Bicycle Trailers - any advice??

[almostamom]

Before DS was born, DH and I would ride our bikes all over our community a few times each week. I'd like to take advantage of our nice weather and fresh air and start doing that again. Does anyone have any experience with bicycle trailers? Brands? Things to look for/avoid? I've never even looked at one in a store, so I'm very open to suggestions and opinions.

Thanks,
~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[kellyotn]

There have been a few threads on it. Do a search for the words Chariot and Burley. :-)

I have a Chariot Cougar 2. I chose it over the Burley because they have VERY nice stroller kits and I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Specifically the walking/swivel one is less cumbersome than Burley's. They both have equally nice jogging kits. Chariot has some crazy ones, like an actual "chariot-style" kit for hiking, a skiiing kit, etc. They also have an infant sling for babies under a year, its for WALKING only not biking or running.

The Chariot has a very nice suspension on the frame. I really notice it while walking. The Burley has better cargo carrying capabilities, if you want to take a lot of stuff along or shop, etc. Burley's are more well-known and might be easier to find locally. Chariot also makes Trek's trailers, but I do not know if they are of exactly the same quality.

They are both very high quality and have a great re-sale value. Can't go wrong either way.

HTH!

edited to add, do the search over in the stroller section. :-) Its been talked about over there, I know.

[almostamom]

Thanks for the info - when I did a search I only came up with 2 posts, but I didn't have any brand names.
~Linda~
DS 11/9/04

[brittone2]

We have a Burley D'Lite and have been happy with it so far. It is really easy to attach, and we didn't need a running stroller (you can get an add on kit I believe) as we already have one.

I found ours for $50 at a flea market and it was only used a few times. Even used ones sell for quite a bit more than that on ebay.

It has room to carry a few bags behind the seat which could be nice depending on how you plan to use it.

[kellyotn]

$50 is awesome! Ya did good. The best I could find was $300 for a Burley at a garage sale. sigh.

[ethansmom]

After researching, I thought we wanted a Burley, Trek, or Chariot. However, I happened upon an $80 sale at Target this past summer, and couldn't be happier!

We picked up an InStep trailer/stroller...sorry, I can't remember the model name off-hand. Anyway, it has a fabric bottom - I guess some of the really cheap ones have plastic. It did get good review online.

I loved the Trek one at our bike shop...it was just like a stroller; very plush and supportive. If DS were younger, I think we would have gotten this one, but he was old enough not to need the extra support, KYIM?

We rented a Burley for a weekend, and while we liked it, I really don't see a difference between it and the one we got.

[lizamann]

We have the Chariot Cougar, and I do notice the lack of storage. Most of the time you don't need it, but there is that once-a-year outing where it would be nice to pack along a cooler or something, and you can't do that with the Chariot. I don't know if you can with the Burley, but the pp said it has more storage.

[jec2]

we have the burley bee and have been perfectly happy with it. We bought it here http://www.bicycletrailers.com/ and had a great transaction.

[GaPeachInCA]

We have the SC775 Schwinn bike trailer. We got it on sale for $135. We've only used it a few times, but do like it. The last time we put two large teddy bears on either side of DS and that really improved his enjoyment. He was able to rest against the bears and take a nap. :)

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-5/qid=1134063399/ref=sr_1_5/601-7656454-0528128?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B00007CWJ9

It has a nice large storage area in the back and rides pretty well. We didn't want to spend big $$$ because we knew we probably wouldn't use it that often - just don't have time. I think this was a good choice for us.

Here's DS is in the trailer:
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/31049.jpg

I think you can see why adding the stuffed animals helped his comfort level - it's built for two kids, and with one, the kid sits in the middle, so there's nothing to lean against.

[hobey]

We picked up an InStep trailer last summer as well (probably during the same sale) and we love ours. We don't ride enough to justify the cost of a Burley or Chariot and DS is comfy in the one we got.

Raquel
Nathan's Mom 12/19/03

[Ari]

we have a burley it's the best one out there, I would look at consignment shops they usually have them, or walmart or target.