Recommend your bicycle trailer, please

[BabbyO]

We are thinking about getting a bicycle trailer to pull the kids and looking for recommendations. Money is tight, but we are thinking that when people ask for ideas for DS2's birthday we can tell them we'd love $$ toward a bike trailer (this is family people, I mean, who are truly asking for suggestions and won't mind giving $$).

We may look at getting something on CL used if anything is worth it...

So please recommend your favorite bike trailer and share any things/features I should be on the look out for.

Our boys are 3 yo and almost 1 yo. (so we need a trailer for 2).

[brittone2]

We bought a used Burley D'Lite years ago. I paid 50 bucks for it at a flea market of all places. We had just been talking about buying one, and there was one there in VGUC for a fantastic price. We are still using it 7+ years later. DS2 and DD both ride in it sometimes (ours is a 2 seater)

I would probably see if you can score a better brand 2nd hand vs. a less well-made brand new (if you don't end up with enough $$ to buy new after the birthday). eta: I should add DH is a serious cyclist, and will sometimes take the kids out on long rides. If you just ride casually or around the neighborhood, brand probably doesn't matter as much.

[wellyes]

I got ours on Craigslist. I believe the brand is Rhode Gear. It is absolutely fine. I think we paid $80ish.
Just make sure it's designed to not fall over if the bike falls over. If I crash, the kids aren't affected.

I think 12 months is the minimum for using a trailer. Not sure. Make sure the baby is strong enough to sit, unsupported, with a helmet.

[elliput]

I have a Burley Bee (http://www.burley.com/home/bur/page_306/bee.html), which is the base model. For the casual user who doesn't care if the trailer can convert to a stroller, this is an economical option.

[Binkandabee]

We have the instep Quick N EZ trailer and it's been fine. We bought it new at Target on clearance...paid around $50.00 for it, I believe. I've recently seen an Instep bike trailer on clearance at Target, but I don't recall the model. I'd definitely check Target, though!

We're not avid cyclists, just don't want to leave DD#2 out on our evening family bike rides, so this is perfectly fine for our needs. Any trailer would be fine really. It was there, it was cheap, and we were in the market so we went with it. Turns out, it actually gets great reviews on Amazon!

[BabbyO]

I got ours on Craigslist. I believe the brand is Rhode Gear. It is absolutely fine. I think we paid $80ish.
Just make sure it's designed to not fall over if the bike falls over. If I crash, the kids aren't affected.

I think 12 months is the minimum for using a trailer. Not sure. Make sure the baby is strong enough to sit, unsupported, with a helmet.

I asked our ped about the bike trailer. She said as long as he's properly restrained and has a helmet he should be fine. When I asked her about age, she said she has patients as young as 6 mo who's parents are avid bikers and take their kiddos with them.


I have a Burley Bee (http://www.burley.com/home/bur/page_306/bee.html), which is the base model. For the casual user who doesn't care if the trailer can convert to a stroller, this is an economical option.
Good to know. I was wondering about this one.

[MontrealMum]

I asked our ped about the bike trailer. She said as long as he's properly restrained and has a helmet he should be fine. When I asked her about age, she said she has patients as young as 6 mo who's parents are avid bikers and take their kiddos with them.

This is some seriously misinformed advice on the part of your ped. This issue regarding not biking with children until they're at least one is actually CAUSED by the bike helmet. A child younger than that does not have a neck that is strong enough to support both the weight of the head plus the weight of the helmet. This is why unless you have a child with an incredibly large head-for-age you're going to have a heck of a time finding a helmet that properly fits a child under the age of one.

Read this for more info: http://www.helmets.org/little1s.htm


That said, we have a Chariot Cougar 2 (http://www.chariotcarriers.com/en/US/Products/Sport-Series/Cougar/CT_10100917) and we love it.

[ha98ed14]

We have a burley bee single and it's perfect for DD. We use it every other day. It's been great for the two years we've owned it. The other option was a chariot, but I didn't want to pay that much and we didn't need to convert it to a stroller, which chariots are good for. TylersMom was the one who recommended it and she does tris and is super into biking, so she knows her stuff!

[BabbyO]

This is some seriously misinformed advice on the part of your ped. This issue regarding not biking with children until they're at least one is actually CAUSED by the bike helmet. A child younger than that does not have a neck that is strong enough to support both the weight of the head plus the weight of the helmet. This is why unless you have a child with an incredibly large head-for-age you're going to have a heck of a time finding a helmet that properly fits a child under the age of one.

Read this for more info: http://www.helmets.org/little1s.htm


That said, we have a Chariot Cougar 2 (http://www.chariotcarriers.com/en/US/Products/Sport-Series/Cougar/CT_10100917) and we love it.

Well, we decided to wait until he was 1 due to the conflicting info we were getting. He'll be 1 in less than a month, and I'm sure we won't be buying the trailer this weekend. I do appreciate the link, though. I hadn't come across it when doing my research.

[ncat]

we have a Burley single that we bought on Craigslist.
My goal is to sell it for about what we bought it for.
However, we may keep it indefinitely to haul stuff around in - e.g., groceries, camping gear. whatever.

[boilermakermom]

We have the instep Quick N EZ trailer and it's been fine. We bought it new at Target on clearance...paid around $50.00 for it, I believe. I've recently seen an Instep bike trailer on clearance at Target, but I don't recall the model. I'd definitely check Target, though!

We're not avid cyclists, just don't want to leave DD#2 out on our evening family bike rides, so this is perfectly fine for our needs. Any trailer would be fine really. It was there, it was cheap, and we were in the market so we went with it. Turns out, it actually gets great reviews on Amazon!

exactly. the Instep trailer is great! We got ours at Dick's. They price matched the amazon price.

We also bought a Trek one on craigslist. Got a great deal!