Where can I buy one of those nifty towing contraptions that attaches to the seat post of the lead bike for towing another bike and rider? It looks like a little fishing pole, about 2 foot long, with a length of string, extending out beyond the rear wheel of the lead bike.

I saw it on those group adventure races where the stronger team members towed their weaker teammates uphill.

My girlfriend is getting into cycling and always tries to go beyond her limit on our rides. A few times, she "bonked" and it would have been great if I had something handy to tow her back home :)

Thanks!

Cheers

I use a piece of ratchet tie down strap , approx 10 ft or so ( minus the ratchets and hooks ). Tie one end around my seat post the other end wrapped around the handlebars of the towed bike. This way if they need to disconnect they just let go of the wrap. My gf used to tire out and I would tow her home this way. I even passed other cyclist on the trail when doing this , Their reaction was priceless.

My friend has a nice tow bar system, I'll email her and see what it's called and post later. They like it because it has safety features that allow it to break loose when necessary. She says it does take a little practice to get good and the "tower" has to be in charge and give good signals to the "towee".

My brother and I used to use a chunk of clothes line...I don't reccomend it..momma beat our butts when she found out there was a 10' chunk of her clothes line missing:p I have seen a couple of commercial units, Gandy is one that comes to mind.

Aaron:)

Sounds like time for a tandem, to me.

My friend has a nice tow bar system, I'll email her and see what it's called and post later. They like it because it has safety features that allow it to break loose when necessary. She says it does take a little practice to get good and the "tower" has to be in charge and give good signals to the "towee".
The company is x2cycle (http://www.x2cycle.com). It's called a tandem rack.
A picture of my husband & daughter using it is on my blog (http://www.kemenel.org/melalvai/journal/?p=37).

In August & September I used it frequently to take my daughter to school. Then she decided that 3 miles is not so far and she does the ride to school by herself. However, she'd never have decided that if we hadn't done it with the connector so many times!

Depending on how experienced a cyclist you are, I'd guess half an hour or less of practice before you're ready for using it on the streets. Trails are easier because you have fewer starts & stops and more flexibility about precisely when and where you start & stop.

The connector telescopes out, so for storage & transport it's about a foot long.

Hey, thanks all for those great tips!

Thanks on the tandem idea. I've been thinking about it, but she's a stubborn, independent gal. Not sure if she'll take my orders or just smack me on the back of the head.

Great towing ideas! Now, all I have to do is to make sure she doesn't latch onto my bike whenever she feels like it :)

A 20' section of rope will do the trick. Keeps pedestrians a safe distance from street corners when turning too!

What about towing a ghost bike (ie bike without rider)?

What's the best way to do that?

What about towing a ghost bike (ie bike without rider)?

What's the best way to do that?


does a trail gator work with a full sized bike? That's designed to take the front wheel of the bike being towed off the ground, but all the pics I've seen are with kid's bikes.

I guess it depends on how much work you want to put into it. You could jerry rig a Yakima bed head or block head to the back of a bike rack and bungie the front tire to something.

What about towing a ghost bike (ie bike without rider)?

What's the best way to do that?

I've wondered about this myself...what if I ride to a LBS, see something I really like and end up buying it (yeah, as if I'll actually have that kind of money to drop on a whim, but I can dream, right?)...and I don't want to use my car just to bring it home...

What if there was a way to connect the two bikes together, something rigid that would clamp onto the seat-stays of the lead bike and clamp to the fork of the towed bike? Or something that would get clamped down by the QR skewers? I wonder how it would handle like that. Possibly give it two rotational degrees of freedom (Pitch and Yaw, but not Roll) for cornering and hills and such...

Hmmm...

The best ideas for towing a bike with another bike that I've seen revolve around taking the front wheel off the towed bike and attaching the front fork to the towing bike's rear rack. This can involve a dedicated assembly (basically a front hub on a platform, attached to the rear rack) or a combination of bungees, inner tubes, and ingenuity.

I'd like to see a bicycle side-car... :)

I'd like to see a bicycle side-car... :)

Take your pick. (http://images.google.com/images?client=opera&rls=en&q=bicycle+sidecar&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi)

I wonder if I could use a Trail-Gator to tow my future Christmas Present a Downtube NS.

I wonder if I could use a Trail-Gator to tow my future Christmas Present a Downtube NS.

I'd think so.

Put your hand on the small of the person's back. It's much safer than some strapping arrangement. You can talk and let go for a break on the downhills. I towed a clubmate with a blown chain some miles this way.