Refreshing

Hello! I have been going crazy trying to decide if I need a bike trailer with suspension for my child (10 months old). I do not own a car so I will be putting a lot of miles on the trailer and my kid will be getting tossed around every day. My problem is, I could buy a bike trailer with suspension (Burly D'lite or Thule Chariot) or I could save $200-$300 and unneeded weight buy purchasing a trailer without suspension.

Did these companies start incorporating suspension to help prevent prolonged spinal and brain stress or is suspension completely useless?

Thank you!!!

CliffordK

Why do dog trailers get suspension, and kid trailers don't? Perhaps a sign of where our society's priorities are.

I might ask, do the trailers with suspension also get shock absorbers? If not,the suspension may not be entirely effective, with the springs causing bouncing.

How do you ride, and what is your riding surface like? As a "roadie", I try to avoid all obstacles. Although, I'm aware that my right tire of my cargo trailer may pick up bumps that my bike doesn't. Anyway, for ordinary pebbles, I would imagine that mounting as big of tires as you can get, and running them at as low of pressure as possible (10 PSI?) would be as effective as the suspension. At least while your kid is young and light.

Small non-tramatic vibrations apparently are not harmful, and may help put the kids too sleep.

I'd probably try to get the kid out of the trailer as soon as possible. It might be nice for winter riding, but there are other alternatives to also consider:

• Weeho recumbent pedal seat (ages 2 to 9)
• Bike attached child seats.
• Afterburner and similar attached bikes
• Cargo Bikes (front & rear)
• Stokid tandem attachments for young kids.
• Kidz tandem (front kid, rear captain).

Having the kid on the parent's bike allows more ballast to allow the tires to do their job at dampening the ride.


I know that doesn't really answer the question. How often do good used Chariots show up?

Rollfast

A must if you eventually just haul groceries around in the end.

FBinNY 

It probably depends on whether you're the kid or not.

Actually, most of the trailers I see have soft or fabric bottoms, so there's plenty of give, and not too much shock transmitted. However, if it's a molded plastic unit, then maybe suspension makes sense.

You might also consider the places you pan to take it. Well paved roads with occasional bumps, or bad pavements, cobblestone, or rough dirt and gravel roads.

fietsbob

German Tout Terrain is seat post mounted single wheel kid trailer, and uses a real off road suspension component shock .

Singletrailer

Doing Single track?

Trevtassie

Go cheap and put the biggest tyres on there you can. We just had a German couple staying with us through Warmshowers. 1 x 3yo and 1x 5yo, 11 months on the road, had a dual Thule trailer, but I couldn't see any suspension (and I did look). The 5yo generally rode on a seat and footpegs bolted up just behind the bars, the 3yo did that too, just not as much. Poor dad struggled with hills, trying to talk to a chatty 5yo and breathe at the same time got difficult apparently...

OutdoorsBen

I've got a Burley Honey Bee. I take my now 3.5y/o and 1y/o for rides in it. I take them only to flat bike paths. I probably wouldn't take them on gravel or stone or anything like that as it might be too bumpy. If you're in doubt then get the suspension or go to a place that has both and see if you can take a test ride and ask the kids if one was noticeably better than the other.

mr_bill

Neither. Perceived comfort feature.

The Burley "suspension" has more in common with baby carriage/pram suspension than bicycle suspension. I was pushed around in a baby carriage/pram - with suspension. Owen MacLaren removed suspension to get to the modern stroller design. My child was pushed around in such a stroller - not a Mac though.

Anyhow, check with your pediatrician - they are the ones to consult with about when your child is ready for a tow on a bicycle. (Generally able to wear a helmet, so sitting upright and neck strong enough to support their own head.) Doubt they'll insist that you buy a trailer with suspension.

When my child was born, the suspension fork was just invented and cost a bunch. Full suspension was a few years away. So a suspension trailer bike would have been technology from the future.

-mr. bill

Rollfast

When I was born my mom drove me around in a 1965 Rambler.

Darth Lefty 

I say yes for the same reason as a suspension post for a tandem stoker. But I also say used Cougars are plentiful on Craigslist for less than a new Cheetah and often with some nice accessories.

Even if you don't buy that, the nicer trailers have nicer features. Bench seats, better wheels and bearings, weathertight and UV-blocking tent, hitch that doesn't creak.

When you have it in stroller mode the suspension will let you bounce the babies to settle them... we do this with our Bob Revolution a lot.

snow_echo_NY

i think if you are training and going hard, the suspension is probably helpful to have (for your kid). if you are a recreational rider, and going 10 mph or less, it probably doesn't matter much. so i would say it depends on the type of riding you plan to do.

BBassett

If you want your kids to go to college one day, spend the money on the suspension.

ritepath

You'd think it would need to be adjustable for weight to work properly. A single setting for a 12# baby or a 50# kid isn't going to result in the best ride for both.

mel2012

The Chariot trailers do have a weight-adjustable suspension.

bcpriess

I also have a Burley Honey Bee, and the seating is basically a hammock, which makes it functionally sort of analogous to a Brooks saddle. It also has pretty wide tires. The kids seem happy. It can haul a lot of stuff besides the kids, and it keeps them dry when I forget to check the weather and get hosed with rain. Aside from having to avoid big potholes and bumps or just approaching them at an angle or more slowly, it seems to get the job done on pavement, cobblestone, crushed limestone, and grass and dirt. With up to 70 lbs of kids not including the trailer's weight, it's not like I'm racing with it. So I don't think suspension is needed. It also quickly converts to a stroller. If I were using it at high speeds and off road, maybe it would be a different story.

prathmann

Neither the child seat on my bike nor the trailer we sometimes used had any suspension other than the tires. Doesn't seem to have hurt our daughter in college as she now teaches at the med school in between treating her patients.

MNBikeCommuter

Kids' bodies are pretty resilient. Mine went through a lot more stress on playgrounds, fighting each other, etc., than they ever did with our non-suspension Burley. I'd put the extra money into their college account. Or toward a tandem.