patriciadeluca

OK - I am WAAAYYYY out of my league here so I thought I would see what wisdom I can uncover.....

I am looking for a way to get in some decent miles on my mountain bike on a flat trail with my boyfirend's 8 year old son. His 11 year old daughter takes off and leaves us in the dust. My thought is to get a tag-a-long for my bike to ride with her (that just might make us even!). He is loving the idea....

A few questions:
1. How big is too big for one of those tag-a-long things?
2. If I don't want to spend more than $200 - what are my options?
3. Any good resources for getting a bargain? (ebay, etc?)
4. My bike is a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp Womens - and the one time I rented a tag-a-long for my niece and I - I remember having major issues with attachment (clearance and seatpost width reasons) - any thoughts?

Thanks!!! Pat

cminter

The add-on bike I used needed about 3" of seat post and came with shims. I spent around $150 at a bike shop for it. My 8 year old son rides a 24" Specialized and will go for up to 7 miles now, if a separate bike is an option, it may be cheaper in the long run.

PaulH

We started our daughter on one at six, so I would not say that an eight-year-old is an "older kid." There is a lot od adjustability -- I'd guess an 11 year old might fit

I'm not sure what ours cost. I don't think it was much over $200. I would guess that a lot of families sell theirs when the child is older, so check, want ads, Craig's List, whatever. I'm not comfortable with ebay -- it all seems too much of a hassle for me. Our Adams Trail-A-Bike came with a set of seatpost shims that could adapt it to any imaginable bike.

The main drawback is that, after a few rides, the child will prefer it to all other forms of transportation.

Paul

BluesDawg

I've never used one of the tag-a-long things, but having watched quite a few other people with them, I would try really hard to find a cheap tandem. Every one I've seen, the kid was leaned way over to one side and the parent was struggling to keep things going in the right direction.

patriciadeluca

All: Here is my update and a few additional questions.....

The update: We rented an Adams trail-a-bike yesterday and went out for about 2 hours (15 miles). Ben LOVED it - I even had to tell him to back off and NOT pedal sometimes so I could take a break. The hard part - Ben weighs just under 80 pounds and it was HARD to keep the bike stable. I tried to tell him to "pedal easy" and "look at my back" but there were a few precarious moments. I weight about 140. I spent a year on my bike travelling so my skills are honed. I use clipless pedals and had no issues there.

My additional questions:
1. Anyone have any opinions about the stability of the Adams compared with other trail-a-bikes?
2. I see some brands have 24 inch wheels vs. the 20 inch wheels. Any comments on the impact there?
3. The one we rented did not have gears. Any comments on the ones that do?

Thanks!!! Pat

Lobalobo

Others with more experience than I can comment, but I don't think any trail-a-bike you could buy would do you much good. Given how close the kid's weight is to yours I can't imagine how you kept the bike up at all, at least unless the kid is especialy disciplined. You truly must be a skilled rider. I use an Adams and outweigh my daughter by more than 150 pounds and there have been times when she has leaned unexpectedly one way or the other, particularly in a turn, and I've had to react quicly to steady the bike. Weight difference may be less significant on a true tandem (an earlier post suggested it would be). But you should check the tandem forum to find out from tandem riders whether this will be enough of a difference. In any case, if you stick with a trailer, I would not suggest anything cheaper than an Adams, for safety and other reasons.

masiman

Previous trail-a-bike discussions have indicated that the Adam's was the more stable of these bikes. I have no personal experience with these bikes, although I may soon with a 45lb kid, me ~145, wife, tandem, trail-a-bike and trailer. I am pretty sure the tandem with 2 adult riders will be able to keep the trail a bike in line. I am not sure what the trailer will do to the tracking, I know it will add weight, lol. There was one person doing a similar setup, any comments from them on the tandem, trail-a-bike and trailer combo?

Maybe a tandem is in your future .

Michel Gagnon

Pat, I only have direct experience with the Addams Trail-a-Bike and the Burley Piccolo. I have seen the Trek but in a store only.

The Addams and Trek (and the long gone Alleycat) use a hitch that follows more or less the same concept. The universal joint will eventually wear out and develop play over time. I scrapped my Trail-a-Bike because I felt there was too much play in the hitch after 1 year... but bear in mind that I had travelled 1800 km during that time. For the average family, 1800 km might be more than they ever do in the lifetime of the child.

Whether or not you need a multi-speed bike depends on the terrain you ride and your kid's abilities. I had thought of replacing the cog by a larger one so my daughter would have pedalled faster; that way, she would have been helpful with a headwind whereas she was helpful with a tailwind. On the other hand, faster pedalling means a wiggling child...

The Burley Piccolo is a much better trailercycle. It is much more stable, but also twice the price of the Addams Trail-a-Bike. So unless there is a third child in the making or you have serious cycling projects, you're wasting your money. If you find a used one (with rack), however, grab it.

In terms of weight, both the Trail-a-Bike and Piccolo are advertised "for children up to 85 lb, and for an adult cyclist at least twice heavier than the child". Looking at the design, I believe that the Piccolo could support a heavier child than the Trail-a-Bike, but still, anything beyond 90-100 lb would be an overkill. I also suspect that you are a better rider than your boyfriend, but otherwise it would be more stable if the heavier partner were towing the kid.

Still, there is a learning curve. You'll find it easier after 1-2 trials, Ben will (should) learn to look only on one side at a time and not to wiggle his body when pedalling. On some bikes, installing panniers on the front wheel might help, but on others it won't.

Finally, if you have long term projects, a tandem might be worthwile. A tandem is a bit faster and much more stable than even a single bike + Piccolo, and at 8, he will be able to fit on a regular tandem (small rear compartment) with crank shorteners.


P.S. Another popular alternative around here is the Trailgator. It is a bar that attaches the child's bike to the parent's bike. However, this makes a very wiggly setup where the kid is often at a very different angle than the parent. Maybe this is what BluesDawg saw? BTW, the Trailgator is half the price of a Trail-a-Bike and I don't think I would pay more than $10-20 for one.

masiman

Thanks for the correction Michel, it was the Piccolo that others thought was the more stable product.

alanbikehouston

I have the Trek version that attaches to the seatpost of the adult's bike. As with all of these units, it came with a stated maximum weight limit. I use it with a child who weighs 60 pounds, and is a very good bike rider. But, we had problems:

- the first time we used it was with an adult bike with traditional geometry that put the attachment up about 34 inches from the ground. The "fit kit" that came with it allowed about 1/8th inch of "free play" at the seatpost, but that tiny bit of free play magnified into very noticeable sway back under the child's seat. He did not like the side to side sway, so we went back to the drawing board.

- the second time, we attached it to a mountain bike with a compact frame. That lowered the attachment point to about 29 inches off the ground. I bought a second "fit kit" from Trek that had some smaller shims than the first kit. The smaller shims provided an attachment that allowed the bracket to pivot smoothly, but with zero freeplay. The trailer was much more stable, and the side to side wobbling was eliminated.

The problem now is the kid. If we are going on a short ride of two or three miles, he would much rather ride one of his own bikes than be on a trailer bike. I am only able to persuade him to ride the trailer bike when we are riding ten or fifteen miles, or riding on a busy road where he normally is not allowed to ride his own bike.

By all reports, the lower the attachment to the adult bike, the better. The lighter the child, the better. Regardless of the weight "warning" in the owner's manual, I don't think the Trek trailer would be easy to control with a child of 70 pounds or 75 pounds, unless the adult rider is exceptionally heavy and exceptionally strong. If someone wants to ride tandem with a child weighing 75 pounds, they really ought to be looking for a true tandem bike.