Bike trailer for carrying children

Harrybelafonte

Evening. I need to pick one of these up over the weekend. It's only for a very short journey every evening and need it to be cheap. CRC are too expensive and Amazon won't deliver any of theirs here so I've seen them in Argos and Halfrauds. Anybody got recommendations?

Lumen

Depends what you mean by cheap.

I have a steel Raleigh trailer that does the job well (there is a more expensive alu one that's a bit lighter, but I'm not intending to race it). I think Argos were selling them at one stage although I bought mine from Staggs in Lucan. It cost over a hundred but less than two hundred (I try and forget these sort of numbers, makes it less painful).

davidsatelle100

if your putting more than 1 kid in, make sure you bring them to wherever your getting the trailer. Some of them in Halfrauds are tiny and some have plenty of space

Harrybelafonte

Argos are selling ones around 150 so I might just settle for that. If I recall correctly, you and I spoke about my Alfa before? I've had to sell it and put my 850 T5 of the road due to pay cuts so the bike and this trailer will be my only method of transport. You're happy with your trailer though, yeah? Think a 6 year old would be okay in it?

Argos trailer

Morgan

Something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUnhfvGdmmw

Harrybelafonte

Morgan wrote: »

Something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUnhfvGdmmw

Ian Fleming really did have a twisted mind.

Lumen

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Argos are selling ones around 150 so I might just settle for that...You're happy with your trailer though, yeah? Think a 6 year old would be okay in it?

Difficult to say without actually getting the child in, which might be a problem with Argos.

Mine fits a 2yo and a (small) 4yo at the same time without any bother.

tomasrojo

I got this. I don't have a child to put in it yet, but I will hopefully in a few weeks. It's supposed be good for kids up to about five years of age.

http://www.activekidsgear.co.uk/chariot-cougar-p-92.html



It's really expensive, but converts quickly into a really good stroller in its own right, and very well designed.



Great reviews online. I'm haven't tried it out on the road yet, but I'm going to do a few trial runs with some child-like ballast to get used to it.


Anyway, not what you had in mind, I know, but maybe someone else might find the information useful.

buffalo

tomasrojo wrote: »

Great reviews online. I'm haven't tried it out on the road yet, but I'm going to do a few trial runs with some child-like ballast to get used to it.

Guy in work has that trailer, he's rather impressed with it. Purchased from http://www.cloughjordancyclecoop.com/

First trip (taking it home from the office), he didn't have much ballast, and it toppled when he took a corner too close. I can only imagine the looks of horror on the faces of passers-by.

Harrybelafonte

tomasrojo wrote: »

I got this. I don't have a child to put in it yet, but I will hopefully in a few weeks. It's supposed be good for kids up to about five years of age.

http://www.activekidsgear.co.uk/chariot-cougar-p-92.html



It's really expensive, but converts quickly into a really good stroller in its own right, and very well designed.



Great reviews online. I'm haven't tried it out on the road yet, but I'm going to do a few trial runs with some child-like ballast to get used to it.


Anyway, not what you had in mind, I know, but maybe someone else might find the information useful.

Looks good, but think a bit too much for my guy.

In the end I got one from Argos Extra. Seems fine. Took it for trial last night and I'll need to take it easy for while I'd say.

In case anyone else is interested: Amazon wouldn't ship the trailer I wanted here, most shops needed to order the trailers in. Majority of prices were from 170 to 220. Duff cycles in Santry Omni have a good one in there at the mo for 199, but it was a bit too big for me and out of my budget. Looked very stong though.

tomasrojo

buffalo wrote: »

Guy in work has that trailer, he's rather impressed with it. Purchased from http://www.cloughjordancyclecoop.com/

Ah, that's good to hear.

buffalo wrote: »

First trip (taking it home from the office), he didn't have much ballast, and it toppled when he took a corner too close. I can only imagine the looks of horror on the faces of passers-by.

I can imagine! That's my general experience of trailers though: you do need something in them to stabilise them, but this one does have a lower centre of gravity than my goods trailer. Thankfully. The frame is also effectively a roll cage, and the child is held in with a five-point harness. Still, not features you want to be testing out on the road, are they?

BluePlanet

tomasrojo wrote: »

It's really expensive, but converts quickly into a really good stroller in its own right, and very well designed.

Looks neat, but where do you put your shopping?

tomasrojo

There is a fold-down compartment plus netting at the back! You just have to test whether you've too much weight at the back when using them. Obviously you dont want it falling over backwards. Maybe you can also hang your panniers off the back. Hmm, maybe not!

Anyway, most of the shopping I'll be doing solo with the goods trailer. I've been doing it that way through my wife's pregnancy anyway, so I think I'll just continue.. It's much faster and easier if I go on my own. The nearest supermarket to me is about 2 or 3 km away.

doozerie

The Chariot pictured above is primary a child trailer, so any additional carrying space is limited. Having said that, the fold-down rear compartment has a reasonable amount of space (about 20L to 25L, I'd say, at a guess). The manual advises against filling this with anything weighty though as it'll make the trailer tip backwards when in stroller mode (i.e. when the front wheels are attached and it is being used as a buggy).

The way that the Chariot attaches to the bike (via a very effective ball-and-socket joint where the socket attaches to your rear axle), means that you can still use a rear pannier rack with pannier bags at the same time as towing the trailer.

Overall my wife and I have found the Chariot Cougar 1 to be excellent, and the prices from www.cloughjordancyclecoop.com are very competitive. It is quite visible in the dark too, due to reflective material on the sides (plus reflectors on the wheels and attached front and back too), though we add flashing lights to the back too. For children from 10 to 20 months there is a baby supporter available as an accessory, plus you can buy a bunting bag for extra layers for warmth and wind protection (though the trailer itself is already very weather resistant).

tomasrojo

doozerie wrote: »

Overall my wife and I have found the Chariot Cougar 1 to be excellent, and the prices from www.cloughjordancyclecoop.com are very competitive. It is quite visible in the dark too, due to reflective material on the sides (plus reflectors on the wheels and attached front and back too), though we add flashing lights to the back too.

It's good to hear that other people are using them. I only found reviews from the states and the UK. I was going to ask on here, but didn't in the end. Active Kids was the first place I found that sold them in the UK, so it may not be the cheapest. (That coop link seems to be dead, by the way.)

I've put a bracket for a 1/2 Watt Smart red LED on the stroller push bar at the back. It's equivalent in height to a light under the saddle, so I think that it's quite a good spot. Should be visible from many angles too. I think a rear light for a trailer after dark is a legal requirement anyway. And a red reflector or two.

doozerie wrote: »

For children from 10 to 20 months there is a baby supporter available as an accessory, plus you can buy a bunting bag for extra layers for warmth and wind protection (though the trailer itself is already very weather resistant).

I bought the sling for under 10 months old. Do you think the baby supporter is necessary after 10 months, or just a nice thing to have?

tomasrojo

doozerie wrote: »

The way that the Chariot attaches to the bike (via a very effective ball-and-socket joint where the socket attaches to your rear axle), means that you can still use a rear pannier rack with pannier bags at the same time as towing the trailer.

Out of interest, what do yo do with the panniers after you've locked the bike and are wheeling the stroller? Do you have panniers you can turn into a backpack, or is there something else you can do to keep your hands free for the stroller?

doozerie

tomasrojo wrote: »

It's good to hear that other people are using them. I only found reviews from the states and the UK. I was going to ask on here, but didn't in the end. Active Kids was the first place I found that sold them in the UK, so it may not be the cheapest. (That coop link seems to be dead, by the way.)

I've put a bracket for a 1/2 Watt Smart red LED on the stroller push bar at the back. It's equivalent in height to a light under the saddle, so I think that it's quite a good spot. Should be visible from many angles too. I think a rear light for a trailer after dark is a legal requirement anyway. And a red reflector or two.

I bought the sling for under 10 months old. Do you think the baby supporter is necessary after 10 months, or just a nice thing to have?

D'oh, I had a typo in the URL. I've corrected it now but the typo will have been replicated in any replies to my post. For convenience of anyone else looking to access that site, the correct URL is: http://www.cloughjordancyclecoop.com.

Yeah, we've been adding at least one and sometimes two flashing rear lights to it too. One is attached to the horizontal section of handlebar, the other is connected to the rightmost/outside upright of the frame, in a gap near the top above the reflective material bit. Having one there is useful I think just to ensure that drivers can't mistake where the outer edge of the trailer is. I'm also going to find a way to attach the flag to the same upright, as having it installed on the left/inner side of the trailer makes little sense on Irish roads.

As regards lights in general, I'm waiting on a delivery of some rear lights that provide between 180 and 220 degree visibility, so that the same lights will make it visible from behind, from the side, and maybe even from the front. My concern is the tendency of some idiot drivers to pull out of junctions, or onto roundabouts, right behind the bike in the vague hope that they won't collide with anything - a light attached to the side of the rear upright, with at least 180 degree of visibility should hopefully be visible to even morons such as those.

As regards the baby supporter, I'm not sure we'd be able to safely transport our daughter (9 months old) without it. It is in two parts. One part provides a cushioned lower back support + seat pad + plus cushioned waist supports (much like you get on larger rucksacks), and although it is useful and really helps enclose the baby I think the trailer would still hold her reasonably securely without it. The other part though is a head rest/support, with two parts that sit either side of her head, and this I think is really important to provide adequate support for her head if the trailer ever rolled or rocked badly while she was in it. Using this head support really makes it impossible to fit a helmet to the baby as her head would be forced forward - not a problem for us since we don't put a helmet on her (as we believe the combination of five-point harness and head support is more than adequate) but is something to consider when deciding whether the baby supporter would suit your needs.

tomasrojo wrote:

Out of interest, what do yo do with the panniers after you've locked the bike and are wheeling the stroller? Do you have panniers you can turn into a backpack, or is there something else you can do to keep your hands free for the stroller?

I haven't actually used panniers in combination with the trailer at all, as yet. Where I've had a need to carry anything extra, I've just taken the easiest option of wearing a rucksack. With anything more than one pannier, or a second person, trying to push the trailer as a stroller and also carry two panniers would certainly be a hassle.

tomasrojo

doozerie wrote: »

Using this head support really makes it impossible to fit a helmet to the baby as her head would be forced forward - not a problem for us since we don't put a helmet on her (as we believe the combination of five-point harness and head support is more than adequate) but is something to consider when deciding whether the baby supporter would suit your needs.

I hope that I'm not lighting the blue touch paper of the helmet firework, but yes, I believe that combination is more than adequate. I'll look into getting the baby support in a few months.

Thanks!

blorg

You are all cold-blooded baby murderers, I don't know how you sleep at night.

doozerie

blorg wrote: »

You are all cold-blooded baby murderers, I don't know how you sleep at night.

We don't sleep at night at all. Sleeping at night is so pre-parenthood...

Harrybelafonte

doozerie wrote: »

We don't sleep at night at all. Sleeping at night is so pre-parenthood...

Get them into a routine and you'll be back sleeping within a few months.

6 year old. Helmet, no helmet? Not sure he'd even fit with a helmet.

doozerie

There seems to be a long running issue with child trailers of there not being space behind the head support/area for the back of the helmet to sit into, so a helmet would just push the child's head forward and down. I think that some trailers do have a recessed/cut-away area to deal with this, but some manufacturers just seem to incorporate all of the necessary safety features into the design instead.

It is very much a personal decision though. I believe there are laws in the US that mandate the use of a bike helmet in a trailer, but as far as I know no such laws apply here. Personally, I'd sit the child in the trailer and see whether the harness is adequate enough to hold them safely in place, and whether the frame seemed robust enough to not collapse if it rolled (and any decent safety standard should ensure that a trailer passes both of those tests at the very least), and judge then whether a helmet added any useful further protection.