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Grumpyfatman
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- Location
- Sunderland
Thanks @Cunobelin
Are Tag alongs a worthwhile investment?
- Thread starter Grumpyfatman
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Thinking about a tagalong for my son (3.5 years), but my wife has raised the concern that - judging from his behaviour in a rear seat - he is liable to get distracted and take his hands off the bars to wave at people, or just to fall asleep. Has this ever been an issue for anyone else? He's not riding independently without stabilisers yet
(I think it's unlikely but I have no direct experience to argue this from)
(I think it's unlikely but I have no direct experience to argue this from)
jefmcg
Guru
My son (4.5) decided to do a 'look Dad, no hands' moment just when we were going off a curb. Mrs Milkfloat had a heart attack - Junior just giggled. He quite frequently starts pointing and waving at things, so the wife tells me, anyway TBH I have no idea what he gets up to, he is behind me. As regards falling asleep, he used to do it all the time in his rear seat, but even when he has been really tired he has not done it on the trailgator. It maybe because he always thinks it is a race whenever he goes out.
I had a trailgator for my son, think it started when he was 4 he's a tall boy and didn't fit in the trailer very well, not to mention the weight on hills! I liked it because I could unclip him and he could ride independently on the safest, flattest, easiest parts then I could clip him on again when the going got tough. He could choose whether to pedal or not (although we did have to have a chat about not pulling the rear brake on!). We used to have great fun charging up hills together, full steam ahead! Great for kids confidence and getting out on longer rides knowing they haven't got to do all the work themselves.
As has been said though it is quite unnerving if the kids not balancing their own bike and it's leaning to one side (although mine was never 45 degrees!) and then they suddenly hump it over to the other side - but you get used to it!
My son used to sleep in the trailer but was much more awake on the trail gator. Learnt about road positioning, junctions, hand signals and on very rare occasions some choice words for other road users!
As has been said though it is quite unnerving if the kids not balancing their own bike and it's leaning to one side (although mine was never 45 degrees!) and then they suddenly hump it over to the other side - but you get used to it!
My son used to sleep in the trailer but was much more awake on the trail gator. Learnt about road positioning, junctions, hand signals and on very rare occasions some choice words for other road users!
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Grumpyfatman
Active Member
- Location
- Sunderland
So far since purchase we've ridden a minimum of 5 miles a day, though yesterday we did around 10 miles (two outings). All logged on my strava for posterity 
Had a slight incident today where I misjudged a pelican crossing island and clattered the handlebars on the trailabike against a post, causing much upset and pain to my co-riders little finger. Am waiting for the judgement but I think a pair of cycling gloves for her will secure forgiveness fairly quickly.
its probably unlikely that a child would fall asleep on the trailer it seems to be a pretty exhilarating experience for my little one, she's constantly shouting to go faster. But it's hard to see what she's doing (@Cunobelin referred to this previously) so she may well be letting go without me noticing but she's been pretty much melded to the seat and handlebars as far as I can tell and my wife certainly hasn't shouted up when she's been out with us so I'm not aware of any scary moments (ignoring my own mistake earlier today).
I was surprised by how much influence she has by pedalling at the back, it makes a noticeable difference when she puts some welly in, which has helped me up some inclines without gearing down as much as I normally would! Lol
Had a slight incident today where I misjudged a pelican crossing island and clattered the handlebars on the trailabike against a post, causing much upset and pain to my co-riders little finger. Am waiting for the judgement but I think a pair of cycling gloves for her will secure forgiveness fairly quickly.
its probably unlikely that a child would fall asleep on the trailer it seems to be a pretty exhilarating experience for my little one, she's constantly shouting to go faster. But it's hard to see what she's doing (@Cunobelin referred to this previously) so she may well be letting go without me noticing but she's been pretty much melded to the seat and handlebars as far as I can tell and my wife certainly hasn't shouted up when she's been out with us so I'm not aware of any scary moments (ignoring my own mistake earlier today).
I was surprised by how much influence she has by pedalling at the back, it makes a noticeable difference when she puts some welly in, which has helped me up some inclines without gearing down as much as I normally would! Lol
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Grumpyfatman
Active Member
- Location
- Sunderland
What a win. She looks so happy. Hope she's still smiling
Still smiling at the moment! We're so pleased!
Puddles
Do I need to get the spray plaster out?
- Location
- Hamble, Southampton
That is why I went the Weehoo way, she can fall asleep and be totally safe. A child at pre-school fell asleep and off a tag along and had awful scrapes up her face and luckily fell off on to the pavement not into the road, scared the crap out of me that incident so I was only happy with the Wee Hoo.
User76 has not fallen asleep in the weehoo in the last few months but would regularly sleep on the playschool to school run.
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Grumpyfatman
Active Member
- Location
- Sunderland
Those wee hoo's seem to get a lot of positive feedback but the cost seems quite prohibitive. My solid bottomed dual
Trailer was a mere 1/3rd of the price. I think I'd be inclined to use the child seat and the trailer until falling asleep was no longer an issue but they do look like a great idea. Any help with the peddaling is always welcome in my book
Trailer was a mere 1/3rd of the price. I think I'd be inclined to use the child seat and the trailer until falling asleep was no longer an issue but they do look like a great idea. Any help with the peddaling is always welcome in my book
I didn't bother with my eldest - because when he was an only I could spend all the time it needed to get him riding and help him develop the persistence and the skills and the enthusiasm needed for a Proper Bike Ride. With his younger brother I didn't have that luxury! I found a second hand tagalong made it possible for us to all ride together but got tricky over longer distances - a combination of a not-really-the-right-size tow bike and me having a shonky elbow meant that the handling was a bit like hard work and we never got to serious distances. So a couple of years back I was incredibly indulgent and bought a tandem!
It was a massive decision for us - it took a lot of saving and a big chunk of borrowing - but it was a very good choice. The Helios handles fine stokerless too, so is my day-to-day commuting bike (after doing school bus duty) for much of the time. And now, because of timing chains, when my stoker is there he can't slack off at the back any more
I'd heartily recommend a tagalong/tandem as a method of getting littlies used to riding on the road and enabling them to ride distances that are big enough to go to interesting places. They are, in particular, incredibly useful for a younger sibling. My littly did his first audax a couple of months back, stoking round a 50, and still had the energy for a stick battle with his big brother at the end.
It was a massive decision for us - it took a lot of saving and a big chunk of borrowing - but it was a very good choice. The Helios handles fine stokerless too, so is my day-to-day commuting bike (after doing school bus duty) for much of the time. And now, because of timing chains, when my stoker is there he can't slack off at the back any more
I'd heartily recommend a tagalong/tandem as a method of getting littlies used to riding on the road and enabling them to ride distances that are big enough to go to interesting places. They are, in particular, incredibly useful for a younger sibling. My littly did his first audax a couple of months back, stoking round a 50, and still had the energy for a stick battle with his big brother at the end.
Arjimlad
Tights of Cydonia
- Location
- South Glos
My daughter age almost five loves her Trek tagalong. But yesterday, on the Forest of Dean family trail we discovered that my rear mudguard is too short, and that the tagalong itself needs a mudguard too. She's still smiling!
Puddles
Do I need to get the spray plaster out?
- Location
- Hamble, Southampton
They are not cheap but they do hold their price when sold on and they adjust right up until they are 9 years old, so a good investment.Those wee hoo's seem to get a lot of positive feedback but the cost seems quite prohibitive. My solid bottomed dual
Trailer was a mere 1/3rd of the price. I think I'd be inclined to use the child seat and the trailer until falling asleep was no longer an issue but they do look like a great idea. Any help with the peddaling is always welcome in my book
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