eMTB shuttling with the kid

[sparrow]

Here is a major use of my eMTB. We’ve got about 650 vertical feet and over 15 miles of City Park trails to choose from on a ridge behind our house. So a lot of evenings find me dragging my soon to be 9 year old out for a ride!

Zip up an access road, bomb down trails! Wash rinse repeat.

The strap is a TowWhee brand. Works like a dog ski-jor lead, a bungee inside a nylon strap. It opens new worlds.

 

[R120]

I do the same with my youngest on his balance bike - he loves it and so do I!

 

[motmcd]

I love this! On more than one occasion riding with young kids, I've cut my spare inner tube and tied it off to the bike of the lad or lass whose legs gave out. It's guaranteed to make for a fun ride back to the on-on. Great memories.

 

[Pdoz]

Wednesday I just rode up behind sprog 14 yo and pushed her up the hill ( hard work...never again) , today sprog 10 yo grabbed MY ebike ...so a tow hitch is sounding like a great idea. If only I didn't have memories of skate boards, ropes, and bmx bikes.......

 

[Akiwi]

I do that sometimes with my 18 yr old.I made the loop bigger on my pull bungee so it is not pulling at the top of my seatpost. I place it below my Dropper. Don't know what others think.

Also My Son holds the cord with a big fat comfortable loop over his hand, so he can let go if he needs to.

 

[jontucker1]

Hi all, I’m new here but had to register just to reply on this thread!

I’ve been developing this for the same purpose...

It’s 3D printed at the moment and I’m just trying to work out if it’s worth trying to get it injection moulded. The chord is very thin but made of Kevlar and is rated to 500lbs. There is a spring inside which retracts the chord quickly and smoothly. With a bit of practice the towed rider can unhook themselves while you’re both still moving which is nice.

I’ve done a bit of testing pulling a 9yr old up very steep hills off road and also full grown male on another emtb with the motor switched off. No issues so far.

Here’s a short clip from one of my tests...

 

[motmcd]

Very clever, jontucker1. Good luck with the development and keep us up to date here in the forums if you can.

 

[Akiwi]

Hi all, I’m new here but had to register just to reply on this thread!

I’ve been developing this for the same purpose...

View attachment 12661 View attachment 12662 View attachment 12663

It’s 3D printed at the moment and I’m just trying to work out if it’s worth trying to get it injection moulded. The chord is very thin but made of Kevlar and is rated to 500lbs. There is a spring inside which retracts the chord quickly and smoothly. With a bit of practice the towed rider can unhook themselves while you’re both still moving which is nice.

I’ve done a bit of testing pulling a 9yr old up very steep hills off road and also full grown male on another emtb with the motor switched off. No issues so far.

Here’s a short clip from one of my tests...

What an excellent idea! Hope you can sell it.
The retractable string would help reduce the danger of getting everything wrapped around your wheel.
My only comment would be that I don't have that much room under my dropper post.

 

[motmcd]

Wednesday I just rode up behind sprog 14 yo and pushed her up the hill ( hard work...never again) , today sprog 10 yo grabbed MY ebike ...so a tow hitch is sounding like a great idea. If only I didn't have memories of skate boards, ropes, and bmx bikes.......

View attachment 12656

I had to look up sprog, haha.

 

[Gary]

The retractable string would help reduce the danger of getting everything wrapped around your wheel.
My only comment would be that I don't have that much room under my dropper post.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4m-Tow-Rope-2000kg-Vehicle-Car-Recovery-Hooks-Elastic-Bungee-Stretch-2-Ton-New/131673493041?
£7.99

and solves all your issues.

hookone end to saddle rail of your bike. under the kids bar, round the back of their stem and either hook to their brake lever/bar or let them hold on to it. (and they can let go if needed)

being elastic it doesn't ever droop into the tyre's path.

been using it for about 5 months now.

@jontucker1 cool idea. seems similar to a retractible dog lead (which I'd thought of bodging a tow from). but discounted in favour of the elastic tow rope for the above reason.
could some sort of elastic cord be incorporated in your design?
Your design also looks awfuly short. ie. the wee rider can't see past you very well and has a very short braking distance.
I tow mine at 15mph+. there's no way i'd do that with her that close to my rear wheel anywhere I might need to stop quickly.

 

[jontucker1]

@motmcd Thanks, will do.

@Akiwi Thank you. Yes, it’s a compromise. On my bike if I go any lower the chord would be below the rear wheel. I have had to lift my dropper about 50mm to fit it.

@Gary My initial thought was also retractable dog lead but after looking for something along those lines and not finding it, I thought I’d have a go at making one. The primary objective of my design is auto stowing. I used a small strap for a while with the boy and the biggest problem was it how long it took to get it out, attach it, detach it and put it away. Where we ride there are lots of small inclines and declines rather than one long of each so we were constantly putting it on and taking it off.

I’m not sure having an elastic chord would work or even if there is something that small that’s elastic that would be strong enough. The unit is tiny for what it is, it’s smaller than my fist and the chord is 2mm!

The length is just over 2 metres and while I agree that’s fairly short, it doesn’t feel too short while being pulled. Having said that I don’t know that I’d pull my kid at 15mph (unless I was tanking up hill). As soon as I get to a flat or downhill section we unhook and you can do that because it’s so easy. I wouldn’t recommend pulling if there is a chance they can coast into you.

 

[Pdoz]

I'm loving these towing concepts , but just a few insights from a miss spent childhood - you NEED a quick release for the person being towed - people are amazingly resourcefull at finding interesting ways to do stupid things!

In the early bmx days we would drag each other around - either towing someone on a skateboard or even worse roller skates...what could possibly go wrong..... little wheels, big speeds, stones on the road.....picture disaster movie meets reality tv medical show and you might get a picture of how much skin was sacrificed.

Then we progressed to towing car bonnets behind paddock bombs - 2/3 kids dressed in dirt bike protective gear , with another kid driving the car at silly speeds . Adult supervision? Yeah, well, lets just say that adult thought it might be a good idea to ride a motorbike front wheel onto that moving bonnet. In shorts. In the 70's, when motorbike exhaust pipes ran exposed beside the seat. There is a reason they call it a motorbike brand.

Move forward another decade, and we all ride dirt bikes but are a LONG way from home. Bikes break down / run out of fuel et al. We've tried many versions of the strap / rope towing a victim and ALL of them resulted in a bike being dragged along the track until to tow vehicle also crashes. Even people pulling a bike up a steep hill can end badly! The least painfull option was a strap that would wrap around the MIDDLE of the bar and then THE GLOVED rider would hold it against the bar - 4/5 times you could release it before one of the bikes would crash. The other 1/5 times involved rope burn, gravel rash, tow rope slipping sideways and knees discovering physics. Or my favourite....rope snapping and recoiling .

How do I change my username to " crash test dummy " ?

 

[R120]

The towhee works very well because its got a lot of elasticity to it, so you never jerk the person you are towing, but I am only towing my kid at 5mph

 

[Akiwi]

I made my own towee out of a bungee cord, and a tube strap. Works excellently except when someone unexpectedly let's go. It retracts to a bit over a Meter long then drops into your wheel. That's where I see the advantage in the fully retractable things.

 

[Mybrainaches]

Hi all, I’m new here but had to register just to reply on this thread!

I’ve been developing this for the same purpose...

View attachment 12661 View attachment 12662 View attachment 12663

It’s 3D printed at the moment and I’m just trying to work out if it’s worth trying to get it injection moulded. The chord is very thin but made of Kevlar and is rated to 500lbs. There is a spring inside which retracts the chord quickly and smoothly. With a bit of practice the towed rider can unhook themselves while you’re both still moving which is nice.

I’ve done a bit of testing pulling a 9yr old up very steep hills off road and also full grown male on another emtb with the motor switched off. No issues so far.

Here’s a short clip from one of my tests...

Fantastic!!!
I was looking at your idea and thought, one way round the stack height issue is to have a vertical reel rather than horizontal and a separate pully (like a fishing rod guide loop) mounted to the seat rails that way you could mount to the frame seat tube. Awesome idea!!

 

[Akiwi]

Fantastic!!!
I was looking at your idea and thought, one way round the stack height issue is to have a vertical reel rather than horizontal and a separate pully (like a fishing rod guide loop) mounted to the seat rails that way you could mount to the frame seat tube. Awesome idea!!

With a loop at the top of the seat I would be worried about the horizontal force pulling on the dropper post. Not sure if they are built to handle that. Also it would stop the dropper post from being able to extend freely.

 

[Gary]

Why on earth would you be extending and dropping a Dropper post while climbing whilst towing a kid?

Also unless your kid is akin to Augustus Gloop I wouldn't worry too much about the pulling force on the Dropper.
The kids pedal too BTW.. You're just making it much easier for them.

 

[Gary]

The towhee works very well because its got a lot of elasticity to it, so you never jerk the person you are towing, but I am only towing my kid at 5mph

Yeah. The elasticity of the tow rope I use acts like a crude damper when pulling and eases off gently rather than yanking.
It takes 10sec to fit/remove. The biggest PITA for me personally is the fact I have to carry it when not towing. I hate backpacks though. But me being me have figured out a couple of other ways of carrying/stashing it so I still don't nerd to wear one.

 

[R120]

Yup, I don't have the actual towhee, just a mega bungee from Halfords

 

[sparrow]

Yeah. The elasticity of the tow rope I use acts like a crude damper when pulling and eases off gently rather than yanking.
It takes 10sec to fit/remove. The biggest PITA for me personally is the fact I have to carry it when not towing. I hate backpacks though. But me being me have figured out a couple of other ways of carrying/stashing it so I still don't nerd to wear one.

A Revelate feedbag on the kid bike makes it quick. Just on hook from tow vehicle, stuff in bag on the kids bike.

 

[Gary]

Thanks for the idea.
Decathlon sell pretty much the same thing but more securely fitted (2 straps for the bars, 1 for the stem) meant for carrying a waterbottle for £5
I almost bought one yesterday.

15 - Cycling - Fabric Bottle Cage

 

[xcentric]

@Gary how short does it retract to? Looks very useful. Mind you, I have three kids, so need to decide whether towing them abreast or in line is best

 

[sparrow]

@Gary how short does it retract to? Looks very useful. Mind you, I have three kids, so need to decide whether towing them abreast or in line is best

Check out TowWhee's website, they pull two kids pretty regularly, vids on there. Cord goes over you shoulders easily when retracted.

 

[Gary]

@Gary how short does it retract to? Looks very useful. Mind you, I have three kids, so need to decide whether towing them abreast or in line is best

from memory...
Bout a metre and a half

 

[B1rdie]

I have made a bungee just like that to guide my dog to the trailhead. It goes from 1,4 m fully streched to 0,8 m when shortened. It's just perfect as allows nala to move around the back from side to side without entangling on the rear wheel.

 

[Gary]

@Gary how short does it retract to? Looks very useful.

measured it for you.
it's 1m30 when not stretched
4.5m when stretched out. (so less than that when wrapped around the stem) distance from towing wheel to kids front wheel is about 2.5-3m attached using the method I explained above)
obviously you can easily shorten it by simply attaching it differently.
I really wouldn't want to be towing a kid up fire roads, cycle paths, roads and trail centre climbs as close as 1m behind (as I guess a 1.4m cord would allow).
YMMV.

 

[xcentric]

measured it for you.
it's 1m30 when not stretched
4.5m when stretched out. (so less than that when wrapped around the stem) distance from towing wheel to kids front wheel is about 2.5-3m attached using the method I explained above)

Excellent - most useful. One ordered.

 

[Gary]

Cannae really go wrong for £8

 

[xcentric]

Cannae really go wrong for £8

I'll post up the video when I do

 

[Quantock Explorer]

This begs the questions - how many kids can one e-bike tow up a hill?
I'm picturing the whole Von-Trapp family in convoy, attached by bungees, disappearing over the horizon in the Alps.