Bike Trailers

[mimosa]

Bike trailers - I want to take my baby out on a bike trailer, does anyone have any ideas about what to look for? Also at what age can I start, hes only 6 months at present

We have one, and I would suggest that you leave it for a little while yet. They really need to be able to sit up by themselves, and support themselves well. I'd leave it til nearer 18-24 mths tbh. although others may feel differently

I wrote a whole \link{http://swinny.net/Cycling/Child_Trailers\review}, with everything I've read about it, safety guidelines, and what we bought.

You can get some good quality bike seats, that go on your bike, that are good from 6 months. Rhode Gear make them, I've used a Rhode Gear Limo quite a bit.

Bike seats seem safer to me, too, at least in traffic.

I would have thought if he is sitting up in his pushchair he should be fine in a bike trailer. if not you can get them with carry cots so the baby can lie down.

We are looking for one at the moment as well.

I think if you fall and the child is in a bike seat its a long way for it to fall, also can't really sleep on the back on the bike can it?

leog, we have a fantastic bike seat that ds used to sleep in (it reclines)

I'll look up the name for you

here it is - \link{http://www.bikes2udirect.com/A0014.html?id=BkVC7NcL\beto deluxe}

you can fix an infant car seat in some of the trailers so they can be used well before they can support themselves, otherwise a bike seat some of which can attach in fron of the rider.

thanks for hte review Zebra, so now I don't need to research anymore.
Is the Chariot Cougar 2 also suitable for offroad?

Most of the quality kiddy trailers have standard 20" wheels, so you can just put a 20" knobby tyre on them to go offroad. Little little ones very much don't like a bumpy ride, though, keep that in mind.

My babies/toddlers can sleep in the non-reclining seats, but they need extra support (reins-type harness), and they tend to flop around, not very comfy for them.

I reckon it's about 50-50 wrt safety advantage of seat vs. trailer. I can understand what NQC means about cycling in traffic. The thing is, I've fallen off my bike when towing the trailer; the kids looked on in amusement. Whereas, you fall over with a kid on the seat & they get scraped up, too.

The def. big advantage to a seat is you can take your bike with seat on the train much more easily, and some cycle paths have sections which are too narrow for a 2-seater trailer.

thanks for all the advice and info - the review was great Zebrabra. There is more to think about than I originally thought! :)