As a family, we love riding bikes. Anything that helps us get out on them is something we are interested in trying and the TowWhee seems to be an answer to our current biking issue. This is an issue that faces all parents trying to get their little ones out and about - the Little Chaps are too big to just sit and be towed all day but also still too small and not yet strong enough to ride a decent distance (or up too many hills).
"Bigger Adventures Together" is what the website claims and this is exactly what we want!
Why?
When the Little Chaps were babies/too small to ride themselves, we used a Croozer Trailer for whole day road rides, riding to cafes or enjoying picnics along the way. As they grew, we progressed to a FollowMe Tandem - in fact, we still use this now for road rides - which is a fantastic way to all ride out together and for Mummy and Daddy to still get their exercise/distance fix. However, once you get beyond 20 inch wheels, this is no longer an option. Plus, it isn't great for mountain biking (although can handle e.g. forest tracks when fitted to a hardtail mountain bike) because it is a heavy adapter that sits over your back wheel. This is not great for inspiring confidence in the off-road handling of your bike, nor for the longevity of your rear wheel - avoid the drop-offs!
It looks like a simple, lightweight solution that will save my arms from pushing on the uphills. This was the main issue on our "trial" mountain biking visit on the Quantocks Ridge - small wheels plus mud plus hills equals much riding along whilst pushing Little Chap #2 for me!
What is it?
It is basically a length of stretchy bungee cord with a loop on each end. This fits over the adult's saddle and fastens simply around the younger rider's headtube (either with a LarksFoot - just go around the headtube and thread one end of the towrope back through the loop on the other end - or using the attachment that is sold as an "extra"). This helps you to tow the rider along the trail. See the promo video on YouTube.
Other Options?
I have seen other solutions. There are others to be bought (eg Shotgun which is basically the same thing) or you can bodge one together using e.g. innertubes but I'm not endorsing this because I think it will just catch on your wheels. I picked this one over others based entirely on cost! It was about £40 including shipping and includes just the TowWhee bungee itself. You can buy some additional attachments (which I think are included with e.g Shotgun system - hence the greater cost) which are basically climbing cord and a karabiner for "easier" fastening to the child's bike.
First impressions?
It is a very simple idea that appears to be well made. The "extras" strike me as being unnecessary and expensive for what they are. The proof in this is, of course, out on the trail. No messing about for us, we dived straight in with our first proper mountain bike adventure (which you can read about here).
Did it work?
The short answer is yes!
At the first hill we encountered (the steep one pictured above), the rope was straight out of the Little Chap's rucksack, looped around his bars and my saddle. Off we went. A bit of stretch and along he came after me. Although Little Chap #2 promises he was pedalling (!), in all honesty, it was a pretty steep hill that I would have been happy to make cleanly riding solo. Halfway up seemed like a good first attempt, even if we did need to both push to the top. It did take a bit of force to undo the LarksFoot knot which had tightened around the Little Chap's headtube - I can see how the extra attachment solves this but not so much that I would fork out for it!
I was impressed how easy it was to ride while attached together. The stretch of the rope keeps it out of your back wheel (an initial concern) and, also, you can't feel the loop around your saddle - it doesn't catch on your legs or get in the way. There is no noticeable affect on your own bike's handling so you simply pick your line and ride up the hill - a little more slowly than normal but I really didn't feel the weight like you do when pushing with a hand on a child's shoulder.
At the next hill, again it was quickly on and we set off cleanly. A much more forgiving gradient meant we got to the top (although as seen in the picture, Little Chap #1 needed a bit of assistance so my arms still got a workout!). By this point, both the Little Chaps had already worked out how to attach it and remove it from their bikes and my bike without any assistance.
This particular hill highlighted one of the main benefits of this type of system. A long gradual ascent is too much for little legs (we were always going to walk the first hill of the ride!). The boost generated by me got us all up what would have been a long slog otherwise. The second benefit was found at the top when it was whipped off the tow bike, stashed in a rucksack and we were all off down an awesome flowing, heathery, singletrack section, each riding at their own pace and loving it.
The solution to towing one Little Chap and pushing the other is two TowWhees! We are looking forward to trying a "train" on our next mountain bike ride - Daddy followed by Little Chap #1 followed by Little Chap #2.
Any issues?
Apart from it being tight to take off the headtube (mentioned above), I would say no issues at all. This tightening is not so much an issue as much as it just takes a little time to remove when you get to the top. We also found that simply looping the strap over the top of the stem (don't loop it over the handlebar!) was quite good for shorter periods of towing (there is another "extra" sold to do this second fastening "better"!!). For towing over longer distances, the LarksFoot fastening remains more secure and less likely to unexpectedly pop off.
We may try to make our own attachment using climbing cord and a spare karabiner to see if this improves the speed of removing it but it really wasn't a hassle.
One important note of caution: the rider being towed does need to be quite competent and stay alert throughout the period of being towed. The one advantage of the FollowMe tandem when used on roads is that the smaller rider can simply sit and be towed along. They cannot deviate from your line choice. With the TowWhee they still have autonomy of steering, hence it is not recommended for use on the road. We have been doing loads of local rides over the past year in the various Lockdowns so the Little Chaps have taken on a real understanding of line choice. This was really helpful for me when towing them and I had confidence that they would do their best to follow my (not always perfect!) line choice. This basic training also made us comfortable using it on quiet country lanes but on busier roads I much prefer to ride by their side (with hand on shoulder to assist with power where necessary) offering them protection from the traffic. It would be difficult to use on a technical, singletrack climbing section but for wider tracks, including fire-roads / double track or quiet stretches of tarmac, it keeps the ride flowing along for everyone.
A good grounding in all the basic bike control skills is really important before heading out for an adventure so that it is fun for everyone - find a local loop and practice, practice, practice the hard bits so that both you and your Little One can see how their bike handles on rough ground.
Do we recommend it?
A resounding success and a great solution for us in terms of getting the Little Chaps up a hill that feels like "proper" mountain biking for everyone. We'll be buying another one soon to try out the "train" so look out for our next adventure in the blog section.
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