Review of Thule Coaster XT Bicycle Trailer

4 Reasons I Chose the Thule Coaster Bike Trailer

ONE: Capacity

When we started looking for a bike trailer the Thule Coaster was on my radar immediately. Why? It had a large inner capacity. One of THE largest! Considering our firstborn was in the ninety-ninth percentile I wanted to make sure there was enough headspace as well as enough legroom. This trailer fits the bill in both of those categories. It also has one of the higher weight capacities which I liked because we intended on having another child shortly after our first and we knew we would need the extra seat. Considering we later had twins it ended up being even more advantageous than we realized. It still seems a bit tight with both kids strapped in but it’s much roomier than others I’ve seen where the kids look like they are in the fetal position. The height is nice too it ensures that if we go over a bumpy spot their bottoms don’t hit the ground which is something I noticed seemed to happen to other kids when their parents were riding with them around our neighborhood.

TWO: Storage

The storage was a huge win! I loved the storage capacity of the back compartment! I could fit a diaper bag and my purse, maybe a small cooler with a picnic for the family, and still have room for the pool noodles and water wings for the days we rode to the pool. It was huge and I would much rather have more storage than less. In this case, more is more.

THREE: Handling

I’d seen a few videos on their site and on the amazon listing for the Thule Coaster. I saw that it looked like it handled well. Let me tell you it has not disappointed me! I have been able to ride a bike with it while also walking the dog. It wasn’t easy because our dog was a little too excited but if you have a well-mannered biking dog to run with you then it would be easy. This trailer also handles amazingly in the snow. We have our standard stroller for the twins which is the Joovy Scooter X2. I wanted to make sure we also had something for more than just walking. This also doubles as a stroller after your littles are big enough to hold their heads up. It glides so smoothly through the snow. I had not anticipated that.  I also love that all of the mechanisms seem to have been able to hold up to our northern Minnesota weather this winter without a single sign of rust. Unfortunately, our stroller did have that issue.

FOUR: Features and Simplicity

The features and simplicity of this trailer were a huge lure for us. I loved how simple and elegant the design felt. The tires pop on and off very easily. They also are filled with air-like bike tires which is one of the reasons that the ride is so smooth. Thule is made by a Swedish company and given their country’s motto seems to be elegant sleek quality products it makes perfect sense that this item is so well thought out. I was also pleasantly surprised by the weather shields. There are three shields that you can roll up or secure down using the velcro fastener. One is a simple bug shield which you can layer with the vinyl shield as well as the third sunshade. The sunshade is UPF 50 which to me was another added bonus. The windows in the cabin were also nice and large. Some of the trailers out there have smaller windows and don’t let the kids have much of a view. If you know your child has motion sickness maybe that is a benefit. In our case I wanted my kids to be able to see the nature we were traveling through.

The downsides

I did happen to notice a few things about this product that I wished were a little different.

1. It’s large which means that it doesn’t fit in smaller vehicles very easily. Luckily the wheels pop off easily and it does fold up fairly small. Knowing which vehicle you’re going to be carting the trailer around in is helpful when making your decision to buy.
2. The fold. It’s simple, yes, but for some reason, I always struggle with it. I’m not sure if it’s just my technique but it’s not as smooth as I would like it to be. I also don’t want to have to pull up the video on my phone every time I need to fold it up. Which means remembering how to do it. That doesn’t seem like much but we only fold it up occasionally so for us it ends up taking longer than it probably should.
3. The connection to the bike is ok, but it’s a rubber ball and socket. In itself, that’s not an issue but yanking on the little rubber latch to get it to wrap around properly gets a bit frustrating when I have a kindergartener waiting and my twins in the Thule yelling that they want to go. Lol. But patience is a virtue so forcing my children to wait isn’t the end of the world.

So go on and get yours you will not regret it! Did you end up purchasing this trailer? Or did you fall in love with a different one? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this trailer or the one you ended up buying. Let me know in the comments below!