Child Trailers?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Don't want to be faffed with posting on another forum just at the mo (assume you have to register?), but for what it's worth, cab, you can pass this on. I once saw a trailer with two kids in overturn - it was being towed round our tryout track by a woman whose older son decided it would be fun to ride into it (shoot for brains...) and she rode it into a kerb. Both kids, while a bit surprised, were perfectly unharmed, because they were strapped in and the trailer acted as a rollcage. That was the only time I've ever seen one tip over.

And cars do give them a wide berth. I carried some shopping in one once, it was great!
 
OP
OP
Cab

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Cheers Paul/Arch, I'll pass that on.

You know how it is, when you see questions posted on a forum where more informed answers would be forthcoming elsewhere. What is the correct etiquette for dealing with that?
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Pretty much what you've done I'd say - point the person to a better source of info, but also provide a quick synopsis...

I've also heard a few people say, BTW, that putting the kids in the trailer and doing a few turns round the block can be a good way to get them off to sleep. Like putting them in the car..

Also of course, when the kids grow up, or aren't using it, you have a useful trailer for shopping etc...
 

papercorn2000

Senior Member
With Mr. P here. My daughter loved it (when she could stay awake!) it's more stable than a rack-mounted seat plus you have space for lunch, water, spares, raincoats etc. on a family day out. She's now outgrown the trailer and onto a tag-a-long. Trailer has been passed on to a pal with a younger kid.
 

PrettyboyTim

New Member
Location
Brighton
I've almost always found that drivers are very courteous to me when I am pulling my son along in our child trailer. They'll often stop to let us cross at crossroads and to turn right in front of them, and normally give us a lot of clearance. I don't think tipping over is a problem as long as you take corners at a sensible speed, and I'm sure the whole fumes thing is a red herring. The trailer is at a similar level to pushchairs, and the trailer is always at least a couple of bike lengths (normally much more) from any exhaust pipes in front. As the exhaust comes out hot, it rises pretty quickly so I'd guess it wouldn't affect anyone down at that level.
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Trailers are very safe, IMO. I used to collect miniMikey the pikey in a Burley D'Lite from nursery school, a 6 mile round trip. Plus the shopping.

Here's a safety report from Germany:
http://www.londonskaters.com/cycling/article-child-trailer-safety.htm

Much safer than child seats, according to this.
 
A couple of comments if I may.We have had some problems with a particular brand of trailer on our roadshows this year. A previous buyer sourced some cheap trailersfrom Raleigh P+A to replace our tired but perfectly reliable Burleys. They've been a nightmare. All the cheap far eastern manufed trailers are copies of either Burley or Winchester. Winchester trailers were designed a looong time ago when most bike frames were steel, steel chain stays are narrower than aluminum stays. Trailer hitches poorly copied from the winchester clamp and rendered in substandard materials do not attach very securely to modern alu frame stays. In fact they fall off. They are not safe.

There are three main hitch types; (1) Winchester stylee stay clamp.
(2) Old style Burley, a bracket which fits inside the rear triangle near the drop out.
(3) New style Byrley, attaches to a wee bracket which sits under the QR nut or axle nut, introduced because the old one was not compatible with disc brakes equipped bikes.

Dont go buying a trailer before at the very least having it attached to the proposed tractor bike.
Dont buy a trailer from Argos, Halfrauds or Raleigh P+A. They are all sh!te.
Burley are great as are Chariot and Winther. Try and get an old style Burley clamp if you run without disc brakes, they are still available to special order.







We have some ex fleet trailers if anyone is interested.....................
 

PrettyboyTim

New Member
Location
Brighton
mickle said:
Trailer hitches poorly copied from the winchester clamp and rendered in substandard materials do not attach very securely to modern alu frame stays. In fact they fall off. They are not safe. QUOTE]

My £60 eBay special had a clamp-based hitch, and I quite agree that they aren't safe. Granted, my son lost the tightening nut, and I had to replace it with a large wing-nut, but even tightening the nut as hard as I could with a pair of pliers, the grip on the hitch still wasn't that great. The hitch came off twice when I was towing my son - both times the failsafe leash prevented the trailer from careening off down the hill behind me, but both times the hitch got twisted up in the spokes of my rear wheel with a sickening crunching noise, requiring the wheel to be serviced each time.

I feel much safer with the carryfreedom hitch fitted.
 
U

User169

Guest
Rather than going down the trailer route, I gave one of these a test-drive yesterday....

http://www.bakfiets.nl/eng/models_cargo_bike_long.php

Room for three kids and you can also fit a baby seat. Takes a bit of getting used to the steering, but pretty straight-forward all in all.

Mrs Delftse and I are, however, a bit hesitant at the price - probably about 2000EUR all told.
 
Top Bottom