Is there a do-it-yourself way to tow a kid's bike?

Question

We drop our kid at school in the mornings, and I'd like to bike over to pick her up after school. I've picked her up on our tandem (that's one reason I got the tandem), but she'd like to ride her own bike some of the time.

So I need a way to take her bike with me, something like this, I guess:

...except I don't need to be able to support the weight of the kid on the bike, I only need to be able to tow a riderless bike. So I'm trying to find a way to do the same thing that's cheaper (hopefully) and lighter (and maybe smaller?).

One possibility (that I'll try) is to simply strap her bike to the back of the tandem. I'm sure that will work, but I'd also like a system that works if my wife is the also riding the tandem and a system that would on a single bike.

Answer 1

If the child's bike has a quick release front wheel, you could also use a universal fork mount bolted to a rear bike rack. Then just hang the front wheel on the kids bike with a bungee cord.

Answer 2

I still need to play with it a bit, but I'm currently doing pretty much what heltonbiker suggested - bungee-ing the wheel of the kids bike to the rear rack:

The top of the kids bike wheel is strapped to the rack, and the front of the wheel is strapped to the frame of the towing bike. You can't see it clearly in the pictures, but the fork of the kids bike sits against the rear stay of the rack, so pulling the front of the wheel into the frame of the tow bike keeps the wheel away from the wheel of the towing bike.

Another variation that worked quite well has been to use a metal hook (similar to this, but one side is large enough to fit the wheel) to hang the wheel of the kids bike from the rack, then a couple bungee cords to hold it tight.

Closer view:

This works well enough for my purposes, but it's not perfect. Because it's the wheel of the kids bike that's strapped to the rack, there is some freedom for the rear of the kids bike to move up and down, which is good.

But because the bike is tipped up and off-center, interesting things happen going around corners. Turning to the left, no problem. Turning to the right... the rear wheel of the kids bike "flops" to the right and ends up about a foot off-center to the right. It comes back inline with the towing bike when you straighten up, but you have to have the cranks in the position shown so they don't come close to the wheel of the tow bike.

Another issue that came up after I actually tried it with my kid on the back of the tandem is that the kids bike has to be attached as far back as possible on the rack to give enough clearance for the stoker's heel.

Answer 3

The FollowMe Tandem is the only commercial product that I've seen that does this effectively.

This is not a cheap solution but it likely carries high resale value. The unit is well made (I've installed several) and can be completely detached from the parent bike except for the mounts on the rear axle.

You can probably get some good DIY ideas from their design.

Answer 4

I've had similar problem some time ago while my kid was 6 years old more or less.

I have those trekking rear racks with "dumbo ears" that avoid the panniers to touch the rear wheel. So, I took some of those hooked elastic ropes and tied the front wheel of the bike side-by-side to the rack.

(Of course, the best solution would be the quick-release pseudo-axle mentioned by Matt Adams in one of his answers.)

It worked, but with the following caveats:

• Mono-wheel trailers have two axles, one vertical to allow cornering, and one horizontal to allow going over small obstacles. The vertical should face the bike, and the horizontal should face the trailer. Since with a towed bicycle it is the opposite, there is a terrible trend for the trailer to fall to the side on curves (the rear of the bike spins around the headset, then the whole trailer falls to its side - to the back of the bike - spinning around the front axle);
• Without the weight of the tiny rider, the bike has a annoying and sometimes dangerous tendency to jump. Sometimes, the whole setup becomes a bit wobbly, and the steering becomes a bit unstable.

I think it is worth the effort, specially if you use the pseudo-axle instead of just tying the front wheel directly.

As a bottom line, while in traffic I found the transition from the child-seat to the tandem (6-7 years old) and then to the own bike (9-10) ideal, instead of going straight to the own bike. My kid is ten and just now he can safely navigate in light traffic, always under my direct supervision. Of course it depends on each case.

Answer 5

I put together this prototype based on a coat hook attached to the seatstay via two hose clamps. I used two velcro straps to secure the wheel to the chainstay and the seatstay. There is a string with rubber band from the handlebars to the pedal which keeps the inside pedal from rolling around and hitting the big bike tyre.

In the test rides the system handled very well, and I barely noticed that I was towing another bike.

However the velcro tended to come loose after a while (1km+). So for the next iteration I will try use some quick release buckles instead of the velcro.

Answer 6

Maybe you could use a surf board rack and try to slot the front wheel into the hooks somehow.

The idea started when I thought maybe some kind of horizontal loop attached to the bike rack that you could just slot the front wheel in. It's hard to describe and my drawing skills are awful!

Answer 7

Maybe you could just lift the thing up bodily in place of a stoker? Just bungee the rear wheel to the 2nd set of handlebars, then bungee the center of mass to the stoker seat? If it works you might find a way to make more convenient attachment, like standoffs (like the way the attach the space shuttle to a 747) to hold the kids bike horizontal above the stoker position. In the meantime, try foam to reduce rubbing.

I have seen a platform, holding a pair of grocery bags which dropped over the rear bar. No room for a stoker - they were carrying 4 bags of groceries. Something like that- replace the stoker with cargo.

Answer 8

After a few attempts myself, I never felt that the contraptions were safe enough to risk my daughter's life. I ended up biting the bullet and buying a "trailgator". Supersafe, easy on and off, and I'm at ease using it. Some other diy inventions may be risky. Just my point of view.

Answer 9

Lots of great ideas here that inspired me over the last few years -- I finally wrote up my solution -- I made a DIY version where the second bike does not need any disassembly and won't fall over.

This should be a complete answer but you can find even more details on my site: https://mschausprojects.blogspot.com/2020/07/how-to-tow-bike-with-another-bike.html

Use the details below to make the towing device, then these are the steps to actually using it:

1. Place wheel onto hook on rear rack, cinch down strap
2. Place lower part of wheel against strap on chainstay and cinch down. Note that it’s usually best to have that strap set back slightly (you’d have to push the wheel toward the rear) to improve foot clearance when pedaling
3. Swing support arm over to rear side of wheel and cinch down.
4. Attach a bungee cord from your rack around the head tube of the towed bike—this is the secret to not having the bike flop over when making tight turns!

That’s it! No need to disassemble any part of the bike. When not in use, the support arm swings around and can be attached to the top tube where it does not interfere with pedaling.

Here are some detail views of the parts it takes. The key feature is the swing-out arm on the threaded rod. It swings thanks to a "female rod end" which can be found on Amazon, McMaster, or Grainger. I had a hard time finding straps -- these are called "wrap-n-straps" and work pretty well. I used Instamorph to make the custom brackets by hand.

Thanks and I hope this helps!

Answer 10

Using some conduit and bungee cords, i presume you could fashion some sort of hooks. I envision a simple 180 bend on the main bike, and a T with both ends of the T also having a 180 bend on the bike side. Sounds hokey, but i made a picture, maybe it works, maybe it get the wheels turning on a better idea. Just need to find a way to use a bungee cord or two to keep it all together.