Originally Posted by
Iride01
Weight on a bike that you can't dynamically control while riding will always be dangerous IMO. I'd hate to think how well a child in a seat on the frame would fare in some of the spills I've had.
I do realize that people have been doing it for years. But we use to ride with no helmets too.
I'd be all for a trailer. I'd think where they attach to the bike will make a big difference how you perceive their effect on bike handling.
I found the handling of a bike with trailer just a little harder than with a seat on the rear rack for the simple reason that anything that approximately doubles the length of the vehicle means you have to rethink your turns. Also, trailers don't lean, so it just feels weird. It's not terrible, but you definitely need to watch your speed with either setup because turns are just not as controllable at high speed (per "experiments" I ran with less precious weights in the seats and trailers--no kids were endangered in the making of this post).
That being said, I think the data show that the trailer is a bit safer for the kid because they can't fall as far, but I don't know this is a very strong difference.