Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Heltor Chasca
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Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

My 4 year old is getting close to outgrowing her child seat so I am after some words of wisdom and advice please.

At the moment I have a hybrid bike with a rear rack and in the near future I'm planning on buying a tourer that will have a rear rack. Similar set up really.

I do the school run by bike with my daughter and it is a 10 mile round trip which is further than her little legs can cope with at the moment. I was thinking a Trail A Bike or similar would be ideal. Have you got any advice? Will the tow-bar clear the rear rack? Can I have my panniers on too?

Many thanks in advance................hc
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Colin63
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Colin63 »

I've just had a natter with a friend who's a dad and uses one of these with his son. His opinion was that you'll have no trouble. The towing arm attaches to the seat post and has enough clearance for a pannier rack and that panniers are no trouble either. So it should be fine and dandy.
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gaz
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by gaz »

Fantastic way to do the school run, check that your daughter agrees before you invest.

The best trail-a-bikes are ones that fix to a dedicated rear rack. These were once made by Islabikes, a few other independents and continue to be made by Burley (Kazoo / Piccolo). Placing the articulation point above the rear axle of the towing bike improves general handling and minimises the tail-wags-the-dog effect. Second hand models crop up on the forum from time to time.

Trail-a-bikes that attach to the seatpost may make top bags problematic, traditional Caradice style saddlebags aren't going to work. You do need a minimum amount of seat post showing to fit the clamp and might need a little more height for the saddle rails to clear the arm. I suppose that a very small frame might lead to conflict with a pannier rack but it's difficult to imagine it.

Any trail-a-bike should allow you to use panniers on both sides of the rear rack.

Trail-a-bikes aren't as stable as a childback tandem. If you have room to store one it will be a better experience for both of you.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Thanks Colin & Gaz. I appreciate the help. Daughter is sold on the idea 100%. YouTube is dead handy for 'explaining' things. Those Burley bikes look the business but sadly a budget comes with my mission. I'll probably go down the eBay route. After all I'm saving up for 'Project Surly'.

Thank you both again...hc
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gaz
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by gaz »

A few further pointers from the forum's collective wisdom: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64611
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HowardW
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by HowardW »

Hi,

I have the follow me tandem and use it on both my tourer and my hybrid although the latter is only for towing the empty bike it's heavy but very stable.

Seren didn't use it while we did our trip http://10mileseachway.blogspot.co.uk/ so it was dead weight but she is a bit older than yours but no issues with panniers (see pics on blog) and will last for years.

Our trailgator had various replacement parts and often needed tightening and re alignment.

Either system I definitely recommend them using their own bike just because its theirs

Howard
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Yup. German engineering is something else. It looks great on the Surly too. Budget is a bit of a hindrance though :( I could sell my hair and beard perhaps. Great blog Howard...hc
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Vorpal »

I've tried a few different versions of these sorts of things and can offer my experience...

I tried a TrailGator, and didn't like it. It was too unstable at speeds above 8 mph or so. I haven't tried the follow-me sort which looks rather better.

I hired a seat-post mounted trailer bike which I pulled with my road bike, and it was okay, but a little less stable than I would have liked. However, Mini V really liked riding behind me, so I bought a used childback tandem which we love & still use regularly, though more with Littlest. Mini V is 8, now and prefers her own bike :)

However, I also bought a used Isla Bikes rack mounted trailer bike (they do turn up on here from time to time). I find that much more stable than the seat-post mounted one. For longer trips, I can even put it on the tandem, and pull two kids :D
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Heltor Chasca
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Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Oooh the Islabike Tagalog looks great. I love simple things. Struggling to find any specs online though. Anyone know weights, component specifics etc. Thanks Vorpal...hc
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TrevA
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by TrevA »

We used to have an Islabikes trailer bike and I used to tow with my old Claud Butler Dalesman. Very stable and good fun for both the pilot and stoker. We only had the single speed version but manged fine. It attached to its own pannier rack and could be fitted in 2 mins. I think it was 501 steel with bespoke components and an alloy rear wheel. Not super light but not too heavy either.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Thanks again all.

This is what I got today: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201168493579

It is a Burley Piccolo albeit very old but at £31.00 I can mess about and replace any bits that I need to. Hopefully it will fit my rack! (I'm not too good at gambling so I hope I haven't chucked £31.00 down the drain)
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Me again. Sorry.

Does anyone know what the width of the rack for the Burley Kazoo/Piccolo is? The tagalong I have bought comes without a rack and I am trying to work out if it will fit my current rack.

Incidentally: Although the word "PICCOLO" can be seen on the frame, it is single speed. I think Burley's now calls the single speed a Kazoo and the 6 speed a piccolo..hc
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Vorpal »

I would contact Burley. They are usually quite good about helping, even secondhand purchasers. :D

Good luck with it.
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Heltor Chasca
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Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

I've pretty much rebuilt the Piccolo I bought so it feels 'like new' to my daughter. I'll change the hub and the bearings in the crankset when I have more disposable!

However my thoughts are not to do a bodge job on my current rack and get a proper Burley Moose Rack. If anyone has an old one knocking about or knows of someone who does I would be interested in a purchase. Many thanks...hc
Last edited by Heltor Chasca on 20 Sep 2014, 10:03pm, edited 1 time in total.
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gaz
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Re: Trail A Bike For Tourer?

Post by gaz »

Burley are the standard trailer bike used at Center Parcs.

I'd expect that they get retired after a reasonable life span and some must suffer accidents. Perhaps an e-mail to enquire about obtaining a rack from a towing bike that's now out-of-service.

Or buy one new, although currently out of stock :( .
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