Best way to ride on the same bike with a 6 year old?

[krobinson103]

I got my daughter her own bike, but shes not past the training wheels can't ride faster than I can run stage so taking her to the park thats 6km away is difficult. I don't have a car so I used to take her in a kid basket on the back of my mtb. Sadly we managed to kill the chain through waaaayyy too much weight and an uneven surface at 20km/h.

That was the day the world told me that we couldn't ride in that configuration anymore without destroying the rims (did that about 4 months earlier.. same thing trip to the park), or killing Dads legs. 22kg of kid make for hard work.

She will eventually learn to ride on her own, but for now I see a few options.

1) Get a tandom. This might be difficult when I'm at least twice her height and I can't see a tandom being that adjustable

2) Get a 'trail a bike'. The dude at the LHS seems dead set against them. Calls them dangerous

3) Get a trailer. I think shes already too big for this option.

What worked best for others in the same situation? I really enjoy riding with my kid and so does she.

[AlmostGreenGuy]

I go everywhere with my daughter using a Burley trailer bike.

[krobinson103]

I found a really heavy duty rack and attached a new and stronger seat to that. Since I lost 7kg and the bike should be able to hold up to 150kg on a nice path I think we are good for another year or so. After that she is just going to have to ride her own bike and give the seat up to her younger sister.

[ebartom]

We have a trail-gator. It allows us to tow a kid's bike with rider on it, and let them loose as their energy allows. It's been a nice compromise for us.

[Push]

I have an Adams trail a bike, my 6 year old daughter loves it! last week we did her longest ride on it on the rail trail, she did 11 miles She can help pedal when we go up an incline and we have a great time every time we use it.

[Phantoj]

Tandem is the "best", but most expensive way. Bike Friday has a very adjustable tandem; I think the Co-Motion Periscope is too.

I have a standard adult Cannondale tandem with a "kid stoker" crank on it and it works great... Burley Piccolo would be my second choice. I have one of them, too, and I use it with the tandem to make a 3-seater.

[prathmann]

We already had a regular tandem, so when our daughter got too big for the childseat on my single bike I converted the back of the tandem for her use. Clamped a child-size bottom bracket adapter to the rear seat tube so she could reach the pedals. We used that as our commute vehicle for a few years. I'd ride with her on the back to her pre-school - kindergarten and then continue on solo to work.

But if you don't already have a tandem then I see no problem with one of the trail-a-bike options. They look quite safe and handle well.

[Rockfish]

You could try an Xtracycle/longtail solution, but since your daughter will soon outgrow your ability to haul her that may not make sense for you. The trail-a-bike seems best, as it's a relatively small investment and leaves your main bike unencumbered once you remove it. A tandem is a great idea, but a big investment in money (and storage space) if you are not sure you'll use it much after your daughter has graduated to her own bike.

[krobinson103]

I may check out the tandom option as my wife really doesn't enjoy riding alone. Maybe if I can take some of the load off she might be more inclined to join in. Besides, I have a good solo exercise bike, and a kid/errand bike it seems that a tandom would complete the set.

[1987cp]

Any thoughts on the Bobike Junior? I just found out about them, and they're supposedly good up to 70+ pounds. Looks like the stock mounting system might interfere with canti brakes, though, which could be a slight pain, and one would have to consider whether the main bike is up to the load (nearing 300 pounds, in my case).

[ebartom]

A friend has one, and complained that they're not very compatible with panniers.

[Dynamite77]

My 6 year old loves our Adams trail a bike. I personally think it's safer than him riding his own bike on the street which he is good at but we get places with less grey hairs on my head this way.

[zonatandem]

Tandem . . . !
Agree Bike Friday and Co-Motion Periscope would work with child and/or adult. A bit more $$ or Wons, but ultimately a better system/quality.

[steve2k]

I also have a trail-gator for my 5 year old boy. I recently rigged up the goPro video camera to record him on a 5 mile loop - he grins pretty much all of the time that we're rolling.

It seems secure and sturdy at the moment, but I'm often worried about it so we try to keep to quite but smooth roads.

So far, so good.

I also have a trailer but it never felt like he was riding with us, he just sat in the back. We also had a bo-bike mini which is an up front seat for when he was little - we used to chat all the time with that. Then he progressed to a seat on the back once he got too heavy, not so much chatting but still preferred it to the trailer.

[conradpdx]

Or ditch the training wheels which don't teach her to ride.

It really isn't hard, painful, and you don't have run along behind her. Simply remove the pedals and find a small incline for her to coast down. Once she can coast without touching the ground with her feet for say about 50 feet, put the pedals back on. Let her keep coasting till she feels like trying the pedals.

Most kids bike have big tires and you can use a grassy hill. But I think my daughter only fell once doing it this way on the sidewalk outside of our house. Took about 3 hours (total) spread out over about three or four days while I sat on the porch watching her.

Within two weeks she did a 8 mile ride with me, and didn't complain about anything but that she was getting hungry towards the end of the ride.

[Hendricks97]

I had a trail a bike for my 6 year old son, but he outgrew it last year. He rides his own bike without training wheels at a decent pace and for a good distance, but hes not ready for riding with traffic, so I cut a milk crate in half creating a "seat" and zip tied it to my cargo bike, added a stoker handlebar to my seat post, and attach his bike to mine using the bag and bungee cords until we get somewhere that he can ride safely on his own.
BTW, he also learned on a bike with no crankset and it took him 1/10th of the time it took my older son to learn with training wheels

[jeffpoulin]

We have one of these. They're more stable than trail-a-bikes and the really nice thing is you can detach the bike, fold the follow-me (so it's attached only to your bike), and let your daughter ride a bit on her own. We've taken our kids on rides up to 80km with these starting around age 5 up through age 8. In general, our kids ride about 20km on their own and the rest on the follow-me. It's a really fun way to ride together as a family.

[krobinson103]

Using the kid seat at the moment. It really ups the amount of energy I need to expend. Its a good thing I'm in condition, because a six year old on the back climbing a steep hill is a challenge even in the granny gear...

[LiamSkymom]

We have one of these. They're more stable than trail-a-bikes and the really nice thing is you can detach the bike, fold the follow-me (so it's attached only to your bike), and let your daughter ride a bit on her own. We've taken our kids on rides up to 80km with these starting around age 5 up through age 8. In general, our kids ride about 20km on their own and the rest on the follow-me. It's a really fun way to ride together as a family.

That FollowMe looks like a neat little product. I'm not too enthused with the TrailGators I've seen. Of course, I can't read the webiste at all and have no idea if they can be found in the USA. Cost is always an issue with us.

[DieselDan]

Any shop mechanic that recommends against an entire type of bike should go back to bagging groceries. I manage a fleet of 200 trailercycles that rent out to, mostly, casual vacation/holiday bike riders. Burley possibly has the best, then Adams, followed by Trek and Giant. Kent, Schwinn, and Sun are fair at best.

[maximumrob]

Two words: Weehoo iGo. It'll work for a 6-yr old unless she's exceptionally tall.

[fietsbob]

Xtracycle/longtail will be useful as a hauler in the long term..
even 10~12+ years from now..

[ebartom]

Xtracycle/longtail will be useful as a hauler in the long term..
even 10~12+ years from now..

Yes -- We've only had ours for a couple of years, but it's been super versatile. Hauls everything from adults to a couple of kids (great for bringing a friend along spontaneously), a Thanksgiving feast's worth of groceries, a couple of kid bikes, etc, etc, etc. A 6 year old and her bike would be no problem.

[cabledawg]

I have to second (or are we on third or fourth) the notion for the Xtraycle. I have two, one on my bike and one on my wife's bike. Lookig for a third to put on my son's bike since he likes hauling stuff. We've managed to haul $200 worth of groceries and two kids between the wife and I with one trailer. The Xtra's are very versatile bikes although I wouldnt put an adult on the back.