aperry4751

Big guy 305 lbs, my little girl is three years old. I want to ride my bike to work a lot and take my daughter on long rides in a bicycle trailer. My budget is $ 1000.00
I have visited five local shops and got so many conflict advice. The one thing thats was the same was the mountain bikes where made in china or twain and all had different names. So what bike and trailer do i get? Costco has a cheap bike and trailer. Also the local bike shops told me disc brakes get in the way of a trailer. I can not tell who is lying to me or telling m the truth. I also can not find someone who has experiance in riding with a trailer.
I really want a quality USA bike and want to support my local bike shop.
Live in the San Francisco, CA Bay Area

FutureHero

I don't know anything about riding with a trailer and such, but my new mountain bike, a 2012 trek marlin 29er, was made in the USA.

Rock31

This is the trailer my wife uses for our daughter when riding around the park:

https://www.target.com/p/Quick-n-EZ-B...ler/-/A-504110

Takes about 2 minutes to setup and take down.

It hooks up to the bike right here:



She rides a Giant Sedona, if that helps you.

dehoff

Are you sure that it's made in the USA? At last check the only bikes Trek made in the USA were the Madone 6 series (at least $3500 for just the frameset) and a few of their carbon mountain bikes that shared an equivalent price tag.

Mr. Beanz

Don't tell me, the salesman told you that....Read the FAQ section on the Trek site "is my bike made in the USA?" section.

FutureHero

ok, I guess I lied. It was "designed in the USA". Eh, I still love it.

sstorkel

Very few bicycles are still made in the USA. None that I can name cost less than $1000. Your best bet would be to buy a bike designed and sold by a U.S. company, but manufactured abroad.

My friends who own trailers all seem to own Burley trailers. I gather they're expensive, but I don't know anything about quality, features, etc.

bdiamond

Check Craigslist or Ebay. Theres always a trailer or Trail a Bike for sale in my area. I used a Burley DeLite to tow my son. I bet I pulled him a couple thousand trouble free miles. It was alot of fun and more importantly he loved it. Mine came from Ebay. I think I gave $150 or so for it. The walmart or target ones just don't have the quality or durability of the more expensive ones. If you can find a handmedown on at the same price you'd be bucks ahead. Plus I sold my Burley for about the same price I bought it for four years later. As for the bike, same deal you get what you pay for... Or what someone else paid for... Check Craigslist. There are always a few really nice bikes that someone thought they had to have and never actually rode. You can usually get these bikes for pennies on the dollar of what they paid. As for the big box store bikes, Walmart has some decent looking bikes, but no tech support or tuneups. I would guess that they aren't designed to be ridden more than about 500-1000 miles either.

bdiamond

Check Craigslist or Ebay. Theres always a trailer or Trail a Bike for sale in my area. I used a Burley DeLite to tow my son. I bet I pulled him a couple thousand trouble free miles. It was alot of fun and more importantly he loved it. Mine came from Ebay. I think I gave $150 or so for it. The walmart or target ones just don't have the quality or durability of the more expensive ones. If you can find a handmedown on at the same price you'd be bucks ahead. Plus I sold my Burley for about the same price I bought it for four years later. As for the bike, same deal you get what you pay for... Or what someone else paid for... Check Craigslist. There are always a few really nice bikes that someone thought they had to have and never actually rode. You can usually get these bikes for pennies on the dollar of what they paid. As for the big box store bikes, Walmart has some decent looking bikes, but no tech support or tuneups. I would guess that they aren't designed to be ridden more than about 500-1000 miles either.

pinkpantherbeek

New to forum but I have a Giant Suede that gets the job done. It is the 21 speed model and fits my 260lb, 6'00" frame well. Honestly I have no problems going off road with the 26 inch fat tires. As far as a trailer, I use a Bell trailer that a friend got for me at a goodwill stores for 30 bucks. I don't know if they make my model still or not. I would guess it was around $100-150 new. It has quick disconnect pins so you can fold it down if u need to. Only real down side is the frame is steel and weighs a bit. Like others said, check craigslist. U can easily find in for $150 on there. IMO if u want a new trailer buy a cheaper one and give it a go. If u don't like it sell it on craigslist and u can get almost all your money back.

Daspydyr 

I have grown to enjoy REI as a real bike shop. They have the Marin, Novara (house brand) and Scott bikes. I am personally a Scott fan. You can pick up a quality Scale or Aspect for a grand. SCOTT started in the US, got bought by a Swiss group and yet have most parts (Shimano) and frames from Asia. Really hard to avoid that.

Bill Kapaun

The Utility Forum covers trailers etc.

https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...tility-Cycling