# how soon can I through the little one on the back?



## customfab (Jun 8, 2008)

Any of you guys ride with your kids on a tandem on or off road? I was thinking of putting my 3 year old on the back of our co-motion in the spring (he'll be 3.5 then). Making one of those secondary BB mounts to move the cranks up is on the agenda for a winter project and after that a nice long stoker stem. But at the end of it all I'm worried that he might still be a little small for such an endeavor.


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## bme107 (Jul 23, 2008)

I had my son on a trail-a-bike (similar riding situation for him) at 4yrs. I think the consideration is more so their physical size and ability to safely hold on than their age. You've got to know the trail/road and any bumps/obstacles really well as the captain, and not ride beyond the abilities of the little stoker.
Adams makes a detachable seat back that has a waist strap to help hold them on, but I'm not sure what seat post diameters it fits.

I took my son slow on the road only at first. Now that he's 6 and riding his own bike off curbs etc I'll take him on any trail that I'd do alone. We've also gotten up to 34mph on a group road ride and he loves every minute.

Check out the "families and riding with kids" forum as there is a lot of discussion on this topic.


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## Trails4Two (May 12, 2008)

*Our story*

I have an uncoordinated 4.5 year old. (I love him dearly, but he spent all of his time developing his brain, not his coordination). We have had him on a trail-a-bike for a little over 1 year, but we use a "backrest" (with seatbelt) that attaches to the seat post. This Summer we took him off-road behind our tandem. There is a photo posted in the El Conq thread somewhere. We will be getting our older Cannondale set-up this fall for commuting and light off road work. My only concern is bouncing him off when he's not paying attention. I know I have seen pics and stories of 3 yr-olds stoking, but it wasn't really possible for us. When we convert our old tandem, I'll start working him without the seatbelt.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

We just got our 4.5 y.o. on the trail-a-bike this year. She's doing great and has tagged along for up to 25 miles. She's doing easy off-road as well behind a single. I think if I'd started earlier she would have been OK, but she still pops off the seat on the trail-a-bike once in awhile even at very slow speeds so we're still taking it slow. It's a thrill a minute for her, though, and she understands "pedals level" and how to stand up and flex her legs, and the repercussions for not doing so. The tandem would be less bouncy, but it's farther to fall if she came off, so I'm a little torn on the subject. btw, we have also improved our communication such that she'll ask if she can take a hand off to scratch an itch or get a bug off her or something (knowing that "the bumpies" might be coming up) - I thought that was important and it kind of caught me by surprise that she was the one who initiated it, not me.

-F


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## Trails4Two (May 12, 2008)

*Tandem (triple?) pic*

Here's the pic of our trail-a-bike off road in Crested Butte. We have also done some of the trails in Fruita this way. We hope to do some rides in late Fall or next Spring on a kid-stoker equipped tandem. If I can just get him to still hold on to the handlebars while he's singing songs back there...


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

Velcro and duct tape. Just sayin...


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## Trails4Two (May 12, 2008)

*Velcro and Duct tape*

While not as fancy as the Seto's "clipless pedals for toddlers" arrangement, we have had good luck on the trail-a-bike using Powergrips and old innertubes to hold little tootsies on the pedals. The best thing about moving to a real tandem will be losing the VERY low bottom bracket and pedals on the trail a bike. We have totally destroyed one set of pedals and are about halfway through another set (on only 7 offroad rides!) The pedals hit everything.


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## Trails4Two (May 12, 2008)

*Back to tandems*

Sorry if we derailed your post topic. Back to tandems: I'll try to find it but somewhere a while back Craig E. posted (either here or on Double Forte) some pics and description of riding and racing with his 4-5 yr old girl on the back of a Cannnondale. Going out to ride now so I'll look later.


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

JJenson and his twin daughters.


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## winbert (Sep 22, 2005)

I started riding offroad on our tandem w/ my son the summer after he had turned 3 in March (see avatar). I used toe straps & the Adams trail-a-bike backrest w/ "seatbelt" referenced above, bought from Precision Tandems. It only fit 25.4 seatposts, so I got a cheapie 25.4 Nashbar suspension post and shimmed it up to 27.2 for the Cannondale's seat tube. To extend the stoker handlebar, I used the shaft from an old 27.2 suspension seatpost (fit perfectly in the Coda stoker stem base), and shimmed it up to 1 1/8" to install a standard riser stem. Mounted a greatly-cut-down riser bar, and it worked great! Just gave it all to the bro-in-law for use on his Cannondale tandem w/ his 3-year-old :thumbsup:...

Pic w/ my neice:


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## Trails4Two (May 12, 2008)

*Looks Great!*

That's exactly what we will be doing this Fall (except it yellow). We hope to set it up between my wife's size and mine so either of us can take him on the short commute to school/work.


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

We started our son out on an Adams Trail-a-bike when he was 3. After he got comfortable on that and was pedaling consistently (and not letting me do all the work) we graduated to our C'Dale tandem, which I suppose was when he was 4'ish or maybe when he just turned 5. 

The only problem with doing this is after being on the tandem he wanted NOTHING to do with Trail-a-bike. The tandem was faster, he could see more, we could ride more, and it was just far more exciting. The other problem was he usurped the rear of the tandem from my wife.

He is now 8, so we've been riding the tandem together for 3-4 years. He's ridden off-road on trails that are as technical as any tandem could handle, he's been night riding, he's ridden in group rides, we've ridden the Mickelson trail 2 times (110 miles) each time riding it in 2 days (55 miles per day), and today we're doing our first race on it. Now he's bugging me for clipless pedals. I've created a little monster! AWESOME!


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## bme107 (Jul 23, 2008)

These are great pictures and stories!

Silly question to ask: Would it be kosher to throw on child stoker cranks for my wife in order for her get a little more seat post showing and fit a Thudbuster?


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

That's funny...

If child stoker kit wasn't such a P.I.T.A. to set up, I'd do it just for a laugh. Actually, once they're set up, it is great, but getting them to clear the front derailleur, have the chains run straight, not rub the timing chain, etc. is a lot of trial and error.


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