jane@ames.UUCP (Jane Medefesser) (01/04/86)
Last summer when I was in Yosemite, I saw a child seat for a bicycle
that was actually a trailer connected to the back of the parent's
10-speed. It had 2 wheels on the ground, and followed along behind
the parent sort of in a wagon-like fashion. In it was two reclining
un-crowded giggling toddlers enjoying their summer vacation.
My question is this..Has anyone out there used or seen one of these things
in use? Anyone know about how much it costs, how sturdy, and how SAFE it
is? My husband and I are considering getting one for our first born (Due
May 26th, the baby will be about 3 months old when we want to use it.)
I am particularly interested in knowing if those experienced users
recommend it for an infant or if we should leave the baby with grandma this
summer.
Thanks in advance for any replys.
Jane Medefesser
{..dual,riacs,hplabs,ihnp4}!ames!janewesterm@ecn-aa.UUCP (Richard P Westerman) (01/06/86)
In article <1315@ames.UUCP> jane@ames.UUCP (Jane Medefesser) writes: > > >Last summer when I was in Yosemite, I saw a child seat for a bicycle >that was actually a trailer connected to the back of the parent's >10-speed. It had 2 wheels on the ground, and followed along behind >the parent sort of in a wagon-like fashion. In it was two reclining >un-crowded giggling toddlers enjoying their summer vacation. > If it was yellow and forward facing (eg. the kids face the bike) it was probably the Burley trailer. I bought a Burley trailer 3 1/2 years ago when my youngest was about 6 months old (cost was $200) & I recomend it highly. There is plenty of room -- I've toted my youngest & oldest (5 years old) & three (3!) bags of groceries, a total of about 80-90 pounds (of course you have to be in good condition to tow this much behind your bike -- I can't do this much toting anymore -- I'm out of shape and the kids are much heavier). The Burley is also very safe. You and your bike can fall over and the Burley will still be upright. There is a cover that fits over trailer to protect the kids from any water spray that your bike tires may fling up. I have yet to have any component of the trailer to fail, tear, rip, etc. An advantage of the forward facing carts (such as the Burley) vs. the rear facing carts is that you can, with a quick glance, look back & see your kids (to see how they are doing, etc). You can also talk to your kids without having to get off your bike and/or shouting. Your kids can also see you & know what's coming up instead of always seeing where they have been. The Burley is made by the Burley company base in Washington state. I can look up the address if you want. I recommend the Burley very highly -- it was one of the best purchases I've made. If you want more information, please send me mail. ------- My standard comments to anyone with kids and bikes: 1) Get yourself a trailer -- any type -- as the carriers that you mount on top of your bike are just death traps. 2) Get your kids helments (with or without a trailer). Sure they are expensive and the kids complain about wearing them, but then how much are your kids worth to you? ------- Whom: Rick Westerman Phone: +1-317-494-8341 UUCP: {decvax, ihnp4, seismo, ucbvax}!pur-ee!westerm ARPA: westerm@purdue.ecn.ARPA USPS: Ag Data Network, Purdue University, West Lafayette IN 47907
paulson@ihu1g.UUCP (Bill Paulson) (01/06/86)
Bike trailers are a wonderful way to carry kids. My wife and I borrowed one last summer to tour for a week with our three year old daughter, and bought one immediately after returning. We'd biked with one of those seats that mounts over the rear wheel and found it very unsatisfactory- felt very unstable to the rider and passenger, had tendencies for the mountings to come loose, didn't allow a rack, and couldn't be moved from one bike to another easily. There are two trailers that I have seen, one made by Cannondale and the other made by Burley. The Cannondale is about $250, the Burley about $300. My impression from looking at both is that the Burley has a better hitch, and would be better for carrying luggage or groceries, while the Cannondale has a more comfortable seat for children but is less convenient for non-child loads. Both have seatbelts for two children, but I don't know how they would work for a child as young as three months. You might have to mount a car seat in the trailer. The Cannondale mounts on the seat post, direct underneath the saddle. On my wife's bike, I had to raise the seat slightly to allow enough seat post for the mount to grab. It's still a tight fit, and doesn't allow a rack to be used. The Burley mounts on the bike frame so should be compatible with more bikes. As for riding with the trailer, it's a little tougher than riding with nothing, but not as bad as a strong headwind. I found that I had to gear down about 1-2 gears regularly, had to push harder to get going, and couldn't coast up hills as far. One desirable effect of all this is that my speed drops into my wife's comfortable range, making a more pleasant tour for all. Our daughter enjoyed riding in the trailer, though she did get bored after about 2 hours. With an infant, you'd probably need to stop quite often. -- Bill Paulson ihu1g!paulson IH 4J330 x6609
daw1@mhuxl.UUCP (WILLIAMS) (01/07/86)
Please move this out of net.cycle! It belongs in net.bicycle.
gadfly@ihuxn.UUCP (Gadfly) (01/07/86)
--
Please move postings about bicycles to net.bicycle. The name
"net.cycle" is clearly ambiguous (cycle=bicycle to a bicyclist),
but it's really the motorcycle newsgroup.
--
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