Once kids have outgrown bike trailers or child seats, a popular option is a trailbike, also know as a tag-along or trail-a-bike: a bike that attaches to an adult bike. They are great for the kid who is just starting to ride a bike on his or her own but who hasn’t mastered balance as well as for the child who can ride but not for long distances. It can be an excellent way to bring youngsters along on longer rides and give them the excitement of cycling with mom and dad.
Here’s what bike shop owner Andrew Brewer says in Fit Family:
“Trail-A-Bikes come in single speeds and 7 speeds. Gears are okay but by the time the kid gets to the point that he’s running his own gears, he’s probably going to be on his own bike anyway. Our daughter spent a lot of time on that thing, a Trek Transport, I think. She loved it. She’d pedal and then, of course, she wouldn’t pedal… If mom or dad is going fast enough then the gears are fine, but it is more expensive for the gears. By far, we sell more single speeds. They come in 20 and 24-inch varieties depending on how big your child is. The cool thing there is that, I don’t know about Trek, but Adams Trail-A-Bike makes a special needs seat, which is essentially a back brace and a seat belt so that a child who has special needs can sit and ride without falling off, and I think that’s really neat because the kid feels like he’s riding a bike.
A friend of mine just told me about the Trail-Gator. You don’t have to take the wheel off…. If it’s cheap and you don’t have to buy a bike, it’s a neat idea. The problem with all bike equipment is that you go through it so fast. All this stuff needs to be inexpensive…”
Some parents note that there they notice a lot more kid movement on a trailbike than when pulling a trailer and that speeds can pick up, particularly on descents. Others say that since the kids are on them for just a few years, that there are many good used ones available. Nearly all feel that the kids love helping dad or mom with the ride.
Some biketrailer resources:
Adams Trail-A-Bike
Burley Piccolo 7 Speed Trailercycle
InStep Pathfinder Bike Trailer
WeeRide Pro-Pilot Bicycle Tandem Trailer
top photo by psd lower photo by Dave Haygarth
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