Cycling with 2 young children Part 3: Trailers

I'll start off and proclaim my bias here. I don't like trailers. I think they are useful for cargo and out of rush hour leisure rides, but i really don't like them when your in town or crossing busy junctions.

My son agrees and still resolutely refuses to go in the trailer. He wants to be on the bike with daddy. In fact he wants to ride the bike and have daddy sit on the back. He's pretty convinced he knows how to do it :-)

That said they have a lot of benefits:
-Weather proof
-Can carry a lot of 'stuff'
-Gives the kids some freedom to do things
-Safe in a crash that doesn't involve cars
-Can carry infants from 3months with suspension and inserts
-Easy to load

The disadvantages are:
-Heavy
-They 'feel' vulnerable in traffic
-Increased width on the road (suddenly i feel like I'm holding everyone up)
-Awkward to park
-Restricted view compared to bike seat.

I often read\hear people assure me that drivers behave very nicely round trailers and in my experience they do, but i feel that I'm holding up the traffic (its harder to pass on our narrow roads). In rush hour i cant imagine drivers would tolerate being held up like this.

I do recommend having a trailer. Its a nice add-on to a child seat combo and increases luggage capacity for days out (I can fit my birdy in mine!). I'm really hope that in the summer on long leisure rides in country roads i can persuade Mike to use it , just to get him out of the sun for a bit.

Great Family Bike Shop!

I was passing through Cambridge today and i missed my train, so i wandered out to look at the bike shop by the station ( http://www.stationcycles.co.uk/ ). It used to sell 2nd hand student hacks and a couple of newish bikes. Its now the best practical bike shop i've ever seen!

Lots of child seats (Including all the ones i was interested in), lots of trailers ( For hire and sale and they even had Chariots in Stock!), lots of practical European and classic City and commuting Bikes (including their own version city bike which looks stunning) , a good range of folders and a lot of top brand pedelecs as well. All in all just special!

They even have the bike rig set up that i'm planning (more on that later). I've never seen it in Holland let alone in the UK, even though its all dutch components ! If you want a practical bike for commuting or family cycling stuff go to this shop!

PS It even has long opening hours! Left luggage, left bike facilities, tours, friendly helpful etc ect etc etc