Miss BB’s b’day soon – hired/tried a tag-along on holiday and she loved it. Looking at a Trek Mountain Train 206, but is there any others of a similar ilk to consider (20″ and geared)?

Ta.

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Honestly, I’d buy a “used” one because they often don’t get much use

In fact there’s one in my garage somewhere that’s probably done about 200 miles and likely never to be used again. I bought it new – mistake

From your post it sounds like you want to take your wife on a tag-a-long. From personal experience, big people don’t fit very well 😀

I bought a second hand Universal one. Fairly basic and tatty looking but a lick of paint and some tlc and it was as ready to roll. Ours doesn’t have gears, but it’s never been an issue. It’s had plenty of use too, as my youngest (5) refuses to learn to ride a bike on his own. Took him to the new trails at Davagh recently where his running commentary went from ‘daddy, these are the trails of my dreams’ to ‘no daddy, this is like a nightmare!’ on some of the more technical runs. Probably the best money i’ve spend on bikes.

We’ve got an Islabike trailerbike (yes I’m a fanboi), bought second hand through the classifieds here and can highly recommend them. They’re not currently produced so 2nd hand is the only option on those.

You need to be able to fit a rack as it connects via QR to the rack but IMO it makes it more stable as the wobbles and fidgets don’t go through the seatpost.

paid less than £100 new for a avenir (raleigh?) one a few years back – did my two kids on school runs . Gave it away to a friend.

I would take note that the Islabike ones are supposed to be much better as they pivot above the wheel axle, and dont act as a lever against the seatpost. Even small kids can throw you off balance with the seatpost ones.

If you have the money, nothing comes close to a Burley piccolo (except an original Isla Rowntree – showing my age now). Both mount with a dedicated rack, so the pivot point is much less noticeable.

For a little more money, a dedicated kiddyback tandem will be the bast bike you ever own for the next 10 years.

I used the non geared version on the trek mt train, it’s been brilliant for both my boys.

We started out with a second hand Trek mountain train. It worked but it was single speed, incredibly heavy and badly built. Replaced it with a new Adventure Echo 6 which was fabulous. Light weight alloy, six speed, folding pedals and nicely finished.

Roland add+1 is good and fits to dedicated rack, rather than seat post. We use Pashley U + 1 which is seatpost attached, but has 2 wheels on and I prefer the extra stability it gives.

We had the Trek Mountain Train 206 (and indeed I sold it to someone on here). No experience of any other versions, but the kids loved it (and felt special turning up to parties on it). Went round the easier trails at Llandegla a few times. Daughter was a bit lazy, but son liked to get out of the seat and crank away from side to side, which was a bit disconcerting sometimes.

Pedals were horrid, non-grippy things, and it weighed a ton.

Good stuff – thanks people!

Iv tried the Trek Mountain Train – I hated it! There is no brakes and the steering doesn’t work! I had to follow the idiot in front around like some sort of sheep. I’m currently saving up for a Santa Cruz Bronson.

I’ve got a Adams Tag A Long Shocker hanging in the garage which I should really get rid of since my kids out grew it some years ago.

It has an adjustable shock (hence the name!) 5 speed twist grip, a couple of brackets for attaching to bikes and the high vis flag. Like this one

If anyone’s interested let me know.

I’ve got a secondhand giant half wheeler, much lighter than most other tag-alongs, so yo can scare the shit out of the little ones in the woods!

Get a second hand one though, mine was £50, usually about £250 new iirc.

I got one of these:

http://www.followmetandem.co.uk/followme-tandems/folllowme_tandem.php

Secondhand value is £150+ so you won’t lose much over its life. But you get the advantage of being able to decouple the bikes and ride individually; plus the pivot is behind the rear wheel, so the rear bike will track well through tight corners.

A few points:
1. I was worried that the instability of a seatpost mount (compared to a rack mount) would forever annoy me but in practice it I haven’t found it a problem at all on a wide-barred mountain bike. In fact it is considerably more stable with a fidgety 5-year old than my wife’s bike with a 2-year old in a rack-mounted bike seat.
2. An old spare seatpost and saddle fixed permanently to the tagalong saves faffing when linking up to a regular bike.
3. They are just a great safe way of teaching gear shifting (where fitted) and road sense because it is so easy to maintain a running conversation with your child whilst riding.