Child trailer experience and suggestions

[bazzawill]

In 6 - 10 months I am hoping to be in the market for a child trailer for my twin boys. Hopefully this will give me more time on the bike or at the very least mean my riding time is a break for my partner.
I would love to use child seats and get neck rubs and sing songs as John Tolhurst once mentioned but I don't think this is an option with twins
I would love a trailer that compliments the Vs race class. Obviously it will take more energy to pull I am just hoping not unnecessarily so.
Ideally I would have a fully fared ventilated shell with an internal wheel and bearings smooth as silk. Unfortunately this does not appear to be on the market. Perhaps I should go talk to the Pedal Prix club
Currently I am looking at the Thule Chariot Sport Trailer 2 Child just wondering if the tribe has any experience or thoughts.

 

[Charles.Plager]

I can tell you I've got over a hundred miles of pulling a trailer with a kid or two inside with my Sofrider. (I've got many hundreds pulling a trail-a-bike.)

I've pulled a trailer with a road bike before I got my Sofrider. I wouldn't pick the V as the Cruzbike I'd most want to use, but I'm sure it will work.

I just used a not-so-expensive aluminum trailer and it worked well enough.

 

[benphyr]

Hi Bazzawill,

Here's a pile of food for thought from my experience (your results may vary) hoping this helps.

I have used trailers for hauling children, lumber, voting signs, wood chips, metal recycling, etc. For basic function any used one will work, just check that all connectors work properly and have no potential for accidents. Thule is known for quality stuff but I don't know anything specifically about this trailer.

But, the best by a mile that I have ever used is a Wike. Designed, made, tested, manufactured in Guelph, Ontario, Canada by a wonderful gentleman who thinks like many of this tribe and runs his company in the most responsible manner I have ever seen. I have been using an older (no longer in production) model for about 5 years now and am thrilled with the quality of design, craftsmanship, reliability, and fold-ability, but mostly just on how well it works. (I have an old Norco trailer that I use for hauling dirty stuff but it doesn't compare.) Every time I use it I am reminded of how I don't have to think about the Wike because it just works properly every time. If I was buying today for two children this would be the model I would get:

https://wicycle.com/products/bike-trailers/premium-double

Yes, they use good bearings. The Wike that I have is an old model and works great. The model referenced above has even better bearings and design.

Giving a break to the partner is very thoughtful and necessary part of life. And kids love the trailer. Sometimes we go for a ride - sometimes we ride to a park and play there and then ride home.

Pulling a trailer with a cruzbike conversion kit was super easy for me. The hardest part is just propping everything up against a wall so that I can strap the kids in - but that is exactly the same as my road bike or mountain bike (both of which I have used to do the same thing, but the cruzbike is preferable because it is more comfortable.)

All that being said - I don't have a V - only the conversion seen in my avatar but my experience was that pulling the trailer slows you down but that is about it. Call it training. The steepest hill you can climb will be affected due to the extra weight being pulled.

You don't need suspension unless you are jumping potholes, rocks, tree roots, and curbs constantly - kids love the ride and 1.5" tires give quite a bit of air suspension. Pressures can be set fairly low with a low load (whatever max psi it says on the tire would be for if you loaded that tire up on the rear of a touring trike with rider + whole bunch of luggage) If the trailer seems to be bouncing around at all then the pressure is too high. I load up the kids and then balance the air pressure on either side so that if I push down on the top bar then the tires deform but don't pinch flat.)

The wheels need to be outside the pod where the children ride so that they don't stick there little hands in the spokes and other things only kids can think of doing.

With the windshield design of the Wike I have taken the 3 year old home from daycare approximately 6 km in the trailer at approximately freezing temperatures with her just dressed same as she would be outside normally - winter coat, hood, mittens, pants, boots maybe snow pants.

Anyway, hope that helps,

Benphyr

 

[Suz]

I second Benphyr's suggestion. I have the Wike special needs trailer for my son with CP. I don't remember how many trailers I purchased and returned because they didn't pull well or track well and were distracting from the ride. The wike pulls like a dream, the ride will be easy with two small children.
What I'm not sure about is the attachment points on the vendetta. I'm trying to set mine up on my Silvio (currently on the sofrider) but can't find a good mounting hole. I can't mount the attachment through back skewer because the way the stay (? part name) is inset and the attachment doesn't fit. If I knew someone that could machine a smaller attachment perhaps that would work.

 

[Suz]

Thanks Benphyr for posting the link. I just visited the website and it looks like they redesigned a drop down hitch mount that might work with the Silvio.

 

[bazzawill]

Hi Bazzawill,

Here's a pile of food for thought from my experience (your results may vary) hoping this helps.

I have used trailers for hauling children, lumber, voting signs, wood chips, metal recycling, etc. For basic function any used one will work, just check that all connectors work properly and have no potential for accidents. Thule is known for quality stuff but I don't know anything specifically about this trailer.

But, the best by a mile that I have ever used is a Wike. Designed, made, tested, manufactured in Guelph, Ontario, Canada by a wonderful gentleman who thinks like many of this tribe and runs his company in the most responsible manner I have ever seen. I have been using an older (no longer in production) model for about 5 years now and am thrilled with the quality of design, craftsmanship, reliability, and fold-ability, but mostly just on how well it works. (I have an old Norco trailer that I use for hauling dirty stuff but it doesn't compare.) Every time I use it I am reminded of how I don't have to think about the Wike because it just works properly every time. If I was buying today for two children this would be the model I would get:

https://wicycle.com/products/bike-trailers/premium-double

Yes, they use good bearings. The Wike that I have is an old model and works great. The model referenced above has even better bearings and design.

Giving a break to the partner is very thoughtful and necessary part of life. And kids love the trailer. Sometimes we go for a ride - sometimes we ride to a park and play there and then ride home.

Pulling a trailer with a cruzbike conversion kit was super easy for me. The hardest part is just propping everything up against a wall so that I can strap the kids in - but that is exactly the same as my road bike or mountain bike (both of which I have used to do the same thing, but the cruzbike is preferable because it is more comfortable.)

All that being said - I don't have a V - only the conversion seen in my avatar but my experience was that pulling the trailer slows you down but that is about it. Call it training. The steepest hill you can climb will be affected due to the extra weight being pulled.

You don't need suspension unless you are jumping potholes, rocks, tree roots, and curbs constantly - kids love the ride and 1.5" tires give quite a bit of air suspension. Pressures can be set fairly low with a low load (whatever max psi it says on the tire would be for if you loaded that tire up on the rear of a touring trike with rider + whole bunch of luggage) If the trailer seems to be bouncing around at all then the pressure is too high. I load up the kids and then balance the air pressure on either side so that if I push down on the top bar then the tires deform but don't pinch flat.)

The wheels need to be outside the pod where the children ride so that they don't stick there little hands in the spokes and other things only kids can think of doing.

With the windshield design of the Wike I have taken the 3 year old home from daycare approximately 6 km in the trailer at approximately freezing temperatures with her just dressed same as she would be outside normally - winter coat, hood, mittens, pants, boots maybe snow pants.

Anyway, hope that helps,

Benphyr

Looks fantastic, unfortunately it will cost $600 to ship to Australia, still cheaper than the Thule though

 

[bazzawill]

I can tell you I've got over a hundred miles of pulling a trailer with a kid or two inside with my Sofrider. (I've got many hundreds pulling a trail-a-bike.)

I've pulled a trailer with a road bike before I got my Sofrider. I wouldn't pick the V as the Cruzbike I'd most want to use, but I'm sure it will work.

I just used a not-so-expensive aluminum trailer and it worked well enough.

Hi @Charles.Plager I cannot see your image I believe it may be a private photo

 

[benphyr]

I think that if you send pictures of the rear axle dropout (taken from the left side) to Wike you will probably get confirmation of whether the drop hitch solution will work for the V20. If it won't work, I would not be at all surprised if they made you up one to send with your order - they are that kind of company.

 

[benphyr]

Looks fantastic, unfortunately it will cost $600 to ship to Australia, still cheaper than the Thule though

I'm quite sure that you will find the Wike better than Thule as Wike has been perfecting bike trailers for decades (now expanding to a few other products) whereas Thule is high end roof racks, then back racks, trailers - it is not their reason for existence. If you can get the Wike you will never be disappointed in it and it will last through however many kids you have. I sometimes pull my son on a Follow-Me (better than a trail-a-bike) with his bike pulling the Wike. Kind of like a Road Train. Another thought would be to call and ask if they have any discounted trailers available. Sometimes people change their mind on model or upgrade or fabric has a blemish or something and Wike can give a discount. That is how I got mine as an older model that had a blemish and was taking up space at the shop. The owner gave me an additional connection and installed it into my old trailer as well after looking at it because he said the old trailer "hitch" was not safe any longer. That was after business hours by then and out of his extra bits in the shop without letting me pay him for any of it.

 

[ratz]

Adding to this thread's references.

A great lower cost option is to pickup a Burley D'lite <= 2006 model.
https://burley.com/product/dlite-2006/

(After 2006 they went with different wheels with crappy toy like axels)

These are all over craiglist and ebay usually at the end of a season as people's kids outgrow them. They usually go for $50-$75.

These are great because they take a standard 406 or 455 from wheel. That means you can have Quality wheels made for them if you plan a lot of miles. We just sold ours this fall after 4 seasons and a lot of kids miles on them. With the custom 455 wheels I had made for it; there was no problem cruzing down the trails at 16-20mph and keeping up with the rest of the family and that was with two kids on board and pulling them with a quest.

 

[super slim]

What air pressure did you run in the tyres with such a light load?
How did it handle over bumps?
Did the kids ask you to go faster over the bumps???

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi @Charles.Plager I cannot see your image I believe it may be a private photo

Try this one:

 

[ratz]

What air pressure did you run in the tyres with such a light load?
How did it handle over bumps?
Did the kids ask you to go faster over the bumps???

85; just fine, always.

 

[dule0911]

One question about the trailer and hills, if anybody tried it - does it work and up to what grade?
The second child is due in august, so need to think of some solution for them both for the autumn/next spring. Currently it's like this:


With this setup, I get wheel slippage much earlier then when I ride solo (like, 9-10%).

 

[benphyr]

A good trailer rolls nicely and the kids will enjoy it. A poor quality one will be frustrating, may wag back and forth like a dog's tail like my old trailer that I occasionally use for construction materials. The one that I like is Wike (made in Canada - excellent company, excellent products). I only wish I worked for such a positive company.

 

[super slim]

Adding to this thread's references.

A great lower cost option is to pickup a Burley D'lite <= 2006 model.
https://burley.com/product/dlite-2006/

(After 2006 they went with different wheels with crappy toy like axels)

These are all over craiglist and ebay usually at the end of a season as people's kids outgrow them. They usually go for $50-$75.

These are great because they take a standard 406 or 455 from wheel. That means you can have Quality wheels made for them if you plan a lot of miles. We just sold ours this fall after 4 seasons and a lot of kids miles on them. With the custom 455 wheels I had made for it; there was no problem cruzing down the trails at 16-20mph and keeping up with the rest of the family and that was with two kids on board and pulling them with a quest.

View attachment 5903 View attachment 5902 View attachment 5904

A Scottish DF friend swears by his Chariot (now bought out by Thule!) child carriage as it has cantilevered adjustable length leaf suspension for 1 or 2 kids, and follows really well, but speed limited by the following wife!
https://www.thule.com/en-au/strollers/double-jogging-strollers/thule-chariot-cross-_-10202012

 

[McWheels]

1. Although I've not used it on my V2k due to our narrower rear [front] wheels, our experience of the Follow-me Tandem is excellent from start to end. It leans with you, not against you, and gives freedom to let the creature loose when they want. End of this summer we'll probably be selling ours.

 

[benphyr]

Follow-me Tandem is excellent from start to end.

Agreed. The company sent me a replacement part at no charge from the uk bike shop it was purchased from to me in Canada without me asking. ! I wouldn’t use it on the cruzbike because of the narrower rear wheel on cruzbikes (since conversion kit? onwards). I also wouldn’t use it on my conversion kit either as the kids weight pushes me around a little even on my mountain bike.