"marcusl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:marcusl said:Hi, I was just wondering if anyone has any experience
they can share riding with a twin child trailer (not a
trailer bike)? I've found a
few
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:that are available on the internet (Burley,
KoolStride/Stop, Pacific, Phillips and Trek have some
but they're just rebadged Burleys - according to the
guys at Clarence St) Any other brands to look out
for?
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Considerations (price, weight (light = $$$), material,
harnesses, hitching method, ability to conert to a
stroller (not essential however)) Any others? I'm
leaning towards the pacific which is
available
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:on deanwoods.com.au for $399 at the moment - for
price, conversion kit being included, bit weighty
though (not a problem considering how slow
i
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:ride anyway) Does anyone in Sydney carry a range of
these?(asking a
lot
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:i know - but i really like to compare side by side)
Obviously i'll
take
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:some for a test spin to guage my own reaction to
dragging around what could potentially be an extra
65kg (45kg capacity + up to 20kg for the trailer
itself - man that's a scary thought!!) AND to make
sure my little girl likes it....shouldn't be a problem
- she absolutely loved the seat we had. We both really
miss our rides together - ever since
my
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:(t)rusty old steed packed it in and I upgraded to a
bike with disk brakes (which prevent the rack from
mounting) Are they really useful
for
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:anything more than bike paths? With the addition of a
another mouth to feed I'll eventually be riding with
two and would like to get the
missis
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:into some touring holidays.....(hmmm around Australia,
harvest
hopping,
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:WWOOFing) Is tipping a real problem if you ride
carefully? what about
in
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:traffic?? I've read the recent post on bike trailers
that some people touched upon these things....can
anyone elaborate? What I suppose I'm really looking
for is of peoples stories using these things....
thanks in advance marcus
ooops sorry for the double post....stupid slow computer
(and operator)
Marcus,
I had one of these when I was in Canberra and we got heaps
of use out of it. Canberra was an ideal location for it due
to the number of bikepaths and I used to stick to bikepaths
and backstreets. I can't remember the brand of the one that
I had but I had no problems with it in the three or so years
that I had it (bought it when my eldest was 1 and could sit
upright on his own for decent periods of time)
My kids loved it and would quite happily sit in it together
for rides of up to 90 minutes or so. They would actually
fall asleep in there quite regularly after the first 15
minutes or so of riding (due to rythmic motion I guess). I
could go out with the kids and I would get a good workout,
the kids would have a sleep, and the missus would get some
time to herself.
I used to attach it to my mountain bike that was fitted with
slicks and I was able to cruise around for a 90 or so minute
ride and achieve average speeds in the vicinity of 22 to 24
km/h. I started to really notice the weight of it as the
kids got bigger (one was 4 and the other 3 when they finally
grew out of it), especially up steep hills when I used to
have to grab the granny cog and spin my way up at a pretty
slow pace. It also dragged quite a bit when going into any
sort of headwind. I found that if I tried to get out of the
seat to climb, it made the trailer rock pretty violently and
so I would concentrate on keeping a smooth pedalling action.
Once mine was fitted it didn't really affect the handling of
the bike apart from taking longer to stop and feeling harder
to pedal. You soon get a feel for the width of the trailer
although I did have a couple of close calls with bike path
bollards in my early days with it. The trailer could handle
some minor off road and dirt roads as long as I took it easy
to avoid bouncing the kids around too much. I also found
that it was possible to go up and down gutters without too
much problem as long as I went slowly (almost stopping as
the wheel dropped) and "rolled" up or down the vertical part
of the gutter.
As an investment it was great....we paid about $400 for it
new and sold it after three years of constant use for $250.
It created a great family activity as we would quite often
put the kids and a picnic in the trailer, the wife would get
on her mountain bike, and we would ride at an easy pace
about 8km to a local park that had a huge playground (At
Gungahlin for those who know Canberra) for a play/picnic.
The kids would have a great time and would generally sleep
the whole way back.
Recommendations:
1. Invest in a couple of correctly fitting helmets for
the kids and always ensure that they wear them.
2. Buy a spare tube for the trailer if you are going on
rides of decent length.
3. The elastic stretch thingos with toys on them that fit
across a pram can be strung across the inside of the
trailer to keep kids amused.
4. Get one that has both a flyscreen and a clear plastic
flap at the front so that on hot days the kids get
some airflow and on cold days they can keep warm(this
may be a standard feature but I am not sure)
5. If the kids are still in nappies, put in a plastic bag
with a couple of spares, wet ones, powder, etc so that
the kids won't have to sit in their own filth for too
long 😉 (On one of my early trips I had to ring the
wife and get her to come in the car as my boy had
strained one that reached his shoulder blades out of
the top of his nappy - glad both the kids are past
that stage now!!!)
