A trailer bike (also known as a trailer cycle, and trademarked names such as Trailerbike, Trail-a-bike, Half wheeler or Tagalong) is a one-wheeled, or sometimes two-wheeled,

bicycle trailer A bicycle trailer is a motorless wheeled frame with a hitch system for transporting cargo by bicycle. It can greatly increase a bike's cargo capacity, allowing point-to-point haulage of objects up to 4 cubic yards (3 cubic metres) in vol ...

designed to carry one or more children in positions that closely resemble that of a bicycle rider. It can be described as the, "back half of a bicycle." The rider of a trailer bike usually has a

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not k ...

, handlebars, and

pedals A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control ...

. Some fold for more compact storage.

History

The trailer bike was patented by Canadian entrepreneur Delbert Adams. Adams started the manufacturer of trailer bikes, Trail-a-Bike, and began selling them in the early 1990s, although the same concept had been previously independently and imitatively invented by others at least as far back as the 1930s with the Rann Trailer.

Configurations

Trailer bikes have come in a variety of configurations. These include upright-bicycle-like seating, and recumbent-bicycle-like seating as with the Weehoo iGo. Trailer bikes have been available in single-seat and

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

configurations. Trailer bikes may have just one

gear A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic ...

or more than one. They seldom have

brakes A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

Attachments

A trailer bike is attached to a bicycle at either the

seatpost A bicycle seatpost, seatpin, saddlepole, saddle pillar, or saddle pin is a tube that extends upwards from the bicycle frame to the saddle. The amount that it extends out of the frame can usually be adjusted, and there is usually a mark that indic ...

or on a special rear

rack Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bi ...

by a linkage that allows for pivoting. Alternatively, the hitch mechanism may rotate using the seatpost as the pivot. The attachment may include a quick-release option.

Variations

The Trail-Gator tow bar and FollowMe Tandem coupling are two products that convert an existing, complete kid's bike into a trailer bike.

Gallery

Image:Family Ride bicycle cycle trailer.jpg, Adult and two children cycling using two-wheeled tandem trailer bike (a Pashley U+2) Image:Bikefor45bbtjeh.JPG, Tandem + two trailer bikes + cargo trailer for family of four Image:TeddyChauffersSml.jpg, A Burley Piccolo behind a triple tandem File:IGo by Weehoo Inc.jpg, A recumbent IGo by Weehoo File:Trailercycle.jpg, Rear rack attachment as alternative to seatpost attachment File:Recumbent trailer bike.jpg, A recumbent two-wheeled Trets trailer bike by

Hase The Hase is a long river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope ...

on the back of a tandem File:Vlečení kola.jpg, A complete child's bike converted into a trailer bike File:Bici i followme.JPG, A complete child's bike converted into a trailer bike

References