Thoughts on "kid tandem" trailers

[Joseph Santaniello]

Hello All,

My 3 year old son just learned to ride a two-wheeler and we have been
having a great time riding up and down the dead-end dirt roads around
our house. He seems up for longer rides judging by the number of times
we can go down to the beach at one end of a road and back past the house
to the campground the other way. But for any destination/loop beyond
this small network of local roads we would need to go on a "real" road
with vehicular traffic. Obviously because of his age we cannot ride
anywhere where there are cars around. But he knows that these other
destinations exist from the rides we used to take when he would sit in
the seat on the back of my bike. (Riding on my bike is out of the
question, now that he has a "big boy bike.")

So I have been thinking about one of those trailers that have a seat and
pedals. I have read some posts about them and seen suggestions about
renting one first, etc. But around here there is nowhere to rent one,
and I haven't ever even seen one in person. So all sorts of things like
sizing, quality, handling, etc I'm going to just have to take someone's
word for.

Any thoughts or experiences anyone would like to share? My main concern
is that this is supposed to be fun and should help him learn about the
rules of the road etc. But will it be boring, or "for little kids", or
will it teach him to NOT pay attention to traffic, or have some other
undesired effect?

Thanks,

Joseph

[brian hughes]

I have a Burley Piccolo trailer that I ride with my 7-year-old daughter and
4-year-old son. Both of them enjoy it (as do I) and it is never boring.
The Burley Piccolo is probably more expensive than most kid trailers, but it
handles very well and is quite well built and will handle a kid up to 85
pounds. I have never had any problems The way it is built, I'm sure it
would even work with my wife back there--but she just gave me the "you got
to be kidding" look when I asked her to take a ride. The Burley doesn't
hook to the seat post like many do, instead you use Burley rear rack called
a "Moose rack" and the trailer hooks to the rack. The trailer has 6 speeds.

To be honest, I'm not sure if it helps them learn the rules of the road,
each one is different. My 4-year-old son usually just wants to go faster.
The faster we go, the more he laughs. When I stop for a stop sign or
traffic, he yells at me to go faster. I just can't get him to understand
that there are things out there that can really hurt us, and that's why we
need to slow down sometimes. But my older daughter is already starting to
tell me what to watch out for, so it seams to be a good road safety tool for
her.

In short, you don't want to pass up this opportunity with your kids. It's a
great time for everyone.

Brian

"Joseph Santaniello" > wrote in message
...


> So I have been thinking about one of those trailers that have a seat and
> pedals. I have read some posts about them and seen suggestions about
> renting one first, etc. But around here there is nowhere to rent one,
> and I haven't ever even seen one in person. So all sorts of things like
> sizing, quality, handling, etc I'm going to just have to take someone's
> word for.
>
> Any thoughts or experiences anyone would like to share? My main concern
> is that this is supposed to be fun and should help him learn about the
> rules of the road etc. But will it be boring, or "for little kids", or
> will it teach him to NOT pay attention to traffic, or have some other
> undesired effect?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Joseph

[Joseph Santaniello]

The Piccolo looks pretty good but it seems eyelets are needed to mount
the "moose" rack. Problem is my bike doesn't have rack mounting eyelets.
Any idea how the rack could be mounted without eyelets?

Joseph

In .net> brian hughes
wrote:
> I have a Burley Piccolo trailer that I ride with my 7-year-old
> daughter and 4-year-old son. Both of them enjoy it (as do I) and it
> is never boring. The Burley Piccolo is probably more expensive than
> most kid trailers, but it handles very well and is quite well built
> and will handle a kid up to 85 pounds. I have never had any problems
> The way it is built, I'm sure it would even work with my wife back
> there--but she just gave me the "you got to be kidding" look when I
> asked her to take a ride. The Burley doesn't hook to the seat post
> like many do, instead you use Burley rear rack called a "Moose rack"
> and the trailer hooks to the rack. The trailer has 6 speeds.
>
> To be honest, I'm not sure if it helps them learn the rules of the
> road, each one is different. My 4-year-old son usually just wants to
> go faster. The faster we go, the more he laughs. When I stop for a
> stop sign or traffic, he yells at me to go faster. I just can't get
> him to understand that there are things out there that can really hurt
> us, and that's why we need to slow down sometimes. But my older
> daughter is already starting to tell me what to watch out for, so it
> seams to be a good road safety tool for her.
>
> In short, you don't want to pass up this opportunity with your kids.
> It's a great time for everyone.
>
> Brian
>
> "Joseph Santaniello" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>
>> So I have been thinking about one of those trailers that have a seat
>> and pedals. I have read some posts about them and seen suggestions
>> about renting one first, etc. But around here there is nowhere to
>> rent one, and I haven't ever even seen one in person. So all sorts of
>> things like sizing, quality, handling, etc I'm going to just have to
>> take someone's word for.
>>
>> Any thoughts or experiences anyone would like to share? My main
>> concern is that this is supposed to be fun and should help him learn
>> about the rules of the road etc. But will it be boring, or "for
>> little kids", or will it teach him to NOT pay attention to traffic,
>> or have some other undesired effect?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Joseph
>
>
>

[wafflyDIRTYcatLITTERhcsBOX]

>The Piccolo looks pretty good but it seems eyelets are needed to mount
>the "moose" rack. Problem is my bike doesn't have rack mounting eyelets.
>Any idea how the rack could be mounted without eyelets?

I have seen trailerbikes and trailers mounted via a seatpost connection. How
good/bad they are I haven't a clue.

Cheers, helen s


~~~~~~~~~~
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Mail sent to it is dumped
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by getting rid of the overdependence on money and fame
~~~~~~~~~~

[Brent Hugh]

Joseph Santaniello > wrote in message >...
> The Piccolo looks pretty good but it seems eyelets are needed to mount
> the "moose" rack. Problem is my bike doesn't have rack mounting eyelets.
> Any idea how the rack could be mounted without eyelets?

They have little gadgets that go around the frame tubes near the rear
wheel, that can be used to mount a regular rack in case there are no
eyelets.

But whether such gadgets would be strong enough to support the rack
with trailerbike attached is a good question.

The Piccolo's owner's manual says to call Burley and talk to them
before trying to attach a moose rack to a bike without the eyelets.
That makes it sound as though it may be possible if you do it right.
Piccolo web site:

http://www.burley.com/products/childrens-products/default.aspx?p=Piccolo&i=4

--Brent
bhugh [at] mwsc.edu

> In .net> brian hughes
> wrote:
> > I have a Burley Piccolo trailer that I ride with my 7-year-old
> > daughter and 4-year-old son. Both of them enjoy it (as do I) and it
> > is never boring. The Burley Piccolo is probably more expensive than
> > most kid trailers, but it handles very well and is quite well built
> > and will handle a kid up to 85 pounds. I have never had any problems
> > The way it is built, I'm sure it would even work with my wife back
> > there--but she just gave me the "you got to be kidding" look when I
> > asked her to take a ride. The Burley doesn't hook to the seat post
> > like many do, instead you use Burley rear rack called a "Moose rack"
> > and the trailer hooks to the rack. The trailer has 6 speeds.
> >
> > To be honest, I'm not sure if it helps them learn the rules of the
> > road, each one is different. My 4-year-old son usually just wants to
> > go faster. The faster we go, the more he laughs. When I stop for a
> > stop sign or traffic, he yells at me to go faster. I just can't get
> > him to understand that there are things out there that can really hurt
> > us, and that's why we need to slow down sometimes. But my older
> > daughter is already starting to tell me what to watch out for, so it
> > seams to be a good road safety tool for her.
> >
> > In short, you don't want to pass up this opportunity with your kids.
> > It's a great time for everyone.
> >
> > Brian
> >
> > "Joseph Santaniello" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >
> >
> >> So I have been thinking about one of those trailers that have a seat
> >> and pedals. I have read some posts about them and seen suggestions
> >> about renting one first, etc. But around here there is nowhere to
> >> rent one, and I haven't ever even seen one in person. So all sorts of
> >> things like sizing, quality, handling, etc I'm going to just have to
> >> take someone's word for.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts or experiences anyone would like to share? My main
> >> concern is that this is supposed to be fun and should help him learn
> >> about the rules of the road etc. But will it be boring, or "for
> >> little kids", or will it teach him to NOT pay attention to traffic,
> >> or have some other undesired effect?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> Joseph
> >
> >
> >

[Michael]

Joseph Santaniello > wrote ...
> So I have been thinking about one of those trailers that have a seat and
> pedals.
<snip>
> Any thoughts or experiences anyone would like to share? My main concern
> is that this is supposed to be fun and should help him learn about the
> rules of the road etc. But will it be boring, or "for little kids", or
> will it teach him to NOT pay attention to traffic, or have some other
> undesired effect?

I have an Adams Trail-a-bike, the Starter model. I got this brand
(over the Burleigh and Trek models) because it was the smallest one;
my 4-year-old couldn't reach the pedals on the other other models. We
also had to swap the suspension seat for a regular seatpost, set all
the way down, to fit him. The bike attaches to a seatpost mount on my
bike.

My son loves the bike, even more than riding on his own bike (partly
because we don't have a good flat place to ride without driving
somewhere). I don't think he's learning the rules of the road, but
stop signs and crossing streets are good opportunities to teach about
traffic dangers. And the bottom line is we get out riding frequently,
so he's growing up with cycling as an integral part of our life.

One advantage of the trailer bike is that we can go on far longer
rides than he'd be able to go on his own bike. We've done
several-hour-long organized rides that he loves - nothing better than
stopping every half-hour for cookies!

Michael

[Rick Onanian]

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 07:41:06 GMT, Joseph Santaniello
> wrote:
> Any idea how the rack could be mounted without eyelets?

I saw something for that in the Nashbar catalog (or
maybe Supergo). It was for a specific brand, but I
suspect it would work universally, maybe with a little
coaxing.

> Joseph
--
Rick Onanian

[Joseph Santaniello]

Sounds like you all have a lot of fun.

Now I've seen something called a "Trail-gator" that is a sort of trailer-
bar that temporarily makes the kid's bike a trailer by lifting the front
wheel and locking the steering in place. It looks good for my purposes
because most of the time it would be ok for my son to ride by himself;
there are only a few "transport" stages that would be on roads with cars
where we would need to use the hitch.

One drawback is that there is no gearing like on the purpose built
trailers. And with his single gear 10" wheels he's not going to be
contributing much in the way of power. Not that he needs to, just he
probably would like to be helping.

I know what you mean about concentration. My son is good about paying
attention to the occasional car or tractor, and is quick to say, "Car!
Papa, go in the side and stop!" and he zooms to the side of the road
watching the car the whole time and not paying attention to the fence/
ditch/trees at the side of the road. Takes time I guess.

On the subject of not using bike paths even when they exist, it's nice
to see that I don't live in the only place that has thrown away untold
amounts of money on building some un-safe and essentially un-usable bike
paths. It seems like they have gone out of their way to make some of the
bike paths around here accidents waiting to happen. That is if you don't
get a flat tire first.

Anyone have any experiences/thoughts with/on the "trail-gator"? (They
have it at Nashbar)

Joseph

In > M Gagnon wrote:
>
> "brian hughes" > a écrit dans le message de
> news: .net...
>> I have a Burley Piccolo trailer that I ride with my 7-year-old
>> daughter
> and
>> 4-year-old son. Both of them enjoy it (as do I) and it is never
>> boring. The Burley Piccolo is probably more expensive than most kid
>> trailers, but
> it
>> handles very well and is quite well built and will handle a kid up to
>> 85 pounds. I have never had any problems ...
>
>
> I have used the Addams Trail-A-Bike and the Burley Piccolo
> trailercycle. The Burley is much more stable but also a bit higher. My
> oldest child was barely able to safely pedal on the Addams (i.e. reach
> the pedals on the downstroke) when she turned 4 and I don't think she
> would have been able to pedal the Piccolo before she turned 4.25 or 4.
> 5
>
> As for learning rules of the road, she is curious and tends to inquire
> a lot. So she learned a lot through questions like "Why do we stop?" (
> stop sign), "Why do we continue even when there is traffic on the side
> street?" (green light), Why don't I squeeze by traffic? (it's unsafe)...
>
> Finally, she is now 7 and I trust her to ride safely in traffic... for
> short distances. I stay behind her and slightly to the left to watch
> her and "protect" her. She behaves well but sometimes need a few
> directives as to when it's better to hug the line and when it's better
> to stay further out, when to avoid bike lanes (like those wrong-side
> lanes popular in Montréal) and when to use them. Her main limitations
> are the length of time with heavy traffic (concentration lasts only a
> limited time), steep hills (up and down) and obviously difficult
> intersections, so I plan accordingly.
>
> Regards,
>
> Michel
>
>

[Claire Petersky]

Joseph Santaniello > wrote in message >...

> Any thoughts or experiences anyone would like to share? My main concern
> is that this is supposed to be fun and should help him learn about the
> rules of the road etc. But will it be boring, or "for little kids", or
> will it teach him to NOT pay attention to traffic, or have some other
> undesired effect?

I have treated my kids on the trail-a-bike (we call it "the pony")
like tandem stokers -- they have responsibilities back there, and I do
too, as the captain.

As captain, I make sure the stoker knows where we are going and how we
are getting there. I alert the stoker to bumps, turns, and upcoming
stops.

The stoker can't lounge around back there -- she needs to pedal. She
is also responsible for signaling. The stoker also calls out hazards
such as: "car back", or "dog up".

I have done rides as long as 30 miles with a kid on the bike pony.
See: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=001901c0061d%24122e0d00%240201a8c0%40skye1&rnum=3&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26q%3Dgoldenrod%2Bducks%2Bpetersky

or http://tinyurl.com/jynm

for a story I posted regarding a trip I did with my daughter three
years ago.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky )
Home of the meditative bicyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm

[McD]

Sounds like you all have a lot of fun.

Now I've seen something called a "Trail-gator" that is a sort of trailer-
bar that temporarily makes the kid's bike a trailer by lifting the front
wheel and locking the steering in place. It looks good for my purposes
because most of the time it would be ok for my son to ride by himself;
there are only a few "transport" stages that would be on roads with cars
where we would need to use the hitch.

:

Anyone have any experiences/thoughts with/on the "trail-gator"? (They
have it at Nashbar)

Joseph



I've not used the "trail-gator" with a kid's bike, but together with some brackets, nuts & bolts, wood and tape it makes a great tow-bar for a canoe:

http://homepage.mac.com/jobank/CIMG0908.jpg


Keith.