traigator tow bar

Neil Smith

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? Thanks, Neil

Frank Krygowski

Neil Smith wrote:

> 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]