bike trailers and trail-a-bikes

[stillplayswithbarbies]

We are training for a week-long ride this summer where we will do 30 miles a day for six days in a row.

Last summer, I bought a Schwinn trail-a-bike and an INstep bike trailer for the kids at Target at the end of season clearance for really cheap. It is becoming clear that these brands will not hold up to a week of riding 30 miles a day. The Schwinn is making a grinding noise, and the INstep is just not comfortable and is very bumpy.

We have a 48 lb seven-year-old on the trail-a-bike and a 20 lb almost two year old in the trailer. We'll also have panniers and the trailer packed with gear for a week.

What brands should I be looking at? Burley? Chariot? which is better? I am looking for durability and comfort, especially in the trailer because the baby naps a lot in there. I also want light weight since I am the one pulling the trailer.

We'll be going on a rail trail, so it will be dirt/gravel and mostly flat.

[Avispa]

We got the burley honey bee as bike trailer and we love it. We got it last February, so I can't comment on the durability, but DD seems to enjoy riding it!

[squimp]

Burley is the way to go for the dirt/gravel. We have the Bee and it was great for Sophia. I live in biking world central and the Burley is by far the trailer of choice.

For the trail-a-bike, I have a Trek and it has been great. Sophia is almost too big for it (it wobbles a lot when she's on it) but I think she's quite a bit bigger than L - more like 55 lbs.

[tylersmama]

I have (and love) a Chariot. It's very, very similar to the Burley, but just nicer in a lot of small ways. Ease of assembly/disassembly for one. There are tons of bike trailers around here as well, and my experience has been the opposite of squimp's....there are lots of Burleys and other brands, but Chariots are definitely the clear favorite in these parts. I've been using my Chariot as both a jogger and bike trailer at least 2-3 times a week for 3 years now, and while it's certainly dirty, it's not worn at all. There's tons of storage room, especially if you get a double, and there's an additional storage rack you can buy to put on top.

REI's anniversary sale should be coming up in the next week or two, and they always have the Chariots and accessory kits 20% off. It's pretty tough to find them on sale, so this is a good deal.

[shilo]

another chariot lover here - we've had a cougar 1 for almost 4 years now. there are a TON of cyclists in these parts (sf bay area) and you probably see about 50/50 for the chariots vs. the burleys. i really don't think you could go wrong with either really. both will be work horses for you. both will keep their resale value. the one thing i know the chariot has that the burley didn't at the time i bought mine (maybe they've changed tho?) is that they are designed to accommodate the child's helmet, so that their head isn't constantly being pushed forward - which might esp. make a difference if you're expecting your toddler to be sleeping a lot. both my kids have slept in our cougar on multiple occasions.

one other thing to consider also... is there a likelihood that you'll be wanting to unhitch the trailer and use it as a stroller at all along the way or in other outings? if so, the chariot does this much 'better' than the burley. on the burley, you're stuck using a swivel wheel that gets mounted out on the hitch pole which means you've always got that out in your way - can also make them a bit tippy from what i've seen out at the farmer's market here where i see them every weekend. whereas the chariot has a detachable hitch pole and detachable swivel front wheels that can be rotated down into place giving you a very steady and nice stroller when you get to your destination.

there's probably about 1 1/2 pannier's worth of space in the fold-down basket in the back of the cougar. and like gaye said, you can get additional storage bag/rack that mounts to the handle bar.

fwiw, there is a local family here i see riding at the farmer's market who has a burley d'lite (i think) and then a burley flat-bed trailer hitched behind that. kind of like a train engine towing two cars ;). dunno if you need that much storage for your trip, but i'm sure burley could probably tell you what parts you'd need to tow them in series like that if you want.

hth.

[MontrealMum]

I reallly can't choose between the Burley and Chariot brands as to which is "best".

We started with a borrowed Burley for DS. It was 18 yo. at the time, and DS was the 5th child to ride in it. Obviously, they hold up well :D Mind you, it was minus MANY of the bells and whistles that are out there nowadays. We had to give it back last year because the family that loaned it to us had another baby unexpectedly :yay: So, we checked out options, and since we're in Canada (they're Canadian-made), we went with the Chariot. It has a very high resale value here. Our friends recently sold their single for close to what they'd paid for it! (granted, they got a discount, long story) We do a lot of cycling as well as skiing - and the pulk also went back to its original owners for the new baby as well - so we bought a double Chariot with all the kits.

Just so you know, in pricing them out, the equivalent Burley seems to be slightly less expensive than the Chariot. But I don't know anyone IRL w/a modern Burley so I can't really do a comparison between the two. We never used our Burley to do anything other than cycle since we didn't have kits for it (don't even know if they made them back then). But we've use the Chariot to XC ski (one winter), cycle, and run. We've got the stroller wheels too, but haven't used them yet, though as I said, my friend has one and it's very nice :) Also, surprisingly, the double can fit through many doors, so it *could* go shopping if necessary. I'm also very happy with the amazing harness, and pockets inside and out. I LOVE stashing my extra stuff in DS' trailer!!!

Honestly though, you can't go wrong with either Burley or Chariot. They're really the gold standard for bicycle trailers.

The other brands I see up here are MEC (Canadian sports coop store) and Bell (they're known for making helmets). I really couldn't say much about either though.

Oh, if you're looking for a trailer-trailer (not for kids) BOB does them too. That's what they started doing, and then branched out. Not to make it hard for you or anything :)