trailer or bike seat for 1.5yo?

mailmannz

The missus is dead set against me purchasing a trailer for our 1 and a half year old (so she can come with me when I go for a ride).

She keeps on harping on about being run over by cars and the like and I keep telling her that if a car is going to hit the trailer, then its also going to hit my bile where the baby seat would be anyways!

So...any of you got any ideas on how to sway the wife over to the dark side (and support the idea of getting a trailer for next summer)??

Any help would be really appreciated.

Regards

Mailman

kevinharley

Your wife's got a point, inasmuch that a cycle-trailer is lower and wider than a bike, so a car hairing around a bend will need to swerve more to get around it (if its going too fast to slow down in time) ... and its more difficult with a trailer to take evasive action (ie diving for the hedge / verge) if you hear a car coming up behind you too fast!

On the other hand ... we have a trailer (a Chariot Cougar 1) which we've used since our baby was 3-4 months old ... which has been utterly fab! Its been great for the three of us to get out together and our daughter is so content riding in it. We have only used it minimally on the road (both of us are fairly wary cyclists on the road ... we prefer being off-road anyway, and living in Leeds there's just so much traffic, junctions and accidents waiting to happen that are outside of our control), and I feel very uncomfortable taking it on the road ... but itts great for tow-paths, or mild off-road bridleways etc.

We have also just ordered the ibert safe-t-seat (there are a number of threads on the 'family & kids' section of the forum debating the relative merits of different types of seats and trailers. I imagine we will still use both ... but I think I will feel safer on the road, with the safe-t-seat (its mounted on your steering stem, so your baby / child sits in front of you, between your arms)

In terms of convincing your wife, talk about the opportunity of bonding with your child, sharing a common activity, being out in the great outdoors etc ...

hucking_fell

I've never used a kids chair on the bike. I've got a loan of a friend's trailer which seats 2 and I've used it a fair bit. Only on cycle paths and the like. Not on roads. Going slowly the kids are happy but go too quickly and they get shaken about. My son quickly got out and threw up last time he was in it. Water, mud, dust, grit and leaves get thrown up at them also, getting in their eyes, when the cover is up and they can get too hot if the cover is down. If I was buying anything it would be a chair that fits on the toptube. My daughter would be between my arms and I could speak to her also. She's 3 and usually falls asleep so I would be looking for one that reclined with a head support. My 6 year old son's too big for a chair but he should be on his own bike now anyway, like his older brother.

cycledad2

My little boy is 1 1/2 and has been on a bike seat for a while now.

I've also just got a budget trailer, mostly for shopping and loads but also for the cold wet days. Its ok, but i feel much happier with him in the seat. I wasnt allowed a trailer (too dangerous) but i did it anyway.

re the wife. Mmmm you could try my blog for inspiration. Logic doesnt work with wimmin, so the 'i've never had an accident , why would i now..' line doesnt work.

Try appealing to her with the freetime , daughters health and your health argument.
"When we go out cycling you'll have some freetime"
"I'll be teaching her about road safety, its never too young to start"
"I'll be giveing her some fresh air"
"I'll be looking after her fathers heart, so her dad hangs around to see her grow up"
etc

vurted

Having had a wife who worried about the same thing, we did a lot of research and ended up buying a chariot 2 seater trailer - nothing is too expensive for a child's safety. Alternatives included bikes with two seats, tandems etc..

Practical experience finds that cars have no problems seeing the trailer and as long as your comfortable riding so that you take up a fair bit of the road (sometimes you have to) you'll find cars treat you with a lot of caution - I guess they know there's children in them.

Wife has been cycling to work for three years with an assortment of the 3 children in the trailer on busy roads and now doesn't think twice about it.

I can't find all the links we looked at but here's a couple about trailer safety:
http://www.londonskaters.com/cycling/ar ... safety.htm
http://www.cycle-heaven.co.uk/family.html
http://www.whycycle.co.uk/cycling_with_ ... _trailers/

You could always get one of these:
http://www.epinions.com/content_177592766084

Bemmiebiker

I have a 3 year old and a 15 month old and have both a trailer and a rear childseat. There is no getting around the fact my wife was nervous when we started using the trailer but letting her cycle behind the trailer on the first few rides helped with reassurance, especially as the kids love it..

I've not used a seat the puts a kid between your arms so can't comment on them, but I would say a rear seat definately changes the balance of the bike significantly and you have to be careful to remember that when stopping, getting off, going up steep hills etc.

The other thing is that is you do come a cropper on the bike for any reason then you kid will hit the ground with you if they are on a frame mounted seat. If they are on a trailer it will remin upright almost whatever you do to the bike due to the design of all trailer brackets I have seen.

Both the seat and trailer I use a bog standard halfords numbers. The most important safety factor is your riding and road choice - ultimately that's what you have to convince her of....

baudman

Bemmiebiker wrote:

...There is no getting around the fact my wife was nervous when we started using the trailer but letting her cycle behind the trailer on the first few rides helped with reassurance, especially as the kids love it...

That's how it worked for us. She was behind us, as a 'shield', he he. She felt OK with that when we used the trailer, and now if she's riding with us in our (recently purchased) bakfiets/cargocycle. Altho, she's now pregnant, so I prefer her in front, for the same reason (and coz I know I can keep up with her, but potentially not vice versa)

spdpug98

We have both a seat and a chariot as we have two kids under 2.

We used the chariot from when they where born by putting the car seat in the chariot and strapping it in. As soon as our son was about 8/9 months we put him in a seat, we bought a Baby OK seat with an intergrated rear light, great for safety (as I told the missus).

I do not use the chariot on the road though and try to limit my time on the road with the seat, just purely for safety.

But now my son is 2 he asks every day if he can go out for a bike ride, and it means I get to spend some quailty time with him as well and mum gets lots of free time (well time on her own with the other baby!!)

Colzer1

i started out using a seat and stopped pretty quickly in order to go for a trailer. I would reccomend a trailer any time, they let you carry one or two kids plus extra stuff like footballs etc if you are taking them to the park.

Kyrotek

My partner decided against a seat, she felt it would upset teh balance far to much for either of us to ride safely on the road. We bought a Halfords 2in1 trailer for two and have used it for the majority of the summer without incident and our two boys love it (apart from the in fighting to get enough space!). On roads and off it has been a fantastic boon to riding with the family, try one on rental somewhere if you can. The difference in effort to ride is very noticeable depending on your ability.

Only recently, last weekend in fact, have we faced any criticism from other road users. Most laud the trailer as much more stable and visible which in turn makes it safer for them to pass or avoid. This time, with me behind the trailer as always carrying the backpackchecking/signalling then calling the manouevre out into the middle of the road to turn right a young lad in a tatty noisy motor overtook us on the inside! The final insult was for him to wind down his window,complaining that we were a danger and irresponsible for using the trailer with children on the road as he had had to drive out of his way into the wrong lane to go around us on the inside. The resulting laughter from my partner coupled with my leaning down to look him in the eye as he threatened us with local law enforcement and encouraging him to make the call left him speechless. His mate in the passenger seat found it all quite hilarious too.

Daz555

All about personal preference. I've tried trailor and rear seat and prefer the seat. Not tried a mid/front carrier yet though.

tlw1

We had the seat for the first, but now we have got two monkeys we have got a trailer & we regret not getting it sooner. It makes cycling more all weather & its amazing how much junk the current wife now wants to take for a ride!

She also cycles behind the trailer - feels much safer. Also the boys love talking together & singing together (different songs at the same time - cute, but sounds crap)!