Trail Gator on small frame adult bike

robwbright

Hello - I've been stalking the forums for awhile and now have a question. I have a 41" tall 5 year old who has yet to get off training wheels. My 12 year old is now riding with me quite a bit and the 5 year old wants to come along... but obviously can't really - and she's too big for a child seat. I like the idea of the Trail Gator and I think I can resolve any of the "looseness" issues people have complained about.

My potential problem is this: I'm 5'4" with a 14.5" Trek 29er and my 12 year old is 5'3" with a 15" DB 27.5". If I get a trail gator for the 5 year old, we're going to have to attach it to the top of the seat post (see pics) on either bike (Daughter's seatpost could be raised an inch or so). Is that going to be a problem? I fear that I'll just end up with a bent seat post.

mattsurf

I have 3 children (now 16, 13 and 11). They all went on the Tag Along from the age of 4. By the time that they were 6 the younger 2 were able to cycle 10 miles. My daughter who is the youngest had an Isla Bike Beinn 20 Small for her 6th birthday, and she used a lot. My Parents had an old tandem, which I refurbished; this added an extra dimension and flexibility. My kids are all able to cycle 60 miles now and maintain a pace of 12 to 15 mph, which many adults would struggle to keep up with.

Get a Tag-Along, take you daughter with you and your 12 year old on long rides. I think that the Tag-Along is really well balanced and will not put much stress on your seat post. I would make sure that your seat post has lots of length inside the frame, if not buy a longer seat post to avoid any potential damage to the frame (the post itself should be much stronger than the frame of the bike)

If you are anywhere near Salisbury, you are welcome to try out my Tag-Along, it is still in the garage.

gravitykid

I put a trail gator on my BFe 14". Seat was way up high and I never had any problems (I'm 5' 8" with a 31" inside leg). I pulled my little girl along fairly technical mountain bike trails too.

The only problem you might have is the trail gator hitting your rear wheel if your saldde is too low.

Trail Gators are better than tag alongside in my opinion. Your kids can ride the bits they're capable of and you help them on the bits they can't manage. This worked great for my little girl as she progressively managed to do more and more each time she rode the same trails.