and we must have done 1000s of km with it inc week long camping tours. My kids grew out of it at around 5 years, the youngest 2. Tbh they are all pretty heavy and add in 30kg of kid and they're definitely heavy!
The eldest is now on a tag along, again a burley.
*I got one from a colleague but it’s really, really heavy!
Most are. Our croozer twin is 18kg empty
It ran at 50kg with one kid and camping gear for 60km at the weekend past. Cycling home again after minimal sleep thanks to said kid was fun. Still great fun night out.
Chariot here. Make sure you have a gate wide enough to get it through, I had to hurriedly chop a wall down a bit and widen ours!
Oh yes doubles and motorbike obstructions are fun. Main reason I use the cargo bike for nursary.
croozer kidfor2 folds flat, which is v handy
no suspension, but ours has been all over the place and kids loved it
yes its wide
stealth ebay add...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124808537501
That's what we have kimbers solid bit of kit and has been on its side a few times Thanks to the track down to our house having some Ill placed rocks if you forget you have the trailer in *oh no* says Jnr. And *Lolo (her dolly) fell out daddy *
Also had a Croozer KidFor2. Great bit of kit but it was quite restrictive round us. Due to the width it wouldn't fit through the gate type things at the end of all the cycle routes. Other than it was really good and very handy as a stroller for long walks when we couldn't be bothered carrying a backpack.
And any excuse for some videos
Swinley blue with the twins
And their older brothers
Swinley blue with the twins
Urk, can't watch. Please people FTLOG use the mesh protector when you take the kids in the trailer.
Please people FTLOG use the mesh protector when you take the kids in the trailer.
Ha we usually do
But for but for videoing purposes we had it up a bit of grit in their faces is worth it for a funny vid, right? 😉
We had a Burley d'lite. Great bit of kit with adjustable suspension and plenty of boot space. It's narrower than the Croozer so was better for towpaths etc. They're expensive but hold their value.
Thanks, a lot to consider here. Never even considered the width of our gate! The more expensive trailers do look good. Might try using the current trailer a bit more (youngest has never been in it) then see if we can justify upgrading.
The current one really is heavy. It has a steel frame and the wheels are supported on both sides of the axle, i.e it has lots of tubes! I looked at a Burley one on display in a shop and just pulling it backwards and forwards I could tell it was way lighter
Update. Turns out our current basic trailer isn't that heavy after all. Weighs 11kg! The Burley Bee is 1-2kg lighter. That difference makes it hardly worth switching over to. I'm quite surprised at this, maybe the Burley just rolled better.
I've been looking at the higher end trailers, like the Thule Chariot Cross and Burley D'Lite. These have features that would be worth the switch, comfy supporting seats, suspension etc. The seats on the current trailer really don't suit our 1 year old.
Also I'm wondering whether a double trailer is what we actually want. The main use would be being able to take both kids out, but my son is likely to go on his balance bike. If we had a single trailer and he gets tired he could go into a bike seat instead (got a MacRide), and his bike can go on the trailer. I don't think a double trailer would be used in double mode that often
How warm is the Macride?
How easy is it to sleep in it?
How well protected from rain and snow?
What I loved about the Chariot was that it was a safe, benign, warm comfy spot for the kids to completely chill when they weren't riding. They could completely beast themselves on their trike, balance bike or bike and then when they'd had enough then they could chill. 100%. Not slightly, but completely.
Then I could get an utterly solid work out by towing 45kg of dead weight another 12 miles without having to worry even slightly about them being wet/ uncomfortable/tired/ sleepy...
And if they'd had a good snooze for 90 minutes and fancied another session then just unstrap the Cnoc/trike/BB from the top of the Chariot, unload one or both kids and let them rip again.
@thegeneralist your reply has got me thinking, perhaps just in time. I'd seen a single Chariot Cross locally and was set to go and get it....
When I venture out, me on foot, my son on his bike and my daughter in a buggy, I still take the double buggy. The older one often likes to sit in it for juice etc. then get back on the bike. I think the conclusion I'm coming to is the ideal would be a towable version of the double buggy. The double Chariot is just that. It's very slightly heavier than the single and a bit wider
The Burley trailers look good and the Bee would be the obvious choice. It will mostly be used offroad but on smoother trails, although the suspension of the more expensive models might help?
We have a Burley D'Lite. I've had it for nearly 6 years now and it's been used a lot with 3 kids and still going strong and fully functional. they're not cheap but can definitely vouch for them being really good bits of kit.
I think the suspension is helpful for worn surfaces offroad. How essential it is I don't know. Some kids are more sensitive than others to the bumps. When you say smooth surfaces remember that smooth with a 2.4" 29er tyre does not equal smooth on a 20" wheel with 1.5" tyre so any extra suspension is good.
Dmorts... yep, sounds good. (They are bloody wide though.)
Regarding the suspension, when offroad I did tend to only ever use 1 gear. ( bottom)
Even with the suspension the kids get thrown about like hell at anything above walking pace.
Having said which, that was on proper off road stuff like Langstrath, CyB Afon, Minortaur, Haldon etc
I've managed to find a double Thule Chariot although it's the Lite version. The main difference I can see is it doesn't have recline on the seats. Not really sure how much this would be used and the seats aren't exactly upright anyway.
Other things are that the suspension isn't adjustable and the rear luggage section is different. It is lighter than the Cross though looking at the specs.
It's a very well made bit of kit!
