Originally Posted by
bennyw
Thanks for the feedback!
I'm afraid that it's not really feasible to make child's bike rideable unless it's 16" or smaller. Bigger bike+rider will simply be too heavy. Besides older kids are less likely to need help during rides.
I agree that this contraption would not be appealing if you don't use it more or less regularly. From the other hand it should not be that costly - I estimate $65-70. Regular cargo racks start from ~$30, so it's not a very big expense.
The FollowMe accommodates up to 20", but is a significantly bulkier piece of equipment than your design. Whether yours could be developed to accommodate ride-along towing (like the TrailGator or FollowMe) I don't know, but I just think if you were inclined to explore that, you might come up with something really neat and with broader appeal.
Had you considered a design, just for towing, that utilizes a rack-mounted wheel cradle off to the side? I'm thinking of the way the bags on an Xtracycle allow another bike's front wheel to be strapped in for towing, but something positioned a bit further back (for heel clearance on std length bike) and hard mounted to the rack, almost like a Thule wheel tray:
