REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

Trail-A-Bike for kids.....any good???

14703 Views 17 Replies 14 Participants Last post by screampint, Jun 30, 2006

Atomik Carbon

Discussion Starter · Jun 28, 2006

I've been thinking of picking up one of these things that bolt to your seatpost and allows a child to follow along. Has anyone tried these?? Are they ok for beginner trails?? How do they maneuver in tight situations ?? Difficult to pedal??

I would just love to see my 5 YO's face, he cries to go with me when I leave to go riding. Couple of years ago I went to Moab with a bunch of friends and he now asks when I am leaving the house if I am going to Moab.

Thanks for you response.

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

Jisch

· #2 · Jun 28, 2006

I have one..

We got one when my son was 5 or 6. It works well for light road work. We never really went off road with it. Generally I think the kid's patience runs out before their legs do. My wife and son did a couple of 10 milers when my son was a little bit older - she enjoyed that and said he pulled his weight. We also used it quite a bit up at Cape Cod on some rail trails.

All in all, I was glad we had it, but I don't know if we got $125 worth out of it. In fact its still hanging in my garage, I gotta sell that thing.

John

Bikinfoolferlife

· #3 · Jun 28, 2006

I rode with a gal and her almost six year old girl riding a trail a bike out near Fruita on the Marys/Kokopelli trails, and I swear that kid on that rig was more willing than some grown men with fs rigs I've ridden out there with, and whenever she could pedal she was bringing it. It was slightly modified to a 29er rear wheel to roll obstacles easier, but I don't think the mounts were modified.

Also came across a guy and a similarly aged kid coming down Butcher Ranch in Downieville (part of the Downieville Downhill course) in such a rig; was amazed at that time that you could use them on on trails at all, let alone a relatively technical one (have no idea if it was modified at all, tho).

I'd still like to know more about the mounts tho...

Nat

· #4 · Jun 28, 2006

They work offroad fairly well. One thing about them though is your kid's face will be immediately behind your tire, so you'll be kicking up a lot of dust and crud into his face. My daughter is always having to stop to rub the dust out of her eyes, even with sunglasses. You might need some type of goggle or something. You also need to become aware of how the trail-a-bike tracks behind you so you don't accidentally clip a tree with it (oops). You may need to call out "bump!" or something like that so he knows when to stand.

Here is a pic from a year ago:

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FoShizzle

· #5 · Jun 28, 2006

they are great....absolutely great. the single ones are very easy to work off road with child in tow.....even on singletrack. i picked up the dual one which is not.....the extra length makes it tough to keep a line but i still use it for fireroad and real mild singletrack. they are a great way to enjoy off road with the kid(s).

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sgltrak

· #6 · Jun 28, 2006

We used to have two of them so that one kid could ride behind each of us. I really liked being able to haul the kids on single track. Both kids started on them when they were around 4. I rode with our daughter back there until she was 50+lbs, and it was a great workout on the steep climbs. The only bad thing was that my rim brakes had a hard time keeping the speed under control on the steeper descents with that extra weight behind. When she grew out of it, resale was great. After a bad endo on his bike last year, my son is a bit timid on his own bike, so at a small 8 years old, he is still able to ride on the tag-along when we go for longer rides.

SoloRider

· #7 · Jun 28, 2006

Looks like good clean fun to me.

brado1

· #8 · Jun 28, 2006 (Edited)

Great Fun

I have a Giant Halfwheeler 7 and it is great! not hard at all. gotta make sure to take corners really wide...or you'll hear "DAAAAAAAAAD!" oops sorry son didn't mean to run you into that tree / rock / creek ... (you get the idea)

I love riding with my son using this thing on downhills when he was younger i'd hear "we're gonna die. we're gonna die..." then quickly it turned into a "Waaahoooo" :thumbsup:

one thing you really need to check is the clamp assembly bolts.... the QR bolt on ours was a cast aluminum; which after a ten mile ride with a couple of nice downhills, we were on a flat stretch of forest road and the bolt snapped, he plunged into the gravel, and scared the sh!t outta me and him. nothing serious injury-wise, but could've been really ugly had it snapped earlier in the ride! I was kinda pissed upon closer inspection of the bolts...all aluminum, so i went to HomeDepot and replace all the bolt to steel, and for the Quick Release i got a Salsa steel wheelskewer cut it to size, and re-thread.....works great.

Another recommendation is to use a Thomson seatpost...have tried 3 others and they all bent...the Thomson works great and has taken some serious abuse... note to the attachment clamp will scar/score the hell out of a seatpost, so you'll have to get over how it looks. Function over Fashion, anyday!

Ride On

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3

chili

· #9 · Jun 28, 2006

Nat said:
Here is a pic from a year ago:

Nat,

How old is your munchkin in that pic ? I'm still pulling my 2.5 year old behind me in a Burley. I've been wondering how soon I can upgrade to a trail-a-bike.

chili

Nat

· #10 · Jun 28, 2006

chili said:
Nat,

How old is your munchkin in that pic ? I'm still pulling my 2.5 year old behind me in a Burley. I've been wondering how soon I can upgrade to a trail-a-bike.

chili

In that pic she was almost 4 y/o. We took a few slow rolls around the neighborhood first to make sure she wouldn't suddenly just decide to dismount while we were still moving. Back then I had to squash the saddle all the way down into the seat tube and rotate the bars back just so she could reach the pedals and bars. Depending on how tall your child is, he or she might not even be able to reach.

Drewdane

· #11 · Jun 28, 2006

Nat said:
In that pic she was almost 4 y/o. We took a few slow rolls around the neighborhood first to make sure she wouldn't suddenly just decide to dismount while we were still moving. Back then I had to squash the saddle all the way down into the seat tube and rotate the bars back just so she could reach the pedals and bars. Depending on how tall your child is, he or she might not even be able to reach.

I'll have to try and find a new seatpost for ours. We've got a suspension post. I just checked to see if my almost-5yo was ready for ours, and his feet couldn't reach the pedal at the 6 o'Clock position, even with the seat squished all the way down.

Nat

· #12 · Jun 28, 2006

Drewdane said:
I'll have to try and find a new seatpost for ours. We've got a suspension post. I just checked to see if my almost-5yo was ready for ours, and his feet couldn't reach the pedal at the 6 o'Clock position, even with the seat squished all the way down.

Hmmm, my daughter isn't unusually tall or anything. She's pretty median height for her age (also almost 5) and now has plenty of standover. Maybe the trailer bikes are different brands/sizes?

Atomik Carbon

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 29, 2006

Can't thank you guys enough.

I am so excited to finally get my little buddy out there. Just hope his 2 YO brother doesn't get too upset.

jl

· #14 · Jun 29, 2006

I just purchased 2 of these contraptions today. The 5 and 6 year old had a blast riding around the neighborhood. No pics though

...

Upchuck

· #15 · Jun 29, 2006

My 14 yo daughter started riding with me at 3 years old on an Adam's Trail-a-bike. She was doing Kamikaze at Mammoth with me at 4 years old. I was white knuckling it and burning the brakes while she was pedaling furiously screaming "Go faster daddy! Go faster!" By 6, she was beating kids as old as 11 years old at local races on a two-wheeler.

My 7 year old son started at 4 years old on fancier one with 6 gears and a rear shock that actually works! He finally decided he's done with following behind dad and just won his first kid's race.

Anyone interested in a Like New condition 6 speed kid's trail-a-bike with a rear shock? PM or email me and we'll make a deal.

neveride

· #16 · Jun 29, 2006

Nat said:
They work offroad fairly well. One thing about them though is your kid's face will be immediately behind your tire, so you'll be kicking up a lot of dust and crud into his face. My daughter is always having to stop to rub the dust out of her eyes, even with sunglasses. You might need some type of goggle or something. You also need to become aware of how the trail-a-bike tracks behind you so you don't accidentally clip a tree with it (oops). You may need to call out "bump!" or something like that so he knows when to stand.

Here is a pic from a year ago:

Hey, if you're still using the trail-a-bike, try making yourself a fender to attach to the trail-a-bike bar.

When I still worked at a shop, I sold boatloads of trail-a-bikes, and we rigged up many a fender for customers. In the winter we got board once and cut up an old plastic sled, and with a heat gun bent the pieces into a shap, then attached with zip ties. But you can make one out of just about any type of plastic. The kids always thanked us!:thumbsup:

Nat

· #17 · Jun 29, 2006

neveride said:
Hey, if you're still using the trail-a-bike, try making yourself a fender to attach to the trail-a-bike bar.

When I still worked at a shop, I sold boatloads of trail-a-bikes, and we rigged up many a fender for customers. In the winter we got board once and cut up an old plastic sled, and with a heat gun bent the pieces into a shap, then attached with zip ties. But you can make one out of just about any type of plastic. The kids always thanked us!:thumbsup:

Good idea. Thanks for the tip! Now I won't have to keep yelling, "Close your eyes, keep your mouf shut and pedal!" She might get pissed at me when I mangle her sled though...

screampint

· #18 · Jun 30, 2006

Highly recomend it! And when you've been pulling a kid around for a few years the singlespeed is suddenly EASY!

This is my daughter and I in Fruita. Not the same people that were spoken about above, I don't have a 29'er wheel. She started riding it as soon as she could reach the pedals (about 3 1/2). Soon after this photo was taken she decided that riding her own bike on the trails was for her. My son also started on a trail-a-bike when he was 3, and now, at 13, he loves anything with 2 wheels and pedals.

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