Customer Reviews

Sunlite Bicycle Dog Leash

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The product is a good idea and is built very well. The construction is very beefy and welds are solid. There is one thing I would strongly caution individuals considering this product, however. It does not fit well on frames of bicycles that do not have a "standard" design. In other words, if the lower frame support from the pedals to the rear tire is not straight, you will have an issue. My bicycle has bends in the frame in that area. I tried to "make it work", but halfway through the ride with my dog, he darted to one side and ripped the back wheel out of the frame.

I really like this dog leash. I use it for my border collie mix, my lab mix and my foster dog which is a Dachshund mix. The border collie pulls the bike, which I don't like, but she doesn't get tangled in the leash or the bike so it still works fine. I have to be very careful with her because if she gets distracted (squirrel, other dog, etc.) even though she is less than fourty pounds she can pull the back end of the bike out of balance. I have not ever fallen, but I have to pay extra special attention when I ride with her. The other two are great. They follow along at whatever pace I set and it is great. I would be concerned about anyone using this with a large dog or a high energy dog. My recommendation would be to just keep your eyes open and be ready for anything. Other than that, my pack gets a good run every morning and they really seem to enjoy it.

Looking for a way to get your dog the exercise he/she needs? - this is one of the best. There are other fancier designs for more dough with springs and leashes off to the side, but design one works well.

I've heard: "A tired dog is a happy dog" and that I've experienced first hand in the past. I've been very excited about getting this bike leash and my excitement was warranted - it's exactly what I needed. I can ride a lot further than I can walk, I don't get bored, I have more fun, I can coast down hills, and all while I'm exercising the dog - the dog gets a much better workout than I could ever give him on my own two feet.

It doesn't come with instructions which I found odd, but it is easy to slip the catch on the rear axle and velcro the bar to one of the crossbars of the bike - it doesn't require any modifications to the bike and I had mine on in about 10 minutes of thinking and 3-4 minutes of trying it out. I didn't even need any tools, just used the quick release on the rear wheel. I believe it would fit on any bike - but I'm no expert on bikes.

My dog is very strong, and is still a puppy. I have a mountain bike with thick tread tires, and he can pull left and right and not have any problems with falling over at all. I could feel the pull but it didn't cause any problems of balance or falling and it did not appear at any time to be dangerous to the dog.

It's worked out well for me, I hope it works out well for you too.

Length:: 0:15 Mins

UPDATE: SAFETY WATCH-OUT: With more experience I've had my 100 lb Greyhound Husky mix, who pulls hard to the side at squirrels, bend my rear axle quick release hub while riding, which made my mountain bike back wheel loose. Yesterday while at the bike shop getting new pedals for my wife's bike I noticed a bike on the stand with the same Pyramid bike leash as mine, with original red leash. I mentioned to the shop tech that I had the same item but had changed it out due to the safety issues with my bigger dog. He told me that the bike was in the shop because the dog had bent the quick release hub on that bike so badly that he had trouble getting it out of the bike. Because of this safety issue with bigger dogs I've lowered my rating of this item to three stars. I think it still works well with smaller dogs and medium sized dogs that don't pull, but would not recommend it with larger dogs on a bike with a quick release hub. I think it would be much safer with a rear axle that uses the old fashioned thread and nut due to the much larger and stronger components. In any case if you are using this with a big dog with a quick release axle consider going slower and checking the rear axle frequently. One thing I've considered but haven't tried would be putting a sleeve, like a long washer, over the shaft of the quick release axle make it stronger so it won't bend. It may be worth a try if you are handy with this sort of thing.

I changed mine out to a home made unit that I bolted on. Same concept but studier with my big dog. I picked up a 3/4" x 3/4" square aluminum tube from H Depot. Drilled a through hole in my lower frame that holds the rear tire in two places and bolted it on. I did the bolt holes vertically so they would not affect the up and down stresses and used the smallest diameter bolts, Like 1/8". The end of the tube goes about 10" behind my tire where I drilled a vertical hole that I smoothed (to prevent wear) and thread my bungee through and then tie a knot to prevent it from pulling through the hole. And yes because its on the bottom of the frame I have to unbolt my bracket to remove my rear wheel.

Original: Only 4 stars because attachment to bike frame is a little hokey, but nevertheless it has worked well. I've owned this for a few weeks. I have two dogs I run on this. The larger is 100 lb husky greyhound mix that dashes to the side to chase any small prey (squirrels). I looked at all available similar products and went with this one because it attaches to the lowest point on the bike giving me the most stability when my dog pulls hard to the side. I've also replace the rigid nylon leash supplied with a bungee cord to lessen the shock on both the dog and me when he pulls. If you use a bungee cord make sure it is short enough that the dog can not stretch it so that he can run in front of the front wheel. I started with a 1/8" nylon bungee cord which worked surprising well for a week and then broke at the knot. Now I'm using a 1/4" nylon bungee cord that works really well. My larger dog pulls me with this for about 2 miles at 15-20 MPH (I'm NOT peddling) before he begins to tire. When he pulls sideways hard and sharply, I can feel it but its very controllable on good ground or pavement (I'm 150 lbs). I Haven't tried it in the snow yet, but may switch to bike snow tires. With my larger dog, I use a gentle leader which attaches to his head instead of a regular harness. This may help in limiting how hard he pulls to the side. My smaller dog, a 65 lb border collie / cattle dog mix runs along like he was made for it. I have him in a regular chest harness.

Attaching to the bike. See photos. Important if you have a quick release, the bracket is about 1/4" thick and it is likely that you will need to get a longer rear axle skewer/quick release. I tried to use the one I had but could only grab a few threads which I stripped out. My local bike shop gave me another one for free that was a little longer and had a Steel nut instead of an aluminum nut so I could tighten it hard, which I think is needed more so than a regular wheel attachment. I would have felt better if I was using an old fashioned rear axle that had a threaded shaft and nut that I could have cranked hard.

Safety to consider. Some of the other devices sell a breakaway piece that attaches on the leash. This way in case you or your dog get on the wrong side of a pole, tree, or other unmovable object the breakaway piece safely breaks at a low enough force prevent harm to your dog and you. Worth considering (I should take my own advice)

Before you buy a expensive bicycke dog leash, try this one. It might be all you need.
One does not feel the dog pulling from side to side, and he stays out of the way for that occasional car. (I have found autos Really slow down to pass; maybe because they find a dog on a bike leash interesting, cute or whatever. However it's wise to stay on low traffic roads or bikepaths).
The only thing I recommend is to start out with short runs and gradually build up so one gives time for dogs paws to toughen up on the pavement AND buy a good bicycle mirror so you can monitor dog (i.e. getting tired and needs a short rest and track dogs gait. Sometimes the dogs likes it to slow down just for a bit for a while.
My dog is a 50+lb. sheperd mix and loves it to the point he gets excited when he sees me put on my bike helmet. I'm amazed how far he wants to go but for their safety make it a comfortable pace for them AND don't forget water...they need to hydrate.
It's the exercise many dogs need AND I found he behave better for the rest of the day.
Comes off easily when you go solo (But the dog hates that!!:) )

My 10 y.o. son has bike leash attached to his bike and runs our very energetic lab/pit mix everyday. Bike leash is very sturdy and easy to use. Great for covering more ground quickly - if unable to take a walk with your dog. Also helpful in establishing the bike rider as a pack leader. Highly recommend this item to anyone with an energetic dog.

I really like this product. Unlike other dog/bike leashes it doesn't hang way off the bike, allowing me to easily ride without my dog. It doesn't have a "safety" release like the others, but I like that. I'd rather clothesline my dog around a pole - you can stop a bike pretty quickly - then have the release give way and my dog run into traffic.

Nala, my border collie, loves going for bike runs. She gets so much better exercise in a fraction of the time of walking. The leash can handle pulls easily. You'll feel them but it won't effect your balance on the bike. I highly recommend the product. The only negative is the lack of instructions. I figured it out pretty quickly, but I shouldn't have to.

I'm so glad I didn't buy a super expensive bike attachment. This was less than $24.00 ! I was thinking there's no way this is going to work and especially for under $24. I almost bought a Springer but keep hearing reviews saying the leash can come unattached and I didn't like that at all. I have a mini schnauzer and a BIG Golden Retriever baby. My mini Schnauzer has always been so good on the bike he just runs beside the handle bars and I hold his leash between my hand and the handle bar. My Golden is HYPER and crazy and pulls HARD. lol. She's young. I could feel her pull on the Pyramid leash but not has hard as I thought it would feel...that wasn't the problem. I didn't like how her neck got jerked so hard when she wasn't on queue....which she hardly ever is because she is a floppy crazy hyper puppy. ..so I replaced the leash with a regular ol' bungee cord I got from Wal-Mart and these two little metal clips that only cost $3 at Wal-Mart. I rigged it on the bike by using plyers to make circles out of the hooks on the end of the bungee cords. I also added a PetsMart doggie seatbelt loop just to make the leash longer. If you couldn't find this you could so easily make one. I've had to do that before. The bungee makes it to where there is just a little quick jerk on her neck and she gets back into place. I am going to post a link and I hope Amazon will show it. I think it will be VERY helpful. Works great. I'm soooo GLAD I bought this. I had to use chicken to entice my dog to stay on the right side because that is where I want her. The way my bike is made the attachment will only go on the left side and yet she can still be on my right side. Every now and then if she comes too close to the bike I can feel the bungee cord rubbing the tire just a little bit...no problem. If you have any questions feel free to email me:
angelleah81@yahoo.com
http://s401.photobucket.com/albums/pp99/AngelLeah1981/Pyramid%20Bicycle%20Dog%20Leash/
Also, it's going to be on my youtube angelleah1981 as of March 17th 2009

The leash has worked wonderfully. My two dogs love it - although one of them took four trips before he began to enjoy it. It is next to impossible for the dog to cause me to lose my balance. The product was shipped quickly. It did not have any instructions, but you would have to be brain dead to not understand how it attaches. If that is the case - you shouldn't be using it anyway.

I just bought this for my 95-pound lab. I wanted to have something that would work for those days when I get home from work a bit later, allowing both of us to get our workout. Up till now it's been too much weekend warrior for me, as I feel the dog needs to get a good workout when I get home.
No instructions with the leash, though I did find a rudimentary drawing with sequentially-numbered labels online. I took it to the local bike shop to sort out how to put it on. They did so and wouldn't let me pay for the service.

I've only used the leash yesterday and today so far. It is very sturdy, as one of the other reviewers noted, and also pretty unobtrusive, protruding only a few inches at the rear of the bike. When not in use, the leash clip (dog end) can be hung over the bike lever that allows for wheel removal.

I'm proud of my dog and the way he's behaved to date, just leary of what will happen to me when he sees the first cat.