best way for my dinky granddaughter to ride with us?
 

right now we drag her around in a burly trailer on our tandem. but she is not even 4 and can ride the smallest bike trek sells. she is not even 30 pounds yet. her bike has 12" wheels that she rides like a champ.
thought about this guy with a donor bike but there is not enough seat post above our back rack.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1GJZM3EQ&psc=1
or this guy Burt its getting expensive.
https://www.amazon.com/FollowMe-Tand...0GGGFVPGWB35H9

most of the tag along bikes/bike attachments for kids seem to attach to the seatpost. But some attach to a rack.

I belong to a FB buy nothing group and people give these away fairly often. Although it might not be easy to find a rack mount one

It would help if you posted a picture of the bike.

Kid crank on the tandem.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fe514a7a8.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d9905bdb2.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9f61589e2.jpeg

My kids both rode tandems when they were less than 4 (by a month;)). Both rode this tandem and a Burley Samba 25 to 30 years ago. This tandem is current for sale.

where would I put my wife ? :) that would be way too big for her.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...92af67faa9.jpg

here is the tandem.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...59f38d95e.jpeg

Holy Bolt-ons, Batman! There's a lot of stuff attached to that bike!

IIRC, the rack-mounted tag-a-long might have been from Blackburn, or Topeak, but it did require using their specific rack.
If having a rear rack, and the tag-a-long at the same time is important, you could always mount the rack on the tag-a-long, like I did here:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f32243e0bd.jpg

I would've to work it out. I cant use a tag along all in one has she is way too small. we use the rack every day os it cant go. I could make some kind of adaptor to do it.

She captains the tandem and you ride your own bike. You could ride the little one if you want.

I have never been a big fan of trailer bikes and I’m less so after seeing a little girl fall off one when her mom turned a corner and she didn’t. A better (and safer) alternative is the Weehoo. Not as cheap as cheap trailer bikes but certainly better. I found one for cheap at a local swap meet for friends of mine. It’s easily adjustable for any size child.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9a12160c9.jpeg

How close is your granddaughter? How much riding with you? Babysitting?

I like the idea of the trailer bike, especially the Weehoo for the young kids. You can have multiple tow bikes.

You can also go for a tandem. CoMotion Periscope?

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...ppin_2048x.jpg

Bike Friday Tandems are also very adjustable.But, that likely would be only for a very dedicated cycling family.

Keep in mind that the kids grow up VERY FAST. So, you could spend a ton of money on a bike that is only used for a couple of years (or... at worst, only used a few days).

I pulled two wheeled carts with my Burly Bongo. I setup the child crank for the stoker position and also bought the Burly Piccolo. At one point A had one child on the child crank, one on the trailer cycle and the child cart hooked to the trailer cycle. I never dumped the Tandem and non of my children fell off.

first suggestion : chariot type "covered" trailer
second suggestion : sitting type (with buckles) add-on like cyccommute suggested
IF (a big IF) she is used to riding at faster paces and can hold herself over bumps and other things the rear seat of tandem throws at her, and is OK not being in control, you can try a tandem.

our daughter learnt cycling early and she was riding 20miles when she was 4 (i know, everyone is proud of the the even moles on children).... but, when she rode the tandem with me when she was 4, within five minutes, she said she does not like it and is scared that she has no control over what happens and sometimes cant hear what i am trying to communicate - fair point, i thought. Later, when she was 8, she was very happy to be on the tandem as it extended our range.

Used tag alongs are all over the place.

​​​​​​https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik...359075771.html

Maybe some ideas here https://www.bikeforums.net/recreational-family/:foo:

That's what I did when my daughter was little. Always a big hit with the other kids when I dropped her off at school.

that could be interesting since she is blind :) but that wouldn't to work on our tandem as it has a regular bottom bracket. Plus is is way too small to sit on the seat and reach the bars. she is not even 30 pounds yet.

we are close only a mile away so we hope to do it often but who knows? she may get tired of it. thats why I don't want to spend too much. the trailer works ok but I think if she is more engaged it will help. she is pretty slow at growing almost 4 and still not even 30 pounds.

that was my first though. but now it is about 450.00 so maybe hunt around for a used one.

Maybe dinky means something different near you? Your granddaughter is blind and riding at 4?

Get a weehoo and be done. It's an excellent product and resale is high for when you are finished.

I think I found a used one. I need to come up with an idea on how to mount it to the rack. a bracket that clamps ontot the rack that holds a seat post would work. I wonder if there is something pre made?

no my wife is blind so she cant captain a tandem. my granddaughter is almost 4 and can ride a bike but she is tiny only 29 pounds and short. but my wife started riding a bike while blind around 5.

The arrangement @cyccommute pictured above is a "kidback" adjustable bottom bracket that can slide up and down the stoker's seat tube to accommodate a range of leg lengths. His looks to be a commercial product; I made my own out of a lugless bottom bracket shell and a length of angle iron, fixed in place by a couple hose clamps. It worked pretty well until the kids got to be around 6 or 7 years old, and by then they wanted their own bikes.

Bar reach could probably be accommodated with a judicious choice of handlebar and stem.

You’re on your own; there is no “Part That Does”.
All bikes have seat posts, but only some have a rack. The only one that mounted ‘fifth-wheel’ style came with a dedicated rear rack.

Even with a little kiddo on there, tag-along rigs can be pretty heavy, I’d rather have it clamped to the tug bike’s frame, than a couple of skinny rack struts and M5 bolts.

Depending on the shape of the tow bar, and the rear of your tandem, it may clear the top of the rack, once it’s installed; alternatively, move your rack to the tag-along so you can keep using your bags, they tow just fine even without a rider onboard.

ya I had thought of the weight. Burley makes a rack mount hitch for their tag along bike so it may be ok. but they don't sell it separately and it really needs their rack to do it. we will pick it up today and I will leave the rack on and see. too bad my wife is not taller. but we ride our tandem pretty much every day and may use the tag along a few times a week. We always bring a pannier when we ride to carry stuff. so I need to work out the most practical way to do it.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a9a162f87a.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...17e559c25.jpeg

I missed the blind part earlier.

Go for the Weehoo now. Even hunt for a good used one.

Then, in a couple of years, you might consider a triple tandem. It might be fun for the kid, and could grow into a Grandparent's outing.

One thing I discovered with my nephew was that he had troubles learning to ride a solo bike, then once he got it, he entirely rejected the tandem. The problem was that kept us land-locked. With a tandem, we could have gone for miles and miles and several hours. Instead, perhaps a mile each direction, and back to "Grandma's".

Here is a Bike Friday Triple:
https://eugene.craigslist.org/bik/d/...346785697.html

It should be extremely adjustable.

I also mentioned CoMotion triples above, that should take smaller stature riders (periscope and trident).

If you start with a weehoo, the start hunting for a year or two for the triple, one will pop up that you like.