Comparison of a Funtrailer with the Tandem Pole
Many see the tandem pole as a cheaper and more flexible alternative to the Funtrailer, but this isn’t really the case. Not only the Stiftung Warentest confirmed that this construction is instable (see here), but it really is not a comfortable way to travel either for the child that gets thrown about with every turn, or for the cyclist who can rarely keep control of steering when the child gets flung about behind.
The following should be considered:
A children’s bike (10 to 12 kilos) + a tandem pole (approx 3 kilos) weighs approximately 13 to 15 kilos – a Funtrailer between 9 to 11 kilos
A children’s bike never really functions synchronously and rocks about, a Funtrailer still stays on track years later
A children’s bike tends to have a back pedal which is partly forbidden with the tandem pole, or at least it should be (danger of sudden braking), a Funtrailer is free running.
A child can pedal along up to approximately 12 km/h on a children’s bike, further effort is in vain. The Funtrailer enables the child to pedal along to speeds of up to 28 km/h.
With a children’s bike you can unattach it and the child can ride on alone, this isn’t possible with the Funtrailer. However the Funtrailer really lets a child join in with the pedalling and when exhaustion sets in the child can then simply be pulled along. This enables you to travel distances over 50 km/day with the Funtrailer even with toddlers and with the tandem pole this is only possible when the child cycles large parts of the route alone.
In the following two short video sequences you can see the difference between the tandem pole with attached children’s bike and the Funtrailer.
| Ausweichmanöver | Rangierfahrt |