Originally Posted by rickertk
I pull our Burley D'lite with a Seven Axiom, skewer hitch. I hit my foot on the hitch with the rear triangle hitch. Running a double 53/39, 12-25 in back; I'm fine with mid range hills on that (Up to about 7-8% sustained, short bits up to 10%). If I were planning on pulling significantly more weight (My son is about 25 lbs), or climbing steeper hills, I'd probably rather have more gears there. 10% sustained was doable but not much fun. I've pulled this up to about 45 miles over rolling terrain. I wouldn't recommend this gearing for someone who wasn't a strong hill-climber on their own, though.
My fear is not about going up but rather coming down. If I am going at 40Km/h downhill I have the impression that I am slow as a snail and chewing my brakes. But I am sure that even that's way too fast if I am pulling a trailer especially in the switchbacks. How fast do you come downhill and how do you manage the slow speed? The only way of having a nice ride with my son is pull him up for about 800 vertical meters and ride on a plateau.