# A Trailer Too???



## bosax (Oct 13, 2005)

I've seen the pics of people pulling a kid behind the tandem. Has anyone done this? It seems like it would have too much length to be maneuverable in a group ride. Should this idea just be relegated to the neighborhood?


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## Eddywanabe (Feb 23, 2005)

*Trailer Too-You Bet!*

We pulled our kids in the trailer behind the tandem for many years without any problems. When we had our triplet (even longer train), we towed our nephew for a couple of days on RAGBRAI, the largest group ride anywhere! Friends of ours have ridden the full week of RAGBRAI on their tandem, pulling a tandem trail-a-bike, pulling a trailer, talk about a long train!!!
Other riders will give your tandem/trailer plenty of room, no single riders will want to tangle with your train. Just be aware of the additional braking distance required and maintaining a safe & managable speed on descents, a trailer can really "push" a tandem down a hill.
Some bike trails/MUTS in our neck of the woods proved to be just to narrow, twisty and busy with pedistrian traffic to safely ride the tandem/trailer combination. The group rides on the road always felt like the safer option. :thumbsup:


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

I've done it. The tandem with the trailer is only slightly less maneuverable than without.

My favorite part is that the whole package is as long as my car.

We've ridden on open roads and on bike trails/MUTs with no problem. I've never tried a group ride, though.


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## LouD-Reno (Mar 28, 2006)

Yeah !!! In fact this Saturday me and my boys are riding the Tahoe Sierra Century, climbing up and over Donner Summit from both sides.... The rig is a Santana Sovereign w/Burley Piccolo..... This pic is from Monitor pass (Markleeville, CA). My experience has been good handling at speed (we've gone faster on descents than I will ever admit  ) while it can be a bit wiggly on long, slow, steep climbs.... not enough to make us hestiate to go though...


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## TWD (Feb 9, 2004)

bosax said:


> I've seen the pics of people pulling a kid behind the tandem. Has anyone done this? It seems like it would have too much length to be maneuverable in a group ride. Should this idea just be relegated to the neighborhood?


The extra length isn't a big deal since the trailer tracks the bike pretty well, and tandems don't have a great turning radius compared to a single bike anyway. 

We've towed trailers quite a bit on our tandems. We've got 4 kids (oldest is 7) and 2 tandems, so our latest configuration is the two oldest kids stoking on the tandems with child stoker kits, and me pulling a trailer with the two younger kids behind my tandem. 

If my wife isn't along for the ride, and I've got all 4 kids, then my oldest is stoking the tandem, second oldest is on a trail-a-bike, followed by the 2 young ones in the trailer. 

One of our tandems is a MTB tandem, which I took out on some trails last week pulling the full train with all 4 kids. It was pseudo singletrack (3-4 ft wide hardpack trail) and it was pretty challenging to get it around the tight turns.

As for group rides with a trailer, it's not really a big deal as long as you are "aware" of the width of your trailer as well as the length, so that you don't get tangled up with other riders when passing. Likewise, as long as they realize your trailer is there, it's not a big deal.


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## bosax (Oct 13, 2005)

*Ok*

Got it. Probably something I've got to get used to. Now I've just got to convince my wife (aka Ms "Slow Down We're Going Too Fast!"). Thanks for the replies!


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## cyclust (Sep 8, 2004)

When I had my tandem a few years ago, I found a double trail-a-bike. So I was able to ride with all 3 of my boys. [6, 7 and 9yrs old at the time. What a bus! It took about 3 acres to turn that thing around, and with me providing somewhere between 98 and 99% of the power, it was a real workout. Luckily I didn't have any real hills on the routes we rode. Good memories though!


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Anybody here use a BOB behind a tandem? I see they offer skewers for 145mm dropouts and forks for 130/135 and 160. For a bike with 145mm hub, I take it you use the appropriate skewer and just stretch the standard fork and force it on?


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## phil. (Aug 3, 2004)

rodar y rodar said:


> Anybody here use a BOB behind a tandem? I see they offer skewers for 145mm dropouts and forks for 130/135 and 160. For a bike with 145mm hub, I take it you use the appropriate skewer and just stretch the standard fork and force it on?


I don't have a bob, but I have a no longer produced yakima big tow which is a single wheel trailer similar to the bob, and yes I just stretched the fork to fit.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Thanks, Phil. Actually, I emailed BOB and they said the same thing. It`s always nice to find a good solution that`s cheap too.


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## LouD-Reno (Mar 28, 2006)

Tahoe Sierra Century - 9/20/2008....


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