experience with bike trailers?

[joystrength]

Feel free to move, mods. Not sure of wher eot post ...

Just looking on some feedback on pull-behind child trailers for bicycles, the kind that attach to adult bikes. We're considering buying one for the bikes we're going to purchase. Pros? Cons ? Experiences?

TIA!!!

[Gretchen]

We just sold ours to our neighbors, since our little ones aren't so little anymore. :eek We've had a trailer for nearly 6 years now, and loved it. I think they're safer than the seats that fit on the back of a bike.

Ours was made by Winchester - looked just like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3685999908&category=64648

In ours, one seat was forward facing and one was rear. The two kids looked at each other that way and had independent leg room, which seemed to be a good thing. But I think it works fine if they're both forward facing as well.

Can't really think of any cons to having one. I did okay with ours until my children's combined weight got over 90 pounds, and then it started to be really hard work. Most of the time DH had the trailer and that was nice because it made things a bit harder for him so I could keep up better. :mrgreen

Any other specific questions?

Gretchen

[joystrength]

Thanks, gretchen.
What ages were youre children? We have a 18 mo and a 3 yo. Would this work?

[Vipers_Princess]

We loved ours. Unfortunately, so did a neighbor who stole it. :hissyfit I will say this much, it was a real *treat* to carry it up and down the concrete steps in our second floor walk-up...

We plan to get another one when Emma is old enough to ride that way. Until then, I guess I'm on foot...

[Gretchen]

Thanks, gretchen.
What ages were youre children? We have a 18 mo and a 3 yo. Would this work?


That would be great! We got ours when our daughter was 15 months old (she's now 7!). We stopped using it for the two of them together when they were 3 and 5.5. They are big kids, though, so their combined weight was about 95 lbs. We used it for a while with just my son, and now he does great on the tagalong, so we don't need it any more.

It took both of mine a while until they really liked it when they were little, so when you take your 18 month old out, I'd start out with short trips, loops around the neighborhood, etc. so you're never that far from home. But after not too long both of it figured out that this was a lot of fun. :tu

Gretchen

[MidnightCafe]

We have one & love it! It was a gift from DD's grandparents for her 1st birthday. She started riding it in not long after that. So your kids should be fine. Have fun!!

[KaelynsMommy]

We LOVE ours and DD also loves it! We bought ours at Costco a couple years ago. I have no idea what model or brand it is. We started using it when Kaelyn was about a year and a half although she had some trouble keeping her head up with her helmet on. :mrgreen But she still loves it and it's nice because she can be fully enclosed so that she doesn't get the wind right in her face. She is 3 years old.

[joystrength]

Thanks, ladies.

Kaelyn'sMommy ... our Dc's share a birthday. My DS is 3 yo, too. I have to tell you, I might have to "steal" your daughter's first name. It's BEAUTIFUL. I have two "K" names with my first two. And I have a boy's name picked out for the next one, but ... I LOVE the way you've spelled Kaelyn.

Thanks for the info on the trailer.

[TheSweetLife]

At what age can they start using these? Also, (this might be a really dumb question) do they have to wear helmets while in them? Anyone have comments on the best places to buy one?

[Iarwain]

We have...3. :O Two are Winchesters (like a pp) and one is a cheap-y from Target. (the two Winchesters were given to us, it's not like we're throwing all kinds of money around on these things!)

I really, really like our Winchester trailers. I used to ride my bike to the grocery store when the twins were little and there is room behind each seat for a bag of groceries to fit easily. There is also plenty of leg room. It folds up very nicely to take on vacation and gives a nice smooth ride. It is not too heavy because the floor is canvas instead of plastic, but it is firm enough that the fact that it is fabric is not a concern in most cases.

Our cheap trailer (don't remember brand) has a molded plastic bottom which is nice when we're camping and hauling five gallon buckets of water, but is hard and uncomfortable to sit in for very long and heavier and doesn't fold up as nicely. The reason we got it is that it has the stroller conversion and the price of a new trailer was less than the conversion kit for the Winchester trailer. We use it most as a jogging stroller that can handle rough terrain. It also has less leg room than the other trailer and the hitch mechanism is very poorly designed and doesn't fit my dh's bike well but we manage with it anyway. There is no cargo room in this one. All in all it's pretty lousy if you're going to use it a lot, but if you're not or will use it mostly for short trips near home it would do the job just fine. Another plus to the hard bottom is that I did a few times manage to strap an infant car seat into it for short trips, but I wouldn't really recommend that.

I have a friend that has a Burley trailer that she just loves. The quality is similar to the Winchester. Both brands are quite expensive compared to the ones you find in discount stores and many sporting goods places and the like. The quality is very, very good however and they are built to last. Our first Winchester had been in continuous use for YEARS when it was given to us (third-hand) and we used it continually for a couple more years. We still have it, it just needs some work. Having had both nicer trailers and a bargain one I certainly prefer the nicer ones! But the less expensive ones would be perfectly satisfactory for most people.

Oh yeah, check the weight limit before you buy. They vary and that can make a difference. Our better trailer holds up to 100 lbs, the cheap one only like 75 or 85 I think. We definitely used the extra weight limit at times.

[Happy Mom]

we love ours. Its a cheapy from Walmart (99.00) but I'll only be hauling Piper now, so its great. Love it!!

[MidnightCafe]

Ours is an InStep from Target - about $100. It folds up really nice, has plenty of leg room, has the fabric (nylon, I think) seat - not the molded plastic kind - and has room behind the seat for carrying whatever (groceries, diaper bag, beach towels ;) ). Just wanted to let you know that you don't have to get an expensive one to get all those features. Our does not convert to a stroller, though, and I've heard that Burleys wear better. I can't tell the difference at this point, though.