Anyone any experience of bike trailers?

[Mrs H]

Hi guys, hope evryone is doing ok. Just a quick question, now we have moved house we live a mile away from our son's school. We are talking about getting a bike trailer (one of the ones that 2 kiddies fit in) so as we can cycle him to and fro school. He is only 5 and i dont think he is confident enough to ride his own bike there and back. It would also mean that we could cycle into the local village to the park with the girls during the day all without using diesal. We drive a 110 landrover defender and she is thirsty enough for small journeys. We talked about getting a smaller second car but we dont want to have to pay out tax, insurance etc for another car. Hubbie and i are both trying to get more exercise so it might kill two birds with one stone!
Does anyone have one of these? Are they any good? We have found a new one on ebay for £70 and i worked out we would make our money back on it in approx 2mths. Is it all too good to be true? I know we would have to motivate rselves to do it but we are so focussed on making money go further that i cant see it being a problem. xxx

[sarahkeast]

I had one when my teens were little, it was great. Only really used it on local roads and cycle trails, not sure how I would feel about busy streets. They always wore cycle helmets in it and were able to take books, drinks etc. Make sure you get front screens and water proof covers. You can also load it with groceries, pets, anything else that springs to mind. It does make cycling a bit harder work, but def worth it.

[jamesb]

will still have one, our son is 3 now and loves it but to be honest if you are both going out I would get child seat for each bike, easier in traffic than a trailer

James

[mrsflibble]

We had one for a while, but sophie got so heavy I was unable to pedal enough to pull her (hip dysplasia so can't put too much strain on either of them).

I#'d say if you're using it on busy streets, go for one with the gap for helmets because some don't have one and it leads to a very uncomfortable and gumpy child. by gap I mean like in a Croozer, the back of the seat rests at average shoulder height.

http://www.croozerdesigns.com/kid-for-2.html

this one is nearly the same with the back of the seat height, and is cheaper, but not actually the same... and tbh, the clips on the wheels and bike-fixing doohickey arn't great.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PLPz1

and this is the kind completely uncomfortable with helmets on...
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165542

[jamesb]

we have used a chariot one, expensive aluminium made from canada but excellent trailers

James

[mrsflibble]

Addendum.... I stopped using sophie's helmet after a while as my trailer was the kind with the high back... but then again, it was mainly for cycle path use. Basildon is amazing for cyclists.