tigat

I just picked up a Burley Bee for my two and a half year old grandson to join on some family (wife and daughter) rides. I went on a test ride this morning (no grandson but a pack with 20 pounds of weights) with a friend I've been riding with a couple times a week. He's a newbie to road riding but is picking it up pretty quick - 17 to 19 mph on rides 25 to 50 miles, depending on the hills, and not much drafting, which is a couple of mph slower than what I do solo on the same routes.


Four miles in, with one small climb we did side by side (I'm usually waiting for a fair bit on top), I was pretty well cooked. Twenty-five miles with 1000 feet or so of climbing, at a 16 mph average, felt like a 90 minute full gas effort.


My friend kindly waited at the top of the climbs, chuckling slightly as I huffed to the top. The flats were even worse - a 20 mph pace, even in his draft, felt like a sprint.


When I got home, I tried to do some research on how much the weight, rolling resistance and wind drag actually cost, but couldn't find anything definitive, which is why I'm asking you. The empty trailer is not coming with me on any more road rides with my friend, but I'm wondering how much I need to adjust my expectations on speed and distance when transporting the kid, and next season, when the now 3 month old second grandchild is going to want to ride too.

mattcalifornia

I don't have any concrete numbers in terms of watts, mph, etc. But my recollection is that hauling a trailer makes a MASSIVE difference. Same for those "trail-a-bike" third-wheel things. My kids are teenagers now, so it's been a while, but really those things are mostly intended for biking around town, trips to the beach, etc. I certainly wouldn't want to go on a 25 mile ride with hills. Or, if I did, I would expect to go really slow.

caloso

It’s hard to say with any kind of keyboard calculation. The most straightforward thing would be to actually measure it with a power meter.

Darth Lefty 

About two rear shifts slower on the level, more climbing. Experience, sans science. That’s 15% MTB/hybrid shifts, not roadie corncob shifts. A single seat better quality trailer like a Bee might be... one shift?

Kabuki12

Think of it as training. By the time child grows out of it you will be slaying the hills!

jrobe

Been there, done that. Those trailers are miserable. There is a big difference pulling one of them, especially loaded with kids. Don't ride with normal cycling buddies with a trailer. The only thing worse is a pull behind sled for cross country skiing. On the other hand, you do what you have to do when you have kids.

Leinster

Are you trying to quantify it in terms of Excess Watts at 30km/hr? Or just asking for sympathy?

It’s a significant slow-down. On the plus side, it worked as a great equalizer for bike rides with my wife. We could ride a flat 10 miles to a playground, have coffee and cakes while the little ones ran around, and ride back, and it was as much of a workout as 3 hours in the hills.

The twins are too big for the trailer now, so I upgraded to a Yuba Mundo with cage bars at the back. That’s even slower. Now I can’t keep up with my wife, even as she has no3 on board in a Yepp seat. The only thing slower than me on the road, is when we let one of the kids off to ride on their 16” bikes.

So if you think it’s sluggish now, it can get worse

tigat

Probably this Actually the responses have been really helpful in gaining the right mindset. I was surprised at how hard it was and am glad it was not just me.

Kabuki12

My daughter loved the Burley trailer and it was fun to have her with me . After that stair stepping her through kid bikes was not so fun but when she was about 13 she got her first road bike and then it was great. We would go on rides and she would really push to keep up with dad.

WhyFi

They're lead parachutes, man - they are a lot of work.

I always tow my trailer with my gravel bike, and I usually don't have a power meter on it, but I had put the PM on for an event last year and decided to keep it on for a ride with the kid/trailer just to get an idea. I'll have to see if I can find that ride.

WhyFi

Found it - 183w to go 12.7mph on a pan flat route (two laps around a lake) with a 3 year old. Looks like the same model Burley, too.

mstateglfr 

I am amazed at the parents who pull their kids on RAGBRAI. A week of tent camping with toddlers in a different town each night would be exhausting, nevermind the 50-80mi rides each day before camping.

We used a burley for our first kid and for the first year of our second kid. They are fine, but are basically bubbles and make it tough to interact during what should be family time.
We bought a used Weehoo trailer and that completely changed family rides. It lets the kid be involved in conversation about what you see, where you are going, etc. The single wheel made for easier turning, took up less width on trails, and was also easier to store.

Regardless of what you use, itll be heavy and make you ride slower. Wind resistance is higher. Weight your legs are propelling is higher. You are just slower.
Perhaps adjust your approach and dont focus on speed, but rather on experiences(parks, playgrounds, libraries, ice cream, etc).

Seattle Forrest

My mom used to pull me and my little brother in a trailer. Look where that got me, addicted to bikes, riding outside improving my health when I could be watching TV. It's a curse!

Leinster

The Burley Bubble is a bit of a curse. Having them on the back of the Yuba is a lot easier for interaction. The Yuba is a bear to put away at the end of a ride, though.

Heavy, slow, and wind-resistant is just family biking in a nutshell.

Bah Humbug

As painful as that sounds, there was a ride here where the first leg was into the wind. It cost 240w for 14mph, albeit with rollers. I wasn't sure I was going to finish, but turning the corner made a huge difference.

tigat

Longer story, but the trailer was in part a response to the cancellation of a number of charity rides my daughter (25 year old woman with Down syndrome), wife and I usually ride. We wanted the grandson to be a part. Pulled it off today - at 12 mph for 67 miles. It was doable, but won't become an every weekend thing

WhyFi

Those days are always fun, but kids tend to stick around longer than windy days.

Darth Lefty 

There are some options that may improve things, but also limitations... rear kid seats are way more aero than a trailer and don't add a wheel and hitch, but they do alter the bike handling and only good up to 40 lb. Weehoo and Tout Terrain trailers both have a single wheel but don't convert to strollers.

My kids are at the awkward age where they're too little to keep up but too big to haul.

CeeDotA

Pulling my 33lb 3-year-old certainly feels like a lot of work! Couldn't quantify it before, but after purchasing a new power meter for my main bike, I moved the old PM to the trailer bike. So next time I haul the kid I'll know for sure how much more effort it takes.

fords4life

I don't have any numbers as I'm pretty new to riding, but I rarely get on to the 3rd chainring with my son riding behind me on his Weehoo trailer. Riding solo I'm on the 3rd chainring most of the time unless I'm climbing. Definitely a noticeable difference in effort.

Iride01 

Hopefully with 20 posts the OP got enough real answers. And I hope I don't derail this too much, but I've been wondering........

I've seen for a long time others pulling their kids in trailers as they ride. I think in general, that is great. But I've noticed a few lately, and maybe there were some doing it before, but there is no netting or protection over the child in the trailer.

Isn't the rear wheel kicking up a lot of crap into the trailer? Just wondering. Should I point that out to them at stops or keep my mouth shut?

Probably should arrange not to stop at stops with them. Then my mouth won't get me in trouble. <grin>

WhyFi

It can kick up debris, but you're usually not going that fast, anyway - your speed is going to be limited by bumps, which are going to be unpleasant for them at anything more than a leisurely pace. At that point, netting vs no netting is a trade-off of between ventilation and the potential for debris; if the kid's got some kind of eye protection, they're usually fine.

But yeah, give some unsolicited advice - that always goes over well.

mstateglfr 

The WeeHoo we used meant our kid was not in a bubble. On the bar that connects to the bike's seat tube there was a plastic shield that would deflect some debris. But that certainly wouldn't stop everything.

We used it for 3 years and well over 1000mi of riding(pavement, crushed stone, weekend compounds, etc) and our daughter never mentioned being hit by anything. She is one to speak her mind too!

tigat

I don't mind the thread drift at all, since I am new to playing the role of a tractor with a trailer. I hadn't really considered the question.

My experience has been with child seats, both front end and rear end mounting, and a trail a bike that my daughter with Down syndrome rode on until she discovered the joy of two wheeled independence (she rode the full 67 Sunday on her road bike).

For my grandson's first ride, I used the mesh cover. Because Sunday was steadily climbing into the 90s, I went the convertible route. He was happier, talked more and did not bake too much. I didn't notice anything kicking up into the cabin, but then again, we were on roads and well-maintained MUPs.

If the temperature ever drops here, I'll try another ride with the cover, but in the meantime, copilot goggles for Kid Shark would be pretty cool.


Kid Shark at Rest Stop 3

Iride01 

I suppose... maybe.... kinda... that the angles and trajectory of anything that might come off the wheel is going to hit other parts such as that skirting around the seat in the pic above. Or if it misses that would just go over the top because the occupant is of the path of most any flying hazard. And I suppose also, the tow bar itself is in the way too.

Or, the flying debris, sand, and stuff is just not being flung at all as I imagined.

Hmm....

Thanks for some insight.