Trailgator - can you use them with a rear child seat?

[Orinoco]

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We have a trailgator which we use with a rear child seat. it is possible. DP customised it. He got a metal fork thing and added it to the back of his bike, behind the child seat, and the trailgator is attached to that.

We also have a front child seat, Dutch style. so it is possible to have all 3 of our children seated on a bike with one of us pedalling.

if you need more details of how to attach the trailgator behind the child seat i might be able to explain further, but yes it is possible.

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DP cautions that you need to be quite good at bike DIY to customise your trailgator.

Hi Fennell's DP Here. By design you can't do it, and I would not recommend to anyone that they did. But what we have done entirely at our own risk is....

The bike has a rear seat and a rear carrier. I got an old set of front forks from the resale area at the tip (£3) and attached them to the back struts of the rear carrier, with jubilee clips top and bottom. Do make sure that the rear carrier is very firmly attached to the bike and regularly check its screws don't work loose with the extra load and extra wobbling. The top of the fork sticks up in the centre of the bike behind the rear seat and is paralell to the seat post and about the same diameter so the trail gator attaches there as normal. Because the attachment is further back We actually use the trail gator in its short position, not extended as it would normally be.

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have been thinking about getting a front seat for a while but never able to find them, would love to take both children out on bike but as you said NQC getting them on and off can be a bit awkward, dh isn't convinced I could do it safely, maybe a trailer is the way to go my dc are 3 and 2

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Re: getting on and off. I find it's fine, as long as you get them on right before going, and take them off when you stop. (You need to have the bike resting against something while you do this.) What you can't do (but I keep doing), is leave a child on the bike while you just fetch one thing from the house etc.

With two kids actually on the bike (not with a trailgator etc), the other problem is actually getting your leg over the bike. I've only ridden with two kids actually on the bike once or twice, but getting myself on and off was more than a bit tricky. I'm sure you'd get used to it, though.

I did have problems getting on and off my bike with a 3 year old on the back seat and a 2 year old on the front, when pregnant. it was quite an effort. and perhaps not very elegant to watch.

there are little front bike seats which people put on the cross bar - they're popular round here. i think they cost a lot less than £60.

our front seat probably cost about £60, a Dutch friend gave it to me. it came with a windscreen to shield the baby from the wind. but we thought that was a step to far for the UK scene.

I worry about the little front seats, frankly. If the child on them falls asleep, then what happens? I guess it's not too much of an issue with a bigger kid (and of course it's an issue with a trailgator or tagalong or whatever, too).

I don't know how heavy your kids are or how heavy you are but I have cycled with ds on my bike for a while now (he's now 4 and dd 5) and there is no way I could have managed with both of them on the bike (front and back seat). Ds is very tall and I couldn't have him in the front (even when he was 3) because he just got in my way all the time.

You really need to think about your weight vs the kid's weight because even with the trailgator thing, you are still pulling your second child + child on the back (+ the weight of that thing) until they cycle which imo, takes quite a long time.

you need gorilla arms for a 3yr old plus in the front seat, or a Dutch bike which is a different shape (they have a special "mummy bike" design).

plus Dutch children rarely wear bike helmets, leaving more room to see round them in the front seat.

i can't cycle easily now with 2 of mine, they have got a bit big/heavy. DP does it still.

I do think the size/shape of the mum makes a real difference. As I said, I'm 75kg and reasonably strong etc, which has to make it easier.

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Hi, I am thinking about buying a weeride (dd starts a new nursery school next week) I am not that tall and wondering if I will be able to see? She is 3 and 1m tall. Do I need a mountain bike style? Or will my old dawes road bike work? I've also seen the much cheaper leco: any thoughts apprecitated, the roads we ride on will be BUSY. All advice appreciated, I haven't cycled in ages.