We have 2 boys 4 & 1 years old. The big one has outgrown the topeak rack mount seat and that is going to become his brother’s ride now he is big enough. So for upcoming family rides the options appear to be…

1) follow me tandem, which seems to tick the following boxes:
– mounts to any qr rear
– pivots vertically and low down so should reduce tail wagging dog syndrome
– monkey 1 can pedal around his own bike too where appropriate
– i can mount the topeak seat on the luggage rack still and take monkey 2 along for the ride as well

2 – seatpost mounted tagalong
– fit wife or my bike
– cheaper – lots
– high mount allows him to potentially chuck his weight around

3 – rack mount tag along
– more solid than tube mount
– pricier

My wife is not an experienced cyclist and her bike has no rack mounts. My worry is an excitable 4yo and the extra leverage and weight of the tag along might make her uncomfortable bit it may beI am just being a worrisome old fart. I like the idea that i could lug the pair if needed.

I am leaning strongly toward the follow me and buying a tow bike but having not tried any of the options before I was really hoping there might be some real world experience here.

I went the fully kiddyback tandem route, Look used for a Dawes Toucan or Thorn if you can find one. We had 11 years of use out of it. Then sell it for what you paid for it. More smiles per mile than any other bike I have ever owned.

Where would you look used for those? ctc? Ebay? or somewhere else.

My reticence on that front (other than cost) was he needs to keep pedalling and I wonder if he would be up to that yet. Also a tandem is possibly more hassle to take away with us although i guess it would go on the car roof.

Ebay. This one just sold for £487.

Also look at the Tandem Club

Entry is about £500. The best news is that kiddybacks really only got going about 2000. So second generation ownership is a possibility. Problem is they may get passed down like old clothes 😉

And don’t worry about making them pedal, they soon get used to it. More hassle but a LOT more fun.

Cool thanks. Doh re tandem club my folks are members!

tag alongs aren’t much cop. I bought a Raleigh tag300 last year for 200 quid and kids hated it. tried to sell on eBay 3 times with no luck so sold locally for 65 quid. bolt on rear seats are pretty useless too. kids now riding their own bikes which is best thing IMHO

I did probably a thousand miles on ran trailers (as they were known then) in my youth before going on to tandems but modern tagalongs dont look as good to me. Both boys have liked riding in the topeak rack seat. Own bike is too limiting for big one just now if we want an outing by bike and round here too dangerous if we want to go far courtesy of urban sprawl and southern drivers.

I cant wait until they are able to ride independently but its a while away yet. In the meantime I want them to enjoy not being in the car.

We have a Follow-me and it’s excellent (hated the trailgator). Other friends have one and agree, while others prefer a tag-along.

A top-tube seat works really well too – I still put my 7yr-old on ours for quick trips (lucky enough to have bought a Loct while they were available)