Pulling a kid trailer

[sirroada]

OK Everyone!! Here's a question I hope some die hard roadies can answer for me. I have a daughter who I will be pulling behind my Trek 2300 (not my legend) in a bike trailer. My 2300 is a very fun bike to ride but it is stiff, stiff, stiff...oh and fast. Due to the stiffness of the frame I am assuming the frame will handle pulling her behind in one of those "Chariot" bike trailers. The chariot attaches to my frame via its own QR. I am wondering about the wheelset though. Should I remove the rear Rolf Vector Comp and put a beefier 32-36 spoker back there with a wider tire (700X25) while I pull her or do you think my Rolf will be OK? Also, what is your opinion on pulling a kid behind a road bike?

[93legendti]

I pull my 2 1/2 yr. old quite often in her Burley. I use either my cross bike, with cross tires, or a road bike with a substantial rear wheel (for no reason other than paranoia). I have even pulled her behind our tandem. The Burley has a warning limiting speed to 15 mph (not sure if that's a hard number, the thing is supposed to be "roll-proof", but then again, it is my daughter in the Burley!), so the cross bike is a good compromise between speed and meaningful effort on my part.

Depending upon your weight, roads and mielage pulling a trailer a more substantial tire/wheel combo might prevent a flat at a bad time.

[djg]

Pulled kid number one many times before she outgrew it, and now we pull kids two and three. I think it's great, once the child is old enough. You need to keep snacks and drinks on board, and you need to figure out what sort of duration your child best tolerates--many little kids love short rides, but start to go trailer crazy at some point (for us, an hour was typically good, but much more than an hour and a half was pushing it). We have a Costco-bought Bell trailer from some years back--it's been fine, but l'm not sure that the linkage is similar to yours or that I have much to tell you about the wheels. I would't worry about the "stiffness" of your frame--if it's not falling apart you can use it to pull a trailer. Remember that handling with a trailer is a bit sluggish and that the visibility of a trailer--which is low to the ground--can be an issue. We never take ours in any kind of traffic and mostly stick to the MUTS.

[Spectrum Bob]

I towed my daughter using my Vitus 992 in a Burley with a hand built wheel with 32 spoke Record hub, Reflex rim and straight gage spokes. The only problem I ever had was a squeak coming from the cassette. I pulled it, cleaned it and put anti seize ti prep where ever metal was touching metal and that took care of it. I had a very steep but short climb to get home that really stressed the drive train. Never had any other problem but with a wheel like this how could you. In the 10+ years I have had it I don’t think it has ever needed trued.

[Sandy]

Would you pull me up in a child's trailer up and down Beach Drive? :)

Baby Brat Sandy

[csm]

I pulled a trek trailer with my legend ti and tubulars. the only issue was hard braking; the rear wheel would get a little light.

[JohnS]

I pulled a trek trailer with my legend ti and tubulars. the only issue was hard braking; the rear wheel would get a little light.
Welcome back, we need your attitude! :D

[csm]

things seem to be slow around here

[rwl]

I'd think the wheel will hold up fine. Its less weight on the rear wheel than with one of those tag-a-long bikes that attach to your seatpost, and you're probably way slower over bumpy roads and rr tracks.

I just picked up two of those Adam's trail-a-bikes last night, and took both my 6 year old daughters out on back-to-back short (limited to my endurance, not theirs) rides with a Legend with bontrager race x lite tubular setup. Did think about it a bit and swapped the Campy cf post out for my wife's post and saddle. They enjoyed it immensely.

rick