Chariot Carriers Cougar 1
For the cyclist, time is divided between family, friends, work, housework and, hopefully, a few hours here and there each week to ride; something easier said than done. Chariot understands this dilemma, and not just for cyclists, but anyone who has both a family and a love for out door activites.
By James Sharp
Time... our best friend and worst enemy. It’s the great equalizer; everyone has only 24 hours no matter how wealthy or poor, young or old; no matter if you are single and not a care in the world or if you are a family man with small kids at home. For the cyclist, time is divided between family, friends, work, housework and, hopefully, a few hours here and there each week to ride; something easier said than done. Chariot understands this dilemma, and not just for cyclists, but anyone who has both a family and a love for out door activites. Chariot was founded in 1992 because of the difficulty that families face trying to be active outside with children. Over the years they have grown to be the market leader in Canada, where the product is made, and one of the leading child carrier brands in the U.S.
After perusing their product line at Interbike in 2003 we knew that we had to take a much closer look at their trailers. Chariot obliged by sending us a decked out Cougar 1; this trailer is also abailable as the two child Cougar 2. Chariot’s approach to the trailers is a bit different than other brands. Instead of purchasing a trailer and then adding a wheel to make it a jogger, or a stroller, Chariot sells you a chassis. What you do with it is up to you. Do you want a jogger? Then it is the chassis and jogging kit. Want to tow your kids behind you as you cross-country ski? Then all you need is the XC-Skiing CTS kit and the chassis. Chariot has kits to adapt the Cougar for skiing, cycling, jogging, hiking and strolling. What if you want the cycling, jogging and strolling kits right away? Well, Chariot has thrown these together in one nice package called the Cougar SX. This is basically the configuration that we received, without the extra padded harness, reflective wheels or zip-out side windows.
As I said above, our Cougar came configured similar the SX model, it has the stroller kit, the jogger and bike kits. Chariot also shipped us an extra hitch, the Hydration kit, the Infant Sling, Baby Support and X-Country Cargo Rack. Let me take a minute and run through the kits individually. The hydration kit consists of a small bottle for Junior and a bigger bottle for Mom or Dad. Both bottles come with a bottle cage, Junior’s clips inside and Parents attaches to the handlebar. The Infant Sling holds an infant, adjusts the straps for the smaller baby and provides additional lateral support. Because it is a sling, Chariot doesn’t recommend it for cycling, and I concur completely. The harness is only a 3-point when using the sling. It took a little bit of time to attach the infant sling, but the instructions were very clear. The sling isn’t something that you would put in and take out often, rather you would put it in once, and remove it once your child is big enough to move up to the Baby Support. The Baby Support is an insert that essentially sizes down the seating area for a smaller body. Like the Infant Sling, the Baby Support provides additional lateral support. Unlike the sling, however, the harness remains a 5-point harness. The Baby Support adjusts to accommodate a growing child and the head support is removable to allow room for a helmet. The X-Country Cargo Rack mounts up top and is especially useful when the carrier is used in jogging or strolling mode. It allows extra storage for items that Mom or Dad might want to keep near at hand. I’ll talk about the hitch in a minute.
The Cougar Chassis itself has some features that make this a standout child carrier. Like other trailers, this one collapses down flat. Unlike other trailers, the wheels come off with a push of a button. No quick release skewers to fumble with; push the center of the hub and pull the wheel off. To put the wheel back on push the center of the hub again and slide the axle back in the hole, release the button and, voila, the wheel is secured. Very slick. Another standout feature is that the wheels are mounted on leaf springs. This suspension removes some of the hard knocks that Junior normally endures, plus the suspension is adjustable for the weight of the child as he or she grows. Like many strollers, but unlike most trailers, the Cougar has a parking brake. This makes loading Junior a breeze. Set the brake, load child, release brake and ride. No struggling with a moving trailer if you park on a slope.
The hitch attaches to an included quick release skewer. This is fantastic since the hitch works equally well on road bikes, recumbents, disc brake equipped mountain bikes (with or without rear suspension) and tandems.
The included skewer is long enough to work on tandems without any modifications. The hitch is very secure and is easy to attach and remove. The hitches weight isn’t noticeable without the trailer.
There are some real advantages to the modularity of the Cougar. Many of the attachments can remain mounted to the Cougar while not in use. For example, the swivel wheels used to convert the chassis to a stroller can be placed in their sockets upside down (wheel up) while the chassis is being used as a bicycle trailer. Once the parent and child have arrived at their destination, off goes the hitch arm and, once the wheels have been inverted, the chassis is set up for strolling. This facilitates Mom or Dad taking Junior to the Zoo by bicycle, leaving the bicycle locked up outside, and converting the trailer to a stroller for a walk among the animals.
The exterior of the Cougar was clearly designed with ease of use in mind. The carrier collapses easily, and is set up very quickly, Chariot claims 2.5 seconds, and I don’t doubt it. Folded the Cougar easily fits in the trunk of any car. Its aluminum frame makes it light enough for one handed portaging. I found it easy to collapse, remove the wheels and load it single handedly into the trunk of my Honda Prelude, which isn’t known for its spacious trunk. There is a roomy pocket that acts as a trunk in the back of the Cougar, along with a mesh pocket for things like cell phones, keys, and wallet. The trunk pocket is big enough to easily carry necessities like diapers, extra clothes, food, toys and more. With normal use, we never did fill it to capacity.
The interior of the Cougar is as well thought out as the outside. The harness is padded, and the buckle is covered to help keep little fingers from getting pinched. As stated above, the harness is a five-point belt, and all five points are adjustable. The side windows have mesh panels that can be exposed to allow more airflow and keep Junior cool on hot summer days. The seat bottom is well padded and is made of a wicking mesh to move moisture away from the child and keep him or her comfortable. It almost goes without saying that if the child is uncomfortable, they won’t be willing to endure a long stroll or ride. Chariot recognizes this and strives to make the little one as comfortable and as safe as possible.
The Cougar has reflective stripes sewn judiciously on the outside of the carrier, but we feel that it could use more in the back, particularly higher up. This isn’t a big deal when the parent is behind the carrier using it as a jogger or a stroller, but when the Cougar is hooked up to a bicycle, there is a lot of exposed area that is pretty dark. Chariot claims to have a place for a rear blinking light, but it is more of an afterthought than a tab or other specific light holder. We would really like to see a better, more central light holder (or, even better, a built in flashing light for the back) to help with visibility when the carrier is used as a trailer.
Summary: Chariot has packed a ton of features into the Cougar carrier. Not only does it boast one of the best, if not the best, hitches in the business, but they also make using the carrier a no-brainer. It is easy to collapse, easy to set up, lightweight, and comfortable for the child. They could have stopped there and had a winner, but then they added the different add-ons, and kits. It almost doesn’t matter what you enjoy doing outside; Chariot has a kit for the Cougar that makes bringing your kid or kids with you a snap. The Cougar 1 chassis sells for $335 with the kits as follows: cycling kit, $40; jogging kit, $50; stroller kit, $40; Infant Sling, $45; Baby Support, $45; X-Country Cargo Rack, $40; Hydration kit, $17.
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