Wee Hoo?: Say What?

In the world of ways to take a smallish child along with you on a cycle tour, the considerations are pretty clear:

1. The tour can not depend solely on the child's strength, determination, and cycling skill - so the adult needs to be able to provide all the power when needed.

2. Still, if the child can contribute to the forward motion, they will feel more a part of the adventure.

3. Even with children who can cycle well on their own, it is much safer if the adult is fully in control of steering.

4. It all depends on the strength and skill of the child. We have seen a six year old independently cycling with his family along the Danube, but for most we think 8-10 years old is the youngest for total independence, as far as the bike goes.

For a non independent child, where we still want them to contribute in some way with the pedalling, there are low rent and high rent solutions.

Probably the simplest and cheapest is any clamping system that grabs the child's own bike and links it to yours. The Trailgator is one version of this. The solution seems better suited for children who are a little older, though of course even a 4 year old is likely the owner of a two wheeler.

Next up is the Trail A Bike. With this, the child sits upright on a regular bike seat and pedals a custom one wheeled unit connected to your back seat. This version requires the child's attention to sit for the length of the ride.

There are even two kid versions, and with a tandem main bike, you can be a one unit parade:

The Wee Hoo, our choice, is like the Trail A Bike, but features a recumbent position for the child. We think this will allow a lot longer on the bike, as the adult patiently plods on, and the kid could even take a nap back there.

The Wee Hoo looks like this:

Whereas the Trail A Bike seems to cost about $250, the Wee Hoo comes in at $400.

Of course, all these solutions are lame, if you want to spring for a Hase Pino. This true tandem has the pilot in back on a regular seat, and the stoker in front, in a recumbent position. We like that, because if the stocker is a kid, the parent can easily speak to them and monitor how they are doing at all times.

Bikes like this are in the $4000+ range.

If you have $8000+ for a couple of these!

Our choice was the Wee Hoo. We bought a couple from REI, and stashed them in the basement. Now that the snows seem to have left Missoula, we have pulled them out and are learning some of the finer points about them, while taking Avi and Violet out for some practice runs.

The Fridays and Weehoos go to school - at University of Montana

Our chief concern had been the point where the Wee Hoo grabs on to the lead bike's seat post. The connection needs to be tight, or the Wee Hoo will wobble, yet there needs to be enough play for the seat post to slide through the connector. Wee Hoo provides five assorted bushings to handle the most common sizes of seat posts. Unfortunately, there are 20-30 seat post diameters in existence. Naturally, our Bike Friday posts were not among the exalted five.

Wee Hoo recommends shimming with "packing tape", which seemed like a lame suggestion to us. However, after we and Bob, the mechanic at REI, racked our brains for an alternative for a long while, and with Greg, from Wee Hoo on the phone line, we tried it. Surprise, packing tape works dandy! Bob used some from Staples, but the tape from the US Postal Service also seemed exemplary!

Bob, a mechanic at REI, checks out alternative ways to get the Wee Hoos firmly attached to the Bike Fridays. Our hapless seat posts are in front of him and closest to the camera are some of the limited supplied plastic bushings.

The critical connection point, showing technical use of "packing tape" around the seat post.

The Wee Hoos come with surprisingly convenient side bags, and also mesh holders good for toys and snacks. However for serious stuff like sleeping bags and clothing, the standard front and rear Ortliebs that we normally use on the Fridays will still be there. It is possible to make the Wee Hoos carry a more serious load, though. Have a look at this photo from Adventure Cyclist magazine. It is inspirational to see someone else trying the same sort of stunt, with similar equipment - but also we see more serious panniers on the Wee Hoo, and other space being put to use for sleeping pads and stuff. No doubt we too will dream up ways to also cram more gear on.

Other Gear

We have been working away adding to the pile of gear. In the photos below, we see Avi and Violet checking out rain gear, sleeping, and other gear. We decided not to try putting Bob trailers behind the Wee Hoos (would have involved monkeying with the Wee Hoo rear axles). Still, the whole train should look pretty impressive when fully decked out!

Rain gear is an important precaution. Getting caught unprepared in a challenging weather situation with five year olds is a no no!

Checking out flashlights at REI. Violet's cape is **not**

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