Taking a child's bike on tour

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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syklist
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Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by syklist »

Syklist Junior started cycling with stabilisers this summer at the age of 20 months and with his longest trip being four kilometres on the flat. As Junior is getting bigger and stronger all the time and more interested in cycling, I am assuming that we are going to need to take Juniors bike with us next summer so that Junior can cycle a bit each day without being hooked up to one of our bikes.

The free cycling will be OK, but how do you carry a child's bike when they are tired and sitting back in the trailer? On a short trip this summer I strapped it to the bar used to push the trailer when in pram mode but this raised the centre of gravity and put too much weight at the back of the trailer. So not a system I'd want to use on a long tour. I'm assuming I am going to have to weld up some sort of hitch that I can attach to one of the trailers and Junior's bike, or sort of stand like on the hitch bar of the trailer as used with caravans.

Before I start making my plans, does anyone know of anything else on the market that can be used to tow a child's bike, or carry it safely (besides a Trail-Gator, which isn't what I am looking for).
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robgul
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by robgul »

Slight OT but I would suggest ditching the stabilisers (and remove pedals) for 2 reasons : 1) learning to ride by scooting on a balance bike is the fast-track to 2 wheel riding (trust me, 3 grandchildren riding at young ages and not a stabiliser in sight!) 2) it will be easier to carry - although not sure how.

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meic
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by meic »

I would be inclined to say that you should drop the idea, not really practical to take it with you and Junior should have enough excitement from other things while on tour to be able to live without their own bike for that period.
I know that they love their bikes and want to take it and ride it but it just fails on the practicality test as touring involves choices about what you can take with you.

It was enough of a pain strapping one to the back of the motorcycle sidecar!
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syklist
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by syklist »

robgul wrote:Slight OT but I would suggest ditching the stabilisers (and remove pedals) for 2 reasons : 1) learning to ride by scooting on a balance bike is the fast-track to 2 wheel riding (trust me, 3 grandchildren riding at young ages and not a stabiliser in sight!) 2) it will be easier to carry - although not sure how.

I am aware of the scooter bikes. Problem is he is a big lad. Bigger than an average five year old even though he has just turned three. So we started him on a 16" wheeled bike which fits him fine. We considered taking off the pedals and using it as a scooter bike but now the cycling season is over and the sledges are out. Generally speaking he has an excellent sense of balance and walked from an early age. Given that we live in a hilly place with gravel tracks we have concentrated on getting him familiar with brakes and braking and skidding first and we are reasonably sure that he will learn to balance quickly when we take off the stabilisers.
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syklist
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by syklist »

meic wrote:I would be inclined to say that you should drop the idea, not really practical to take it with you and Junior should have enough excitement from other things while on tour to be able to live without their own bike for that period.

It is not just the excitement, we need to find ways to tire Junior out both physically and mentally. So sitting in a trailer all day is really no longer an option.
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hamster
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by hamster »

In my view the Trailgator is extremely nasty and poorly thought out. A friend has a Follow-Me and really rates it for exactly the use you need:
http://www.followmetandem.co.uk/
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syklist
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by syklist »

hamster wrote:In my view the Trailgator is extremely nasty and poorly thought out. A friend has a Follow-Me and really rates it for exactly the use you need:
http://www.followmetandem.co.uk/

Thanks! That would work for bikes without a trailer.
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eileithyia
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by eileithyia »

Tandem.... he will get all the pedalling he needs to tire him out......
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syklist
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

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eileithyia wrote:Tandem.... he will get all the pedalling he needs to tire him out......

We have considered that. I have a friend who would sell us his old one. I also solves the problem of a trailer as it can hang behind the tandem. But there are problems with tandems, taking them on trains, buses or cars for instance. We could do a circular tour from home I suppose. But I don't want to go back to a derailleur bike so I'd be building a new back wheel if I bought a second hand tandem. I'd also much prefer a frame that could take tyres at least 50 mm wide.

We have been considering a pair of Hase Pinos with home made rain covers for the front seats, but are also drawn to a pair of tadpole trikes with a Trets for Junior. Both of those are a lot more expensive than a secondhand tandem and a Rohloff which in turn is much more expensive than a hitch to tow a bike with.

Keep the suggestions coming ;)
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iviehoff
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by iviehoff »

hamster wrote:In my view the Trailgator is extremely nasty and poorly thought out. A friend has a Follow-Me and really rates it for exactly the use you need:
http://www.followmetandem.co.uk/

The follow-me, of Swiss manufacture, costs about 4 times as much as the Trailgator, and I think that it is a little less flexible in what you can fit it to. In essence, the issue is that there is a very large gap in quality between the two, and whilst many people might pay a bit more to get something better than the Trailgator, it is a very huge gap up to the follow-me.

The Trailgator is indeed a cheap piece of kit and that has advantages and disadvantages. It's simplicity means it can attach to many bikes, and scrape their paintwork as it does so. It works badly if you don't set it up properly. But if you get it set up properly, it works pretty well and I know many people who have been delighted with it. It takes a bit of skill to set it up properly and this is not really mentioned in the instructions. Very small movements in the fitting of the bracket have large effects on the verticality of the trailing bicycle. I have adjusted fitting nuts to tolerances of less than a quarter turn to get the angle right. It also wears over time, gets floppier, and needs re-adjusting from time to time.
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by Vorpal »

Some years ago, I sometimes took Mini V's bike with, hung on the back of our trailer. Our trailer has a buggy handle, and I just put the handle up, and bungeed the bike to it. I only used that approach for days out, but days out were sometimes 30 miles. She'd ride a few on her bike, then get tired and sleep with Littlest in the trailer. The only disadvantage was having to pull the weight of the bike, as well as everything else. I don't see any reason that it couldn't be done for a tour.

When Mini V was 4 and a bit, we bought a used Thorn childback tandem. After that, she pedalled the tandem, while Littlest either sat in a rear child seat, or the trailer (sometimes we took both).
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by Vorpal »

syklist wrote:
eileithyia wrote:Tandem.... he will get all the pedalling he needs to tire him out......

We have considered that. I have a friend who would sell us his old one. I also solves the problem of a trailer as it can hang behind the tandem. But there are problems with tandems, taking them on trains, buses or cars for instance. We could do a circular tour from home I suppose. But I don't want to go back to a derailleur bike so I'd be building a new back wheel if I bought a second hand tandem. I'd also much prefer a frame that could take tyres at least 50 mm wide.

I *love* our tandem and I found the tandem + trailer and good combination when Mini V was old enough to pedal, but young enough to tire out before mum did. I have taken the tandem and trailer on trains a couple of times in Norway, and no one has said anything to me, though I imagine there could be problems if it was busy. I've also seen a tandem going into a bike carriage, but I understood that they paid for two bicycle tickets (both passengers booked tickets with bicycles), and there was some discussion with guard when they loaded it.
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hamster
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by hamster »

The main trouble is with tandems on trains in the UK...
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by Vorpal »

hamster wrote:The main trouble is with tandems on trains in the UK...

Yes, I know all about that :evil:

But syklist lives in Norway.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
hamster
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Re: Taking a child's bike on tour

Post by hamster »

Oops, missed that.
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