child bike trailers - any comments?

[Thepuddingchef]

Hi, was thinking of getting a bike seat or trailer. My dh has just gone off on one saying that the trailers are dangerous.....etc etc.... does anyone have one and are they as good as they look, or are they a bit risky...has anyone had any problems or incidents with one?

re:the safety issue...I need to convince my dh....he thinks they are death traps for kids...I think it would be great.....thanks for the link.

I just had a look at the kangaroobike....fecking hell, it looked expensive!

I think he thinks that cars wouldn't see that you were towing something and cut in...something like that, prob judging everyone by his driving standards
To be honest i'm not sure what his arguement is....he swiftly departed when I questioned it!

I have been using a 2-seater Burley almost daily for the last 3 months with now 11 month old and a 3 year old. No problems at all. As loopymumsy said cars/other traffic give you acres of room - far more than they give an on it's own bike.

Also I feel far safer than a bike seat of which I am not a huge fan - although I used one with my eldest under duress. I am quite short and found the change in balance a nightmare with a seat on the back of the bike plus weight of child.

I am not sure how to help you reassure him on the danger point as I am not sure what his concerns are/can be. Bike can tip and trailer stays steady. Children are strapped in with a 5 point harness and there is a roll cage within the structure of the trailer. It is highly recommended that the children wear helmets within the trailer too. What are his specific concerns?

Sorry x-posted. Honestly cars see you for sure - you are brightly coloured with a bloody flag flapping of the back at about 10 feet from the pavement. Also because you are wider you are more in the middle of the road than at the side so there just isn't enough space for impatient gits to squeeze past so they don't try and you toddle on quite happily.

I suppose it might depend where you live and when you are cycyling to be fair - i.e rush hour in London might be a slightly different experience !

Kangaroo Bike looks nice..... but does it have brakes 'cause you need to drop those gears at the slighest incline with the extra weight.

brakes I am sure it does it was more gears I was concerned with.

men are very funny creatures....i'm off to discuss in more detail, esp armed with your input, and the other links I have searched for on here.........i'll get my own way i'm sure

I have a seat on the front of my bike (Safe-T-Seat).

Didn't like a seat on the back. Couldn't see what DS was up to. He couldn't see where he was going. Found it difficult to balance when he twisted round to look at things.

Much easier on the front.

DS is nearly 4 and a tall, solid boy and is still fine in it.

HTH.

Another bike with a front carry for children but slightly cheaper at around £1100

www.dutchbike.co.uk/Family1.htm

We have a trailer- single child CTS. Its fab, we took it on holiday and toured for 10 days camping in france, I use it a couple of times a week for the 5 mile round trip to town, when boy is with Childminder Dh takes him there and I collect him the trailer stays at CM during the day and we both cycle to work, couldn't do that with one car! Viabalitiy dosn't seem to be a problem get given loads of space normally more than needed. Get loads of attention and pointing at tho,so not for the shy.
I did try a bike mounted seat with teh child infornt of me, I didn't like it, I couldn;t reach my gears properly or my secondry brake levers at all or the main brake levers as well as i wanted.never put boy in it all all. However I have drop handle bars, the friend i borrowed it from had a mountaoin bike and used it every day to take her boy to and from Childcare.
rear bike seats - Dh is adamently agaist having had his littlest sister on one as a teenager and having problems with teh dynamic load. Having spoken to mums who do use them with 2 yr olds it seems they are OK till your child throws their weight around or tickles you.

Kids love them. Fine on the flat. Then we moved to a very hilly town and haven't used it since - far too heavy for me to pull up the hills and lethal going down!

Hills depend on the cyclist towing. We are in Exeter which is V hilly but have bikes with good brakes & touring gear ranges and are both strong cyclists who use our gears. Up hills make me hot but I can get up them slowly, down I just have to remeber I'm towing and take it a bit slower or teh trailer starts to sway ,boy doesn;t like that and shouts at me.

difficult one, i personally dont like trailers as cant see what is happening behind you plus cant trust car drivers to see you however bright the colour might be.

I opted for a bobike mini DD is 2) and maxi (DS is 4) (front and back bikeseat) and have saddle bags as well. Bike plus all gear costed round £700 and has paid itself back within a year (petrol, parking etc..) See www.bobike.nl

Bouhgt it from a Dutch bikeshop and saved about 40% as very expensive to get here.

You are just as much at risk from being run over by a car with either a trailer or a seat.

The other links are good, however if I had that kind of money I would definately go for this kind of bike Nihola bike as they are 2 wheels in front which makes it so much easier to balance with children and shopping in there. You can also get them so that you can attach a car baby seat.

has anybody used the back bikeseat suitable for 2 kids? I would be worried that the front wheel might come off when going up a steep hill (which I have to do)

I too would be VERY worried about the front wheel lifting with 2 kids on the back rack. mine lifts with full rear panniers( 20kg +) unless I have some thing in front panniers ( even 4/ 5 kg seems to do it).