Hi All, I know loads of you use them, so I would appreciate some advice on trailers for taking the little one out for gentle family rides. I can’t see it being used for daily transport (at the moment at least).

The main question I had is do you need suspension on them from your experience? I would like to be able to use it for gentle forest tracks, or just not have to worry if the surface isn’t perfectly smooth, however trailers with suspension cost a lot more, and I guess are going to more complicated and heavy too.

I quite like the look of the Croozer 2 (or XLC Duo which would appear to be made under license and a lot cheaper). But for suspension the Burley Cub looks the most popular.

We have a Chariot with weight adjustable suspension, I reckon it made a huge difference to his comfort level,especially when he was little, our friends who ought a trailer without suspension and found their little girl didn’t like to be in there for more than 30 minutes and tended to get woken up by bumps, cue tears and a scurrying home.

Ours would reliably fall asleep and keep on dozing until I got home, admittedly much of this could be down to different children, how comfy the harness was etc but in my experience decent suspension was well worth it.

Whether you think a Chariot or Burley is worth the extra £££ depends on your budget and how much you’ll use it really.

we have a croozer kid for 2 (no suspension) which we got from someone on here. our daughter happily chills out/sleeps/plays in it for hours when out doing big rides along the old railway lines and forest trails near us. a few weeks ago we were in scotland riding really bumpy gravel landrover tracks to get over a big hill to a loch which had nice flat trails. it coped really well on the rough stuff, and she was totally fine inside it for a few hours. in fact she only really whinges when she needs her nappy changing or gets hungry! yeah it bumps about but suppose she’s made of sturdy stuff 😛 it doesn’t have suspension but unless you’re rallying it into rock gardens at full pelt can’t see the need for it tbh, just slow down a little

we started putting her in it at about 8 months, but i think theres a baby sling available for it which would give smaller babies more support (head etc) and take some of the vibrations/rattling out. the seat on the croozer is a bucket type hanging from the frame, so it seems to do a good job of providing some sort of buffer/suspension on its own

if you’re in the north east welcome to come and have a go if you like. can even rally it up some local tracks lol. that XLC looks good to me

The cub is very heavy (almost 40lbs) whilst a Chariot Cougar is only around 25lbs and can be quite easily used as a pram as it’s also a lot narrower.

The “suspension” in both systems is pretty basic (spring with no dampner) and I’d be willing to bet that decent larger volume, low pressure tyres will make almost as much difference.

EDIT – The Chariot’s larger (20″) wheel size will also make a difference to comfort.

forgot to add – the stock tyres on the croozer are reasonably large and we run them pretty soft. as Daffy says larger volume BMX tyres would probably offer more comfort if needed

We’ve used ours from an early age:

Across some fairly rough terrain – the Chariot “may” have partially floated here as it was a lot deeper than it looked.

With just dad:

…or mum and dad:

Towed using a variety of things:

though almost always ending with a sleeping boy. 🙂

We have a Chariot with weight adjustable suspension, I reckon it made a huge difference to his comfort level,especially when he was little, our friends who ought a trailer without suspension and found their little girl didn’t like to be in there for more than 30 minutes and tended to get woken up by bumps, cue tears and a scurrying home.

We changed from a Croozer single (no suspension) to a Burley d’Lite double (adjustable suspension). I detect no great difference in comfort for the kids – they seem to drift off to sleep quickly in both models.

Aside from that, the Burley is superb – reasonably light, stable, and narrower than some of the competition, which is a boon on narrow paths and through pinch gates. It has a massive boot too, useful for all the baby paraphernalia.

The croozer was also a really solid trailer – one or two elements I didn’t like (such as muck/ rain collecting at the bottom of the cover) have been improved on the newer models.

I got a fantastic deal on a chariot (now thule)..
It has no suspension, which I didn’t think would be a problem as it’s only for road use.. However, the school run changed last september and I have a mile long section of the route that has heavy traffic and speed bumps..
Because of the heavy traffic, I like to maintain a similar speed to the motor vehicles to avoid causing any congestion or conflict, but if the kids have fallen asleep on the way home from school (and they pretty much always sleep in the trailer if I’m honest) I worry that it’s pretty dodgy hitting speed bumps at 20mph with the kids sleepy little heads lolling about..

If I was buying again I’d be looking at a trailer with suspension, especially if I was considering off-road use

The chariots are pretty tough, but for the money I was very disappointed with the hubs and with the Heath Robinson brake design

Croozer here again. I’ll echo everything said above. They have the added advantage of coming with all the stroller/jogger attachments that you have to buy separately with a Chariot.

Thanks for the replies, seems mixed opinions on suspension! I’d also better go out and measure the pinch gates on the canal towpath next to my house, being able to fit through there is probably unlikely for a double trailer, but would be a big plus point as it is the most local traffic free route.

I had some cheapie Madison own brand job, a double. No suspension and all 3 boys slept in it without fail. I can see Yunkis point, but I’m not sure I’d want to do 20mph on anything rougher than a billiard table anyway. When we’re offroad, they all paid attention judging by the hollering from the back!
Youngest was in the trailer from 12 weeks, by securing the car seat in it facing backward. That was ‘needs must’ rather than a common use but it was secure and comfy enough.

I think the posher ones hold their value pretty well anyway. Where are you in the country? You could borrow my cheapie one, it’s been outgrown now 🙁

gaz – thanks for the offer but unfortunately I’m nowhere near the North East!

Daffy – is that Dundas Aquaduct? Along from Claverton? Thats an annual pilgrimage for us, ride from brassknocker to claverton, my boys have all had a pound off me betting they can’t get their 16″ single speed up the hill from Claverton without dabbing 🙂

Croozer single here, I do have the weber infant seat for sale if required – used from 6 months she loved it.

brassneck – Member
Daffy – is that Dundas Aquaduct?

Certainly is!

gruffalo hunting

Hi Brassneck, I am in Stoke on Trent if you are local?

Loving all the trailer pics by the way!

Excellent work that man Daffy ,makes me wish I’d taken more pictures these last 2 summers

Ive got a fairly budget one, but have modified it with carpet on the floor and foam padding and a blanket under the ‘seat’ base, has made it more comfortable and warmer

Suspension would be helpful but my kids still love it, it’s the only thing, except the car, where I can guarantee they’ll fall asleep if they’re tired. I often take my kids out in it if I think they need a sleep, dog gets a run too!

I bought one from Germany as couldn’t find a decent one second hand.

Bought from here and was about £300 Qeridoo Sportrex

Spotted one for sale in classifieds too. Link to classifieds

Did a review of mine Here

On a related note… I’ve a croozer for 2 on sale hete and am happy to post!

Reason for sale is the bigger one is riding, so changing to a kid for 1!

DrP

We bought a used single Chariot Cougar off here 6 years ago for £200. Delivered to our friends house,picked up by us when visiting the UK, back home on the plane for free as a pushchair. Used for 4 annual 3 week touring holidays. Used as a pushchair, used for the usual outings etc. Did No.1 and then No.2. Sold it this autumn for more than we paid for it…..

I’d say definitely go for suspension, and go for quality, but go 2nd hand! The Chariot’s leaf spring weight adjustable suspension is easily the best that we came across. Not sure if quality has changed now they are thule.

STOP!!
Just as with ‘Travel Systems’ there is a world of over priced trailers out there. We bought something similar to this one for about £120:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Bumper-Adventure-Duo-Child-Trailer_16301.htm

The kids went in it from about 1 yo and fell asleep almost instantly without suspension, even when being pounded over routes and rocks. When they out grew it I used it to transport logs from a nearby forest and now the kids are old enough to do a bit of cycle camping the trailer carries all the camping gear. It’s as functional now as when we bought it.
There is a chance it may be heavier than something costing three times as much but I never found myself worrying about Strava when hauling two kids along. The only thing I might have changed would have been to spend an extra £30 on the reclining seat model ours was offered with but that would have been more to please my Wife as the kids didn’t seem to care.

bacondoublechee If you wanted a look at the Croozer, Mark Anthony Bikes in Buxton is probably your closest demo centre. They come in two specs the standard has no suspension but the Kid+ has suspension. If that’s a bit of a trek then you can find your local dealer here and get them to ask for a demo model

Gunz – I take your point but it depends on your needs I think..

I paid a premium for my trailer, but I use it 365 days a year.. Doesn’t matter if it’s snowing, hurricanes or floods, I still have to get the kids from a to b warm dry and safe..

I figured that paying extra for build quality and materials was worth it, spare parts availability and bolt on extras were also an important consideration

That’s fair enough Yunki, you’re getting a lot more use than most out of it but I’d wager that you’re the exception.

You can’t always assume that something cheaper than what you bought is automatically worse than the item you bought.

I have a croozer and have no problems with the lack of suspension. If I’m going to be buzzing along forest roads I put a heavy bag in the back which dampens it all down nicely.

Big advantage of the croozer over the chariot is the load space, it’s much bigger. It’s extremely easy to use as a pushchair and a jogger (where the front wheel doesn’t swivel). It fits in the back of our wee roomster, 2 bikes on the roof and the whole family can easily drive away somewhere for a nice day biking.

Daffy – that’s a slightly unnerving amount of photos of your kid in a bike trailer you’ve just shoved on’t net!

got our croozer 2 (no suspension) mint off ebay

used for daily nursery runs, picnics, holidays etc from about 6 months with the baby sling

meant to get some chunkier tyres for it to offer a bit more cushioning, but never got round to it

ive posted it before but heres my vid of my 2 boys at 1.5 and 3.5 yrs
[video]http://vimeo.com/104859583[/video]

I have the Bumper Adventure Duo as well

I don’t use it everyday, but with the amount of use its had its certainly paid for itself

If I’d really planned it out, I could have got a really good one instead of buying all the buggies etc

Hi Brassneck, I am in Stoke on Trent if you are local?

Loving all the trailer pics by the way!

The one Gunz linked is the one I have I think. Been a while! Unfortunately though, I’m near Andover 😀

Hmm Mark Anthony in Buxton, I went there last year for some advice (admittedly not from the shop expert) and the guy in the shop basically started talking about shaken baby syndrome etc. Our daughter was 6 months old and wanted a Croozer to use as a stroller then to progress onto the bike with the baby sling when a bit older. He also told us that the rail trails around Derbyshire aren’t trailer friendly due to walker/bike confrontations.

However, happily we ignored the advice bought a croozer for 2 and it’s been ace. Great as an off road stroller, good on the back of a bike and our daughter just happily drops off to sleep.

Currently looking for a toddler insert if anyone has one.

Jon..I have the small person insert, though give me a week or so as I’ll try to sell it with my croozer first..
(for sale here, BTW!)

DrP