Trail Gator/Tandem bar problem

J Jenkins

I've just got one of these things; it's not actually a Trail Gator but
a similar German device called Profex. Unfortunately the instructions
are in German, which I don't read

The bar is attached to the seat post of the adult bike. I'm not sure
whether it's supposed to pivot around the bar. It's almost impossible
to stop it doing so, but the effect is that the child's bike then
moves off centre, and tries to pull the adult bike off to one side. I
was wondering whether perhaps the joint should be quite loose, so that
if the child's bike does wander off centre, it will quickly wander
back again.

I have actually managed to get it so it doesn't move, by strapping it
to the bike rack. This feels OK, but you can't turn in a tight circle.

Steven M. Scharf

"J Jenkins" <rjenkins@cix.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1ae2b200.0404190424.48694f0f@posting.google.com...
> I've just got one of these things; it's not actually a Trail Gator but
> a similar German device called Profex. Unfortunately the instructions
> are in German, which I don't read
>
> The bar is attached to the seat post of the adult bike. I'm not sure
> whether it's supposed to pivot around the bar. It's almost impossible
> to stop it doing so, but the effect is that the child's bike then
> moves off centre, and tries to pull the adult bike off to one side. I
> was wondering whether perhaps the joint should be quite loose, so that
> if the child's bike does wander off centre, it will quickly wander
> back again.
>
> I have actually managed to get it so it doesn't move, by strapping it
> to the bike rack. This feels OK, but you can't turn in a tight circle.

" What keep the child's bike in an up right position, when attached?
The tow bar has a vertical and a horizontal pivot, which allow for side to
side and up and down movement only, and keep the bike in an up right
position when being towed."

It should pivot, and yes it tries to pull the adult bike. The trail-a-bikes
that attach to the seat post of the adult bike all suffer from this problem.
The best model is the Burley Piccolo, which is quite expensive, and requires
a special rear rack for attachment. But it pulls the adult bike much less
than the seat post type models.

You're just going to have to deal with the fact that it makes the adult bike
hard to control.