Bike trailer, mad, bad, dangerous?

The kids will be at the same level of the exhaust of every vehicle you pass. Don't think I'd like to be that near the exhaust of a petrol never a coal rolling diesel.

Never tried one but I'd be concerned about not being able to see them when travelling along. Also that someone could hit you from behind and they would take the impact. The front loading ones, cargo bikes like Urban Arrow mentioned above would seem a better option to me. Prices of them are mad though.

I'm thinking about sourcing an alu mountain bike frame and a Bafang mid drive kit to try build one for the craic. I personally don't see why they cost >€5k. But then again I can't see why a normal bike is as expensive 🙄

In a study is was worse for car drivers as the cars suck in that air at bumper height to the cabin. Then pedestrians. Cyclists are least effected as they spend least time beside it.

Unless you cycle at walking pace and your journey is constantly in traffic. You should be better cycling. You might also have option to take a quieter road on a bicycle.

I don’t post here really but happened to spot this thread when I was looking for something else and I’m always keen for a chat about trailers!

I’ve been using one for commuting and touring for around 5 years now. Only one kid at a time; the first until they were riding their own bike at about 4 and then the second from a few months old. I also have a long wheelbase cargo bike with a child seated mounted on the rear but I just haven’t got into using it for the kid, I keep going back to the trailer.

I think something to take into account on the pros and cons list is that a standard rear-mounted child carrier isn’t necessarily safer – if you take a spill then the kid will also hit the ground and it’s a long way down for them. Whereas with the trailer the roll-cage (if it’s a good one) provides some protection if you do manage to tip it. I also feel that I’d be more likely to take a fall with the child seat because of the high centre of gravity, particularly with a bigger kid who moves around, waves etc. In contrast the trailer is low and stable. I’ve only ever tipped it once and that was when it was empty and I was too ambitious with hopping onto a kerb!

So for me the safety is more about being hit by cars rather than falling, and I actually think I am less likely to be hit with the trailer than with the seat. Drivers tend to give me a wider berth with the trailer than they do when I’m just on my bike myself, and also are more likely to hold back and wait for a safer place (I’m sure they hate me). I also have the thing as visible as possible – flag, reflectors, spoke reflectors, lights, and I replaced the waterproof cover it came with with a homemade one which is bright yellow with retroreflective strips.

I also agree with what you say about comfort for the kid. Ours is warm and dry, can play with toys or look at a book, and can sleep. We've done some really long days on tripcs and he's been happy in there for hours. We can also store a load of gear on the trailer for touring trips, or it’s handy even just for daytrips. And we use it as a buggy a lot as well – it's big, but really easy to walk or run with.

It is a total faff to store, luckily the creche we use allows us to leave it there during the day. If it wasn’t for that I probably would be using the cargobike more because I don’t really have anywhere to store the trailer at work plus it would take me much longer to get to work from the creche because the streets on my route are narrow with awful traffic and I can’t filter with the trailer. The other big disadvantage for me is not being able to chat to the child, I sometimes feel like he's a bit abandoned back there.

So I’m totally pro-trailer, for the combination of practicality and safety. I like the idea of the Bakfiets but can’t justify the cost plus the fact that it doesn’t convert – the rest of my commute (after dropping the child) would very annoying.

The trailer I have is an old model Chariot Cougar. It's got a nice comfortable 'cockpit' for the child, decent suspension and is just generally sturdy and well-designed. it rolls nicely and doesn't affect my steering; it's obviously heavy to tow (trailer itself is around 11kg I think, plus child), but can't really avoid that with any trailer. They’re expensive but I got it second hand and have used it so much, it’s easily the best cycling or child-related money I’ve spent.

I'm in Cork I'm afraid, bit far for a test run!

I used a Chariot Cougar trailer (think they're branded as Thule now), which was pricey, but great. I ended up using it mostly as a stroller though, walking thousands of kilometres with it, because too many people in my family thought it was dangerous with the first-born. I still did use it for cycling round with her, albeit not as much as I'd originally hoped, and I found it fine when I did; people gave me plenty of room. Then with two kids we got a bakfiets, the cheaper non-electric version, which family had far fewer safety concerns about, and which I'm still using to transport the second child to school over six years later.

I still use the Cougar Chariot to carry flat-pack furniture from Ikea and stuff like that. It really paid for itself. Never regretted buying it.

I think you want to pick quieter routes if possible. I mean, I'd apply that to cycling solo too, to some extent, but your options for emergecy manoeuvres with a cargo bike or a traller are not as numerous.

If I had to pick one, I'd definitely pick the bakfiets, as I found it more generally useful for carrying kids, and for much longer, and there's no assembling and disassembling. But I have good options for storage, which is probably where cargo bikes fall down. (Well, there's price and weight as well, but the plain bakfiets was affordable enough for us; I'm used to the weight now, but it does take a bit out of you.)