Too big for child seat, too small for tag-along?

[Black Sheep]

Sorry for two threads, just two very different questions to answer.

alongside getting Black Lamb cycling on her own we enjoy cycling as a family but she's 4 and slightly tall and out grown her child seat on the back of my bike.

however, her bike is only 12" wheels which I believe are a bit small for a tag-along such as a trail-gator and I'm a bit apprehensive that she herself might not be ready for a tagalong, or big enough for one.

What do people do to bridge this gap and continue cycling as a family?

We do have a trailer from Decathlon that we somehow never got round to using before she was big enough for the seat, no idea if she'll fit in it.

 

[Butterfly]

A follow me tandem works for my 4 year old. The only problem is the very low gears on his islabike means he spins out at any speed.
If you want to do a reasonable ammount of family cycling over longer distances, a Circe Tandem is absolutely the best thing ever. It is the most versatile vehicle - I can ride it with my husband stoking, my boy has been stoking since he was 2 and a half, you can take out the rear seat and use it as a cargo bike and it is really stable, I used to commute 20 miles a day solo on it. I know pilots who are over 6 foot and pilots who are around 5 foot tall. We toured on it in the summer, although our longest day was 27 miles, we were pretty fully loaded. I can also ride it with the 4 year old asleep in a bike seat instead of pedalling.
A weehoo trailer bike can be adjusted so she doesn't have to pedal, so that coould be another option.

 

[Sixmile]

I'm in the same boat with our 5 year old. She's too heavy now for the Hamax seat, getting a little bit too heavy to be a passenger in the Croozer trailer with her sister but although she can cycle without stabilisers, she's still learning and I wouldn't trust her riding anywhere near a road. We've a trailgator but her bike is too small.

What about something like a Weehoo igo?

 

[Heltor Chasca]

A Surly Big Dummy will work even better.

 

[pjd57]

Tagalong. Used it from 4 -8 . Picture was for sentimental reasons when he was too big for it. One last trip round the block before it was given away.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

No-one had these things when I was small, apart from over the rear wheel seats for babies and toddlers. Once you were old enough to run about without falling over too much you rode a bike, starting with stabilisers. I managed to snap one of mine off, so the other one was also removed and I was simply told to "learn to ride a proper 2-wheel bike now". It's amazing how quickly you learn to balance after falling off a few times and getting the cuts & bruises. Every kid I grew up with was tearing around the immediate area on two wheels from a young age, and we all rode in the road unsupervised on local back streets at a young age as well. Generally speaking, us kids rode around with other kids, not with parents.

 

[nickAKA]

I got a weeride copilot tag-along when my daughter grew out of her seat, she was 4 at the time but I never had any issues with her falling off. She did develop a habit of getting off if I pulled up at the kerb for lights etc which could be a bit worrying (I set off without her once!) but mother always rides behind to keep an eye on things... it weighs as much as my bike plus a 22kg child, I get a decent workout even at 14mph

 

[Black Sheep]

No-one had these things when I was small, apart from over the rear wheel seats for babies and toddlers. Once you were old enough to run about without falling over too much you rode a bike, starting with stabilisers. I managed to snap one of mine off, so the other one was also removed and I was simply told to "learn to ride a proper 2-wheel bike now". It's amazing how quickly you learn to balance after falling off a few times and getting the cuts & bruises. Every kid I grew up with was tearing around the immediate area on two wheels from a young age, and we all rode in the road unsupervised on local back streets at a young age as well. Generally speaking, us kids rode around with other kids, not with parents.

true, but far less traffic, even in the late 80's when I learnt to ride a bike there were far fewer cars parked on the street on my parent's road (a single Reliant Robin) everyone else parked on their drives and roads were quieter.

Our road joins the main A road though le tiny mill town in which we live so there isn't far she can go safely at the age of 4 (nearly 5)



in other news, we're off to Guernsey this summer as my mum has decided a family holiday before the grandchildren start school is a good idea so booked an apartment large enough. They're driving and getting the ferry (taking a bike with them for Black Lamb that they have at their house - £10 from a charity shop, can't complain)

We're flying

I plan to hire bikes and a tag-along for us to get around the island since the overall speed limit is 35mph but 20mph in most places. It's over 10 years since I was last there, but I hope it's still as easy going as it was. But we'll get to try a tagalong out and see how we get on (she has a habit of trying something and saying "nope, don't like it" and that's it, won't try again.)

 

[nickAKA]

I plan to hire bikes and a tag-along for us to get around the island since the overall speed limit is 35mph but 20mph in most places. It's over 10 years since I was last there, but I hope it's still as easy going as it was. But we'll get to try a tagalong out and see how we get on (she has a habit of trying something and saying "nope, don't like it" and that's it, won't try again.)

My daughter loves the tag along and it does make me chuckle when she gets out of the saddle and puts the hammer down on hills... there have been a few occasions when I couldn't have done it without her

 

[User10119]

Our Circe Helios is the best purchase I have ever made. It was a hugely, massively, unprecedented extravagence and I don't regret a single penny.

Well, apart from the initial mistake with the 'city' bars that rapidly got swapped for flats with Ergons.

 

[Black Sheep]

just got back from Guernsey where we hired bikes with a trek mountain train tagalong for a couple of days, one day we did 19 miles which is about half the island!

now shopping for a tagalong but trying to work out which is the best in our budget (around £150) any advice welcome

 

[Black Sheep]

Just to update and round things off, we got a Weeride co-pilot via e-bay which has been used once or twice but poor weather and other things going on we've not been able to get out.

She's a touch too short (I flipped the saddle mount upside down to get it a bit lower) so bumpy / cobbled tracks aren't pleasant for long stretches but it's still been enjoyed.

Hopefully get a few more trips out before the weather gets too wet and windy for her