Trailers! Trailers! Trailers!

[Tuckervill]

Who would have thought any state would have enough time to regulate such a thing? Oh, right, California! In Arkansas, our legislature only meets every other year!

Karen

Oh, it can definitely fit and that is how many people go riding the first year. But it's against the law in my state -- or at least, it is against the law to do it safely (go figure). It is not safe for a baby under a year old to wear a helmet, because they don't have the neck strength, and it is very unsafe to wear a helmet in a carseat. (The seat isn't meant for a helmet so it pushes the neck forward.) California law doesn't prohibit babies under one year in bike trailers, but does require bike helmets for any kid riding in a trailer. So we'd either have to break the law or be unsafe.

My personal feeling: a baby in a carseat secured into a trailer, without a helmet, is just as safe as an older kid wearing a helmet in a trailer. And I am not really above scofflawing if there is a good reason. But she's not ready to ride in the trailer for reasons unrelated to safety, anyway. (She doesn't even like to face forward in a stroller -- she is still young enough that she really needs to be able to see Mom or Dad when the world is too overwhelming.)

[sgtiger]

Why is that bad? I would think it would be better?

And the Doggeeeeee Tote is made in USA!

My $0.02 for what it's worth:

I'm not sure if the same problem would exist with the trailer as we have with our tag-along bike that is seat post mounted but having the attachment there seems to affect Dh's center of gravity enough that he has to compensate for it and he really feels it when DS is wiggling around. Friends who have tried both the seat post mounted and rear-rack mounted tag-along bikes prefer the rear-rack mounted ones because the additional weight is then distributed over the rear wheel which they have reported feels more stable. I know with our Chariot, which is mounted on a rear wheel skewer attachment, I do not have any issues with DD's movement affecting my balance. Then again, the problem might not be as bad with the trailer because the weight of the load is lower and distributed between two wheels and the seat-post mount, as opposed to the load being only on top of one wheel and it's attachment point.

Perhaps someone who understands the mechanics of it better can chime in and explain it better.

[KnottedYet]

The Summer 2007 issue of The Practical Pedal had a nifty article about trailers, trailer physics, etc., and had a big influence on my trailer preferences.

I'm sure there's an online version, too. (I have the paper one)
www.practicalpedal.com

[DebW]

My $0.02 for what it's worth:

I'm not sure if the same problem would exist with the trailer as we have with our tag-along bike that is seat post mounted but having the attachment there seems to affect Dh's center of gravity enough that he has to compensate for it and he really feels it when DS is wiggling around. Friends who have tried both the seat post mounted and rear-rack mounted tag-along bikes prefer the rear-rack mounted ones because the additional weight is then distributed over the rear wheel which they have reported feels more stable. I know with our Chariot, which is mounted on a rear wheel skewer attachment, I do not have any issues with DD's movement affecting my balance. Then again, the problem might not be as bad with the trailer because the weight of the load is lower and distributed between two wheels and the seat-post mount, as opposed to the load being only on top of one wheel and it's attachment point.

Perhaps someone who understands the mechanics of it better can chime in and explain it better.

I'll second that. I've ridden both with a child in a trailer attached to the rear dropout and with a child on a trail-a-bike attached to the seatpost. The trailer is perfectly stable. The trail-a-bike is not. Probably due to the high attachment point at the seatpost combined with the high center of gravity of the child. There also seems to be some play (or dual stability?) in the way the trail-a-bike attaches, because you can see and feel the trail-a-bike lurch from one side of the adult bike to the other when the child moves. I've also found that the drops feel more unstable than the hoods when towing a trail-a-bike (because they are below the seat post attachment point?).

Can someone name a brand of trail-a-bike that doesn't attach to the seapost?