Child's bike trailers...educate me...

[Hard-Drive]

A small squidgy pink human thing arrived in our lives 7 months ago...great times. And then yesterday, I was in the man-cave when I realised that the collection of steel, ally and carbon things dangling from the wall were in fact bicycles, and I used to be able to ride one before the small human arrived. However as the small human can now hold his head up, loves being outside and thrown round a bit, it must be time to buy a bike trailer and get back in the saddle!

So...what to go for? Plan is to take a week off in August, throw tent/bikes/bbq into the Defender (not forgetting change bag/bumbo seat/child seat/play mat/high chair/babymoov/pushchair/28000 changes of clothes/4000 gallons of powdered formula etc etc etc) and go off and find a nice campsite somewhere, and try and get out on some of those horrible green family friendly fire roads that I previously scorned at folling a gnarly day on the reds/blacks with the tyres hooking up nicely/suspension dialled in/(insert other cycling cliches here)

I quite like the look of the ones that convert to a stroller, and this looks OK and cheaper than I expected:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samax-2-Bicycle-Trailer-J...

...however there's lots of steel and nasty bits. At the other end of the scale theres stuff like this...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BURLEY-939301-Solo-Bike-T...

...but I'd rather drop that kind of cash on a bike upgrade!

Any recommendations for a middle ground trailer...like this..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WeeRide-Deluxe-Bike-Trail...

...or are we into pointless diminishing returns and bearing in mind I'll be towing a little'un, plus several pounds of self-accumualted lard around, I might as well just go cheap and be done with it? Or any other general tips about towing small people around?

Tow vehicle is likely to be a 26" Inbred, if that makes a difference at all.

Thanks in advance!

[AlmostUseful]

We bought a cheap ass thing second hand (thankfully, I'll get on to that...) which rrp'd at about £100, we paid £50 I think.
It's basic, seats 2 and can convert to an off-road buggy, but it's all galvanized I think and is fairly solid when it's together. I wouldn't bother spending too much if you don't need to.

I said "thankfully" earlier as my daughter absolutely hated it, didn't enjoy more than a minute or so if the rides we went on so a mate has had it on a borrow for about 2 years. He can have it until my 8 week old son is ready for a go!

[Watchman]

I paid £79 for a brand new one from eBay. It has very rudimentary sprung suspension and 20 inch wheels, both of which go some way towards levelling out rides - important when towing youngsters.

It wasn't light - around 15Kg - but it was robust, and being a double meant our daughter could lie-out inside and sleep... which she continued to do long after she was technically too big for it.

I pulled that thing for about 4000 miles over the years, until finally she could ride for about 15 miles herself. I miss pulling it now and then - we were able to take "stuff" on rides with us, in the "boot" behind the seat. We even did a family shop with it when holidaying at one of those KeyCamp sites in France, bringing several boxes of decent French wine back to our chalet along with great steaks for our evening BBQs.

There are more expensive better ones but really, the cheap one was good enough, and is now being used by my friend to pull a large Alsatian dog along. Dog absolutely loves it - jumps out to run a bit then back in when she feels she's being left behind. She has that look of satisfaction that only a dog can properly pull-off when riding along with their face in the wind.

If I had my time again, I'd buy a cargo bike. Massively more expensive but they are so cool. Either the Bullitt bike or the Butchers and Bicycles leaning tricyle. Your child will sit up front and get a much better view of the world. Search for a YouTube video with "Bullitt bike" and "Ada" - the parent has a video camera trained on his little girl as she enjoys travelling in the box. It's utterly brilliant.

Warning finally - "they" all advise waiting until your child is at least 12 months old just to be certain their neck is strong enough. It's a shakey ride..!!

[Hard-Drive]

Thanks guys, useful advice. I think if I can get a middle of the road one second hand then great, otherwise it will be a more basic new one.

With regards to age, our lad is 7 months tomorrow, but he is big and strong. He's been in 6-9 month clothes for ages now, and is already wearing some 12m clothes. He holds his head up all the time. Personally, I think he'll be fine as long as I ride on sensible smooth stuff, but I'll take advice here from people who have already done this if people have a different view. And obviously if he doesn't like it, he'll say/scream! Seem to get conflicting info here from manufacturers etc...some say 12m, some say from birth! (although that really does seem a bit daft)

[pembo]

I would just base it on the individual, the manufacturers guidelines are just that and probably a bit over cautious.

One thing that came in handy with mine though was a roll of Duck Tape, they might have a stiff neck when awake but then they fall asleep their heads go everywhere. I just used to tape his helmet back to keep it steady so that I didn't have to worry about him flopping all over the place.

[maturin23]

Hi all,

Just wanted to make a left-field suggestion as I've recently been through all the various permutations including a butcher's bike with my three nippers.

The best solution for me (for both road and off-road) is a cross-bar mounted child seat.
I bought one of these and it was fine for my 10 month old and was fine up to 3 to 4 years old.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WeeRide-Mounted-Deluxe-Sa...

Although the worst solution was the rear-mounted seats I found the trailer and butcher's bike restricted where I could go and what I could do, and you're also a long way away from your kid.

The Wee-Ride puts them right in front of you (you can kiss their head whilst you're riding ) - and they're nicely protected between your arms.

It does push the CoG a bit higher but it's easy to get used to. Definitely more manouvreable that the trailer or butcher's bike.

[Craikeybaby]

I can't wait toget my little lad out on the bike with me, although as he's only 7 weeks old I will have to wait.

I was looking at one of those weeride seats, but my boss mentioned he is looking to get rid of his trailer, so I will give that a try first.

[eric twinge]

This may be possibly too big but this is what I use, this is my thread at the time. It's great!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Hard-Drive]

eric twinge said:

This may be possibly too big but this is what I use, this is my thread at the time. It's great!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Looks great, although probably not right just yet for a 7 month old.

Thanks for the alternative suggestions above, but as this is the first time we will have tried this, I just want a simple detachable trailer rather than anything too "dedicated". I really like the look of the trailers that convert to strollers...space in the 110 will be limited, so if I can take just one piece of baby paraphenalia instead of two that's a win. Plus I like the idea of getting him used to it just pushing along in stroller mode, and then building up to the cycling bit.

[Craikeybaby]

How do the trailers/passengers fair with mud/stones being flicked up by the back tyres?

[eric twinge]

there is a mudguard that you probably can't see in that photo on the tube that stops a lot of it, I havn't had any complaints so far. But it is a good idea for glasses or goggles to be worn as well.

[nichio3478]

I've bought one of these, I was thinking of just strapping my 2 month old in her car seat....

Bad idea?

[Watchman]

Craikeybaby said:

How do the trailers/passengers fair with mud/stones being flicked up by the back tyres?

I usually pulled mine with a bike that had full-wrap mudguards. In the wet it didn't matter because we would use the rain screen but in Summer your child will be peppered with grit and dirt if you don't use full-wrap guards.

On a few occasions I used my hardtail, but only with the rain screen protecting the trailer occupant(s).

The only place I was unable to ride with a double trailer was towpaths, owing to them being of such variable width. And of course I never rode with it on the roads either but that was just a choice.

For an experiment that I wish I'd photographed, I had a WeeRide attached to my bike, and the trailer attached to the WeeRide. For the few miles of that particular ride, it worked surprisingly well but it was very flat and I had a (very) little help from the WeeRider.

[benny.c]

We've had a Croozer "Kid for 2" for getting on seven years now. God knows how many miles we've done in it but it's been all over Europe with us and does the school run regularly. It's got a few scuffs and scrapes but nothing has broken or ripped on it and it still moves as good as the day we got it. My tall seven year old can just about fit in it but he's getting heavy to drag behind the bike with his three year old sister! The Croozer isn't the cheapest or most expensive but it's a good bit of kit IMHO. It looks good and the "boot" is big enough to take kit for a full day out.

Edited by benny.c on Friday 22 July 20:37

[SwissJonese]

We've had a Burley d'lite for the last 2 years. Used it everyday to drop off and pickup the twins from nursery. Been absolutely fantastic, fairly lightweight, good suspension, comfortable and totally waterproof. We are about to sell it as they are now too big at over 4 years old to be in it together. You can get a baby carrier seat for it too which protects the head. We also bought the stroller kit for it which was useful when they where asleep and can park up the bikes.

Like the other poster we also now have bought 2 WeeHoo's. They are great fun and allow us to do more big bike trails where the Burley was too wide (couldn't fit through the anti-motorbike gates).

[anonymous-user]

I've got a Halfords twin buggy, circa £99 and it does the job perfectly.

I can't see why you'd need to spend more?

http://goo.gl/qvTdmo

I'd get £50 for it tomorrow if I wanted to sell it.

[Hard-Drive]

CoinSl0t said:

I can't see why you'd need to spend more?

I think I'm still leaning towards the weeride. I don't think the Halfords one folds flat (please correct me if wrong) and steel wheels...well as this is PH I guess it's like buying a front wheel drive car...you just wouldn't! OK comment slightly tongue in cheek but I'd like it as light as possible, and as it's probably going to end coming sailing with us too and probably just end up getting lashed on deck and covered in spray, alloy wheels are a must I think. I also like the multi-use of the weeride.

Only concern is that it's supposed to be from about age 1, our little guy is only 7 months but he is big (9.5kg) so I'd hope he'll be OK.

Anyone on here have any experiences of the weeride trailer?

[anonymous-user]

Hard-Drive said:

I think I'm still leaning towards the weeride. I don't think the Halfords one folds flat (please correct me if wrong) and steel wheels...well as this is PH I guess it's like buying a front wheel drive car...you just wouldn't! OK comment slightly tongue in cheek but I'd like it as light as possible, and as it's probably going to end coming sailing with us too and probably just end up getting lashed on deck and covered in spray, alloy wheels are a must I think. I also like the multi-use of the weeride.

Only concern is that it's supposed to be from about age 1, our little guy is only 7 months but he is big (9.5kg) so I'd hope he'll be OK.

Anyone on here have any experiences of the weeride trailer?

The Halfords jobby does fold flat, mine has plastic removable wheels, the newer model looks like it has metal spoked wheels. You can get a jockey wheel for this one as well and use it as a trolley.

[Hard-Drive]

CoinSl0t said:

The Halfords jobby does fold flat, mine has plastic removable wheels, the newer model looks like it has metal spoked wheels. You can get a jockey wheel for this one as well and use it as a trolley.

Ah, ok, thanks. Sounds like it could well be worth investigating in that case as that does look good value. Thanks for letting me know!

[S10GTA]

Not read fully, but I wouldn't be taking a kid on a bike until they are about a year old. 7 months is too early imho.