Can I use a Trail-Gator on a hybrid with a rack?

I'm thinking about getting a Trail-Gator to use with my 4 year old
daughter's 16 inch bike. Before looking for one online I'm wondering
if it's likely to fit. I've got a Condor Fratello, set-up as a
hybrid, with a rack. (I think it's a 58cm frame, with 700 x 28c
wheels)

I'm wondering if it'll work, both when I'm towing, but also if it'll
be possible to fold the trail-gator back (eg when we get to a park &
my daughter's cycling on her own).

Any advice / experience would be appreciated.

Michael

wrote:
I'm thinking about getting a Trail-Gator to use with my 4 year old
daughter's 16 inch bike. Before looking for one online I'm wondering
if it's likely to fit. I've got a Condor Fratello, set-up as a
hybrid, with a rack. (I think it's a 58cm frame, with 700 x 28c
wheels)

I'm wondering if it'll work, both when I'm towing, but also if it'll
be possible to fold the trail-gator back (eg when we get to a park &
my daughter's cycling on her own).

It should have no problem clearing the rack, if that's what you're
worried about. It attaches to the seat post, starts off level then
curves gently down to the child's bike. If you have a decent amount of
seat post showing, you should be able to find a suitable position.

The problems I had were mostly to do with attaching the mounting bracket
on the child's bike. If it has oversize tubes then you might struggle to
fit the bracket. Look closely at the diagrams in the manual (available
as a PDF on the Trail-Gator website) and try to judge how it might
attach to your daughter's bike. And you'll probably need to remove the
front reflector.

When you detach the towing arm from the child's bike, it telescopes in a
bit. You get a kind of clamp device that attaches to the rear wheel
axle: the idea is you clamp that round the free end of the towing arm,
securing the arm parallel to one of the seat stays. The rack *might* get
in the way of doing this, but I never bothered with it anyway - I just
bungee'd the free end of the arm down onto the bike's rack. Simple but
effective. Attach a bit of pipe-lagging if you want to avoid scratching
the paintwork.

I didn't warm to the Trail-Gator: the ability to attach and detach my
child's bike was handy, but wasn't enough to compensate for the weight
and the truly awful handling compared to the proper Trailerbike that we
mostly used.

On 24/03/2009 21:52, wrote:
I'm thinking about getting a Trail-Gator to use with my 4 year old
daughter's 16 inch bike. Before looking for one online I'm wondering
if it's likely to fit. I've got a Condor Fratello, set-up as a
hybrid, with a rack. (I think it's a 58cm frame, with 700 x 28c
wheels)

I'm wondering if it'll work, both when I'm towing, but also if it'll
be possible to fold the trail-gator back (eg when we get to a park &
my daughter's cycling on her own).

I recommend considering the Follow-Me Tandem instead:
http://www.followme-tandem.com/

I got mine from Velorution:
http://www.velorution.biz/?page_id=1322

Your daughter's front wheel will need to have a solid axle, either 5/16"
or 3/8" diameter. I'm currently having problems because my daughter's
new bike came with a q/r front wheel, and I'm finding it rather more
difficult than I expected to source a suitable replacement axle :-(

--
Danny Colyer http://www.redpedals.co.uk
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"The plural of anecdote is not data" - Frank Kotsonis

On Mar 24, 9:52*pm, wrote:


Any advice / experience would be appreciated.

I had no problem with a hybrid and rack. Worked fine but the
Trailgator does have very bad handling - the kid's bike leans very
much to one side or the other and when the lean switches sides, it
makes for some interesting experiences. Your child soon learns to be
towed with a definite lean to one side, although this is not really a
good thing.

Other solutions are better.

PhilO

"PhilO" wrote

I had no problem with a hybrid and rack. Worked fine but the
Trailgator does have very bad handling - the kid's bike leans very
much to one side or the other and when the lean switches sides, it
makes for some interesting experiences. Your child soon learns to be
towed with a definite lean to one side, although this is not really a
good thing.

Hmm, not a problem I experienced with either of my kids or the 3 different
kids bikes we had attached. As well as a genuine TG we also had a cheaper
version from Lidl, which was OK but heavier and more of a faff to set up.
Both have now gone to new homes.

The TG was great when the kids were learning to ride. We could trail them to
the park, unhitch and then they could learn/practise riding around. Once
they were able to ride it was still handy for longer trips, they could ride
independantly for some of the way and then take a tow when tired or up
hills.