Trail Gator/Tandem bar problem

"J Jenkins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've just got one of these things; it's not actually a
Trail Gator but a similar German device called Profex.
Unfortunately the instructions are in German, which I
don't read

The bar is attached to the seat post of the adult bike.
I'm not sure whether it's supposed to pivot around the
bar. It's almost impossible to stop it doing so, but the
effect is that the child's bike then moves off centre, and
tries to pull the adult bike off to one side. I was
wondering whether perhaps the joint should be quite loose,
so that if the child's bike does wander off centre, it
will quickly wander back again.

I have actually managed to get it so it doesn't move, by
strapping it to the bike rack. This feels OK, but you
can't turn in a tight circle.

" What keep the child's bike in an up right position, when
attached? The tow bar has a vertical and a horizontal pivot,
which allow for side to side and up and down movement only,
and keep the bike in an up right position when being towed."

It should pivot, and yes it tries to pull the adult bike.
The trail-a-bikes that attach to the seat post of the adult
bike all suffer from this problem. The best model is the
Burley Piccolo, which is quite expensive, and requires a
special rear rack for attachment. But it pulls the adult
bike much less than the seat post type models.

You're just going to have to deal with the fact that it
makes the adult bike hard to control.

Thanks. I can see why it should pivot up and down but to be
honest it's much easier to ride if I can stop it swinging
from side to side, and I'm not sure if there's any reason
why I shouldn't do so.

"Steven M. Scharf" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"J Jenkins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've just got one of these things; it's not actually a
Trail Gator but a similar German device called Profex.
Unfortunately the instructions are in German, which I
don't read

The bar is attached to the seat post of the adult bike.
I'm not sure whether it's supposed to pivot around the
bar. It's almost impossible to stop it doing so, but the
effect is that the child's bike then moves off centre,
and tries to pull the adult bike off to one side. I was
wondering whether perhaps the joint should be quite
loose, so that if the child's bike does wander off
centre, it will quickly wander back again.

I have actually managed to get it so it doesn't move, by
strapping it to the bike rack. This feels OK, but you
can't turn in a tight circle.

" What keep the child's bike in an up right position, when
attached? The tow bar has a vertical and a horizontal
pivot, which allow for side to side and up and down
movement only, and keep the bike in an up right position
when being towed."

It should pivot, and yes it tries to pull the adult bike.
The trail-a-bikes that attach to the seat post of the
adult bike all suffer from this problem. The best model is
the Burley Piccolo, which is quite expensive, and requires
a special rear rack for attachment. But it pulls the adult
bike much less than the seat post type models.

You're just going to have to deal with the fact that it
makes the adult bike hard to control.