Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Bike trailer

I am a clyde and a novice rider...I also have 6 month old twins that I want to take along in a trailer on one of my bikes. Does anyone out there have any experience with this stuff? I was curious if it is more difficult to pull a trailer as a big guy and a new rider

You won't even know the trailer is hooked to the bike.
This guy rode for 60 miles Sunday

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/09%20Space%20Race%20Start/64.jpg

We bought a used Burley last spring for our then 1 year old. What a great investment. We got so much use out of it last year and just got it back out last week. Depending on your strength/endurance and the terrain you're riding on, you'll likely notice you're pulling it at times. If I'm on a flat, I barely notice. Going up hills, which is hard enough at almost 300#, is an added challenge. That being said, my wife, has no trouble with it, and she has probably never ridden over 15 miles in a single day (she's a runner).

Make sure you get an infant/toddler helmet. 6 months old might be a little small yet. Even though the trailers are very safe, you should still use the helmet and your little ones need to have enough head control and trunk control to support the helmet and sit up while riding. My little guy protested the helmet initially, but now it's the first thing he runs to get when I start getting the Burley ready.

Enjoy!

I am a clyde and a novice rider...I also have 6 month old twins that I want to take along in a trailer on one of my bikes. Does anyone out there have any experience with this stuff? I was curious if it is more difficult to pull a trailer as a big guy and a new rider

I would like a trailer for grocery getting and other times when I want to take something a little bigger then what fits in panniers. The only time a trailer makes things harder is going up hill, because you have extra weight back there. I think the key is making sure you have low enough gears to allow you to gear low enough to compensate for the weight on hills. You also want to make sure you attach a safety flag to the trailer, this goes at the very back of the trailer and contains an orange flag at driver's eye level to indicate that your bike is longer then normal. Drivers can cut it too close and hit the trailer which is lower to the ground otherwise. You sometimes see these flags on 'bents as well which are lower to the ground.

Trailers come in two types, single wheel and double wheel, single wheel trailers can be a little tippy, if the load isn't properly balanced. Double wheel trailers need a flexible hitch so the bicycle can lean in corners while the trailer remains level.

You will definitely notice the trailer is there, but you will be able to pull it without any problem. You just have to make sure you widen out your turns a bit. The problem will be getting a trailer that you can get both kids in at 6 months. None of them are approved to put a car seat in although that is the most logical way to do it at that age. However, none that I have found are big enough to put to car seats in. Without the car seats, I think you are looking at 12 months old before you can actually put helmets on them in the trailer. There neck strength simply is not there. They will be there before you know it. :thumb:

I picked up a Burley cargo trailer for touring since there was no way I could fit enough panniers on my 'bent trike for all the gear I'd need. To be honest, the few times I've gone out with it, aside from the extra road noise, I can't tell it's there. It doesn't impact how the trike handles in the least. :thumb:

I would like a trailer for grocery getting and other times when I want to take something a little bigger then what fits in panniers. The only time a trailer makes things harder is going up hill, because you have extra weight back there. I think the key is making sure you have low enough gears to allow you to gear low enough to compensate for the weight on hills. You also want to make sure you attach a safety flag to the trailer, this goes at the very back of the trailer and contains an orange flag at driver's eye level to indicate that your bike is longer then normal. Drivers can cut it too close and hit the trailer which is lower to the ground otherwise. You sometimes see these flags on 'bents as well which are lower to the ground.

Trailers come in two types, single wheel and double wheel, single wheel trailers can be a little tippy, if the load isn't properly balanced. Double wheel trailers need a flexible hitch so the bicycle can lean in corners while the trailer remains level.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/HEB002b.jpg

I found it easier to pull my boys (3 and 5 years old) much easier on my mountain bike (hard tail) than on my touring bike as the gears were much shorter.

I have a cheap one from instep or something (I got it at Target) and when/if they bounced in the seat I noticed that as well.

It is kind of like driving a moving van, only much lighter. :D

I am a clyde and a novice rider...I also have 6 month old twins that I want to take along in a trailer on one of my bikes. Does anyone out there have any experience with this stuff? I was curious if it is more difficult to pull a trailer as a big guy and a new rider

I picked up a green InStep "double" trailer so I could haul my son around. I think as mentioned already that 6 months might be a bit young for a helmet but you could try getting seats in there. I'm sure all the rocking around and bouncing around would put them to sleep in a hurry!

You'll notice the trailer when the kids start moving around as it feels like the load shifts on you, but overall it's not that bad. My son likes the trailer with the exception of when I have the top screen off as small rocks hit him in the face. So now we keep the cover on all the time with the vents open so he can ride with me.

This is the trailer I have, though there are cheaper ones elsewhere on the net. I picked this one up since I could take the wheels off easily and it folds flat. I'm sure other brands/styles do the same thing. When the kids outgrow this I'm going to convert it into a utility trailer.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2476390

Being a heavy rider myself 275, I found pulling the trailer not so much of a problem, though I had to allow more time to stop with the added weight behind me.

Good luck and have fun!

V

We bought a trailer for our son, but waited until he was a year old. The thought of his head bouncing around with a helmet on while he was asleep put me off, so we waited until his neck was stronger.

I bought the trailer after reading about it being safer and that kids seem to love it. But when we used it I found it quite hard to know if he was ok back there, especially when he was young and couldn't talk. So I bought a bobike mini too, which has been simply brilliant.

The bobike mini is a little seat that fits on the handlebars and lasts him until he's 15kg (about 3 years old). It's been the best thing ever, we cycle along and chat about what we see; horses, cows, tractors, Mummy etc.. He can see everything that's going on, and I can see if he's happy.

I'm not looking forward to the day that he's too big to ride up front with me.