Tandem Cycling - pulling trailer with tandem?

Hi,

My wife and I are car free and so we obviously pull a trailer a lot.

Anyone on here pull a cargo trailer with the tandem?

Nope, use panniers when needed.

Nope, use panniers when needed.

Maybe I should ask this another way.

Is there some reason why you could not pull a trailer with a tandem?

Is there some reason why you could not pull a trailer with a tandem?

If there is, I don't want to hear about it! We do it all the time. :D

-Greg

http://home.nannynannybooboo.com/bike/supermarket.jpg

I've noticed those little trail-behind bikes for sale, and wondered why somebody didn't make 'em into a trailer- looks like somebody did!

At our club's annual fall century (Foxy Fall Century) we had a several tandems as sags in addition to the usual cars. Here is a picture of Chris and Jennifer. They hauled 20 pounds of stuff 110 miles (they live 5 miles from the start). They reported that it was easier to carry this weight in a trailer than in panniers. I've never tried it myself, but have the hardware on order to try my Burley on our tandem. We have a drag brake and the normal hardware won't fit.

Although I'm not sure I would try it, they had no problem riding down some steep hills on the course, hitting 40+ mph with a very stable rig going down Cardiac. Chris and Jennifer's bar tape and tires are bonuses!

No. We pulled a trailer with our daughter in it for many miles when she was one and two. Can't imagine a more precious cargo. It worked fine -- in fact, it made us stronger -- go for it!

We do the same thing, but with our 1-year-old son. The bike is longer than most cars (and even some SUVs), and that takes even more getting used to than the tandem did.

I saw a tandem pulling a tag along kids bike, pulling a trailer with another kid. I have no idea how they turned around it was very long.

We have pulled a B.O.B. trailer behind our Rans Screamer for many extended camping trips. Except climbing, we don't know it's there. Makes for a long train, but it will hold 90 litres or about 70 lbs. of cargo. Our recumbent can't take front panniers, so the trailer is a good compromise. Mike

There is no reason not to pull a trailer with a tandem, it's just we use panniers instead.
There are 2 wheeled trailers like the Burley (and others) or one wheel trailers . . . take your pick.
Loved the photo and the duo with the rolling sag support on the Foxy Century!
BTW rode with Foxy Grandpa Delano back in the 70s on the Belle Isle 200 miler.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

If you think about it, what better kind of bike to pull a trailer with than a tandem. Twice the legpower makes for amazing feats of grocery getting. MY GF and I would regularly exceed the 70lb load rating of our BOB Yak on shopping day. I don't regret the Yak purchase but I knew I should have worked harder at the kiddie bike idea! I thought of it first! :-).

H

I saw a tandem pulling a tag along kids bike, pulling a trailer with another kid. I have no idea how they turned around it was very long.

No problem, as long as one stays away from "cycling" and "multi-use" paths.

I piloted for a few years a single bike with trailercycle and child trailer. I now pilot a tandem with trailercycle and (sometimes) cargo trailer. In July 2006, I rode with my two stokers (then 10 and 6 years old) from Montréal to Rivière-du-Loup along the St. Lawrence river. With all the stuff needed for a 1-week tour with the children followed by 3 other weeks by myself, all self-contained, the full bike weighed 220 lb with food and water but no cyclists.

The vehicle handled very well on flat terrain, was a bullet downhill... and I really needed my 18/34 to climb hills.

BTW rode with Foxy Grandpa Delano back in the 70s on the Belle Isle 200 miler.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

I rode alot with Ed, including one memorable Davis Double Century around 1972 or 1973. His son Ed Jr is still riding at 75. Send me a message offline at macaulay dot steve at gmail dot com and I'll send you a couple of articles by a friend of mine on early riding with both father and son around 1964 when they got into cycling.

I've been pulling a trailer from a tandem for quite some time now, usually with my 4 year old stoking and 1 year old being pulled. Recently, we invested in a triple and pulling the trailer really didn't feel much different than the tandem. I wonder how it will work with tag-a-long and trailer...

Susan and I pull our two dogs in a Burley kid trailer (older, purchased used, not sure of model name) all the time. It is much less noticeable behind the tandem than behind my half bike, especially on uphill. On the half-bike the trailer alternates between pushing and being pulled, where the tandem has enough momentum that it pulls all the time. Another issue is when you need to back (off the bike, natch) the rig...the bike will turn so slow that it is really difficult not to jack-knife the trailer. Lifting the front off the ground and steering with the back wheel fixes this.

You have to keep in mind where the trailer wheels are going, and it is waaaaay back there. I spilled the dogs once by clipping a curb. To avoid this, you need to start right hand ( left for you limeys) turns late. But this usually means a sharper turn, so you need to slow more so the trailer (two wheeled trailer) doesn't spill. Yup, did that once too.

First post here, BTW: Kevin and Susan from Albuquerque. We picked up a Bilenky off ebay a couple months back. Hope to be in good enough shape for centurys next spring.

Here is a triple with trailer, taken at the 2005 Chico Wildflower Century.

We pull a Burley Nomad with about 50 (used to be 70) pounds of gear for camping. We also use it to go grocery shopping behind a single

Hi,

We're not car-free, but nearly so. Behind a Burley Samba and Tandem Two'sDay we've towed a BOB, Burley Cargo Trailer, and the trailer built by Bike Friday. The Bike Friday has worked out best for us. I can't venture to guess how many miles we've pulled it, but ten years is how long we've used the Friday.

It's served us well.