I’ll keep you from reading my rant of why I feel that child bike seats are unsafe and can lead to danger for the child and adult. That will be saved for another day.

Earlier in the summer Burley sent out a D’Lite Child Trailer for review purposes. Walking into the review I knew from my experience in the past with Burley, their trailers and the quality they take around design and development – I would be pleased with the results of their D’Lite trailer. As my children are grown to 10 and 11 years old, I borrowed and stole children of all sizes for the review and testing. At the bottom of this is a ton of photos to hopefully document all the details that the D’Lite has to offer.

My Burley Trailer History

My first experience with Burley outside of selling them was back in 2005. The shop I was managing outside of Boston had a few rental Burley trailers to use on the local rail to trail. During the early spring before our rental period picked up I adopted a puppy. I used a kids trailer with a couple blankets and a short leash to transport my new puppy to the shop and back. She loved it, I loved it and it was perfect. Since then Burley has actually released the Tail Wagon which is a trailer designed for your dog!

My next experience with Burley was as a bike line. My small shop in Charlotte, NC stocked and sold their road line. Beautiful steel bikes, a dying breed. Since then Burley has restructured and really going after the trailer and pull behind niche.

My latest experience was with the Burley Travoy. An urban trailer I reviewed over at Commute By Bike. The review is also reposted on Bike Shop Girl with more photos.

Details of the Burley D’Lite Child Trailer

Rear Window Unzipped

Details pulled right from Burley.com

• Available in Green or Orange
• Replacement covers available in Yellow, Blue or Red
• Bowed-out sides for increased interior width/shoulder room
• Elastomer suspension system
• Exclusive height-adjustable handlebar that doubles as roll bar
• All weather cover with waterproof zippers
• Deluxe reclining padded seats
• Five-point harness and padded shoulder harness
• Removable, washable seat pad and shoulder harness
• Tinted side windows
• Adjustable sunshade
• Parking brake

Key Features

The things I found unique and completely Burley:

• Tinted side windows
• Rear window that zips down for airflow and the child can see around
• Drink and snack holders on both sides the seats
• Reflective piping and logos all around the shell
• Easy to use
• Push button wheels
• Standard 20″ wheels, not the plastic kind
• Did I mention easy to use?
• Adaptable to all types of bikes

My Overall Feelings

The D’Lite delivered as I expected it to. The trailer isn’t the cheapest out there, but if you purchase an accessory kit this could become your do all stroller, running jogger and kid hauler. The ability to completely flatten, pull the wheels off and stow it in the back of your vehicle is irreplaceable for the family on the go. Why not have one killer trailer/stroller/hauler instead of 3 that do 3 different things?

In the end I do believe that trailers are safer, allow you to bring two kids, clothing, and they are tucked behind UV windows, rain fly’s mesh, and a roll bar. 5 point harness system will keep every kid in place. Extra room allows you to put snacks and toys in with them, without the ability of them throwing it overboard.

I hope to explore how parents can get their children interested in riding in the trailer, how to do it safely and tips/ideas of how to get out with your family. In the end it is completely how the parent handles taking the their child, how they encourage healthy living and being outside.

Disclaimer: This product was provided at no charge. I was not paid or bribed for the review and was completely as judgmental as I am with everything else in my life.

Being a first-time mom comes with its challenges, but integrating your family with your biking hobby doesn’t have to be.  This weeks guest post is from Megan of BikeShopHub.com where she talks about her steps from being a bicycling girl to a bicycling mom.

Hi, I’m Megan, and I’m a biking mom. A mom who just happens to work at an online bike shop,  BikeShopHub.com, that specializes in bike accessories that help you do more with your bicycle.  Pre-”positive EPT”, I was a bike enthusiast who bike commuted 30 miles a day between work and school, enduring all of the unpredictable weather Flagstaff, Arizona has to offer.  My love for cycling grew with each pedal stroke, and I decided to take my biking relationship to the next level, and try bike touring.  After taking a few mini trips to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, I felt ready to brave a longer tour.  I chose an area that holds a special place in my heart, a place of my youth: southern California.  Biking the PCH from LA to Napa Valley, I rode 600 miles in eight days, and loved every minute of it.  I cataloged my experience on BikeTrailerBlog.com to encourage other commuters to think about another side of biking.  One year hence, a 7.2-pound bundle of joy entered my life.

I had biked up until the time that I was eight-months pregnant by continually swapping bikes.  As tummy growth has an inverse relationship with the ability to bend over, I went from road bike to cross bike to mountain bike, and finally to cruiser bike.  I found doing Bikram Yoga on a regular basis helped me to maintain my balance as my center of gravity changed, and I was still able to commute solely by bike or public transit.  When the time finally came, I decided to purchase a motor vehicle, something I had not owned in five years.  Once the baby was born, I was itching to get back in the saddle–which didn’t happen for another five months…

It takes a lot of mental preparation to decide whether to bike commute with your child.  As an avid cyclist who has been doored, I understand the risks of riding. I certainly had my reservations.  However, considering I sell bike child trailers and love biking, I knew that riding with my girl was something I really wanted to do.  Neva grew, and she grew, and she grew.  When she was able to sit up straight, and hold her head with glowing confidence, and I had the 15 months of contemplation, we were both ready.  I’ll never forget the first day that I was able to bike to work again, but this time with my daughter sound asleep in the bike trailer behind me.

Now, it’s as if I am car free again.  I pull Neva everywhere, and she coos with glee until sleep overtakes her.  On my days off, we’ll bike 15 or more miles doing errands around town, or biking to beautiful lookout points where she can play in the grass.  It’s fun to imagine how she sees the quickly passing scenery, and repetitive cyclic motion of the rear wheel turning and my legs pumping the pedals.  I am overjoyed to be able to share my cycling passion with my child at such a young age, and for her to be so receptive to the whole experience.  Being able to bike with her has really enriched my life.

The next step for us will be going bike camping, integrating bike panniers for long distance travels.  Preparing to go long distance with a child adds a whole new element.  Mapping out safe cycling routes is a number one priority when extending your route outside of towns and cities.  Through my current work position, I am fortunate enough to currently be testing several bike child trailers, including a Chariot Cougar 1 which has been great so far and I will be reviewing soon. So far, I can remark that Chariot Carriers is clearly a very detail-oriented, high quality bike child trailer.  It’s got a price to match, but can be considered a value if regularly utilized for some or all of its purposes.  And they are occasionally on sale.

There are so many options available, and I enjoy being able to offer my experiences to other bikers who are interested in biking with their children, but don’t really know where to start.  I will continue to test products as the bike gear guinea pig, and look forward to empowering my fellow female biking friends in future posts.

Megan Fitch is a dynamo at BikeShopHub.com managing customer service, accounting and writing content. BikeShopHub.com is a sponsor of BikeShopGirl.com, but we feel Megan’s outlook is well worth sharing!

Over at Bike Shop Hub, a site supporter and a darn near close name, the talk of balance bikes was brought back up.  Many thoughts are racing between my ears currently, but before I say anything outlandish or make claims I can’t support by test data, I want to ask you all some questions.

Questions for you

• Do you feel your children needed training wheels?
• Do you have fear for your children?
• How outside of the box can most parents think?

Over at Commute By Bike I have been reviewing a Burley Travoy, a cargo trailer system.    While we are still going through the review process and haven’t put it fully through its paces, I can the trailer does all it says it does and more.

My encouragement is for women to use a trailer system to expand their current bikes capacity.  One of the biggest issues I’ve always had with putting racks and bags on a daily ridden bike is that your bike weight to people weight ratio becomes very skewed.  Especially for smaller women and men that ride a 51cm or below size bike.   Permanently adding 3-4 lbs to your bike can really affect the handling and high speed stability.   Yes, the Travoy is heavier than your average rack system but you can easily take the trailer off when you aren’t using it.    In the video above you can see I attached the trailer to a full carbon road bike.  Carrying that amount of weight on a bike such as this was never possible before, but now it is done quickly!

Other than child trailers, have any of you used a trailer for cargo/groceries and such?

Nutrition is an under used term for the novice cyclist or athlete.  For the professional, it is the way of life.  They run their engine like NASCAR builds their cars, with precision.  For the past few months I’ve put my family in some sort of science experiment with various types of nutrition supplements and varieties.

nuun is a electrolyte replacement, with a little flare.  These little tablets come in 8 flavors, and are kept in plastic tube to keep them readily available on long rides.   With available flavors like Kona Cola, which tastes exactly like Coca Cola, and Lemon+Lime, tastes like Sprite, or Banananuun.  My personal favorites will always be the fruity styles like Citrus Fruit or Tri-Berry.

The flavor isn’t the only unique feature of Nuun.

What’s in nuun?

Active ingredients                                                 level (mg)

Sodium (carbonates)                                                    360.0
Potassium (bicarbonate)                                              100.0
Calcium (carbonate)                                                      12.5
Magnesium (sulfate)                                                      25.0
Vitamin C                                                                          37.5
Vitamin B2                                                                        500mcg

Photo Credit : nuun.com

A Family Product

In my household my entire family, except the dogs, have used Nuun.

My kid’s put Nuun in their water bottles for hot days on the lacrosse field, they got a big kick out of the soda flavored tablets.   As a parent we know our children need more than water, but Gatorade often creates a backlog of bathroom problems with the amount of sugar and extras.   In the past we have used various supplement electrolyte water enhancers.  This is the first one that is easy to deal with, no big tub and scooper, and can be kept in a pocket or purse.

On the Bike Experiences

My first Nuun trial was on a 95 degree day, with very hot water and their lemon lime flavor.  It was horrible.  I can’t blame the Nuun as drinking hot water was horrible enough, but hot Sprite flavored drink was pretty darn bad.

My second experience I put it in a Camelbak insulated bottle and made sure to shake it up a ton before setting off on the bike. I felt like I was cheating the whole ride as I was drinking a “soda pop” but at the end I had no groggy headache from dehydration, and at night I had no cramping from lack of salt in my buddy.

Overall Feedback

In my family we all liked it.  It was simple to use, the design of the tube was easy to store in bags, purses or hydration backpacks.  Some of us liked certain flavors more than others, so make sure to test out different ones.

No carbohydrates.   This was a big thing for me, as for some reason my stomach doesn’t like me to “drink” my carbs, yet it doesn’t mind me pounding down tons of bread and such on the bike.  No matter, my stomach was happier which made me ride much better on a hard ride.

One tube has 12 tablets inside, and on average these tubes cost about $8.  Nuun currently has a buy 3 for $19.50, plus they allow you to mix and match what flavors you like.

The Con’s

After calling every bike shop within 30 miles, most of them didn’t know what Nuun was, and none of them carried it.    The closest I found was the Camelbak Elixir, which looks and plays the same drumbeat.   Starting a trend isn’t a bad thing, but special ordering your food every order can be a hassle.

Is this Nuun or the distributors problem?  This is a separate topic, but it doesn’t matter how good a product is, it needs to be available and bike shops need to know what it is.

Visit nuun online or on Twitter @MinistryofNuun

A valid question was asked over on Twitter, “Do You Wear Sunscreen When You Ride?”

My answer is yes, and well… no.  Up until this year I have always worn short sleeve jerseys when riding.  Maybe it is the roadie in me where sleeveless jerseys are banned from racing.  I often have freaky tan lines from gloves, helmet strap and short sleeve jerseys.

At the bike shop and at home I have now invested in KINeSYS sunscreen, in the spray bottle!  It is the least we can do for our skin, but in the long term it probably isn’t enough.

Next step is SPF clothing, but that will be another time.

Over at CommuteByBike.com I posted an article this morning about the various ways to carry your smaller child on a bike.   It is a good article to read for the basics of child bike seats, trailers and the Xtracycle.  Many commentors have added their own ways of carrying children which I hope to touch on soon.

How do you ride with your smaller children? Do you commute with them to places like school or the library, by bike?

Join the conversation on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @BikeShopGirlcom.

Over at Velorution they talked about a program that rents the small push/glide bikes by the week.

This triggered many thoughts in my head as I love the push bikes instead of training wheels.  It allows a child to learn relying on themselves only, and not training wheels.  The learning curve is gentle and quickly conquered.  My shop sells the Strider running bike, light weight and under $100.

The biggest concern I’ve had with these Striders are once the child learns to ride it, they are ready for the next bike with pedals.  The purchase is very short lived if the child progresses quickly. Unless the parent has another smaller child, or perhaps a friend they could pass it on to.  Yes, these little things hold their value and could sell on Craigslist quickly, but why bother?

Now, what about a rental program to allow the child to try it?  A week for $20 seems fair to me.

Parents : What are your thoughts?