Trail Gator or similar?

[Leccy]

Has anyone any personal experience of them?

I have a trailer but I think my son (4) is not going to fit in it much longer! He's only now in the process of getting rid of stabilisers so quite a way from being able to cycle safely on the road with me on his own.

If you've used or heard anything about them can you please let me know the pros and cons? It seems like the ideal situation but then I've only read the marketing info they put out!

 

[fossyant]

We have a tag along by Trek, works really well and helped us ride further with my daughter as she isn't a keen cyclist. She's now at the max end of the size, 9 years old, but we still use it. She now has a decent MTB and has been riding further on that.

 

[Crackle]

Here's one in use in the first video on this post.

Show Us Your Kids Bikes

I've had two when the kids were small and found them perfect. The fitting kit must fit the bike well. If it doesn't the bike will be at an angle, so be sure it fits before buying.

 

[hatler]

The standard trail-gator is a bit of an ugly compromise. The concept is sound enough but is poorly executed and it is fiddly to set up and quite often scratches the head tube of the kid's bike. You often see them with the kid's front wheel way up in the air.

I've seen one of these in action and though expensive, it looks to be a properly engineered solution to the requirement.
http://www.followmetandem.co.uk/

 

[hatler]

And if the requirement to have your child cycle independently at the destination isn't an absolute must, then consider a standard trailer bike, and of those, see if you can get hold of an Islabike tag-a-long which has the best hitch arrangement of them all.

 

[Kev h]

Have used a trailgator with my son and cant complain about it, thought it was good purchase and we used it quite often, it is a bit fiddly to fit, and it did scratch the head tube on my son's bike, but hey, he done more damage to the bike (scratchs etc) than that. Personelly i felt it was a good buy, well worth it as we went on some good bike rides, gets them pedalling, and would recommend using one.

 

[Crackle]

If you wrap the fitting kit in tape, you won't get scratches. And I know I said it but it's worth repeating as you see so many badly fitted kits, follow the instructions and advice carefully and even then, the kit doesn't always fit on all bikes. When it does it works brilliantly but you need to be sure it will fit.

 

[Leccy]

Thanks guys, I had a look at one in Halfords yesterday and all looks good, I think it might be my next step, watch this space!

 

[kevsullivan]

I cut up an old inner tube and secured around head tube before fitting a tail gator to the childs bike. Protects paint and also prevents any twisting, I've done the same on tow bike seat post.
Have used a tail gator (bought 5yrs ago) on our three eldest childrens bikes and will I'm sure will use it for the youngest when he is ready. We started them on it at about 4yrs old and after about a year they couldn't wait to go solo - perhaps that says a lot about my cycling

Kev

 

[Leccy]

Ooh good advice - only just got round to ordering one, will come back to this thread to reread tips once it's arrived!

 

[Tynan]

I have one still in a battered box unused if anyone wants it, bought 10 years ago so may npt be the latest model

free to an E4 collectee or p&p otherwise

 

[middleagecyclist]

I had a Trailgator for use with my daughter. Not nice. Didn't like it. I was then given a Tagalong. This has served us well for many fun days out but has the disadvantage of being towed all the time. My daughter will be getting her new bike in 2013 and so to allow her more independent cycling I reckon I'll get a 'FollowMe Tandem' bracket. They are expensive but i'm sure they'll hold their value pretty well.

Here's my daughter having fun on the tagalong.

 

[lozcs]

I had a Trailgator for use with my daughter. Not nice. Didn't like it. I was then given a Tagalong. This has served us well for many fun days out but has the disadvantage of being towed all the time. My daughter will be getting her new bike in 2013 and so to allow her more independent cycling I reckon I'll get a 'FollowMe Tandem' bracket. They are expensive but i'm sure they'll hold their value pretty well.

Here's my daughter having fun on the tagalong.

lovely

 

[clarion]

That is a fantastic video, and reminds me of when Our Kid (now 21) used to power an Islabike trailer behind my Orbit.

*sigh*

 

[Leccy]

It has finally arrived, in short he loves it! Wants to go everywhere on it!

I found the actual fitting to be very simple, more of a challenge was holding both bikes upright to fix it in the right place.

I have purchase him a hi vis vest and an extra rear light to fix on his bike and will hopefully get someone to take some pictures of us once the ice has gone, it's getting very frustrating! I'm not a 'fair-weather cyclist' but ice and a kid on the back is just not worth the hassle!