Towing Children with a Full Suspension EMTB

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Besides shredding gnar you can pull your kids in a trailer using a full suspension bike without any issues. As it was difficult to find this info a few years ago, here's a data dump for folks in the future.

We purchased a Thule Chariot then pimped it with Big Ben 20x2.15 tires. We fit 20x2.4 tires on the trailer without any problems, but ran through some glass and got a flat, so tried the 2.15s to see if it would be any better. We've taken the trailer on fire roads and some single track. It works ok.

Getting the Thule 'clutch' attached to your rear axle requires replacing the axle that comes on your bike with a Thule specific axle that is a a few cm longer and has space for the metal bracket that holds the trailer arm. If you can't find one that fits exactly, like we did, you can go a size up on the Thule axle and add spacers, like you see here:

Here is the Thule axle on a Spectral On, the fit was perfect and didn't require spacers:

Towing the trailer with the rear suspension doesn't create any detrimental feedback, and lateral forces haven't cause us any issues. We've bike about 500km so far without issues.

An inconvenience to note is that most EMTBs do not come with a kickstand, for obvious reasons, which can make connecting the trailer to the bike a bit of an artform. However, the Focus Thron does have a kickstand, and it works very well, as the bike stands on its own when connecting the trailer.

For those who want to carry a kid but are annoyed with connecting the trailer without a kickstand, there is an alternative, the Mac Ride, which is pictured below.

In some respects the Mac Ride is superior to a trailer, as the child can see where they are going and are more engaged with the ride. This means they can tire out during the ride then sleep at home, rather than fuss in the trailer because of boredom. On the other hand, a tired kid will struggle staying awake on the Mac Ride, and tends to want to let go of the bar and lean on you as you pedal instead.

The best thing about the Mac Ride is the child can mount and dismount quickly, making it much easier than connecting a trailer, and a good solution for taking the kid somewhere and dropping them off, or just going to visit something. Similarly, the Mac Ride is easy to remove and use your bike as its intended, for trails. I recommend both the trailer and the Mac Ride, different solutions for different problems. A trailer is better with a kick stand, the Mac Ride is better for an actual mountain biker who wants full use of their bike the majority of the time.

It took two ten minute rides to get our 2yo acclimated to the Mac Ride, so twenty minutes of tears and screams of bloody murder, but now loves it and is fearless. Before we had trouble getting him to wear a helmet, but now that he understands a helmet is required to ride the 'big bike', he has no issues putting the helmet on. It was a welcome surprise.

So that's what worked for us. The suspension systems are unaffected thus far.

 

[bluewater87]

Awesome review/info

 

[sparked]

Great post!

I bought a Robert Axle from teh Robert Axle project to put on my Levo Hardtail. Works great, same concept as the axle above. And pulling the trailer with an ebike is bliss. The weight of the bike makes the ride feel much more stable, no longer is the trailer throwing the bike about. And hills with the E... simples!

Our trailer is a cheaper no-brand type and has been pretty good. Although my partner and toddler came home rather animated after a crash last week. Apparently a corner was taken a bit too quick and the trailer with 3.5 year old in it actually flipped upside down (from what I heard I think one of the wheels might have come off the curb)! My little guy had a helmet on and was dressed head to toe in denim and a coat so he managed to come out of the incident unscathed. His reenanctment back at home was hilarious.. as he threw himself on the floor and was laying on his back laughing, telling me all about how he crashed and the trailer was round the wrong way!

Kids eh, so cute.. he loves the thing. Yells out 'go faster' the whole time.. maybe thats how the above happened! Lesson learnt.

 

[Darren]

What's wrong with a simple rope around the ankle? Kids these days are so spoiled.

 

[StealthChesnut]

Some more info / experiences for you:

I've got a dropper seatpost on my Meta Power 29er, and have a 2nd rigid post for towing. This has had a trailgator bracket on, and currently has a WeeRide bracket on. This lets me reasonably quickly swap between towing vs normal riding - I didn't fancy having the brackets on a dropper as they'll likely damage the finish / stop it working while fitted / be a pain to fit and remove each time. With both of the systems below you keep control of your kid's direction and speed which has let me take my boy out for rides from him being about 2.5 years old. Before that it was a hamax seat on an analogue hardtail.

The TrailGator (pictured below) - a tow bar with brackets that fit to your seatpost and round the headtube on the kids bike. The setup lifts the child's front wheel off the ground and has a securing rod to keep the handlebars mostly still. The brackets are intended to stay on permanently, and you can remove the bar fairly quickly allowing your child to ride themselves. I've used it to take my boy to a park, let him ride round, then bring him home again. It's also been pretty decent for taking him to nursery/school over the past couple of years and then be able to bring his bike back home solo.

Downsides to the gator - it's a heavy lump of iron, any spare parts are so expensive you might as well just buy a new one. It's very sensitive to any of the connections or parts being out of plumb. If everything is dead centre on and between both bikes then it rides well. If it's off then you feel like everything is leaning to one side, and it'll push further out of true. A bit of time spent getting the setup perfect pays dividends. Also, it's almost impossible to get the connection tight enough on the kids bike without causing marks in the paintwork. I ended up cutting up an old road bike tyre to act as a protector - tubes weren't enough. Finally, if your charge easily gets in a grump then remember to disconnect their brake! Doubly, don't forget to reattach it afterwards!

The WeeRide is more like a towbar with 2/3rds of a bike on it. There's a set of bars, rear wheel, pedals and seat. The tow arm folds up when not in use. This has had some work done to beef it up and being honest we're probably pushing past the intended use - new BB and cranks, a chain guide/tensioner (it kept coming off), new seat, fatter and more nobbly tyre. It's also had the "safety" lugs removed that stop it turning past a certain angle as it was far too restrictive. It's far more capable and useable after these mods, and with only one connection point it's much more solid feeling than the Gator.

Between me and brother we've got this setup and boy (4) round both Llandegla blue trail and Gisburn's red 8 trail (except the boardwalk bit, and we did Long Way Down instead of hully gully). Gisburn was a hard day out with a fair bit of pushing / heaving over the sharper lumps but it got round and we had a great time. The main issue is lack of clearance over my 29er wheels - it sort of grounds out over anything but a mild lump. Tacking diagonally over lumps helps, but I guess a smaller wheel would as well. (will add a pic of that setup, likely tomorrow after it's used for the school run!)

 

[LeonLevo]

Tout-Terrain have some great (but expensive) products to take your children on the trails. We first started with a Singletrailer (from 3 months) and later the Streamliner (up to 6 years). Great fun for both dad and kids!

In combination with the MacRide:

Singletrailer:

 

[salko]

So nice to see those smiley little faces ?

 

[BeBiker]

I think I got more luck with our Croozer.
Just had to drill the hole in the adapter somewhat bigger for the bigger bolt.

 

[Doug Stampfer]

We used a trailgator when the kids were little. It always made people smile when we rode past especially when the little one would have her feet on the handlebars while I was peddling hard up a hill.
It was a great way to cover distance/ rough tracks to get to the easier places for them to ride where we could unhitch their bikes & they could have their independence & learn how to ride. This was before balance bikes were readily available so it also got them used to leaning over in turns & not falling off. The old fashioned training wheels were the worst invention I reckon.
Enjoy these times guys they really are precious.

 

[maynard]

 

[maynard]

On the wee ride . Who needs a car ?

 

[maynard]

On my hard tail cube . Think I will get a mac ride for my levo when she is a bit older .

 

[Ymersmoelf]

I use a “towwee” to pull my ten year old up the long climbs. Gives so much more joy and playtime together ;-)

TowWhee - Bungee Tow Strap Bike Trailer and More!

 

[Vilt]

Also got the chariot, towing it with a 2019 Levo. (With the axle from the robert axle peoject.)

Went on a 90km ride the other day and the missusses love it.

So far the default tires hold up, even on gravel and fire roads.

 

[StealthChesnut]

Here's the Wee-ride I mentioned in my previous post. Of course, my lad didn't want to be attached to the only ebike in our little group today. CBA to swap the wee ride to my bike to fake a photo!

We did the blue Querious trail at Whinlatter with no issues at all, and took it down the little bit of red near the Revlin Moss car park.

Mods list:
New pedals
Cranks
Bottom bracket
Chain tensioner (rear wheel hub is v poor - so wobbly the chain was coming off)
Removed the "safety tabs" that stop you turning sharply
Trimmed the bottom of the steerer tube

It's not bad now, and the fat tyre smooths the ride for kiddo. He has a great time which makes all the above worth it.

 

[StealthChesnut]

I use a “towwee” to pull my ten year old up the long climbs. Gives so much more joy and playtime together ;-)

TowWhee - Bungee Tow Strap Bike Trailer and More!

Have you done switchbacks with this, and if so how did you cope? Any kind of towing rope gives a sideways pull when you're going round a corner and can pull the tow-ee off the bike sideways if it's sharp. Is the elastic forgiving enough so you don't have to stop and unhook to get round sharp bends?

 

[cep32]

I tow my kids a lot. Every ride around here starts with a decent climb so it means they are more interested in riding if they aren't shattered before they get to the top. I have made my own tow system which is just 3m of 3mm dyneema cored cord tied along a 2m length of bungee with a loop at either end. One loop goes in a crows foot around my lower seat post and the other loop gets hooked over the stem of my kids bike. The bungee takes the shock load out of the system and stops the whole lot from being too long when it's not under tension. The cord takes the actual towing load.

All the climbs we do have tight switchbacks. Early on we had a couple of incidents of the kids being pulled over sideways on particularly tight corners but they very quickly worked out that they just had to steer their own line through the corner. We haven't had any issues for at least the last 12 months.

 

[owl-x]

Yes!
We have an e-cargo bike for extended trips, and the kids like to pedal / push now, but I am pulling their kid trailer with my eMTB for camping.

I load up an old Burley trailer with my whole camp and hit the trails.

Bike is a Norco Range VLT. Beast. I got an extended axle from Robert Axle Project and it's been great. 30 second swap with a 5mm allen wrench and it's time to go ride.

The trails are North Mountain in Darrington, WA. Steep trail system that was designed around shuttling big bikes in the backs of trucks, and it's a perfect fit for the Range. Beefy. I've been riding there since March with a few friends, and our eebs have been knocking off more vert per day than all but the most dialed shuttle crews. We'll ride a few laps, charge bikes on a 800W generator I got from Home Depot* as we eat lunch (or drink beer at the campfire), repeat. I've been riding MTBs for a while, can't say I've experienced a better setup.

So, yeah. It's great to ride the local trails on the eeb, but combining it all with camping has been a revelation. Doesn't hurt that the trails are amazing.

*I tried to figure out a solar / battery solution for off-the-grid charging, but it was just too heavy and expensive no matter what I researched. The 40cc gas generator has revolutionized my MTB life: 0.5 gallon tank runs for about 8 hours. With a power strip I've been able to charge three bikes at a time, the generator handles it, although at its limit. (Shimano E8000 chargers with these Norcos draw around 200W each, and reviews of the generator say it'll cut out before it hits its claimed 800W...) These little 40cc generators are about the size of your old desktop computer, 19 pounds empty, so great. Can't recommend it enough. Revolutionized my eMTB trips.

Also: hi. I am Alex from Seattle and eMTBs are the greatest.

 

[StealthChesnut]

Finally got to getting a snap of the Wee-ride this morning on the school run.

 

[maynard]

Yes!
We have an e-cargo bike for extended trips, and the kids like to pedal / push now, but I am pulling their kid trailer with my eMTB for camping.

I load up an old Burley trailer with my whole camp and hit the trails.

Bike is a Norco Range VLT. Beast. I got an extended axle from Robert Axle Project and it's been great. 30 second swap with a 5mm allen wrench and it's time to go ride.

The trails are North Mountain in Darrington, WA. Steep trail system that was designed around shuttling big bikes in the backs of trucks, and it's a perfect fit for the Range. Beefy. I've been riding there since March with a few friends, and our eebs have been knocking off more vert per day than all but the most dialed shuttle crews. We'll ride a few laps, charge bikes on a 800W generator I got from Home Depot* as we eat lunch (or drink beer at the campfire), repeat. I've been riding MTBs for a while, can't say I've experienced a better setup.

View attachment 40822 View attachment 40823 View attachment 40824

So, yeah. It's great to ride the local trails on the eeb, but combining it all with camping has been a revelation. Doesn't hurt that the trails are amazing.

*I tried to figure out a solar / battery solution for off-the-grid charging, but it was just too heavy and expensive no matter what I researched. The 40cc gas generator has revolutionized my MTB life: 0.5 gallon tank runs for about 8 hours. With a power strip I've been able to charge three bikes at a time, the generator handles it, although at its limit. (Shimano E8000 chargers with these Norcos draw around 200W each, and reviews of the generator say it'll cut out before it hits its claimed 800W...) These little 40cc generators are about the size of your old desktop computer, 19 pounds empty, so great. Can't recommend it enough. Revolutionized my eMTB trips.

Also: hi. I am Alex from Seattle and eMTBs are the greatest.

This guys got it sorted

 

[Delihustler]

Mine and my daughter's new set up,
Tout Terrain Streamliner.
We were given a cheap tag along to try out and daughter loved it, but because the wife is a shorty it didn't fit her bike, this does so we can share the load.

 

[bluewater87]

Trying to figure out the best was to attach my Thule chariot cougar 2 to tow behind my trek rail 9.7.
Is the Robert axle project the only/best option, or does trek or Thule have anything to offer?

 

[Vilt]

As far as i know, robert is your only option.

 

[VWsurfbum]

Jumping on this, I use a Trax tow rope that i use for when No2 and I hit the trails and anything more than a 10 meter climb is involved
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