Tag-a-long

[simonjlewis]

I'm looking to get a tag-a-long for my commuting bike to be able to take my daughter to school.

My bike has a pannier rack on the back but I've been told that I can't use a regular tag-a-long that attaches to the seat tube as it would have to be too high up.

I found the Burley Piccolo that fixes to the rack but its twice as much as other trailers.

Anyone got any other solutions?

Thanks.

 

[mickle]

Huh?? Where are you getting your advice? A gen-u-ine Tag-a-lung will attach to your seatpost and clear your rack quite happily. And so will all the other trailer bikes on the market.

 

[simonjlewis]

I went in to three bike shops today and although they said it can clear a rack, they said attaching it high on the seat post makes it unstable and puts too much strain on the post.

If it was one bike shop I'd not have taken it that seriously but this was three independant shops.

Do you have experience of using them with a rack?

 

[mickle]

Yes i do. Do you have a particularly small frame? Were they independant bike shops which actually sold or used them? I doubt it.

 

[simonjlewis]

Surprising as it might sound, I didn't come on here to make things up. They did give me that advice, they are small independent bike shops, they do sell tag-a-longs, two of the shops come highly recommended by experienced cyclists and my frame is a medium.

Anyway. So you ride a tag-a-long which goes over a rack and attaches high up on the seat post? I am genuinely interested. No sarcasm intended. You have no problems? How old is your son/daughter?

 

[Tynan]

I've got one of those gator arm things in the loft that's never been used at all, it was the name brand at the time about three or four years ago

works with a kids bike obviously so not as good as a proper tag along natch but lets you have a proper bike too

yours for a crisp £10 note

 

[Ian H]

Ideally, a trailer-cycle should pivot above the rear axle. Those attaching to the seat-post are a cheap compromise. More important is the quality of the pivot and attachment.

 

[simonjlewis]

Thanks Paul. I'll have a look.

Cheers Tynan but I'll pass.

 

[mickle]

Surprising as it might sound, I didn't come on here to make things up. They did give me that advice, they are small independent bike shops, they do sell tag-a-longs, two of the shops come highly recommended by experienced cyclists and my frame is a medium.

Anyway. So you ride a tag-a-long which goes over a rack and attaches high up on the seat post? I am genuinely interested. No sarcasm intended. You have no problems? How old is your son/daughter?

Easy, I was suggesting that the bike shop staff were talking out of their bottom brackets not you. I worked in the trade for long enough to know that BS is endemic. And are they selling actual genuine Tag-A-Longs or are they using that as a generic term?

Think about it, how sh!t would a trailer have to be to not fit to a bike with a rack?

I have no kids but have had plenty of hands-on experience of Tag-A, Burley, Adams, Avenir, Pashley and Islabikes trailers among others. They all fit regular bikes down to 'small' without interfering with the rack. Although you might have trouble combining an extra small frame, hardly any post showing, 700c wheels and a tall rack with the odd trailer but they really are designed for ordinary bikes. And ordinary bikes have racks.

Seat-post mounted trailers are perfectly fine, this idea that a trailer hitch must be directly over the rear axle is patent nonsense. Look at a caravan. All it affects is the trailer turn-in when cornering. But then the height of the hitch affects turn in too wherever it's located. Trailers rarely (I've only ever seen one) pivot at the seat-post, they usually hinge a few cm behind. You know, kind of above the rear wheel...

And anyway, a bicycle's seat-post is the part of a bicycle which is designed to carry the most weight. Much more than any frame rack eyelets I've ever seen. I would trust a loaded pannier to some Ive seen let alone a child.

The most important thing to look out for is a total lack of any play whatsoever in the hitch pivot. A slack pivot will have your trailer passenger wobbling uncomfortably from side to side and it'll have a wholly negative effect on your ability to steer the tractor bike.

And fit a long mudguard to the back of the tractor. Even if for no other reason than the one and only time your back wheel ever passes through a dog turd.

 

[yorkshiregoth]

I used one a few years back on a Spesh Crossroads Hybrid attached to the seat post and also used a rear panniner and rack without any problems. The trailer I used was the one from Edinburgh Cycle Co-op.

 

[Fnaar]

I used one of these with my daughter for a few yrs... it was brilliant, never any problems, and the joint/pivot wotsit was top quality. When she got too big for it, I gave it to a friend, who's still using it with her kid. Recommended. Bought it at my lbs (now shut down)

 

[Browser]

We got the Saferider from Argos, which has given us very good service and clears the rack.
The only problem I had with it was that to fit a bog-standard chromed-steel seatpost it used nylon spacers between the 'post and the clamp. This led to the problem that the clamp tended to twist which, owing to the geometry of the clamp and attached arm meant the trailer-bike tended to tilt sideways. Having tightened the clamp enough to stop this I much later discovered that I had partly crushed the seatpost!
I think either a spacer with a thin layer or rubber/latex between it and the seatpost/clamp might have stopped the twisting and allowed lower clamping pressure.

 

[leyton condor]

We had the basic trek mountain train (no gears or anything) and never had any problems. Did quite a few journeys of 20 miles or more without any problems.
It cost £100 from LBS. Money well spent and it cleared the rack.