• This topic has 62 replies, 40 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by DrP.
Viewing 23 posts - 41 through 63 (of 63 total)
  • Cycling with a baby
  • hora
    Free Member

    Many reasons but why not show a pic of bike/baby trailer to a none cyclist in your office and ask them if they would or think it’s safe on British roads to do that?

    I’ll ride on British roads. I didn’t want to put my son in a trailer etc though.

    King-ocelot
    Free Member

    I stated I didn’t intend to ride with him on roads

    ghostlymachine
    Free Member

    I’m guessing this is closely related to your theory regarding not riding steel bikes in the rain?

    colin9
    Full Member

    Many reasons but why not show a pic of bike/baby trailer to a none cyclist in your office and ask them if they would or think it’s safe on British roads to do that?

    Yes I find it’s always better to take the opinion of someone with no experience of something over those who actually do the activity…

    ransos
    Free Member

    We were using our trailer on all sorts of stuff from about 6 months (might be less – can’t actually remember).
    I managed to fit this weber baby seat into our trailer with the infant insert he was quite happy, still is actually. Falls asleep on fireroads, I just haven’t managed to find any trails wide enough for it yet

    Same here. We had Mini Ransos in a Croozer trailer from about 4 months, using the Weber seat you linked to. She’s always been very comfortable and usually goes to sleep. Now we have Micro Ransos as well I upgraded to a Burley double trailer. We’ve done loads of stuff – weekends away, touring in France, and a camping trip. Trailers are weatherproof and have a big boot, which makes them much better than a seat IMO.

    simon_g
    Full Member

    Many reasons but why not show a pic of bike/baby trailer to a none cyclist in your office and ask them if they would or think it’s safe on British roads to do that?

    I’ll ride on British roads. I didn’t want to put my son in a trailer etc though.

    Most probably think it’s unsafe to cycle on the roads at all.

    Parenting means making your own decisions about what is safe or appropriate for your kids. Those may be different to other people’s decisions.

    tomd
    Free Member

    Many reasons but why not show a pic of bike/baby trailer to a none cyclist in your office and ask them if they would or think it’s safe on British roads to do that?

    I’ll ride on British roads. I didn’t want to put my son in a trailer etc though.

    I’ll humour your trolling. The speeds you do with a trailer, pretty much always <15mph, means that if you crash into anything or off the road / trail it is extremely unlikely to do any harm to the child with the low energy and protection afforded by the trailer. It’s a right of passage to flip a trailer over on a trail and it almost always ends up with the baby laughing. Several thousand young children are injured, hundreds seriously and dozens fatally, as passengers in cars every year.

    So, really the only serious risk is someone driving over the top of you. This is actually very unlikely, especially if you choose the route carefully and use offroad routes when possible and most trailers are extremely visible. Drivers also always seem to behave very considerately when they see the trailer.

    It’s pretty moronic to say “trailers are dangerous”. Yes, they could be if you took one down the A66 at dusk but with some good sense the risk is very, very low. There are tremendous benefits to using one.

    scaled
    Free Member

    at 9 months Baby Scaled had already done the monsal trail!

    Hamax siesta reclines quite a long way, he’s about 15 months now, cries every time he sees my bike and isn’t allowed on it. It’s grand, he’s happy as anything pinging about down the side of the mersey on the back of the escapade. When i shout *BUMP* he giggles like anything.

    I’ve started to make him wear a helmet when it’s cold though, they’re they only bloody hats that’ll stay on him

    gearfreak
    Free Member

    Been using a trailer since the little one was about 4 months she is now 2, she’ll happily go for long rides (4 or 5 hours with a suitable number of breaks). I bought a rear mounted seat a while ago and have used it twice as she prefers the trailer, it feels safer, it’s more stable, and it’s easier to climb out of the saddle as the weight is low down.

    When we ride on (quiet) roads we tend to get a lot more space and respect than on just a bike, or with a child seat (which looks like a bike to a myopic driver). Admittedly I wouldn’t ride on a busy a or b road, but in quiet lanes I see it as less risky than driving a car on a motorway/a road.

    King-ocelot
    Free Member

    Thanks for the replies.

    As the cycling will be just me and baby I’m looking more toward a seat than trailer so I can see him I think. The replies and lovely photos have convinced me and wifey it’s not that unsafe at all, I was however optimistic in my original 3 hour ride prediction. As stated before my route is greenway and 100% flat Tarmac with no traffic or road, just old train and canal lines. I’ve got a £100 evans voucher do will be getting a seat this weekend 🙂

    Let’s keep this as parents sharing tips/reviews rather than is cycling with a trailer on roads/anywere safe, if anyone wants to debate that start a new thread.

    NZCol
    Full Member

    Used a iBert since little one was about a year old(ish) – she loved it.

    a11y
    Full Member

    Trailer for sure.

    Used a Croozer with our eldest from 8 weeks old using their baby sling adaptor. Continued using it for past few years and now carry both of them in it (3.5yrs and 14 mths). They seem comfy enough. Eldest has just moved on to a Mac Ride @ 3.5yrs but it’s great having the trailer as back up if she gets tired – not exactly easy towing the trailer while pedalling with a toddler on your crossbar though. See it as training.

    Croozer @ 8wks old:

    Mac Ride:

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Been cycling for the past month with our 10-now-11 month old. Hamax seat on the back, she loves it – big smiles. Stick to off road cy le paths as much as poss with only wee road se tions – partly because i dont go far. I wouldn’t subject her to more than an hour with a break.

    andybrad
    Full Member

    interested in this. Ive got a seat but i cant fix it to my bike (clamps around the head tube and the downtube adaptor in not sure about on a liteville frame)

    how do the bike trailers mount?

    Daffy
    Full Member

    It depends upon the trailer, but the good ones provide a longer QR/TA axle to which a bracket with a ball-socket is attached to the rear axle. This allows the bike to lean and corner properly when in use.

    I’ve had the trailer at a good 30-35deg angle to the verticle (bloody rutts) and still been able to ride fine.

    andybrad
    Full Member

    do they have screw though axles (142 syntace)

    a11y
    Full Member

    do they have screw though axles (142 syntace)

    Literally today my Robert Axle Project axle arrived. Replaces the 142 X12 Shimano E-axle on the rear of my Genesis High Latitude. Has plenty of options depending on the type of trailer attachment.

    The Robert Axle Project

    hora
    Free Member

    You’ll humour my trolling? Ask a none cyclist. On scaleds 2nd pic?

    Are the babies strapped in into a car seat like structure in the least?

    Sorry. No.

    gravity-slave
    Free Member

    The Croozer bracket is held on by the QR axle. On my big bike I drilled it out to a 12mm hole and used the bolt through axle.

    Needs flat dropouts to work.

    It’s great to ride with, you can feel the weight but it doesn’t really affect handling, just great resistance work. In fact I made it up Sheffield’s ‘bastard’ climb at the end of the Parks, 1×10, Nukeproof Mega, Croozer and 2 year old!!

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    The sooner Hora gets diagnosed properly,the better. 🙄

    OrangeLad
    Free Member

    At 9 months we hired a bike with a trailer at Centre parcs our daughter loved it but since then we have brought a weeride we started using it about 12 months but she was still a bit floppy for it and the helmet a touch too big but now at 15months everything is perfect helmet fits great (her head is still on the small side) and she loves the weeride especially over bumpy ground.

    scaled
    Free Member

    Are the babies strapped in into a car seat like structure in the least?

    Of course they bloody are. 3 point harness, same setup as a car seat, plus their feet are strapped in to the foot rests.

    You just can’t see all that cos he was covered in the rain poncho to keep a bit of the chill off as we were riding through the tunnels.

    DrP
    Full Member

    Trailer FTW when young, then into a seat (but keep the trailer..)
    We’ve had both ours in the croozer and would say if you can, stretch for a pricier model as the seat/sling/strap arrangement IS better in the higher end models.

    Both kids (now 6 who rides his own, abx 18mths) had the Weber insert sling until about a year old.
    That’s up for sale if you want? £30 posted…

    Now have a wee ride in the garage, to fit for big bike bash…

    DrP

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