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I recently moved to Switzerland. We'll be rich! I said to my wife (at leaast by our standards), and hence began the plan to buy her an e-bike, or get a nice tandam, so she can join me cycling up mountain roads and gravel tracks (she's not an mtber).
Well, she's now here too, and we are not rich for various reasons, so we'd given up on the riding together plan.
However, I recently came across one of those tow-bungee-cord things that are designed for e-bikers to tow their motorless friends. It occured to me that there are a lot of long very quiet road climbs around here (like 10-25km with 1000-2000m of vertical ascent), which it may be possible for us to get up together if I assisted her. Then she can make her own way down and also has the energy left to cover some distance on the flat.
Obviously no where near as good as an e-bike, but they cost very little and wouldn't take up space in our rather small flat.
What are the chances this isn't a terrible idea?
You will be fine, provided you can do approx 4W/Kg, maybe bit less if the climbs are closer to 3% gradient.
10-25km with 1000-2000m of vertical ascent
I'll be impressed with the e-bike that can do that whilst towing another fully grown adult, no matter how svelte yourself and your wife may be.
Doesn't sound like a terrible idea...if it helps get you both out then worth giving it a bash, if it all fails, then at least you have a decent length lead if you decide to buy a dog!
After both of our Trax towing devices - rated for towing 90kg - broke while towing kids weighing <40kgs, I'd be very wary trying anything similar with an adult. Both snapped where the cord is attached to the reel.
I've created some simple tow ropes from 4mm paracord rated for 550lb/250kg. Small enough to slip into a pocket when not in use, only downside vs something like a Trax device is not being retractable to take up any slack but its not been an issue for us.
Swap bikes?
My wife was an elite level xc racer (raced at 2 world champs) that got massively overtrained and had to go back to square one to recover over a number of years. Part of the recovery was very low level exercise and she had to stay below certain heart rate levels (before power meters). We live in a moderately hilly place and we sometimes used an MTB tandem so I could assist, but it was massively hard work for me!
By all means try it, but doing it for 1000m Swiss climbs will either leave you very strong or very broken 🙂
Think muffin man and kramer are missing that neither OP or his wife have an ebike, sounds like extremely hard work towing anyone up those sort of climbs
Ah, this is a more optimistic response than I expected.
I'm used to single speeding a lot of long climbs around here on my mtb, so I should have some strength in reserve if I tow her with my geared gravel bike. Only trail and error would tell how much stamina I'd have though. My thinking was that if we did a route that's less than half what I would aim for in a long day out (which could be 3000m+ plus of ascent), then I should have the legs to give her perhaps a 50% assist (she weighs something like 60-65kg, me 75-80kg).
I will think carefully about what system to buy -- the Trax was looking quite good before a11y's feedback
I tried towing a lady friend up a long climb about 20 years ago. It's not what you think, I wasn't trying to get into her pants, I was hoping to get into her friend's pants, her friend was decently fit but the other one was struggling up the climb (about 800 m vertical over 10 km.) Problem was that her bike skills were terrible and she just couldn't get the hang of being towed so I had to abandon her at the bottom of the hill then ride up and tell the fit girl to abandon the ride so we could take her friend back to town. I didn't get in anybody's pants that day, which is probably a good outcome with hindsight. Thing is, you need the person being towed to have moderate bike skills otherwise it's just a comedy show.
i use a tire velo (french company) for my kids. Its imo way better than the alternatives as its retractible and elasticated - so it auto rolls up into the holder (we can clip/unclip whilst pedalling along), and it doesn't "snatch" the rider behind.
I don't see why max assist up a 1000m climb would be too bad - a strong ebike can put out 500w - if you're putting out a reasonable 200w, that should be plenty to get up a hill fairly swiftly
I've towed my small-ish kids under my own power (admittedly on a singlespeed MTB), and I think towing an adult would be blooming hard work.
If you've both got bikes already, for the cost of a tow rope it's probably worth a try, but I'd be setting my expectations fairly low personally.
I have different experience with the Traxx to a11y - ok mine did break initially but I got in touch with them and they sent out a V2 reel that fixed the problem and I haven't had an issue since. Ok that's toeing my son infrequently rather than my wife but I don't think it's a bad idea. Other than it'll kill you.
I recently moved to Switzerland. We’ll be rich!
......
Well, she’s now here too, and we are not rich for various reasons,
Haha. Expensive place to exist, isn't it....
Have friends there and despite being Swiss they don't enjoy it. Great quality of life if you're a top earner, but for everyone else it's no different to living in any other country.... That is until you go in holiday and the exchange rate kicks in!
Problem was that her bike skills were terrible and she just couldn’t get the hang of being towed
This was my main worry. Her bike skills aren't terrible as she used to commute 20 miles a day not infrequently, but she's never ridden for fun before.
@alpin, yep, damn expensive. Over £400 a month for each of us for health insurance and we still have to pay the first ~£1400 of costs. To be fair though, the reason we aren't very well off is that my partner hasn't got a job and Brexit may make that hard. My wage isn't bad at all (nothing crazy -- I am just a university researcher)
Towing using an ebike or normal mtb? I've towed a 14 stone mate up fireroads using a 29er inner tube (around my seatpost and his stem) on my ebike which just about works but is quite tricky and requires a bit of skill from the rider being towed. It was only shortish climbs and as he's now bought an ebike I doubt I'll be doing it any time soon but it can be done if the ground is not too rough
Swap bikes?
do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
I would guess everyone is wondering if you've asked her if she's on board with the towing plan before deciding if it's a terrible idea?! 😀
Even with an ebike, there's a challenge in towing a less confident cyclist to the top of a 2000m descent, as it's a lot of braking and arm pressure on the way down for someone less happy with speed / confidence.
FWIW I have a 'kids ride shotgun' tow rope, which is limited at 225kg and feels quite gentle in the stretch and pull, which makes it easier on both riders. Despite the name it is stated for 'adult towing' too. No need at all for the bum bag / carabiner kit though.
yep, damn expensive. Over £400 a month for each of us for health insurance and we still have to pay the first ~£1400 of costs
Similar set up to Germany. I was paying 350€/month. Friends of mine 650€, my FiL 800€....based on age. The older you get, the more you pay. And yes, I had 1000€ excess. **** private health care.
Still, at least the pensioners get 13 months money now. Basic Swiss pension is already over 2000€!
Still, weed is relatively cheap in CH.
Been towed up the FOD pushup by an Ebike and one of the kids £10 Amazon webbing bungies. Didn't die but the bungee bit bottomed out and got some funny looks.
I would guess everyone is wondering if you’ve asked her if she’s on board with the towing plan before deciding if it’s a terrible idea?!
I think I had the idea last week or something, and a couple of days ago I caught her shopping for a tow rope. IT's possible this wasn't even entirely my idea in the first place. So all consensual in any case.
To clarify as there still seams to be some confusion: I do not have an e-bike.
Also, we'd be riding on very quiet roads or easy gravel, so hopefully minimising the technical difficulties of being towed.
There’s no harm trying it - I tow my kids on my singlespeed and the biggest of them is now small woman height (although still that bit lighter). You’ll just end up using the easier gears more if the climbs are long and steep. Expect it to be hard work!
Shocking idea I know but how about you just go slower and do shorter distances so you can cycle together happily? Then when you wanna go further and faster just go by yourself? Thats what I used to do with my husband but of course now he has an ebike and I dont so now he has to wait for me but only when its flat or uphill but we both end the rider happier and not bickering.
Oh, yeah without an ebike it'll be tough. Try climbing the hill in half your lowest gear to get an idea of the torque required. I regularly tow my kids (well one on the bike and one towed), total is probably 60kg so not far off what you're doing. It's a hard climb on maybe a 1 in 20 slope