Lanyard: (This is essentially the same as the Fast Stem Hook from the Original). This method hooks the lanyard loop over the stem of the trailing bike. Even our 3-year-old rider could hook and unhook the lanyard by herself. Having used the TowWhee tow rope, as well as the no-longer available Bicycle Bungee, I’ve found that all tow ropes, including the TRAX ropes, create minimal resistance from the trailing bike. With all ropes, towing is surprisingly easier than one would anticipate and doesn’t even require changing gears! Our son is 9 now and can pedal most things on his own. In fact, he’s often faster than I am! Same goes for his friends. The TRAX MTB consists of a Kevlar towing wire wrapped around a plastic spool encased in a durable plastic housing. (The PRO model is high-density polyethylene cable.) Like a tape-measure, the spool inside the TRAX MTB is self-tensioning, so the wire always remains taut. If so, you need a tow rope. In my opinion, every parent should have a tow rope (or tow bar). It makes rides happier, easier, and faster for everyone involved. Over the years, our family has used a tow rope on 75% of our rides.

On my dropper, the post is inserted further AND I was towing my son with smaller wheels (i.e. the rope was angled downward from my bike to his). As a result, I didn’t have quite enough clearance between the rope and my rear wheel. I still used the Trax relatively ok, but there were a couple of times the rope ended up rubbing my rear tire. Hauls Up To 200 Pounds…We Pushed The Limits And Broke It

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The Trax MTB weighs a mere 170g–which is basically nothing. You’ll never notice the weight, and it won’t get in the way on your bike. Compatible With Dropper Posts…Mostly Finally, the stem mounting configuration is handy for families where multiple adults plan to tow a single child. In this scenario, the device is attached to the child’s stem, and the rope loops around the nose of the adult’s saddle. Bottom Line If you prefer durability over convenience, I do think the Tow-Whee is a little more substantial. That said, we’ve also broken a Tow-Whee….so who knows. Tow-Whee advertises that it can haul up to 500 pounds; while the Trax is only good up to 200 pounds. Bottom-Line: Solid Solution For Towing Kids On Their Own Bikes TowWhee recommends wrapping the strap around the headtube and then up above the handlebars. This method ensures the rope is pulling the bike evenly on the trailing bike and not pulling on one side of the handlebars.

TwoWhee offers several different models for a variety of uses. All models have the same weight limit of 500 lb. and a max speed of 8 mph (the TowWhee should only be used to tow UPHILL) but vary in length and temperature rating. I haven’t taken this tow rope fat biking on the snow while towing my wife, whom is towing a trailer with our rascal in it (like we did with the orginal Trax MTB). However, I have towed other adults and children with the fatbike and my hard tail both, uphill and it has worked out flawlessly. Even if you can mount the TRAX MTB or PRO to the bottom of your dropper, modern mountain bike geometry might now allow for sufficient clearance between the rear tire and the extended rope, especially if you’re towing small kids’ bikes. In the image below, the lead bike is attached to a small 20″ mountain bike. If this is the case for you, just mount it to the saddle rails for considerably more clearance. Potential Tire Clearance with Seat Post Mount While none of these solutions are “perfect” each of them is good enough. Which tow rope is best is probably dependent on your personal preferences. Max Towable Weight: If you’re only towing kids, being able to tow 265 pounds instead of just 200 won’t matter to you. But if you’ll be towing heavier adults, you may need the Pro.

Another option is to repurpose old bike tubes. We found this idea on an MTBR forum thread. Writes @ benjaminj: