Trailer bike
{{hatnote|"Tagalong" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Tagalog. For the cookie, see Girl Scout Cookies.}}
{{Distinguish|Bicycle trailer}}
File:Jednokołowy rowerek dziecięcy.jpg
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 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."{{cite web | url = http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3614 | title = CTC - the UK's national cyclists' organisation: Trailer-cycle | access-date = 2007-04-01 | archive-date = 2007-09-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928053839/http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3614 | url-status = dead }} The rider of a trailer bike usually has a saddle, handlebars, and pedals. Some fold for more compact storage.
History
The trailer bike was patented by Canadian entrepreneur Delbert Adams in 1987.{{cite book| title = United States Patent No. 379,782| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kuIlAAAAEBAJ| access-date = 2009-10-01}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}[https://patents.google.com/patent/US4756541 US4756541A - Bicycle trailer - Google Patents] Adams started the manufacturer of trailer bikes, Trail-a-Bike, and began selling them in the early 1990s,{{Citation |title= Kids in the 'awkward years' of cycling? Try a trailer bike.| newspaper= Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |date= June 5, 1996 | first=Bill |last= Hammond|url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62630743.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150329112134/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62630743.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = March 29, 2015 }} 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.{{cite web | url = http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3614 | title = CTC - the UK's national cyclists' organisation: Trailer-cycle | access-date = 2007-04-01 | archive-date = 2007-09-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928053839/http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3614 | url-status = dead }}
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.{{cite web
| url = http://reviews.mtbr.com/review-weehoo-igo-pro-child-bike-seat
| title = Review: Weehoo iGo Pro child bike seat
| author = Linda Bookman
| date = December 19, 2014
| publisher = MTBR.com
| access-date = 2015-06-26}} Trailer bikes have been available in single-seat and tandem configurations.{{cite web | url = http://www.gopbc.org/bike_support/adams_tandem.jpg | title = GOPBC.org Active Passenger Trailers | access-date = 2007-04-01 | archive-date = 2007-09-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928122021/http://www.gopbc.org/bike_support/adams_tandem.jpg | url-status = dead }} Trailer bikes may have just one gear or more than one. They seldom have brakes.
Attachment methods
A trailer bike is attached to a bicycle at either the seatpost or on a special rear rack 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.{{cite web
| url = http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/adams-trail-a-bike.html | title = The Adams Trail-A-Bike! at SheldonBrown.com| access-date = 2007-04-01 }}
Conversion sets
The Trail-Gator tow bar and FollowMe Tandem coupling are two products that convert an existing, complete kid's bike into a trailer bike.{{cite web
| url = http://www.twowheelingtots.com/trail-gator/
| title = Trail Gator Trailer Cycle-Review
| author = Lisa
| publisher = Two Wheeling Tots
| access-date = 2015-06-26}}
| url = https://www.simplypropelled.com/single-post/2017/02/20/FollowMe-Tandem-Review
| title = FollowMe Tandem Review
| author = Dan Clark
| publisher = Simply Propelled
| access-date = 2018-04-29
| archive-date = 2018-04-30
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180430114744/https://www.simplypropelled.com/single-post/2017/02/20/FollowMe-Tandem-Review
| url-status = dead
}}
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 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
See also
{{Commons category|Trailer bikes}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Human-powered vehicles}}
{{Cycling}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trailer}}