# Who's pulling their kids behind them on singletrack?



## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Last year we bought a couple of Weehoo's for our kids (who are 3 and 5 and aren't quite riding on their own yet). Admittedly, we mainly got the Weehoos for ourselves-so we could still do some long rides and bring the kids along!

For anyone not familiar with Weehoos...
https://rideweehoo.com/
They're like trail-a-bikes (third wheels), except they have a bucket seat and 4-point harness so toddlers can ride safely.

We started out using them with our road bikes, and they work great-we've done a lot of 20-mile road rides pulling the kids.

We recently started using them with our mountain bikes and are having a blast. We started out on easy, flat, smooth fire roads and trails, and this weekend graduated to a serious 17-mile singletrack loop with some serious rocky tech sections.

The biggest challenge we found (aside from the "resistance training" of pulling the extra weight) was the overall length: sections of the trail that were very twisty and strewn with embedded rocks were tough, because you can't "snake around" those parts with a "big rig" like the Weehoo---you end up having to just power straight over all the rocks (or get off and walk the rig through).

Our kids (3 and 5) did great and had fun...though I was worried we were borderline abusing them in some of the rocky sections (from all the bouncing and jarring). Weehoo's don't have any suspension...and I'm about ready to look for something that does (or figure out a way to add it to our Weehoo's!).

I think I've seen Bob trailers with a shock set up to carry a kid this way, but don't know if that's a product (or a DIY mod?). Regardless, we definitely pushed the limits yesterday with what you can pull a Weehoo through.

It was fun too being heroes on the trail-everyone who passed us as we powered up rocky climbs was in awe that we were hauling the kids, LOL. And one person (who pulled off the trail as he came the other way) said "Hey, mountain bikes with kids in trailers get the right of way EVERY time!" 

Scott


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## hallin222 (Oct 13, 2005)

This sounds awesome. We've got a Chariot Cougar 1 (?) but I've yet to wander off pavement with it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## jestep (Jul 23, 2004)

These look pretty cool. I used to do single track with a front top tube mounted seat, but never felt comfortable using a normal trailabike. Always seemed to easy to bounce a kid off the seat.


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Here's a pic of Jamie pulling our son Evan (3) in the Weehoo. Someone asked "How do you keep all the dust and debris off the kid?" As you can see, the answer is the little add-on canopy. Kinda makes the whole rig look even more silly and cartoonish...but it works! (And the kids don't mind it at all.) We only use the canopies offroad, and remove them for road riding.



jestep said:


> Always seemed to easy to bounce a kid off the seat.


That's why the Weehoo's have 4-point harnesses (and they wear helmets). Jamie fell over a few times in rocky tech sections, and Evan fell right over with her-still buckled securely in his seat, LOL. (He was usually a good sport about it, and we'd just laugh and make it seem like a fun game, LOL.)










Scott


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## Tjaard (Aug 17, 2007)

*Tout-Terrain*

I have used the Tout Terrain Singletrailer (trailer so suitable for toddlers on up) and their tag-a-long.

Singletrailer

Streamliner

These both have real suspension(rockshox air shocks) and even the trailer rides on one wheel.

With 8" of suspension on the trailer, and 6" on the tag-along, riding over bumps is reasonable, but the length issue remains. Best bet is finding modern, machine built flow trails, as the corners will be larger radius and the bench cut will be wider too.


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

Never used a trail-a-bike, but I have been using a tow rope setup to pull my son uphill on his bike for two years now. Pull him to the top, unclip and follow him down.


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Tjaard said:


> I have used the Tout Terrain Singletrailer (trailer so suitable for toddlers on up) and their tag-a-long.
> 
> Singletrailer
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting Tjaard-we might have to look into the Singletrailer! (I hope that by the time they'd need the Streamliner, they'll be riding on their own!)

Scott


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

My daughter, 3.5yo, and I have been riding singletrack with a Weehoo. She loves it and often screams with delight, "my butt jumped up" as we rip through some rocky rolling dips. 

It is tough on tight switchbacks but aside from that we can roll pretty darn fast. No complaints from either of us.


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Matterhorn said:


> My daughter, 3.5yo, and I have been riding singletrack with a Weehoo. She loves it and often screams with delight, "my butt jumped up" as we rip through some rocky rolling dips.
> 
> It is tough on tight switchbacks but aside from that we can roll pretty darn fast. No complaints from either of us.


I actually find that sometimes the increased mass of the rig (with a Weehoo) results in added momentum to get you through the rough stuff.  But yeah, I got used to "driving the bus" and making all my turns wide-after taking some too tight and bashing the kid into a tree, LOL.

Scott


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## Rakuman (Oct 30, 2004)

*








First thing i did was get a bigger knobby tire for the go made things much more plush ... Yes I abused my kid some serious shaken baby syndrome *


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

SWriverstone said:


> I actually find that sometimes the increased mass of the rig (with a Weehoo) results in added momentum to get you through the rough stuff.  But yeah, I got used to "driving the bus" and making all my turns wide-after taking some too tight and bashing the kid into a tree, LOL.
> 
> Scott


Try pulling a weehoo with a Bullitt cargo bike! Talk about "driving the bus". Together the two are about 13 feet long and yes we've hit some singletrack with that setup as well. The front of the Bullit has my younger daughter (1.5yo) and all together, with out me, the rig weighs about 175lbs.


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Nice Rakuman! I should look into bigger tires for ours. I was wishing there was such a thing as a 24" fatbike tire—that would seriously lessen shaken kid syndrome, LOL.

Man Matterhorn, you're seriously driving the bus with that rig!

Scott


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## formula4speed (Mar 25, 2013)

SWriverstone said:


> Nice Rakuman! I should look into bigger tires for ours. I was wishing there was such a thing as a 24" fatbike tire-that would seriously lessen shaken kid syndrome, LOL.
> 
> Man Matterhorn, you're seriously driving the bus with that rig!
> 
> Scott


Not sure if you really want one, but they do exist.
Specialized Ground Control, Vee Mission, Chao Yang (Fat B Nimble) all come in 24x4".


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

formula4speed said:


> Not sure if you really want one, but they do exist.
> Specialized Ground Control, Vee Mission, Chao Yang (Fat B Nimble) all come in 24x4".


Sadly, the design of the Weehoo prevents doing any real modding (wide tires or even adding a shock) without some serious metal cutting and welding skills (which I don't have, but wish I did!)

Scott


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## Shane5001 (Dec 18, 2013)

SWriverstone said:


> Sadly, the design of the Weehoo prevents doing any real modding (wide tires or even adding a shock) without some serious metal cutting and welding skills (which I don't have, but wish I did!)
> 
> Scott


I was able to fit a 20x2.5" bmx freestyle tire in mine, ride 10-15psi with stan's slime inside the tube just in case. Figured the tire wouldn't need big tread because it doesn't need to dig in on climbs, just need some volume for shock absorption. My 4 year old doesn't like the trail chatter for sure, I think sitting in the reclined position makes it worse. Tag-a-long worked better for my older daughter due to standard position. I bought the weehoo so I could bring <5 year olds out and ride more, plus my kids run short.


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## Shane5001 (Dec 18, 2013)

btw, my daughter was completely covered in dust after our 1st weehoo ride, cute, but she was pissed. I'm thinking about putting a full wrap around rear fender on my "kid pulling" bike.


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

I'm using an old Z-rest sleeping as additional padding and haven't yet gotten any big complaints from the rider. I also added a bell for fun and she uses it when she wants me to stop. I can't hear her little voice over the roar of my fat tires. 

2.5 in tire would help, I'll have to make that change.


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## danradfahren (May 20, 2010)

Recently we were out camping and I tried pulling my 2.5 yr old on a weehoo iGo with a fatbike in the woods, crawling over rocks and small logs, she loved it! I just installed a rack for touring, now looking for a fatter tire  She always chooses the weehoo over the Yepp Maxi seat...


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## SWriverstone (Sep 3, 2009)

Matterhorn said:


> I'm using an old Z-rest sleeping as additional padding and haven't yet gotten any big complaints from the rider. I also added a bell for fun and she uses it when she wants me to stop. I can't hear her little voice over the roar of my fat tires.
> 
> 2.5 in tire would help, I'll have to make that change.


More padding is a great idea! Not sure about the bell, LOL.

Scott


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## gt7152b (Jul 7, 2015)

That's awesome. I did the regular trail a bike with my kids starting when they were about 4 on smoother singletrack and some rougher trails when I was confident they wouldn't get bounced off. Ground clearance was the biggest issue for us. They're 7 and 10 now on their own bikes but I still carry a tow rope in case they get too tired and need some assistance. We can do bigger rides with more climbing this way.


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## Shane5001 (Dec 18, 2013)

gt7152b said:


> That's awesome. I did the regular trail a bike with my kids starting when they were about 4 on smoother singletrack and some rougher trails when I was confident they wouldn't get bounced off. Ground clearance was the biggest issue for us. They're 7 and 10 now on their own bikes but I still carry a tow rope in case they get too tired and need some assistance. We can do bigger rides with more climbing this way.


My tag-a-long has been through many broken pedals (unfortunately uses the little size) and the little bar that protects the chain ring literally has dents in it. My daughter and I had a system, she knew to not pedal around sharp turns, and I always warned when roots/rocks where coming, although not all avoidable. So far, I haven't noticed nearly as many hits with the weehoo.


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## Shane5001 (Dec 18, 2013)

Matterhorn said:


> I'm using an old Z-rest sleeping as additional padding and haven't yet gotten any big complaints from the rider. I also added a bell for fun and she uses it when she wants me to stop. I can't hear her little voice over the roar of my fat tires.
> 
> 2.5 in tire would help, I'll have to make that change.


Good idea. Stock it's just fabric over metal frame, this might be my ticket from pavement back to the trails.


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## BullSCit (Mar 26, 2004)

Here is how I started pulling my kids up. My daughter started at 3 on a pedal bike, and my son was 2 on a strider. Then they get to ride downhill. I still use it for my son (who is 5 now), to do bigger rides with bigger climbs.

http://forums.mtbr.com/families-riding-kids/new-way-get-kids-uphill-807083.html


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## Shane5001 (Dec 18, 2013)

BullSCit said:


> Here is how I started pulling my kids up. My daughter started at 3 on a pedal bike, and my son was 2 on a strider. Then they get to ride downhill. I still use it for my son (who is 5 now), to do bigger rides with bigger climbs.
> 
> http://forums.mtbr.com/families-riding-kids/new-way-get-kids-uphill-807083.html


That's great! Can we get some detailed pics of the set-up? Might be a dumb question, but where do you buy surgical tubing?


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## karyg (Feb 11, 2004)

We did the trail-a-bike thing for years with the kids. This is our new ride for my youngest who is 19 now and has Down Syndrome. It was a big investment but worth every penny.


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

Whoa, way cool!


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## Chad_M (Jul 11, 2013)

karyg said:


> We did the trail-a-bike thing for years with the kids. This is our new ride for my youngest who is 19 now and has Down Syndrome. It was a big investment but worth every penny.


That bike is awesome. Good investment!


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## Chad_M (Jul 11, 2013)

SWriverstone said:


> Last year we bought a couple of Weehoo's for our kids (who are 3 and 5 and aren't quite riding on their own yet). Admittedly, we mainly got the Weehoos for ourselves-so we could still do some long rides and bring the kids along!
> 
> For anyone not familiar with Weehoos...
> https://rideweehoo.com/
> ...


Dumb question, but what Weehoo are you using? The turbo or the venture?


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## jimdetroit (Jun 28, 2016)

Hello, I've looked online for 20x 2.5 inch BMX tires and am having trouble finding many to choose from. Most are narrower. Can you tell me what brand and model tire you purchased? Our Weehoo is too bumpy for our 2 year old on the trails. Looking to smooth out the ride for her.


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## jimdetroit (Jun 28, 2016)

Hello, what is the brand and model of the tire you put on the Weehoo? I've been looking for 20 x 2.5 BMX tires with tread and can't find many. Thanks.


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## Matterhorn (Feb 15, 2015)

I've seen a few people using Maxxis Creepy Crawly. I didn't need knobs even for singletrack (why would anyone since the tire does no braking or steering) and went with a 2.15 Schwalbe Big Apple. Nice rolling tire and it smoothed out the ride, I think. 

I also use a piece of old Z-rest sleeping pad folded in the seat for some extra cushion. Big Apple and extra cushion got us flying fast over the bumps with nothing but screams of delight. My daughter is 3.


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## laksboy (Sep 4, 2007)

I started with a trail-a-bike and then like KaryG, upgraded to an Ventana ECDM. Best investment ever. We've had it for 3 years now, and my middle son now 10 and I have done 30+ mile all singletrack (5 hr) rides on it. You have to start at less than an hour and feed them lots of gummies. I've got 2 toddlers now and am starting the process over again. They both love long rides in their kid seats. I'll probably have to go back to the trail-a-bike solution for a couple years until they are big-enough for the tandem (roughly age 5-6 with crank arm shorteners).


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## Shane5001 (Dec 18, 2013)

Here's a link to what i've been running on the back of the weehoo, 20" x 2.4," picked up at the lbs.

FIT FAF BMX BIKE FAT TIRE 20"x2.4" TEAL SIDE WALLS hi-pressure 110psi S&M SE NEW | eBay


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## Guimond (Mar 3, 2018)

Just joined and been a mountain biker forever. Used trailers in the past and just picked up a weehoo today for my 4 yr old to pedal behind on the trails. I'm having some issues as I bought used and trying to piece this together with my old trusty trek 970. The attachment/connection doesn't fit my bike post. I received 5 or so different sized attachments to connect it but none fit. Suggestions- Everytime I go to the bike shop all they do is try to sell me a new bike. Mine works great and is tuned to perfection. I am pay as I go type. Please help.


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## Charlie Don't Surf (Mar 31, 2017)

My 6 year old daughter rides on a Trek MT201 single wheel tagalong almost everywhere, steep climbs and decents limit the setup a bunch though


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## laksboy (Sep 4, 2007)

If it's a seatpost shim you need, you can make your own. You can buy 6" Aluminum tubing from McMaster-Carr in various thickness and diameter. Buy the thickness you need to shim, at a slightly smaller diameter than your seatpost. Then slice it lengthwise. Voila! A shim that fits tightly over your seatpost.


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## Shane5001 (Dec 18, 2013)

Guimond said:


> Just joined and been a mountain biker forever. Used trailers in the past and just picked up a weehoo today for my 4 yr old to pedal behind on the trails. I'm having some issues as I bought used and trying to piece this together with my old trusty trek 970. The attachment/connection doesn't fit my bike post. I received 5 or so different sized attachments to connect it but none fit. Suggestions- Everytime I go to the bike shop all they do is try to sell me a new bike. Mine works great and is tuned to perfection. I am pay as I go type. Please help.


What size seatpost do you have? Pull it out and the size is engraved write on it. All 5 of the white weehoo sleeves have sizes written on them. You might just have an odd size post, or maybe missing the correct size for you. You can order those sleeves from weehoo.


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## laksboy (Sep 4, 2007)

I purchased and wrote up a detailed review of Tout Terrain's full suspension Streamliner:
https://www.thebikedads.com/tout-terrain-streamliner-review-2/

In summary, it works really well, but it needs to be updated to justify the super premium pricing.


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