78 BIKE TRAILERS: Burley
Description
This article is from the Outdoor Activities for Young Children FAQ, by Gloria Logan glogan@atk.com with numerous contributions by others.
78 BIKE TRAILERS: Burley
The Burley is a great trailer, expect to pay $300-$350 for one,
including the covers. I have been pulling my daughter in a Winchester
trailer for several years and can recommend it highly. It is heavier
than the Burley but folds up just as well, has split seats (one facing
in each direction) and much bigger windows. You can get the Winchester
mail order from Colorado Cyclist for about $230. Their phone number is
800-688-8600.
Safety features to look for: five point harness, not just lap belts;
sides/windows so that kids can't get their hands/feet into the spokes;
"roll bar" i.e. the trailer frame is above the kids heads; swivel hitch
such that the bike can fall over but the trailer stays upright.
You can strap a car seat in most trailers, so as soon as you can put
your baby in your car, you can put her behind your bike! I began
pulling Lauren when she was about 10 months old and we felt she could
hold her head up wearing a helmet. But we've ridden many times with
people pulling two month old babies. There is even a couple riding
cross country with a 6 month old in a trailer!
I have a book out that has been published by EPM called "Family
Bicycling in the Washington-Baltimore Area" that has chapters on car
seats, trailers, tandems, and other ways to take kids along on family
rides. The book is available in B. Dalton, Barnes and Noble, Crown,
Olsons, and many other bookstores in the Baltimore-Washington area, or
by mail from EPM at 800-289-2339.
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Just wanted to point out that rec.bicycles maintains a _large_ FAQ
file on bike trailers. Excerpts from the general FAQ about it:
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