Before your First Ride

goRide recommends that you test the feel of the Bike Trailer in a quiet place without a passenger.  Only after you feel safe, take your child with you and practice away from road traffic. Your new trailer will possibly steer or brake differently to what you are used to with your solo bike.  This is especially true if the trailer is a double trailer and therefore wider. 

As the adult you will control the experience so you need to be aware of the risks and any potential danger.  Take some time now to practice connecting the bike trailer arm, handling & working with your trailer until you feel confident in using all its features. 

First Ride with a Passenger/s

Let your child/children have a good look around the trailer and climb in and out.  Be patient with their initial excitement and curiosity.  Show them what it can do, where it attaches to your bike etc.  When you think they have had enough exploring put their helmet on and buckle them into the harness.  Take your time to ensure the harness is adjusted to fit them, firm but comfortable.

A bike trailer is designed to be used with one or more children.  It also has lots of room to carry extra stuff so it can get heavy.  Along with this weight it is wide when compared to your bike – this is important to remember when riding in traffic or on narrow trails.

Practice starting.  To get going you will need to be in a low gear and it will take you longer to get up to speed.  You are also much longer, so take all these things into consideration when moving across traffic.  Stopping will take longer, you may need to pump your brakes.  Slowing going down a hill can also be a different experience, you want to avoid shunting where the weight of the trailer pushes your bike forward.

The width of a trailer causes a couple of things we want you to think about and potentially practice now…

• you need more room to pass by things, whether this is stuff on the side of a track or parked cars.  You need to consider your width when choosing to ride through narrow gaps or on off road single tracks.
• the width and two wheels of a bike trailer will not corner as efficiently as your bike.  This means the arc of your corners need to be bigger and we recommend taking corners at a lower speed than you normally would

1. Plan your route, know where you are going and approximately how long it will take you.  Choose environments and roads/trails you are happy to ride on or through.
2. Safety check of adult bike. Please take 30 seconds before every ride to do a safety check of your bike. Is my Bike Safe to goRide?Brakes are a very important element when adding weight to your solo bike especially if you ride regularly down hill.  Therefore your brakes need to be checked for wear more often than when riding solo.  Whenever possible use both brakes to slow down your trailer, this keeps your bike as stable as possible.
3. Safety check of Bike trailer.  Inspect the Bike Trailer and axel arm for loose nuts/bolts, broken or bent parts before every ride. Check that all quick release skewers, bolts or safety pins are closed/tight. Riding a bike causes vibration which will loosen things over time.  We recommend carrying a small tool kit that will assist you with keeping your Bike Trailer safe whenever you ride.
4. Check helmets & harness your passenger.  Before every ride adjust your kids helmet so it is low, level, snug and secure.  Correct Bike Helmet Fit. Clip your child into the harness. Make sure it’s not too tight.  You want firm but comfortable, as your child grows the harness & footrests will need to be adjusted.
5. Communicate and talk while you ride.  Try not to surprise or shock your child while on the bike.  Let them know what is happening. It is not always easy to communicate with a child that is low down behind you enclosed within the trailer.
6. Control your speed, be prepared to stop, scan your environment and know the road/route you are taking

Your child/children are low down behind you so it is not always easy to see what they are doing.  Try to check in regularly and explain to them they need to stay seated and not undo anything!

For multi use trailers we recommend that when you use the trailer with the bike kit that you keep the sun shade fully zipped so your kids are enclosed and protected.  They are positioned directly behind your rear wheel so there is potential for something from the ground to be flicked up onto them.  Not so much of an issue on sealed pathways but off road you need to protect them with this screen and also think about dust.