Honest Reviews Wanted - Bike Trailer / Stroller Hybrids (Burley etc)

[andybones78]

Hello All,

Looking for some honest and decent experienced user feedback with this from current or previous owners/users.

I'm looking to buy a bike trailer (seems to be that Burley is one of the most popular brands online) that has space for my two kids (both under 4) and also converts to a stroller by way of a single front wheel conversion / attachment. To be honest it will more than likely be used as a stroller but I wanted to have the option to pull it with a bike occasionally and definitely in the summer months in NYC.

Wondering if anybody has direct experience with these, and more importantly - if you're using / have used one recently, what were the things you didn't like about it?

Thanks in advance!

[marsh]

I would say borrow or rent one first to see how your kids take to it.
My kid absolutely hated the trailer. When he was old enough to ride on a trail-a-bike with the backrest attachment, all he wanted to do was go for rides.

[mktng]

I have a Thule Chariot CX1 and CX2.

They do what you're looking for them to do.
They are easy to use, store and move around.
Thule has great support for parts.
They are simple to maintain and clean.
They are built well. Quality materials.

Have not tried Burley's offerings. But i'd recommend Thule if youre in the market and willing to try. I got both of mine used. Its amazing how many people buy these expensive chariot systems and baby them.

[veloduffer]

Originally Posted by marsh

I would say borrow or rent one first to see how your kids take to it.

My kid absolutely hated the trailer. When he was old enough to ride on a trail-a-bike with the backrest attachment, all he wanted to do was go for rides.

If you can find a used one, usually from a bike club, it’s the cheapest way. You’ll only get a couple of years out of it before they graduate to a trail-a-bike. We used the Burley Trail-a-bike that enabled you to fall without tipping over your kid (it attaches to a special rack rather than a seatpost); of course that was 15 yrs ago so I don’t know the options out there now.

Also, both trailer and trail-a-bikes are heavy! And you need to be mindful of braking particularly downhill. You need a lot more distance and power to stop.

Have fun..


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[mktng]

To add to the added braking. Gotta factor in added slack and weight to take off. Readjustment of timing would be needed. If you're riding in areas with traffic.

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[robin3mj]

We've had a Burley Encore for a number of years now, and bought a second one, secondhand when our twins arrived. So my wife and I would each have a trailer with the 3 kids allotted between us.
Also bought the front stroller wheel for one of them which was worth every penny, and we have put them through the ringer. My twins are 3 now and the oldest is five and we still use it constantly- both as a stroller and a trailer.

I have zero complaints about them- they work as expected.

To echo what others have said, you need to use it in a way that your kids can tolerate. I had a co-worker whose kids would nap in it, and he could crank out 30 mile rides on the bikepath near us, whereas my kids are a little more restless, and so I won't drag them further than ~5-6 miles away, have a destination (park, restaurant, etc), then ride back.

[weaponsgrade]

I had the two-seater trailer (someone eventually broke in and stole it). I mainly used it in the trailer mode. In stroller mode, the front wheel sticks way far out. It makes navigating a crowded sidewalk difficult. The rear wheel of my bike kicked up lots of road grime and the kids got covered in it. I put on fenders which helped a lot. My kids usually wanted to ride with the cover rolled back. I would definitely try and look for something used. I used mine a fair bit, but it would've been nice to get some more use out of it before the kids outgrew. I had the basic model - not the one with the fancy shocks. I thought the basic was fine.

[pdmtong]

My kid sort of liked the Burley cart for short rides to the park or but def not for being dragged behind on a "real ride". I personally did not like pulling her either. If she went to sleep, I would have been better off just going for a real ride during her nap than pulling her. And if she was restless, the best I could go was 10-15 minutes. Would you want to be strapped down like that for more than a few minutes? It was a PITA for both of us. the Burley to stroller conversion sounds good, but as noted is sub-optimal. I got the Burley used on CL and am glad I did. sold it for what I paid.

The BOB stroller on the other hand was used all the time and worked great.

When the time came for an Adams-trail-a-bike that was way more fun.

[Polyglot]

I picked up a Burley in 1999 when my oldest was 2 years old, took her all over the place. Her younger sister joined her when she was 2 years old. We had the jogging attachment which allowed us to use it as a stroller and what a great stroller since you can load two kids and a full days supply of gear. When the youngest one had outgrown it, we still used it for a few years to lug gear around. Then we sold sold it onward for virtually the price that we had paid for it originally (we looked after it very well and always washed it after use and never left it out in the sun to fade). Absolutely great!

[benb]

We had a Burley Solo with the running/stroller kit... that's a 1-kid unit but it's the fancy one so I can give you an idea of what the fancy stuff is like, I have rented cheaper Burleys and I doubt they'd be better than the fancy ones.

It was totally great for bicycling, I had basically 0 complaints.

It was not totally great for running/walking. We did use it some, and my wife likes to run so she used it more, but I thought the stroller bits were a bit questionable.

1) The front wheel frame is fiddly... it's not that easy to get the front wheel alignment correct, and it's not that easy to mount/unmount over the years if the trailer gets dirty. On the other hand it was was very secure.. not much fear of anything ever coming loose.

2) It would pull to one side a lot of the time because of it being so hard to get the front wheel straight. And it has a huge turning radius because the front wheel is locked in. Fine for small adjustments for running but for a U-turn you are basically lifting that front wheel off the ground and pivoting on the 2 main wheels.

3) Brake included was a really really really cheap Tektro unit that barely worked and is incredibly difficult to adjust/tune. Huffy level stuff. It is more like a suggestion to slow down that something that brings the unit to a stop easily. It won't necessarily work down a hill, but they you are running/walking with it, not biking, so maybe no big deal.

Overall it was super comfy for my kid... he fell asleep in it many times biking/walking/running.

[ultraman6970]

Canadian made charriot IMO is the best around, they have a nice suspension system and you can transform them in a lot of other things.

The only problem is the price because they cost a lot.

I got one for two kids... after like 3 years my kids did not fit in there anymore so at the time to sell them (any brand ok?) you arent going to get your money back if you go new... thats the down side of those trailer things.

In my case had to suck it up or that thing was going to end up in the garage forever... probably you can find a used one in good condition, kids dont use them a lot because the life expectancy of a unit is around 6 y/o kid, after that you are better getting a bike or something else.

Hope this helps.

[vqdriver]

i had the chariot for both my kids.
first one loved it and was a great way for me to get in a spin while he napped. second one hated it and tried to escape the whole time.
yeah, you gotta try it to know.

for what it was it worked great. conversion kits galore and could be broken down to fit in a car. we had the towing kit, stroller kit (two smaller swivel wheels up front), and jogger kit (one big fixed wheel up front)
functionality of all the conversions was good.

i've mentioned this before, but expect to put fenders on your bike, even when dry. otherwise the rear wheel of your bike will kick up dust and road grime onto your kid. this is especially bad in the summer when you will want to leave the plastic window off to let fresh air in and keep it from becoming a greenhouse. and there's only a bug screen for protection.
first time out, i stopped about half an hour in to check on my kid. opened it up and discovered him covered in a gritty coating of road dust. closed the rain cover and later found him soaked in sweat while he slept.

fwiw, fenders improve, but do not completely remedy this problem.

[Jeckel30]

I use one of these for my son. I have no real complaints other than having to snug up the hardware every now and again. I was tempted to buy something more expensive but thought I would try it out to see if he liked it first. I ended up just keeping the stroller and trailer separate.

https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Sports-...gateway&sr=8-6

[Hank Scorpio]

Craigslist is your friend. I bought a barely used chariot cougar for $250 with the jogging and strolling kits. Thule bought chariot so many of the models cross over with Thule branding now. Also you might get lucky if you check tjmaxx/home goods/Sierra trading post/Marshall’s. I remember seeing a brand new Thule in one before we had our daughter. Fender recommendation is a must. We hit a cinder towpath in French town last summer and the little one had so much grit and grime over her despite my home made milk jug crud blocker. Get the fender as low as possible. Also if and cold weather strolling/riding is in your future look into the 7am enfant bags. They have slits in the back to allow for the straps to come through. My daughter loves the trailer and has slept through a twenty mile out and back on the shining sea bike path in Falmouth last summer.

[DRZRM]

I had the Chariot for my boys and it was great. Craig's list it your friend, I think I sold it for very close to what I bought it for. Don't skimp, both lightness and the suspension will be you friends. Looks like ccx they are owned by Thule now?