CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Looking for info from those brave souls who tow their precious bundles around behind their bikes...
Are they actually useful or just a nice idea that gathers dust?
What are the ones to look for/avoid?
I've heard mentioned trailers which convert into buggies, available/good?
Do they detach easily/fold up small for storage?
How easy/nightmarish are they to take on a train?
Cost...? :-o
Anything else you think I should know ;-)
Thanks in advance...! :-)
Very useful.
I haul two kids back from school every Thursday and the third one cycles home by himself on the bike which I carried down to the school on top of the folded trailer.
I used it to bring number 4 son home from nursery three days a week last year.
We have a fairly basic one. A friend sent it from the states. I changed the hitch from the clamp style which attached onto the nearside chain stay to a CarryFreedom lollypop. The tow bar stays on the bike and the hitch is secured by a lynchpin.
It folds up like a buggy.
Ours does convert to a buggy but it doesn't work well indoors as the drawbar is still attached. Some better models remove the drawbar and are not any longer than a normal buggy.
I've not had any trouble taking it on a train but I'm doing that with a Brompton which also folds up. I don't think the trains have to allow you on but I've never been challenged.
As I remember it's safer than using a seat above the back wheel. Cars give it a wide berth. Boys enjoy being in it. Apparently moving down a hill at 30 mph when you're 6" off the ground is fun.
as any recumbent rider will tell you! Berkley are the classic brand for kids trailers, normally very well reviewed and often available second hand.
I'm happy to volunteer to be the 'human cargo' inside any converted y-frame experiment, providing a roll bar and cake are provided...
We bought a double EBC trailer halfprice/used off someone on forum. very glad we did it. has been excellent value, even if we almost never have kids in it. Mostly used for stuff, groceries, and in case kid's bike needs porting home.
Fold/detach etc all very easy.
BUT, if I were to do it again, I would get a single trailer that converts to buggy. I saw a lot of Burleys in the US (will try to find link). They looked very good.
Reason for wanting buggy conversion is that when you get somewhere, it is nice to be able to leave baby asleep in trailer/buggy and just detach. Otherwise, you have to take sling, or whatever and carry it around...
Babyschale (babyseat for trailer) for sale! PM me.
Hmmm, interesting, thanks :-)
My doubts are:
Would I use it? My hours are not *really* suitable for dragging the wee one to playgroup/childminder/etc (and we have a c*r which Mrs Smudge will use).
For luggage I can use front and rear panniers (and the bar bag and rack!) on the Surly so no *real* need for extra gear hauling capacity.
Would I be prepared to take the wee mite out in traffic when I know how car/van drivers treat my safety? :-/ (never had to consider a child (passenger's) safety on a bike or motorbike, I either was one, or it was an adult pillion :-s )
They are useful for other things too. Last June I had to haul 35 kg of SQA exam scripts to the post office. They were in big plastic mail bags and would have been difficult to carry on a bike but just went where the kids would normally go in the trailer.
Ours has a space for luggage behind the kid's area.
Smudge, you're welcome to borow ours on a long lend if you like while you decide what you think about trailers? We have a S/H Halford trailer. Its serviceable and can take two wee ones. I have the trailer hitch for the bike. Ours has a cloth footwell but others I've rented before we bough ths one off my sister, had plastic footwells.
They are handy for stowing things in when your on a ride instead of carrying in a rucksack.
Haven't tried a child trailer: didn't fancy it as we live in the city centre with busy roads round about. Instead bought a Hamax rear child seat, which is great actually. Now used for second child, and have bought a second seat clamp to swap between bikes, and also a barely used Halfords/Hamax seat off Gumtree which fits a different sized frame.
No car, so have a longtail cargo bike and an assortment of cargo trailers, for hauling heavier/bulkier loads: trailers can be used in conjunction with rear child seat too. Still in the process of rigging up the Ute to carry two kids on the rear deck, just to get around to fabricating a rig to clamp a child seat on for the wee one...
Yeah trailers great!!! I wore mine out!! My 2 loved it. My experience of drivers was that they gave you much more room. Some great comments from peds too. the only down side was people who felt the need to tell you how they felt about the safety of your choice of child transport. I just said "they're my kids I'll put them in mortal danger them if I want" and rode off............
+1 for trailers. The girls loved riding in ours and used to play in it in the back garden. You need to have mudguards if you want to avoid screams going through puddles though. And the double barriers on some NCN routes are difficult to get past. We had an EBC model, its wheels were removable and the body folded up. We seemed to get favourable responses where we went which was mostly along the coast to Portobello or out towards Prestonpans.
Friend of mine cycled Edinburgh - bottom of spain with his sprog when it was barely a year old. He said it was an amazing way to bring the kid up. She's thriving now. The buggy they had had a sort of hammock thing and has now converted to more of a "buggy" style. Will find out what he had.
Don't see why it's defeated? It's on :-)
DaveC, you have a PM! ;-)
Ahhh, I see! :-o
confusion!
Indeed :-D
Not just children....
http://artpropelled.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/goats-on-bicycles-in-africa.html
Took the trailer to Asda, with daughter on tandem. Had forgotten how nicely it rides and corners. V. handy (maybe this should be on the other thread). Also discovered that my knog rear light (three led one) fits very well on the frame. most convenient!
Liz, love that link! thanks
Dead mac pro failure looks pretty lame next to this cargocycle!! :-o
TAKE THAT EEN COMMENTATORS AND YOUR STUPID WASHING MACHINES!
btw, smudge, MR SRD has really liked using the front mounted bobike seat* for the wee'un. He's been in it since before he was 6 months, and still fits (just) at 14 months (but he's about the size of an avg 2 year old).
*acquired from recombodna
Bit late to the party on this one, but based on my experiences riding to work without a trailer and with one (even though mine is a flatbed and empty half the time), I'm not sure I'd be brave enough *not* to have a child trailer if I needed to transport through traffic.
It can't fall over, you get the lane to yourself, etc. etc.
@SRD, yes a mate has a front (crossbar) mounted seat for his little 'un. I'm going to have a shufti at his but my concern is that either my lack of height or the drop bars on the tourer will prevent that working :-/ will have to try and see.
@Dave, interesting observation. Will be interesting to try a trailer and see what effect it has on traffic.
I don't use mine much, so you are welcome to have a go for a couple of days - it will fit any bike that has a rear QR wheel, or a bolt on axle with a few mm of spare thread (i.e. basically any bike)
I recommend trying a commute with it, stick an anonymous empty box on if it makes you feel more comfortable, but you'll soon find that the main danger is forgetting you're pulling anything when you get to a narrow traffic jam !!
Email arrives from 'travelling two" who have become "travelling three" and blagged a trailer.
"Gear We Love - Chariot Cougar 1
We're pleased as punch that bike trailer company Chariot agreed to sponsor our family bike tours with a Cougar 1 trailer.
As soon as little Luke is old enough, this is how we'll be taking him along on our bicycle adventures.
We decided on the Cougar 1 because we talked to many other bike touring families, and this trailer (along with its higher-end cousin the Chariot CX) came up repeatedly as one of the best on the market.
It's too early for us to give a complete review but first impressions are positive. It was easy to assemble, folds down for compact storage and converts quickly from bike trailer to stroller.
Watch the blog later for a full review, after we've had a chance to see how Luke likes it."
Chariots look nice, but even more scarily expensive than the Burley's lol. Especially when you look at the cheaper offerings now and again! (eg Halfords etc).
Watching a couple of Burleys on eblag etc, so fingers crossed :-)
Annoyed to note the freehub (Hope Pro2) on my proposed tow bike appears to have run a bearing after only about 1.5k miles mind you :-< would hope for a reliable tractor given the quality of componentry fitted :-/ ho hum...
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