# Can I tow a kid trailer with my full-suspension bike?



## anno (Jun 27, 2007)

I have a 2007 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR and I want to get a trailer so my baby can go along. Has anyone had success in hooking up a trailer to it? How well does it work? Seatpost, or skewer, or other? 

Cheaper is better since they will probably want to get their own bike after a season or two.
I don't necessarily plan on taking the kid off-road, but I only have one bike. I don't mind riding it on pavement, but I don't want the attachment device to mess up my frame or shock either. 

Any recommendations?


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## broz (Feb 3, 2007)

My trailer is not compatable with disc brakes FWIW, because there would not be clearence near the left rear chain-stay if the bike had a rotor. (and if you slid the connection point forward, the heel wouldn't clear).

Being fairly new to trailers myself, I was suprised by how bad the spring mechanism in the hitch sucks on mine. Basically, the spring is no where near stiff enough and I have to avoid creating torque because the spring goes harmonic easily and the bike feels wierd (and the kid gets whipsawed). So that is another consideration. This is totally obvious as soon as you try to climb a hill or accelerate with the trailer.

cheers.


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## GuruAtma (May 17, 2004)

I've hooked up a Chariot trailer to my Enduro without problems. There's a secondary safety strap that might get caught in the disc rotor, but I just don't use it.

If you stand and hammer up a hill, there's some back-and-forth motion in the trailer due to suspension bobbing. But if your Stumpy has the brain, well maybe that will solve it. But for riding around town it isn't an issue.


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## matt_outandabout (Mar 29, 2006)

We have a QR adaptor on our Burley - works a treat on FS or disc frames. For the past few years it has been hitched behind an Orange Sub5, now a Niner EMD 29er.

Cost more than the (second hand) trailer at £40 (@$70!) but has been great. It even works on my widdly little cowled Niner dropouts.


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## MichauxYeti (Nov 10, 2005)

I've pulled a Trek trailer with my Yeti Kokopelli, though had to do some fancy fitting. My non-drive dropout doesn't have a flat surface large enough for the "hitch" so I had to flip everything over to the drive side.


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## daleksic (Aug 26, 2007)

I pull my daughter, the dog and a cooler in my trailer (all together around 80-90 lbs now) on my HardTail. I got disks and no clearance issues whatsoever, however I like to lockout my front fork completely. Once i do that I don't even feel the trailer.

The adapter that I use attaches through my QR skewer on the rear. I do use the safety, just in case the trailer comes loose it will catch in my bike. Sometimes I see the line drag on the rotor if i don't pull it tight, but it never gets caught. Use a rubber band to remove the slack from the safety line if you have serrated rotors, should be an easy fix.

In the end, the furthest I ran was a 42-mile trail with and without the trailer and I was pooped just as much with the trailer as without. I ride my trailer tires very hard (max inflation), makes it roll easy. Make sure you take the wheels of an really grease them, once you're setup you shouldn't feel the trailer other than on steep uphills.


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## insect_o_man (Dec 13, 2007)

Our 2005 Trek Doodlebug hitches up to my 2007 FSR Stumpy no problem. My wife just took this snapshot today...


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## nynx (Mar 1, 2007)

I adapted a yakima caddy yak to use the chariot mount. The Chariot mount works great on any bike where the hitch plate can sit flat against the rear dropout. Most trailers I've seen work fine by just making a few mods to the chariot hitch kit and the mount that came with your trailer.

I went Caddy Yak off Craigslist for $100. Although if I could have afforded the expense I would have bought Chariot Cougar.


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## donalson (Apr 13, 2004)

you also get what you pay for... my sister let us use some super cheap trailer... it has a 100# limit but the way it hooks up means just the 70# between my 2 kids is annoying... there is a spring on the bar that hooks to the bike and it realy makes things jerky... it's not bad with just the 30# lil un...


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## stib (Dec 29, 2003)

I've been taking my daughter out on fireroad rides since she was about 11 months old. We'd been using a Turner RFX/Chariot Cougar combo, but I recently built-up my old Stumpjumper HT for towing duties. Our trailer works by simply attaching to the rear QR skewer, so running FS shouldn't be a problem.


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## anno (Jun 27, 2007)

I bought one at a garage sale last weekend. Looks pretty good, but certainly not brand new. However, it is supposed to clamp onto the frame (the piece like the chainstay, but on the other side). I have disk brakes, and this looks like it will be a problem, so I will be constructing a bracket that mounts through my rear skewer. I will post some pictures only after I have successfully ridden with it.


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## IAmtnbikr (May 17, 2008)

When our youngest ( just turned 9 at the beginning of June... and tonight I got her a Trek 220 since she's been struggling on some mild singletrack with her old Trek singlespeed  ) was very little I used a Burley with the QR mount behind my old Giant XtC DS1. Worked real well, and she loved riding out on the trails through the woods. Did have to wrap the safety strap a bit snug to keep it away from the rotor but it was no big deal.


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## nawocks2 (Nov 8, 2006)

donalson said:


> you also get what you pay for... my sister let us use some super cheap trailer...


two thumbs up for chariot carriers. they are a bit of an investment, but TOTALLY worth it. and they keep coming out with new accessories. i've had mine for, wow, for five years now. big brother outgrew it and now we use it for little sister. it has held up perfect. we had a little accident one fourth of july as we pedaled home from the fireworks...it was dark and the curb just jumped out in front of us, but the safety arm worked perfect. my son was secure inside even though he was flipped over. whoops! all was good :thumbsup: anyways, the carriers are super easy to switch out on bikes fs or not. really easy to switch accessories, too. i was a little concerned with the safety strap and the rotors, but no problems yet. just my .02


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## pegot (Aug 15, 2008)

We have a Burley Bee - pricey but a great trailer. Doesn't interfere with my discs because it uses a dropped bracket so the trailer hitches below the dropout.


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

Thanks Stib for the pics. I am looking for a trailer for my flux and that should work. My boy is 4 months old now so I have some time to shop around.


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

A QR hitch on a Burley trailer works like a champ! I used it on my C'Dale tandem, my Kona Major Jake, my Moots YBB and Cinco. Really simple. And as far as price goes, I bought our Burley Solo trailer for something like $350 and sold it after almost 4 years of use for $275. I listed it on Craigslist and I had cash in my hand 4 hours later...

Also, insect-o-man, that must be Palmer Park...


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## stib (Dec 29, 2003)

No prob sandmangts. Congrats on your lil' boy. Definitely shop around and find a trailer that suits your needs. There seem to be a lot of good choices out there. I'm pretty satisfied with our Cougar 1, but I do wish the seat back would recline, even if only a little bit. And I'm still looking around for much larger volume tire to add a little bit more cush.

Our daughter, Alicia (2 yrs old) now has a baby sister (4 wks). I'm looking into buying a Chariot Sidecar to compliment the trailer...


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## stib (Dec 29, 2003)

oops double post


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

stib said:


> No prob sandmangts. Congrats on your lil' boy. Definitely shop around and find a trailer that suits your needs. There seem to be a lot of good choices out there. I'm pretty satisfied with our Cougar 1, but I do wish the seat back would recline, even if only a little bit. And I'm still looking around for much larger volume tire to add a little bit more cush.
> 
> Our daughter, Alicia (2 yrs old) now has a baby sister (4 wks). I'm looking into buying a Chariot Sidecar to compliment the trailer...


How old was your kid the first time you used the trailer?


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## stib (Dec 29, 2003)

We started her out with the jogging attachment around 8 months. At about 9-10 months we were doing very slow road rides. We started riding off road (read mainly fireroads and flowly singletrack) at about 11-12 months. I think more important than a specific age, you need to consider your child's ability to support their head and to start things slowly at your child's pace. Do things in stages. Check out how your son reacts to each stage and slowly progress.


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## AmandaHanna (Aug 27, 2008)

It works fine with my K2 full Suspension and I use a TREK trailer. Its worth the $ for a good trailer though. Try find a good one used. It dosent scratch, the paint or carbon on my bike.


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## Hairllama (Oct 27, 2006)

I like to pull the trailer with my rigid SS. It gives a good workout + I like to feel every bump, that way I know what type of ride the little one is experiencing.


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## onetothepowerofn (Jan 24, 2005)

*Singletrailer*

My wife and I have been using a Singletrailer for about 2 years now. This is a German made single wheel trailer which weighs about 8kg (http://www.tout-terrain.de/). The seatpost mount works quite well with full-suspended bikes - the trick is to have the mount high enough for the beam to clear the rear wheel when it moves through its travel, and low enough that the trailer doesn't wallow too much when you pedal out of the saddle. Although I mainly use it on my Hardtail, I have also had the trailer mounted to my Santa Cruz Nomad and although you would never use anything near the 165mm of rear wheel travel, it makes for a comfy ride for all. These are a couple of pics of a ride we did in Grindelwald, Switzerland, with the Eiger North Face in the background.


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## donalson (Apr 13, 2004)

clever... any pics of it from more of a front profile view?... I assume it leans with you?... basicly a pull behind bike thats enclosed it looks like ...


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## stib (Dec 29, 2003)

That trailer looks sweet! May I ask approximately how much it cost?


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## onetothepowerofn (Jan 24, 2005)

*The singletrailer retails...*

...for EURO 1690 here in Europe which is about USD 2300. It's expensive, but I think we all agree that having the right tools makes life easier with kids. As noted the biggest advantage is being able to lean into corners. This not only allows you to ride much more fluid, but makes the trailer feel much, much lighter. We also have a 2 seater Chariot Cougar and although it is only 5kg heavier, the additional resistance due to the two vertical wheels makes it much heavier to pull. The Singletrailer also has 20cm (7.5") of wheel travel which makes even slightly technical trails quite doable. And yes, the shore section was very easy!


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## itsdoable (Jan 6, 2004)

In North America, the Tout Terrain trailer is distributed by Peter White, and it's a bit more than onetothepowerofn paid. Not cheap. However, here is ours at the top of the Big Rock climb in DSF:








It is the only trailer I know of that will allow me to ride all the way up, and down with no issues. Try that with a Burly or Chariot. The only place I could not go was the water crossing to Bridal Veil Falls, the water level & current was too high, and wanted to wash the trailer downstream.

It's great on trails, especially single track. On the faster downhill road sections (when closing a loop), the trailer has a tendency to wobble at higher speed.

Old review was posted here: https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=371309


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## onetothepowerofn (Jan 24, 2005)

@itsdoable
With regard to the wobble, have you replaced the 4 ball bearings in the coupling? I noticed that after a season of riding, even the slightest bit of bearing play resulted in the trailer wobbling quite a bit. This was especially noticeable at speed or when out of the saddle. Once I had swapped these out for new ones, the trailer tracked much better and improved the stability significantly.


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## itsdoable (Jan 6, 2004)

onetothepowerofn said:


> @itsdoable
> With regard to the wobble, have you replaced the 4 ball bearings in the coupling? I noticed that after a season of riding, even the slightest bit of bearing play resulted in the trailer wobbling quite a bit. This was especially noticeable at speed or when out of the saddle. Once I had swapped these out for new ones, the trailer tracked much better and improved the stability significantly.


The coupling bearings are still original, and they are still tight. I find that the axle bolts for those bearings can come slightly loose, and you get a knock when your descending bumpy terrain, as well as the high speed wobble. But keeping them tight is pretty easy, once you know. I think the high speed wobble I got had more to do with flex in the whole system, my bike - seat post - trailer boom. Coming out of corner leans on asphalt roads in the mountain descents can set up a wobble if you change your lean too quickly.


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