Tandem for kids

[nightrider]

I am trying to encourage Nightrider junior to take some fun exercise and fancy getting a tandem.Junior is 10 years old and 4ft 8.What the best way to go a small framed adult bike,a special feedback bike,or kiddycranks.I don't have loads of money and am thinking of buying second hand.Juniors inside leg is about 23 inches.

[rdaviesb]

We went with a kiddyback tandem, I think it was about 15 inches. Lasted for years, with an extending seatpost. Wifee and I got back into pedalling together on it as well, changing it after about 12 months when at the point where we were convinced it was a good idea to get something that fitted us both a little better.

[Butterfly]

I've had an 8 year old on my Dawes 2 across with crank shorteners and a 10 year old would almost certainly be ok without. If you are down here at any point you could come and have a go on it.  Small adult tandems would be do-able I should think. St John Street Cycles sell crank shorteners. On the Tandem Club for sale board there is an Orbit Libra, which I have managed (just) with a leggy 8 year old, so would certainly work with a 10 year old.

[chris]

Our kids have been on tandems/triplets since two or three years old. We started with a kiddiback tandem with double drilled cranks and crank shorteners so that the effective crank length was about 30mm and built a cage around them so that they wouldn't fall off.

At about 8 years old they were all riding on the back of my adult tandem. You can get away with a much larger frame than they would ride solo as they do not have to stand over the top tube.

[sg37409]

Chris summed it up. Go for an adult size frame - standover is not a problem, they just climb aboard.  
We're riding a thorn raven twin in L/S size, fits 8yr,10yr and my wife (>21yr)

[Oscar's dad]

I've had an 8 year old on my Dawes 2 across with crank shorteners and a 10 year old would almost certainly be ok without. If you are down here at any point you could come and have a go on it.  Small adult tandems would be do-able I should think. St John Street Cycles sell crank shorteners. On the Tandem Club for sale board there is an Orbit Libra, which I have managed (just) with a leggy 8 year old, so would certainly work with a 10 year old.

We use Santana crank shorteners purchased from JD Cycles (where else?).  Twinkle Toes is coming up for 10 and fairly tall and they do her fine.

[sg37409]

One of the nice things about the thorn is you can specify crank length from a large range of sizes.
I chose 155 for stoker as a decent compromise.
Crank shorteners increase Q-factor by a large amount for kids.
Kiddie cranks work much better than crank shorteners if you have the space on the frame, which is usually no problem as you can have the kc's and stoker saddle set higher up.
I have a set of kiddie cranks I need to sell -
Kiddy Crank seat tube attachment block 122.5 mm

[In fact, just as I looked for these, I see my pic on the SJS site !  This is something of a surprise.]

[Oscar's dad]

^^^  I have not used kiddy cranks but we find that crank shorteners work just fine.  Twinkle Toes started using them when she was 7 and she is now coming up for 10 (in February).  We have used them whilst touring doing reasonable daily distances (c40 miles).

TT's mum also stokes so the crank shorteners need to be easy to remove, which they are.

I guess kiddy cranks are the solution for really little kids (under 5?).  Bigger kids would be fine with shorteners in my experience.

[nightrider]

Thanks for all the advice it would seem I have been worrying over nothing.There is a dawea galaxy on e bay for£1200 its a lot of money if junior doesnt take to it though.

[Tim]

For less than that you can have new:

Cor blimey here's another option:
Spa are selling off Super Galaxy tandems for £1030.  (S & L only)
Compared to £250 for a single wheel, you get 2 wheels, a frame, full tandem chainset controls and everything for this price!

[Oscar's dad]

Thanks for all the advice it would seem I have been worrying over nothing.There is a dawea galaxy on e bay for£1200 its a lot of money if junior doesnt take to it though.

£1200 is a lot.  For not much more you could get a new tandem.  

We have an Orbit Routier from JD.  We are in mid-Essex, I notice you are in Grantham which 111 miles away (according to Google Maps).  If you fancy popping down you could borrow ours for the day to see how you like it.  There is loads of quiet roads round here to explore.  Happy to give you a guided tour of the local pubs sights!

[thing1]

£1200 is a lot.  For not much more you could get a new tandem. 

For £200 less you can get a new Galaxy.
DAWES Galaxy Twin 2008 2008 :: £1030.00 :: BIKES :: Tandems :: Spa Cycles, Harrogate - The touring cyclists specialist.

(Sorry, second time I've promoted this. I'm not connected to Spa in anyway! Just sounds a pretty nice deal)

I guess the accessories always push the price up, but even on a fully loaded second hand deal you can still spend a bucket adjusting things to how you like them.

[Oscar's dad]

^^^ That's a fab deal and the people at Spa Cycles are fab too.

[rr]

We have an Orbit Libra, Micro who is huge for her age has been stoking with crank shorteners since she was 4. In fact she used to do it without them. A pair of shin pads can be helpful until they get used to pedaling.

[mzman153]

We have used variously a Dawes Double Edge , Dawes Toucan, Orbit Libra, and two Thorn Voyagers, with our boys starting when they were 8 and 6.The best of all is a M/M  Thorn Voyager which I still use with the oldest who is 13 and 5 ft 9. I am 6 ft 4 but  use an adjustable stem to ensure my comfort whilst the boys seat has gradually been raised across the years. We were lucky that their legs have always been long enough to mnage. We have also had two spartas but they were a bit too heavy and scary on hills to be viable with the boys.
My boys still list cycling amongst their hobbies and still enjoy a trip on the tandem with Dad, it's an excellent introduction for them.