Tandems w/ children

[Nika Aldrich]

Some of this post is redundant to the tandem forum. Sorry about that - it seems appropriate in both places.

I currently have a trail-a-bike for my 6 year old, but I am interested in picking up a true tandem road bike for the two of us to ride together as he ages. This leads me to a couple questions:

1. I've seen in the past some attachments for kids to ride on tandems, including some sort of seat-post pedal set with a chain that drops down to the drive chain. Where do I find these, and how good are they? Anything else I will need for accomodating my 6 year old? I assume a longer stem for the stoker's handlebars?

2. Where do I go to find 6-year old sized bike shoes? Bike clothes?

Thank you all very much for whatever help you can provide.

Nika

[simsi]

I am just in the process of getting the parts needed to put kiddy cranks on our tandem for my 4 year old. Take a look at this: http://www.precisiontandems.com/art16moolddiary.htm
for the sorts of things you will need. Depending on the size of the tandem and child you may not need kiddy cranks, by crank shorteners for standard cranks.

As far as clothing goes, try a Google search for "Child cycle clothing" or something similar and you should find a number of companies that make clothing of suitable sizes. Also, try Nalini cycle clothing if you want to get child size Pro Team replica kit. I'm not sure about shoes, but I don't really think you'll need them assuming you're not intending to use clipless pedals.

Best of luck.

[Tmax1]

Here's another plug: Tandems Limited (http://www.tandemsltd.com)

Jack and Susan can set you up with either crank shorteners or kid back crankset.

Most full service LBS's have kid's accessories.

[masiman]

1. I've seen in the past some attachments for kids to ride on tandems, including some sort of seat-post pedal set with a chain that drops down to the drive chain. Where do I find these, and how good are they? Anything else I will need for accomodating my 6 year old? I assume a longer stem for the stoker's handlebars?

2. Where do I go to find 6-year old sized bike shoes? Bike clothes?

Thank you all very much for whatever help you can provide.

Nika

The kid-backs, child stoker kit, etc. work great. There are some pix in the Sticky: Post Family Pix (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=279527) thread. I have about 1000 miles on mine and they still love it. Yes, you will probably need a longer stem for your child. Handlebar position may not be exactly what you want but you can get pretty close.

I have found regular shoes with old style toe clips work best. No walking around and cleat issues to deal with. The child cycling clothes are okay but not the best quality for what they cost.

[LouD-Reno]

FYI, I got my child stoker kit for my Santana sovereign from DaVinci designs.... It had the Santana bb assembly, but what was really great was the shorter kid cranks, with 2 sets of pedal holes so the crank lengths can be changed (125mm or 145mm) by simply moving the pedals. On our 3rd season now (2nd son, now 4.5 years just moved from the piccolo to the stoker, while my soon to be 7 yo is pretty much full time on his 2 wheelers now). FYI, 1st year was 1st son as stoker with 2nd son attached in Burley trailer, 2nd year had 2nd son attached on piccolo... choo choo !!!

[LouD-Reno]

Pics !!!

[LouD-Reno]

More Pics !!!

[LouD-Reno]

Last one, I promise !!!

[paulbridges02]

I remember riding with my dad when I was real small on a tandem, think I was closer to 8 though, a bit older than yours. I remember having bocks of wood on either side of the platform pedals that my dad made. I was just a bit short for the standard pedals so he had to get a little creative. Just remember, your kid will make jokes about your butt being in his/her face while your riding, LoL. I had a lot of fun riding with him when I was growing up and carried over onto my own bike with I was about 10 or 11 doing 11 miles rides weekly with a 30 mile ride on occasions. I even did a centry when I was 12 on my own bicycle so there is something said to getting a kid started on a tandem.

[bbattle]

On my last century, I saw several tandems with child stokers. Some had the crank extension setup, some simply had the kids hangin' on. There was even a triple where the child in the middle couldn't reach the pedals while the stoker in the back had the extended crank. Pretty cool.

[cranky old dude]

I strongly recomend the child crank-set. The shorter crank-arms will accomodate their short legs without tiring them out so fast. I've added some photos of our Burley ...notice the handlebar setup for the stoker. The shop combined two stems (a stoker's and a regular) to bring the bar farther back to the child and help keep the child in a more upright position. I've long since removed the child crank-set, as our little girls have long since grown up. Soon it'll get reinstalled for use by Grand-kids.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/Burley.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r152/crankyolddude/burley2.jpg

Another big advantage here was the ability of the child to easily mount and dismount with the step-thru stoker portion of the frame. These may seem like minor points or overkill...but easy access and comfort leads to a higher enjoyment factor for both the Captain & the Stoker, and therfore, more rides.