Cycling UK Forum

I took my eight year old grandson out over the weekend on a borrowed tandem, he really enjoyed the day out. So I have decided to buy a Tag a Long trailerbike. has anyone had experience of these, do they ride as easy as the tandem. Please tell me of any problems (pro and cons so to speak).

I have used an allycat trailerbike for my children as they grew up. It was an excellent and cheap way to get them used to being in traffic and seeing how to ride and manouvre, prior to releasing them solo. Recommended

The allycat fastens to the seatpin of the adult's bike. A disadvantage of the high position of the fastening means the adult bike can be wobbled a bit by the child leaning over on the trailer bike.

Unlike a tandem the transmissions are independent and the trailer bike will be unbraked. The child will have the choice of pedalling or not as the mood takes them. The braking is done by the adult on the lead bike.

Hope this helps.

Remember this is only my observed opinion. We watched a family with both tandem and tag-a-long at birthday rides some years ago whilst considering the next step for our son. The tandem followed in line, the child was always pedalling and at the same rate of the adult. The "tag" did not always follow in line and, as has been said, it pedals independantly, so child may not always be pedalling/contributing. Also becuase of the independant gearing the pedalling was not in sync. Imagine what happened when both pilot and tag rider got out of the saddle on a hill. One was honking left to right as the other was honking right to left, if that makes sense....... it looked very unstable.
No doubt you will get a variety of opinions from fans of tags or tandems....

Thank you both for your comments, all of which have been taken on board. As much as I feel that a tandam would be the better option, I am unwaged and the tag a long is really all that I can afford. The reason for my mail was just to find out a little about riding them rather than to decide between the two.

A good trailer bike that does NOT fit to the seat post but to a special rear carrier will follow the bike reliably. One like this

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/trailerbike.html

I have an older version of this and it rides like a tandem, highly recommended.

I have an Adam's tag along and I think that it works fine. Granted I can't compare it with anything else but for what they are (and now they are quite a bit cheaper than we paid) they are a cheap way of getting out and having some fun with ones offspring (and my daughter loves it).

Some comments.

1. Your bike does handle a bit differently on cornering
2. If you relax you don't get wobbles
3. I found that when my daughter could ride her own bike she fought me more (i.e. she was trying to correct for what I was doing - this takes some getting used to).
4. The gearing is quite low so they don't contribute a great deal, but it is a great way to teach your child to pedal
5. My daughter wasn't even 3 when we got ours, didn't know how to pedal etc but got on with it just fine
6. Getting up steep hills is a challenge

Of all the crud that we bought in the name of our children this is the single best thing we have ever bought. It gets used a lot. I love taking my daughter out on it and she loves riding on it. What else is there?

Only snag now is that I've also got twins so I need to get a tandem one.... (don't anyone suggest a goodies style bike from Thorn as I simply don't have the cash)

We have an Adams folding tag-a-long and we've used it with both of our kids. Once you get used to towing it, riding seems quite natural, we've even taken it off road on gravel tracks and trails in the New Forest. My sons have both enjoyed riding on it. You do get the occasional lurch as the kids peer round you sometimes. My youngest is also quite lazy, so I dont get much help up hills, although he pedals like mad downhill!

We dont get quite so many comments when we cycle past as we used to, most people smile when they see you.

We havent used it with them after they reached the age of five, so I cant comment on what a heavier rider would feel like. The fixing does creak on my aluminium seat pin, although I had no problem with my previous bike. Apart from that they're great. I'd go for the folding option, much easier to transport.

I have an unused Phillips tagalong for sale, for £50. If anyone is interested feel free to pm me.

Paul

Firstly thank to every one for the advice, I have now made my mind up and ordered one by mail order. Sorry Mr Paul only just found your post its only a Universal so I hope it will be ok