Review of Trail Gator Bicycle Tow Bar in Black, Red, or Blue

Trail Gator Bicycle Tow Bar in Black, Red, or Blue
By: Trail Gator Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 11
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A WONDERFUL IDEA.....once you fix its flaw!!!!

On: 2008-05-26

You mightve read about problems with the childs bike leaning to the side. THERE IS DEFINITELY a flaw where the pin that holds the two parts of the tow bar together is to small for its hole and allows to much play. I solved this by inserting a 3/4 machine screw which filled up the hole surrounding the screw to prevent any play and things are NOW PERFECT!

The idea for a trail-a-bike made so much sense to me I did not want to throw away this contraption---even though I thought of it in my frustration at first. Im so glad I didnt give up. I just wonder why this product was so popular in Europe with this seemingly easily fixed flaw.

BTW, after hearing that nightmare of a story of this thing coming apart for another Amazonian, I now check every single bolt, nut, and quick release before putting my precious little son it. After 2 weeks of going back and forth between day care and home, this thing is holding up pretty well.

PROS:
1. Allows child to ride on their own once you rode to your destination (bike path, park, etc).
2. Allows child to get accustomed to ride in traffic. (Scary but true, we used this around Brooklyn, New York with a 4 year old!!!)
3. Once you use my suggestion of replacing the pin with a 3/4" machine screw, the ride was pretty sold and stable with a 4 year old in tow.
4. Price.

CONS:
1. Not very easy to put together. I suggest bringing to a bike shop for their expertise and for your piece of mind.
2. I had to "hack" it to make it work.

[I posted this same note to the Forum on trail-a-bikes]

Hoping for Great Riding

On: 2008-04-28

After spending a bit of time getting this product together my daughter and I were very pleased. I am concerned after reading other reviews that something might come loose and I have a crash on my hands. I was a bit nervous putting the "Gator" together after reading reviews on how terrible the directions were,but really didnt find that at all. My daughter just loves going out now, although we have only been out on three short rides as it is still very cold here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and insists she doesnt want to ride "detached" anymore. The speed I like to ride while chasing her older brother and sister makes her a bit nervous, but I think we are going to have a wonderful summer of riding with this new addition. I think this is just an excellent way to help that new rider join in on the longer rides the older kids like to take. I rate this product a four star only because, as I said earlier, I am afraid something may come loose along the way and I have yet to test it out on long rides.

Danger!!! Buyer Beware!!!

On: 2008-03-26

If I could give this product a negative rating, I would do so.

The first four times I used the Trail Gator, I would have given it stellar marks. It seemed like a great product, and we were really enjoying our family bike rides. But on our fifth ride, the pin joining the two connector bars worked its way loose, allowing the towed bicycle to pivot, and pitching my 3-year-old face first into the pavement. He was pretty seriously scraped up, and but for the helmet he was wearing, might have been critically wounded.

For the record, Im an engineer, and I guess I can follow instructions as well as the next guy. This product just outright failed--disastrously.

Amazon should stop carrying this. It is unsafe, and should be taken off the market. In the meantime, please steer clear of this dangerous product!

Tow Bar is dangerous

On: 2008-02-25

I loved the idea of this towbar--being able to hook up our sons bike to ours and letting him choose when he wanted us to help him pull and when he wanted to ride his training wheel bike alone. Unfortunately, we found the tow bar to be dangerous and will be returning it. We only used it twice and both times, the child bike became uncentered. Once, I rode him directly into a bridge railing when I turned the corner because I did not realize his bike was riding a couple of inches to the right of mine. Installation is also challenging. I do not recommend this tow bar.

Great, but a little fussy to install

On: 2008-02-11

My family goes on bikes rides every weekend with the trail-gator. I had some trouble with the initial installation. My sons bike tipped to one side, and it took me a _long_ time before I realized that I could pivot the attachment point on my seat to correct his bikes tilt. I doubt this makes sense to anyone who doesnt own one, but if the tow bike tilts to one side, try rotating the attachment around the seat. Once I did that, I couldnt be happier. Its a great and unique product, and Im glad I got this rather than a "trail a bike."

Pretty good product

On: 2007-10-20

The Trail Gator Tow Bar is a pretty good contraption. It does take a little while to put together, but once you have it set up, you are good to go. Just make sure you tighten everything very, very well. We went for our maiden voyage on a relatively flat trail and my three year old son loved it! Good luck!

Pretty good product

On: 2007-10-19

The Trail Gator Tow Bar is a pretty good contraption. It does take a little while to put together, but once you have it set up, you are good to go. Just make sure you tighten everything very, very well. We went for our maiden voyage on a relatively flat trail and my three year old son loved it! Good luck!

Great idea, but difficult to install

On: 2007-08-28

I love what this is about, but was a little let down by the difficult installation, tricky instructions and finicky fittings. Basically, this products work great when its adjusted correctly. I found it difficult to adjust on our bikes. I also found that it would fall out of allignmnet requiring more fiddling en route than I would have liked. By the end of the first week, some of the nuts were stripped from all of the loosening and tightening I had to do before, during, and after bike rides. We had one magical 15 mile trip in which the device worked flawlessly, but by the end of a week, Im pretty fed up with the device.

What an awesome idea - totally durable - works perfect

On: 2007-08-05

Its the best of all worlds. It takes about an hour of frustration to get it to work. I advise you to read all the way through the instructions before you start so you can a good overview of the installation. Once you have to set up and everything is high enough and stable - it ROCKS!
Your little one can cruise behind you - "are you pedaling?" as you head up hills. Then once you get where they can safely ride or play, you just unhook and slide the bar into itself and snap it into place on the big bike and off the little one goes.
This only works if the little bike does not need training wheels. Or you can buy the slide up training wheels that coordinate with this product but we didnt because the reviews werent good for them. So instead, we have been using this as an excuse to try to teach our son to ride without trainers at all. On our last trip we brought the training wheels along so we could quickly screw them in place if he wanted them but mostly he wants to stay attached to the big bike.
Its lightweight, easy to ride uphill with, easy to turn around and has great control. It feels stable. After a couple of rides, be sure to tighten and straighten it out as it will shift some and loosen a little.
You can resell this product for more than you buy it for because the trail alongs are so popular and so hard to find that when someone sees this model they freak out and want it. So you will recoup your investment - easily.
I would also advise you to buy the additional hook ups. You can get extra parts that will make any big bike work - so both adults in the family can be ready to hook up when needed. You can also buy additional little kid sets - so all the kids could in theory be ready to hook up to any of the bigger bikes. Its pretty cool!

Trail Gator Tow Bar - Highly reccommended

On: 2007-07-13

We are very happy with the Trail Gator Tow Bar! Our 3 year old son has thouroughly enjoyed being able to participate in family bike rides without being left behind. The tow bar is a little difficult to initially hook up but it is very easy to use. The best part about it is that you can hook the bar up to any bike of any size which is perfect for younger riders. It provides much more flexibility than the traditional bike trailer attachments. We love it and highly reccommend it!!

What a great idea?

On: 2007-06-30

I had bought another tag-along that I was very unhappy with and took it back shortly after I bought it. I found Trail Gator online and thought it was a good idea but was not sure about the quality. After recieving it and installing it I couldnt be happier. It is very solid and easy to use. The install wasnt the easiest but very solid. My kids love it and it allows us to take longer bike rides that they can ride their own bikes part of the way. Highly recomended from this happy buyer.

Trail Gator- Great in use

by: Anonymous On: 2007-01-16

My sister used this product in the UK, and said it was great, She was correct , after a little reluctance to try it my son 4 peddled 7 miles on his 10 inch wheels before giving in, How it is the preferred ride, " you have to peddle too Dad, and "faster Dad" are all too common sounds in my ears. We are on and off tow 3 or 4 times a trip, but that no problem thanks to the quick connection. If I could carry a spare I could sell it 2 or 3 times over on our trips on the Morgan Hill bike trail or along the coast in Monterey. Initial install took 45mins or so .

Trail Gator- Great in use

On: 2007-01-15

My sister used this product in the UK, and said it was great, She was correct , after a little reluctance to try it my son 4 peddled 7 miles on his 10 inch wheels before giving in, How it is the preferred ride, " you have to peddle too Dad, and "faster Dad" are all too common sounds in my ears. We are on and off tow 3 or 4 times a trip, but that no problem thanks to the quick connection. If I could carry a spare I could sell it 2 or 3 times over on our trips on the Morgan Hill bike trail or along the coast in Monterey. Initial install took 45mins or so .