You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
So the boy, just turned 5, seems to have the bug for bikepacking, amongst other things... He pushed me to take him on a two day ride, during those horrific floods in October. Despite being too minging to camp (For a then 4 year old) we pulled in for an air bnb. Still he did 34 miles over 2 days without moan or complaint and loved every minute of it.
He is desperate to get out and do bigger stuff, what he doesn't realise is, as soon as decent hills or very rocky terrain is part of the equation, he will struggle. All one day and two day routes so far have been carefully selected to be as flat and smooth as possible, for longish off road routes.
Got me to thinking that I should invest in some kind of buddy bike setup or even a tandem?
He's on a 20" wheel, geared mtb at the moment.
Im interested in any options folk have used/seen used for similar objectives...Just don't mention trail gators (appallingly sh*t pieces of plumbing)
Many thanks
Tandem. You’ll find 30 miles is a breeze. Used to do that after tea of a Sunday evening. Kids like to ride TO somewhere. They’re less interested in the rising. They do like talking though.
A tandem's going to have a couple of potential issues, though: either it needs to be super small at the back for a 5 year old, in which case you're looking for an obscure size and in a few years you've got an obscurely-sized tandem you need to sell, or you're going to have to wait a few years until he fits a more reasonably sized one. My boy was about 8-9 when he became tall enough to fit on the tandem that was originally bought to take my wife.
Not to mention, they're buggers to store.
A Follow-Me may be the sort of thing you're after: it'll allow you to separate or couple up as required along your ride. Very different to a trailgator type thing. That said, I never tried ours with anything larger than 20" wheels, I'm not sure how big a bike they'll adapt to.
He's pretty big for a 5 year old...Not sure I really want the hassle of storing and transporting an tandem though.
I was hoping there was something with a bit more of an elegant engineering solution for this problem
Potentially like a big kids, lightweight tagalong, with suspension and racks... I cant find anything though
The follow me looks more stable than a trail gator but its a helluva unit that wouldn't really work for what im after. We are hoping to do some fairly wild rides and trails, the follow me looks like it belongs more on a town bike in Amsterdam.
Elasticated tow rope?
You can get kiddy cranks for a tandem so a wee kiddy can ride a normal one. That way you and he can ride it for years. for a lot of money you can get one built up with S&S couplers with a front and rear section and add as many middle bits as you want. One US family has one that can be 1 2, 3 or 4 seat depending which of the family want to go out.
Kiddy cranks on a standard tandem would be good I think.
I bought a TowWhee for my 4 year old and her Cnoc 16.
Tested it on long rides in the new forest and she loves it. I bought a couple of caribeners so it's very quick to take on and off and loops round your head set for easy storage.
I'd recommend it for bike packing. Only issue maybe if you've large saddle bags. The towwhee hooks over the nose of the saddle so if the little one weaves around it may foul the bags.
We've got a Thorn Kiddyback for the grandkids, 26 in wheels, v brakes and not huge clearances but battered it through a few trails round here, small enough for a five thru to nine year old easily (though Fyn is short) dual positions for changing crank length, bought ours second hand off here cheaply. Its brilliant for what it cost the kids love it though Evie prefers a road ride and Fyn offroad so he has now progressed on to the back of the 29er HT tandem with SPDs and is now pushing me to get on our new Ventana but thats a bit big for him yet.
I think I’ll give the tow whee a go! If that’s works, I like the simplicity and lack of faff! Could be a winner
Thanks