Kid Bike Trailers-Advice

[HoddyToddy]

Hi all!
If you have a trailer for your rugrats:
Which one do you use? Like/dislike about it?
Do you just tool around town? Do long rides?
What age was your child when you started? Did s/he like it right away?
Mtn. bike? Road? Hybrid?
How well does the child's helmet fit in the trailer seat? My hubby, who is arguing POINTLESSLY with me about our whether we should have a helmet for our 1 yr. old (HELLO! YES) thinks that a helmet would be cumbersome and push his head forward...and that the trailer itself would protect him. Plus he HATES having anything on his head. It is NOT an option as far as I am concerned. But I told him I would ask y'all...I think (hope) that once he (baby) realizes what putting the helmet on means (Ride! Ride!) he'll get over it and get used to the helmet...
We really want to be a "bike family"!
Thanks,
Jenny

[mtbdarby]

Hi Jenny,
Good questions! My little guy didn't want the helmet on either (he's 3) but learned really quickly that no helmet means no ride! They do associate it with going for a ride and will look forward to it. They will adjust to having it on their heads but I find he gets really antsy after an hour in it. Make sure to take along snacks, sippy cups or even some small toys you can attach to the trailer. Plan for areas where you can stop and they can get out and stretch their legs and burn some energy.

I use a hybrid bike with the trailer because that's the one I have my kickstand on. I looked for a lighter trailer and bought a used kids caboose that weighs in at 20 pounds. It has a rain flap and I would have prefered one that had the shaded windows. Ebay has a TON of auctions on trailers so you may want to check them out. Burley is the top of the line, and I've found the Schwin and In Step ones to be the lower end and heavy - 30 pound range.

He fought me tooth and nail the first time we rode. You would have thought I was killing the kid! I rode on the sidewalk a couple of houses down and back and he calmed down. I needed to get an animal figurine that he could "take for a ride" and we were off! He's my little cheerleader - faster mom, you can do it, etc. It's pretty funny.

I think most of them have the roll bars, just make sure they do. A roll bar will NOT protect them without a helmet. I don't see how he can make a good arguement on not wearing a helmet. One "small" accident that slams a baby's head into the pavement and no more baby. Definitely not worth it to any parent. Tell him to tone the screaming out Have fun and enjoy the freedom. I have found pulling the trailer to be a great leg workout on the hills.

[mom2twins]

Helmets are a must! we are picking up our long over due Burley this weekend and I can't wait. My girls are older, almost 3, but I already have them trained to associate helmets with bike rides. They aren't allowed to even sit on their trikes without their helmets on and they always see DH and I straping on ours before we go out for rides. Whenever they see the older kids ride around with bare heads they always ask me where their helmets are.

As for where we plan to go with the trailer, right now the plan is to do one weekend ride together with the trailer on Dh's mountain bike. We will hit the closest rails to trails. I'm tentative about taking the trailer on the street with cars but then I might be overly cautious. I don't even run with the jogging stroller on the road.

[singletrackmind]

Hi all!
If you have a trailer for your rugrats:
Which one do you use? They don't make mine anymore-a Joyrider.
Like/dislike about it?-It's pretty good, roomy enough for a pillow (for naps) but I haven't tried/looked at any others.
Do you just tool around town? Yes, on trails because drivers around here are severely distracted.
Do long rides? Our longest so far was 67 miles
What age was your child when you started? About 6 months
Did s/he like it right away? No, we started with short rides to acclimate-now he LOVES it.
Mtn. bike? Road? Hybrid? Mtn and Road. Mtn's easier (gearing), Road is more comfortable for the long hauls.
How well does the child's helmet fit in the trailer seat? Not as well as I'd wish but not so much of a problem that it bothers him.
My hubby, who is arguing POINTLESSLY with me about our whether we should have a helmet for our 1 yr. old (HELLO! YES) thinks that a helmet would be cumbersome and push his head forward...and that the trailer itself would protect him. We've tipped twice. The seatbelts do help save his body but his head only to a certain degree. There is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that I would risk my perfect little boy's noggin. Brain injuries can not only damage mental and phyiscal ability but it can also change a personality. A brain injury can also lead to early dementia, which did happen to my mom, who was diagnosed with dementia in her early 50's, traced back to a bike accident she had as a teen being the most likely cause.
Plus he HATES having anything on his head. It is NOT an option as far as I am concerned. But I told him I would ask y'all...I think (hope) that once he (baby) realizes what putting the helmet on means (Ride! Ride!) he'll get over it and get used to the helmet... See my avatar? This was his first time wearing a helmet. I have 10 more pics before this one in which he is one unhappy camper. Now he's happy to wear his helmet (bikeridebikeridebikeride!!!) and will even let me know when other people aren't.
We really want to be a "bike family"! YAY!!!
Thanks,
Jenny

Quick tips-make sure you keep correct air pressure in both the bike and the trailer's tires. It makes a HUGE difference!
Have a pillow to one side for him to slump over onto in case he takes a nap.
Drinks, snacks, toys-all good.
Learn to fix your own flats. I've only had one on the trailer so far but it's nice to be prepared. Better than walking home carting something with a flat tire!

[HoddyToddy]

Thanks, all!
I am sooo looking forward to it!
I told hubby this AM that Jack will NEVER be without a helmet, and if I ever find out that Hubby took him out without one, he (hubby, of course) will be sleeping elsewhere!
I did a looksee at Burley's user manual (we're getting the Solo) and apparently it has a "helmet pocket" so no excuse there.
And Jack *will* get used to it, I'm sure!
I want to take it on a couple of centuries in Sept. and do the shorter distance.
Plus, I figure when I ride without it, I'll be smokin' fast after riding pulling a 22 lb. kid in a 16 lb. trailer!
Happy Riding!
Jenny

[Surlygirl]

Hi Hoddytoddy,
Okay, its been awhile since my youngest is now 8, but this was our experience with the Burly D'lite for two. Usually we only put one kid at a time in, and brought snacks, sippy cup etc, toys, like mtbdarby said. Always put a helmet on them. Yes I think it was a design flaw and I don't know if they have fixed it but the helmet does push their heads forward a bit. We also put rolled up towels under their butts since they seemed to slide down even with the harness pretty snug. Most of the time my kids fell asleep on rides. Keep the screen down in front since stuff flying off your tires could fly in their face without it. Watch the Temp inside. Okay when you are moving but stopped they can get hot inside if its closed up. We pulled them with road bikes and mtbs. The trail should be fairly wide and hard packed or paved or they are a bear to pull. Have fun and before you know it they are on their own bikes leaving you in the dust.

[Steph_in_TX]

We had a Giro helmet for our dd...the backs are flat on most baby sizes to help eliminate pushing the head forward. The trailer (I have an In Step) has the helmet pocket, but at 11 months when she first started riding, she wasn't tall enough for her head to hit the pocket. We put folded towels under her and it seemed to work. You definitely need to start slowly with a very little one as their neck muscles are going to need to get used to holding a helmet. My dd seemed to hold it up ok as long as she didn't lean over...she wasn't able to pull her head back up! Then she was ticked off! But in no time, she was plenty used to it and usually fell asleep.

Now at 3, she "reads" books or looks at scenary and doesn't usually fall asleep. I just put a snack and cup in with her and she's good to go. I pull her only with my hybrid and stick to my neighborhood and the nearby bike trails. It's fun to have her talking to me now instead of screaming.

Have fun!

[mtbdarby]

Since we're on the topic, I have a question. My kid caboose trailer is built for two and I only use it for my one son. I've tried my darndest strapping him in right but it just doesn't LOOK like it's right to me. I've adjusted the straps, etc and it looks too loose still like it wouldn't hold him if I tipped over. Any suggestions on this?

I took him out last night for the first time in a few weeks and did he scream again! lol. Didn't take long and he was fine with it though, so we stopped at a park during our ride so he could play on the slides and swings. Good compromise cuz it's hot as hades here. Momma was a sweating machine last night!

Good ideas on the pillow and book ladies - never thought of that!

[singletrackmind]

Yeah, the seat belt won't let him lay down but I put the pillow in there and it props his head up in a more comfortable position when he falls asleep and it lolls off to the side. He's fine the other way too, but it pains my neck to see it bent all crazy like that.

I have a 5-point harness in my two person trailer. My son sits in the middle and the part that comes up between his legs and over his shoulders fits well. The lap belt seems very loose to me, too, as it runs from one side to the other. In both tip-overs he was suspended by this system just fine though his helmet got the tiniest bit of use (yes, we have a new one).

[Saxa82]

we had a bike trailer for our son and we (or I should say I) used it from the time he was about 2-4 yrs maybe even less. Honestly, it sounded like a great idea, but it was a bear to haul. The longest I could ever muster was 12 mi, and relatively flat. It weighed about 25 lbs, plus my bike then was 40 lbs, plus his weight. It really burned up my knees. But it was fun for tooling around.

[RebeccaAnn]

We have a Nashbar trailer that I use several times a week. It was a gift, if I was getting one again I would come up with the $ for a Burley or other name brand. We may need a second trailer before my son is ready to graduate to a trail-a-bike! And the higher-end trailers have some really nice features.

We started using it when he was 12 months old. I asked our doctor at the 1 year checkup if it was okay, he told me I should have asked at the 9-month checkup. 3 months of wasted riding time....

We ALWAYS use a helmet. I will probably let him use the backyard riding toys without helmets but my feeling is if he's leaving the yard, he has to have a helmet. He hated it at first but now accepts the helmet as part of the ride. I put his helmet on last thing before we leave, and take it off first thing when we get back.

The first ride was rough. As many have suggested, use towels behind the baby to keep the helmet from pushing their head forward. He's 15 months old now, we're no longer needing the towels.

Mine loves drinking from the water bottle. On our first ride we went 3 miles around the neighborhood, stopping every 1/2 mile for a water break. After over year off the bike I needed the water as much as he wanted it! We did a couple more short neighborhood rides with lots of water breaks. As he got used to riding in the trailer I increased the time between water breaks.

If he gets bored, and doesn't fall asleep, I'll sprinkle some water on his legs and the floor of the trailer for him to play with. We usually take a stuffed animal and a spill-proof water bottle for him to have in the trailer. Now that he's a little older he is usually happy watching things along the trail and on the streets.

Our longest ride has been 12 miles. I want to increase up to 15 miles with the trailer 2-3 times per week. Then a longer ride by myself on the weekends.

We have a short trail, about 2.5 miles, about 3/4 mile from the house. On most rides we do loops on the trail and a bit of neighborhood riding. Sometimes we stay in our (hilly) neighborhood and do our 3-mile neighborhood loop over and over. I haven't been brave enough to take the trailer on "real" roads yet, although I'd like to work out a good route to my inlaws' house. I'm thinking of putting one of those slow vehicle triangles on the back of the trailer if we actually hit the streets.

One end of our trail has a grocery store and an ice cream shop very close. We plan to stop there sometime soon, probably the first time I convince my husband to ride with us. He requires his own set of rewards, ice cream is one of them.

I'm using my hybrid with the trailer because 1) the hybrid is easier to replace than the road bike and 2) more standover height on the hybrid makes it easier to hop on and off in a hurry. If we were taking longer rides, I'd probably use the road bike simply because the flat handlebar is uncomfortable for me after about 15 miles.