Connecting a childs bike to an adults bike

[Rick]

I was considering buying a trailer-bike for my young daughter. This is one of those single wheel
bikes which attach to the seat-post of an adults bike by a long arm.

Then, last week when driving through a local town, I saw a man riding along with what seemed to be
his daughter/son who was riding her/his own bike which was attached to the mans bike by some sort of
linkage arm.

Brilliant, I thought! I'll have one of those!

The thing is - I cannot find anywhere that sells these linkages. Perhaps it was a home-made jobbie.
Or perhaps I haven't found the right place yet.

I should have stopped and asked the fellow when I saw him!

Does anyone know where I could buy one of these linkage arms? (preferably in the UK - but I'd be
prepared to buy from abroad if necessary).

Many thanks - in advance

 

[Brian Huntley]

Rick wrote:
> I was considering buying a trailer-bike for my young daughter. This is one of those single wheel
> bikes which attach to the seat-post of an adults bike by a long arm.

One brand of these is called a "Trail Gator", and at least one UK shop has them online:

http://www.twoplustwo.uk.com/ctrailers/trailgator.html

I considered one for my sone, but then remembered he'd have brakes, and knowing him, would use them,
so went with a Trail-a-bike instead.

Have fun.

 

[Michel Gagnon]

Brian Huntley <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Rick wrote:
> > I was considering buying a trailer-bike for my young daughter. This is one of those single wheel
> > bikes which attach to the seat-post of an adults bike by a long arm.
>
> One brand of these is called a "Trail Gator", and at least one UK shop has them online:
>
> http://www.twoplustwo.uk.com/ctrailers/trailgator.html
>

They are very common around Montréal. I have not used one, but careful observation of riders tells
me that unless you want to ride less than 1 km at a time, avoid these like plague. I have seen some
child bike leaning at 20-25 degrees while the parent bike was straight. And guess what happens when
the child decides to lean to the right instead of to the left.

Needless to say that even the Addams Trail-a-Bike -- which I scrapped because I found it too wobbly
after some 1800 km -- seems a very stable contraption. Incidentally, the Trail-a-Bike is a good
contraption if you think of doing 1000-1500 km in the life of the Trail-a-Bike. Since we rode that
much in less than a year and since the hitch develop play over time (nothing unsafe, but very
annoying), I took the plunge and invested in a Burley Piccolo.

However, we ride nearly 2000 km per year with it and there is a second daughter to follow.

Michel Gagnon