pgoetz

One of my little people is starting to get too big for the bike seat, but is still way to small to bike on his own or even be trusted on a normal trail-a-bike type pedal trailer (he's 3.5, but tall).

I was originally going to get a Weehoo: https://rideweehoo.com/

but a few days ago I saw someone jetting through the UT Austin campus with something that looked better (i.e. a simpler design). Does anyone know of (or better, can recommend) any recumbent pedal trailer manufacturers other than Weehoo that I can investigate?

delcrossv

The only thing I can think of is a Hase Trets. But it's a trike trailer

pgoetz

Thanks for alerting me to this option. I'm certain I like the Weehoo better than the Trets trailer for various reasons, but they seem to make a number of interesting bikes. I like the upright/recumbent tandem.

VastCrew

I'm not aware of other recumbent styles other then WeeHoo. I give the Weehoo 2 thumbs up. It is a bit heavy, not sure why they don't use something lighter for the frame. You can feel it behind your bicycle whether or not a child is loaded. More so then a chariot trailer.

If you find another recumbent I'd be interested in knowing the manufacturer as well!

mel2012

What type of riding do you do? And what type of child seat do you have now?

My daughter is almost 5 now. We've had a Weehoo trailer for a year now and have used only a handful of times, for three primary reasons: (1) it's really long and we do most of our cycling in an urban environment where clearances are tight and I don't feel comfortable having my daughter so far back and so low down in traffic, plus it's really hard to park and secure; (2) the sucker is heavy and you can definitely feel the drag even with the child helping; and (3) it's a pain to transport and harder to put on and take off than a standard trail-a-bike.

We also had a Topeak Babyseat and that's what my daughter rode in most of the time before we got the Weehoo and for many of bike trips after we got the WeeHoo. My daughter is 44" tall and still fits in the Topeak Babyseat--she just recently outgrew it by weight and we sold it. She also fits in a Bobike Maxi seat just fine still and is within the 50lb weight limit for that.

We also had an Instep Pathfinder trail-a-bike that she started using from 4 years onward, but I wasn't fond of the "wiggle" from the seatpost mount. We recently got rid of the Pathfinder and bought a Burley Kazoo in the hopes of improving her pedal biking abilities. The Burley Kazoo is awesome. Even when she isn't pedaling, I barely feel it behind me; it's probably half the weight of the WeeHoo. We're keeping the WeeHoo around for a while to possibly use for my son (2.5), but I don't see my daughter using it anymore, unless we go for a really long--20 or 30 mile ride.

The times that we have used the WeeHoo are for a few long-distance, hilly trips where: (1) my daughter was likely to get tired, so the standard trail-a-bike wouldn't work; and (2) having her in the rear seat would be dangerous because my husband was popping wheelies trying to get up hills.

Unless you do a lot of distance riding or riding on protected bike paths, I would suggest:
(1) Finding a used child seat that will accommodate your son for 6 months or so until he's ready for a regular trail-a-bike; or
(2) Buying a regular trail-a-bike now and getting the Adams "backrest" with seatbelt; or
(3) Buy a cheap standard trailer for 6 months or so.

In hindsight, I regret buying the WeeHoo; it's very expensive for something that is useful for such a short period of time and I don't think it holds its resale value all that well (as compared to a Burley Piccolo or Kazoo).

pgoetz

Aside from weekend shopping expeditions, we're mostly car-free, so we do all kinds of riding; most particularly commuting to/from daycare and work. We started with a one seat Chariot cougar, sold that and got a Copilot Limo which we used until our second kid was about 6 months old. Then we got a two seat Chariot cougar (yes I know; poor planning). The kids would fight when we had them both in the trailer, so we started putting one on the Copilot, one in the trailer. Then they would fight about who got to be "on top". Eventually I got a Surly Big Dummy (the first, scoop version) which comes with a built in xtracycle, and we put two peapod seats on that. This has been a fabulous solution, and the big dummy is one of my favorite bikes ever. The Weehoo idea came back because sometimes we're taking the kids to different places, and my wife and I both prefer the big dummy (we're about the same size, so can share bikes), and I noticed that my 3.5 year old is getting to big for the Copilot (he's a tall guy, and his knees are up around his ears in it), but is still too little for a standard trail-a-bike in my opinion. Eventually, I'm probably going to get this:
https://www.bikekidshop.com/adams-fol...ke-p-2105.html
but that's a couple of years out. Thanks for the comments on the Weehoo. In addition, the price seems to have gone up considerably. When I first starting looking at it, it was available from REI for $299. Now the price appears to be $360. With tax, that makes it a $400 solution.

Just this week our 3.5 year old starting riding his bike with no training wheels, so maybe a standard Adams trail-a-bike will be OK. As you suggest, I can add the backrest, if necessary.