traigator tow bar

Neil Smith said:

Dear All, recently got a Trailgator tow bar. I am a little
nervous using it in situations where turns are involved
near such things as bollards, fences or walls. My daughter
seems to be going very close to them. A mistake seems very
easy to make. What are other users feelings? Should I have
gone for a trailer bike?

Sounds to me like it's mostly a matter of getting used to
the device.

Do you have lots of situations where this is a problem? For
me, it wouldn't have been. We did very little bike trail
work. We rode on neighborhood streets and country roads. (I
use past tense, since my kids are grown.)

FWIW, I have a friend who dumped a standard kid trailer on a
sharp turn, and spilled her daughter partly out into the
road, despite a seat belt IIRC. You simply have to remember
that you're towing something (or someone) and make the turns
properly. Watch a tractor trailer driver maneuvering a sharp
corner someday, and use that same mindset.

Seems to me that the Trailgator would be more versatile than
a trailer bike. One friend of mine appreciated the
opportunity to let his kid ride on his own after being towed
to a different area.

So I'd recommend thoughtful practice before getting
into buyer's remorse. But it's true that I've never
used a Trailgator, so you can take all this with many
grains of salt!

--
--------------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove
rodent and vegetable dot com, replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

"Neil Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Dear All, recently got a Trailgator tow bar. I am a little
nervous using it in situations where turns are involved
near such things as bollards, fences or walls. My daughter
seems to be going very close to them. A mistake seems very
easy to make. What are other users feelings? Should I have
gone for a trailer bike?

I never liked the looks of a Trailgator, although I never
used one. I pulled my daughter for 5 years with a trailer
bike (enough mileage to wear a substantial tire down to bare
cords), mostly off-road, but with some road & bike path. I
never worried much about scraping her off (and never did!)
on obstacles (like trees or parked cars). We did a lot of
very challenging riding and it tracked very predictably. The
only problem I had was a tendency to jackknife on
steep/loose trails, I had to be mindful to use more rear
brake. I don't think any other kind of trailer or tandem
could have negotiated the terrain we commonly rode over. I
recommend them highly.