weeride co-pilot / pro-pilot - any good?

[Black Sheep]

Looking for a tagalong, budget excludes the Burley that mounts on the rack, the weeride is comfortably in budget and I have seen a few favourable reviews.

Has anyone used one? How did you find it?

Is the aluminium frame of the Pro worth it over the co? (we're not fussed about gears)

 

[Black Sheep]

[QUOTE 5313361, member: 45"]https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=islabikes+trailer+bike&_sacat=0[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately the closest of the two currently on ebay is 200 miles away, Would like to get one sooner rather than later so we can get use out of it this summer.

I do have a bid in on a weeride locally for £50 so should be able to move it on again without too greater loss if it's not up to par.

 

[nickAKA]

I've got a pink co-pilot I no longer need now junior can get about on her own; probably done a couple of hundred miles if that. They do weigh a fair bit but they are very sturdy & work well enough. Not sure what the weight difference is between the two models but bearing in mind you'll be hauling ~20Kg of child a few kilos is neither here nor there! That was certainly my feelings when I bought it (new).
If pink is any use to you, let me know, I'm not a million miles away from Ramsbottom and I'm open to a trade of some description to the value of what you'd pay for one of these second hand if that floats your boat...

 

[Black Sheep]

Hi NickAKA, thanks for your offer, unfortunately I'd already won the one I'd found on ebay before you'd posted otherwise I'd have taken you up on your offer.

any advice for tight corners?

 

[nickAKA]

No worries, wish I'd seen your post earlier as I was wondering what to do with it. Tight corners? Pick it up, it's the only way

Over-rotate it and you end up with your saddle pointing down a side road which is a right PITA...

 

[Black Sheep]

The Trek one we hired did that due to the arm catching on the underside of the saddle so tight corners resulted in the same effect. I did wonder about taking a file to the stops to allow a slightly tighter angle to be allowed...

I paid £70 via ebay and had to collect from Sale (I work in Trafford so not far), originally had set my limit at less but (judging condition on the photos and ignoring any that didn't have a photo of the seat post hitch) the other closest ones were Leeds which, while being near my parents, would cost at least £20 so I added that to my max bid and just managed to get it so might be able to sell it via ebay if you wished to - might be worth listing it in the classifieds on here for a bit first though, I did have a scan through searching for 'tagalong' but nothing popped up so moved onto ebay

 

[nickAKA]

Yeah I think I might try the classifieds on here, I generally pass these sort of things on to other family members when the time comes but I think it being bright pink may limit it's appeal to a certain section of my relatives! If I get some cash in it'll go toward a new bike for Junior anyway (honest)

 

[Black Sheep]

my daughter would have loved bright pink (my nephew wanted a bright pink balance bike but settled for ninja green as he didn't want flowers on it)

The one we've got is white with blue stickers.

 

[derrick]

I have been using the Co Pilot for a few years, took my 9 year old to Cambridge from London, then it's been used on the back of my mtb, to tow the grandchildren around the forest, i give it a good beating in the forest and it's holding up well. must be 7 years old now, A good buy.

 

[Black Sheep]

got it home, taken the linkage apart and re-greased it, it does seem to lean slightly to the left when hooked up, even with putting the linkage in upside down, wonder if there's a slight twist in the frame.

Don't think it'll matter, hopefully be able to take it out for a test run.

 

[Black Sheep]

All went well, other than "it's hurting my bottom" on the cobbles so we took the road back

Think as time goes by she'll learn to stand up / take some of the weight through her legs to lessen the bumps - roads round here aren't as smooth as in Guernsey!

 

[nickAKA]

Junior (6) did her first 10-miler on the Monsal Trail yesterday on her pink Btwin 'princess' bike...
She was shattered when we got back to Bakewell, we did it a lot quicker on the tow BITD obviously but it's great she wants to do it at all!

 

[nickAKA]

[QUOTE 5323098, member: 45"]We found that the great advantage of a Trail Gator is that we had the flexibility to hook up and tow or to let the boys ride independently. It took the stress out of long rides.[/QUOTE]

It's under consideration - if we do a cycling specific holiday I'll probably get one but as it stands, junior & the wife are happy just doing an hour on traffic free routes. I take the road bike too & get off on my own for a few hours first thing whilst they lie in... the short ride then becomes my recovery ride with multiple cafe stops, which is quite nice!

 

[Black Sheep]

have you seen the follow me tandem?

Think that's my plan once we out-grow the weeride tagalong

 

[nickAKA]

have you seen the follow me tandem?

Think that's my plan once we out-grow the weeride tagalong

It's dependant on how enthusiastic she is as she gets older - she's progressing pretty quickly, gone from the tagalong & stabilisers in spring to doing 10 miles last weekend. The sensible thing to do would be to get her a bigger bike, probably a frog, with 'proper' gears and see how she improves from there. I doubt she'll be very happy being towed now she's struck out on her own a bit...