Child trailers

[Tim Hall]

A friend is thinking of getting a child trailer so she can drag her 8
month old around. Probably short rides only, mostly on road, some
smooth bridleways.

She isn't looking at spending a fortune and has seen some trailers on
Ebay at around 100 quid, notably someone selling H*lfords branded
Spokey Joe trailers (see ebay item 7209394101). This particular one
can convert to a push chair by adding a third wheel. It weighs 9.2kg
and is just up the road from where she lives. I think the weight will
be important, as she's a small lady and weighs two tenths of bugger
all.

So, what is the difference in quality between this and, say, something
from Burley at three times the price. Has anyone here used one?



Tim

 

[LSMike]

Tim Hall wrote:
> A friend is thinking of getting a child trailer so she can drag her 8
> month old around. Probably short rides only, mostly on road, some
> smooth bridleways.
>
> She isn't looking at spending a fortune and has seen some trailers on
> Ebay at around 100 quid, notably someone selling H*lfords branded
> Spokey Joe trailers (see ebay item 7209394101). This particular one
> can convert to a push chair by adding a third wheel. It weighs 9.2kg
> and is just up the road from where she lives. I think the weight will
> be important, as she's a small lady and weighs two tenths of bugger
> all.
>
> So, what is the difference in quality between this and, say, something
> from Burley at three times the price. Has anyone here used one?
>
>
>
> Tim

I've not used one of those, but I do have a Burley D'Lite for sale in
Beckenham. I'd take £50, it's faded and well used, but serviceable.

 

[Geraint Jones]

Tim Hall <[email protected]> wrote:
| So, what is the difference in quality between this and, say, something
| from Burley at three times the price. Has anyone here used one?

I cannot say we've tried the Spokey Joe, but I was put off something
that also looked like a rebadged one of those by the "quick-release"
cotter pins that secured the wheels. Go on, accuse me of blind
prejudice. We did, however, borrow variants of the Hawk/Amoco/Cycle
King trailer and eventually decided on a bottom-of-the-range Burley
(at only twice the price) because the Burley had a better feel to it.

What made our decision for us was little things, like the Burley's
not rattling (the Amoco was like dragging tin cans behind you) and
having fixings for folding that looked and felt as though they were
meant to be used frequently. (We haven't yet needed to fold it for
storage, but we do occasionally find a need to part-fold it for a
barrier.)

 

[[email protected]]

Tim Hall wrote:
> A friend is thinking of getting a child trailer so she can drag her 8
> month old around. Probably short rides only, mostly on road, some
> smooth bridleways.
>
> She isn't looking at spending a fortune and has seen some trailers on
> Ebay at around 100 quid, notably someone selling H*lfords branded
> Spokey Joe trailers (see ebay item 7209394101).

I have used an OEM spokey joe from argos. There were two things I
didnt like about it. The seat back is the outer skin of the buggy so
anything without a smooth padded surface in the cargo pocket at the
back will tend to stick into the backs of the passengers. The second
and more serious failing was the COG was pretty much dead on the axle
which means with kids and and luggage in the back it is behind the
axle. This means it tends to tip backwards when in buggy mode. The
buggy was ok to use in a paved but semi-rural environment. In most
urban spaces the length and width would make manouvreing difficult to
impossible. The width will not fit through all domestic doors (unlike
most double push buggies).

BTW I saw one in Halfords on saturday for GBP79. I am not sure if it
came with the buggy wheel. Argos also did spokey joes at GBP80 and 120
(iirc). I think steel versus Alu for the two price points.

Personally I have a rebadged phillips trailer (the steel one, no buggy
wheel). I have been happy with this for local light use. It also serves
as a cargo trailer well enough. The fold on either is easy enough and
my feeling is that the quality differences are commensurate with the
price differences versus a burley (based on very little experience with
my sister's Solo).

I would think about a more expensive trailer for regular heavy use
(such as school or childcare run).

best wishes
james

 

[Tim Hall]

On 15 Jan 2006 11:59:41 -0800, "LSMike" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>I've not used one of those, but I do have a Burley D'Lite for sale in
>Beckenham. I'd take £50, it's faded and well used, but serviceable.


You have mail.


Tim

 

[sothach]

Tim Hall wrote:
> So, what is the difference in quality between this and, say, something
> from Burley at three times the price. Has anyone here used one?

Quality of build and components would be the main difference. I've
seen some very cheap and dodgy ones for very little money: trailer
safety is based upon the cage being shunted by the impacting motor
vehicle, so you'd want a good solid space frame.
A good indicator is TuV conformance - anyone seen a BS kite-mark for
trailers?

Another thing if you use trailers a lot is the hitch, the cheap ones
are a pain if you are unhitching regularly. The best is the Weber but
its fairly pricey, the Becco works well (but not a Thorn Raven), the
cheaper Burley/Trek (clamp-on) can be a pain to fit, the
ball-and-socket is better.

And be sure to have a safety wire/strap that is good and always fit it
(DAMHIKIJKOK)