Recreational & Family - Trailcycle seatpost stress?

I recently picked up a 'cherry' condition, cherry-red Adams Trail A Bike for $19 at a thrift store, and went to the Trail A Bike site to download the manual. In it, it indicates that a cro-moly seatpost on the bike is advised, not a steel or 'thin' alloy post. Has anyone had any seatpost issues with the trailercycles? I understand the issue of no more than 85 lbs. on the trailercycle, but are there other forces or stress I should be concerned about? Thanks!

The "H" block. This is the part that connects the hitch to the trailercycle frame. This can wear out and cause excessive wobble. A replacemnt isn't expensive and is an updated, refined design.

This is how things should work. Someone asks an arcane (at least from my point of view) question about a bike related subject, and someone that has never met the first person freely offers up the knowledge in order to promote bicycling.

Kudo's to you, DieselDan.

This is how things should work. Someone asks an arcane (at least from my point of view) question about a bike related subject, and someone that has never met the first person freely offers up the knowledge in order to promote bicycling.

Kudo's to you, DieselDan.
An arcane question? I thought the question was pretty straight forward!

They asked a pretty direct question BikerBrent. Didn't have anything on topic? Why bother?

Several HUNDRED Adams Trail-A-Bikes roam Hilton Head Island everyday all summer connected to aluminum seatposts. You're damned to hell to use steel on the coast. I've used aluminum seatposts with my children with no issues. In fact, I've never seen anything about using a cro-moly seatpost from Norco.

I didn't think it was a bad question at all - one that I am concerned about as well. So I'm going to take this discussion one step further.

My Trek Navigator 200 has an alloy suspension seatpost. When we graduate next year from our Burley Bee to an Adams or equivalent, should I change out my seatpost to a more solid unit (alloy / cro-moly), or can the spring unit take the stresses?

Steve

One thing to check in a used one is the bolt length on the hitch. If it is too short, you need to get a replacement bolt from the dealer. More info at their website:
http://www.trail-a-bike.com/interface/adams.php?loc=e&sku=safety&art=safety_consumer

We've only used ours a few times, so I can't comment on the long term use and seatpost strength, but I don't worry too much about it on my mountain bike seatpost. If it can take a clydesdale off the road without failure, it can certainly handle half of a 5 year old. The closer the hitch is attached to your frame, the less leverage it has to bend your seatpost.

I didn't think it was a bad question at all - one that I am concerned about as well. So I'm going to take this discussion one step further.

My Trek Navigator 200 has an alloy suspension seatpost. When we graduate next year from our Burley Bee to an Adams or equivalent, should I change out my seatpost to a more solid unit (alloy / cro-moly), or can the spring unit take the stresses?

Steve
As long as you have enough seatpost under the shock to attach the hitch, you should be fine. Unless you get the Burly Piccalo, which uses a rear rack and a fifth wheel-like hitch.

$19.00? Talk about luck!!! I spent $25 on a Kent co-pilot. It looks like an Adams, handles OK when new but it's pivot is steel on steel. No bearings or bushings. Bad design. Parts wear quickly and it weighs a ton.

The "H" block. This is the part that connects the hitch to the trailercycle frame. This can wear out and cause excessive wobble. A replacemnt isn't expensive and is an updated, refined design.

Thanks to DieselDan for identifying precisely my problem, and I hope I can impose with a follow-up. I have a one-year old Adams trail-a-bike, which worked perfectly until recently the connection between the hitch and the trailercycle frame began to permit lateral movement (the trailacycle can move away from vertical even when the bike it's attached to remains vertical) causing excessive wobble, making the ride more dangerous and less fun. You mention an "updated, refined design" of a replacement part. How do I know whether a replacement part is updated? Thanks in advance (and hope you are still subscribing to this thread).

Thanks to DieselDan for identifying precisely my problem, and I hope I can impose with a follow-up. I have a one-year old Adams trail-a-bike, which worked perfectly until recently the connection between the hitch and the trailercycle frame began to permit lateral movement (the trailacycle can move away from vertical even when the bike it's attached to remains vertical) causing excessive wobble, making the ride more dangerous and less fun. You mention an "updated, refined design" of a replacement part. How do I know whether a replacement part is updated? Thanks in advance (and hope you are still subscribing to this thread).
You need the 'first knuckle' for your Adams hitch if you have some play in it--REI sells them for nine bucks (part# 722058). Go to rei.com and enter the # under search for more info.

Thanks for such a detailed response.

The change was small, you'd have to be an experenced mechanic to spot it. The bolts are tapered, and when you tighten them, they spread the block out a bit, tightening up the play. I'd have to show one to you to really get my point across. I manage a rental fleet and have 35 of these to keep going with upper managment telling me to keep fixing them instead of replacing.

"First Knuckle" and "H-block" are the same thing.

Thanks so much. One last question. Since this problem, I've been considering switching to a Burley Piccolo, pricey, but the research I've just done said it is safer because of the connection point over the rear hub rather than the seatpost. And I definitely feel less than fully stable when my daughter shifts her weight on the Adams. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

The Piccolo is a much better design, the Adams is a safe cost effective alternitive.

I have a Piccolo, and like it a lot. I've not pulled a trailerbike that attaches to the seatpost, so I can't compare it to your Adams, but I find it to be a very comfortable pull. Unless your child starts acting silly, it's comfortably stable. And when he or she does get silly, it's still very good.