Recreational & Family - trek mountain train- is it supposed to swivel?

I bought a trek mountain train used and am unfamiliar with how it should operate. there is no manual available online.

the hitch that came with it is not the right size for my seat post so i rigged it as best i could, but it does not swivel at all now. So basically the bike and mountain train form a tandem bike of sorts. Is that how it is supposed to be or should the mountain train swivel as your make a turn??

thanks for the advice

The owners manual:
http://www.trekbikes.com/pdf/owners_manuals/my07/07TK_OM_english.pdf

Trek used to offer/sell an optional hitch that came with a variety of inserts/spacers so it would fit a majority of bike tube sizes.

It basically turns your bike into a tandem and (should) only allow an up and down movement.

i have a trek mt train. and yes it is to act a leanable trailer. I had it originally mounted to my trek 5200 and not to my Fuji tourer.

you should be able to fold the bikes up. it should not act as a rigid tandem.

The hitch pivots on the seat post. Get the proper shim for your seatpost. Any Trek dealer should be able to get one.

I second DieselDan, We bought one new, and it pivots on the seatpost. I don't know how you could ride one without the proper plastic spacer.

They have to be pretty tight or they wobble. Ours sorta "creeked" a lot. I always wondered about greasing the seatpost, but never did. Ours disappeared out of the garage shortly before someone offered to sell us a used Burley. The Burley is certainly nicer to pull, with its rack mount.

I emailed Trek support when it was fairly new to ask how to properly tighten it, and never received a reply. but with practice, trial and error, came the realization that it had to be tight.

I always wanted to design a hitch for these type of bikes that leaned the tandem as it pivoted. My daughter did fine until she became a good rider on her own, and then always complained that it felt like it was leaning the wrong way when turning. Or is it just the lack of control that scared her?

Sunflowerflyer

FYI: most bicycle manufacturers only have customer support at their dealers.

We just bought a mountain train last weekend. It is supposed to pivot on the seat post, but should not move up and down. According to the manual if it moves up from the bottom of the seatpost it can cause to much stress on said post.

They did reccomend greasing the post under the hitch.

It came with several numbered spacers and inserts and a reference chart for which combination of spacers and inserts to use based on the diameter of your seatpost.

If you cannot find the manual online drop me an e-mail and I can scan ours and send it to you.

We just bought a mountain train last weekend. It is supposed to pivot on the seat post, but should not move up and down. According to the manual if it moves up from the bottom of the seatpost it can cause to much stress on said post.

They did reccomend greasing the post under the hitch.

It came with several numbered spacers and inserts and a reference chart for which combination of spacers and inserts to use based on the diameter of your seatpost.

If you cannot find the manual online drop me an e-mail and I can scan ours and send it to you.

thank you... just knowing it is supposed to swivel and be greased and all that is enough info. thank you.

thank you... just knowing it is supposed to swivel and be greased and all that is enough info. thank you.

No problem