# Will towing a child trailer tweak a full-suspension bike?



## 21Stitches (Mar 13, 2009)

Is it ok to attach a child carrier trailer to a full-suspension mountain bike? Or could it pull the suspension out of whack?

I just hooked up our Burley to my new Anthem x w to take my toddler for a ride (ok, and do hill repeats!). The gears got a bit crunchy (which may be part of the break-in period, as the bike is brand-new). But then I got to worrying that with the multiple pivot points on this rear suspension, I could maybe mess things up.

Any thoughts?


----------



## Prophet bill (Feb 28, 2008)

I dont think you have anything to worry about.Lots of people pull with fs.


----------



## Jwiffle (Jan 26, 2004)

I don't necessarily see a trailer hurting the full squish, but I imagine it must feel weird to pedal.


----------



## Maida7 (Apr 29, 2005)

I agree it won't hurt your bike at all. The trailer load is a lot less then you think.


----------



## rich (Jan 11, 2004)

I cringe every time I clamp our trailer to my intense 5.5, I worry about crushing the aluminum. sometimes the clamp will slide back and rub the the brake rotor ( i haul a 1 and 3 year old) but no probems so far


----------



## murph62903 (Apr 1, 2007)

Buy a $100 beater off craigslist, in the long run you will save in where and tear on the drivetrain, breaks, and suspension. you'll be pissed if you dent/bend that frame pulling a trailer.


----------



## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

The only thing you're hurting is suspension performance. But than again, you're not railing any gnarly berms... are you? Don't sweat it. Your bike is designed to handle 200+ pounds of dead weight going balls-out. The actual towing weight of a baby trailer (what your bike "sees") is a mere fraction of this. Tow that mo-fo.


----------



## yogidave (Aug 9, 2006)

*My 2c on pulling a trailer with FS*



21Stitches said:


> Is it ok to attach a child carrier trailer to a full-suspension mountain bike? Or could it pull the suspension out of whack?
> 
> I just hooked up our Burley to my new Anthem x w to take my toddler for a ride (ok, and do hill repeats!). The gears got a bit crunchy (which may be part of the break-in period, as the bike is brand-new). But then I got to worrying that with the multiple pivot points on this rear suspension, I could maybe mess things up.
> 
> Any thoughts?


We use a Chariot Trailer and I posted this in a different thread:

I currently pull it with a hardtail MTB with 6" disk brakes and there are no clearance issues. I have also pulled it behind my full suspension MTB, but that was terrible because it was not possible to tune out the bobbing AND have the FS rig rideable on the trial. So, I rebuilt an old hard tail frame as my "family" bike.

NET: if you have the $$ a non-FS frame is best.


----------

