WeeRide Co-Pilot Bike Trailer

by WeeRide

Product Features

• Sturdy bike trailer for teaching your child how to ride a bike
• Attaches quickly and easily to almost any bike with a seat post
• Acts just like a regular bike, with handlebars, seat, and pedals
• Quick-release detachment system; safety flag and handlebar pad
• Holds up to 75 pounds; weighs 24 pounds; recommended for ages 4 to 9

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Train a child how to ride a bike without dealing with training wheels with the WeeRide Co-Pilot bike trailer. The Co-Pilot--which attaches quickly and easily to almost any bicycle with a seat post--is just like a regular bike, with handlebars, a seat, and pedals for your youngster.

The Co-Pilot's quick-release system detaches easily from your bike.

However, you have control of the actual ride, including speed, balancing, braking, and steering, while your child tags along. It's a great way to teach basic biking skills and safety without giving up control before he or she is ready. Your son or daughter and pedal to help you along or just coast and enjoy the scenery.

The Co-Pilot is equipped with a true quick-release system for quick detachment from the adult bike, along with adjustable handlebars that accommodate children of different heights. In addition, the seat is more comfortable and better built than typical bike trailer seats, so your child will want to keep riding throughout the day. And once you arrive at your destination, the arms fold up easily for compact storage. Other features include an attractive black and silver color scheme, a safety flag and handlebar pad, and a 20-inch wheel size. The Co-Pilot--which holds up to 75 pounds--weighs 24 pounds by itself and is recommended for ages 4 to 9.

Product Description

The WeeRide Co-Pilot is just the thing for a child who wants to tag along with Mommy or Daddy, but doesn't have the legs for it! Your child can pedal to help you along, or just coast and enjoy the scenery. Either way it's fun for BOTH of you! Sturdy construction construction - just like a regular 20" bicycle with regular handlebars, seat, and pedals. Attaches easily and quickly to almost any bicycle with a seatpost, and folds up for storage when not in use. And it even comes with a safety flag to alert motorists. The Co-Pilot is great for the whole family, nothing says togetherness like a family bike ride ! Customer contact information at 1-800-451-KENT (5368) or www.kentbicycles.com

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 63 x 35 x 22 inches ; 28.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 28.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000I4255G
• Item model number: 96455
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (164 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,019 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #2 in Sports & Outdoors > Bikes & Accessories > Accessories > Trailers
  • #7 in Sports & Outdoors > Bikes & Accessories > Kids' Bikes & Accessories > Kids' Accessories
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

130 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great product, great price!, August 12, 2007

By 

Matthew Dittrich (Orange County, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WeeRide Co-Pilot Bike Trailer (Sports)

I agree with the other reviewers regarding the excellent build quality of this "trailer bike." I was very skeptical about the quality, given the unbelievable price (compare to Trek etc.), but decided to give it a shot anyway.

Setup was pretty easy. The only problem was that the seatpost wouldn't go all the way into the frame, which was a must in order for my 4.5 yr old to ride. I needed to jam a scrap metal pipe into the frame's seat tube a couple times in order to knock loose some chunks of metal flashing that were preventing the seatpost from going all the way in. Once that was done though, everything was great. As for attaching to the lead bike, there is a "hitch receiver" that bolts onto the seatpost of the lead bike. The lead bike needs 2 inches of exposed seatpost in order to attach the hitch receiver. The WeeRide attaches to the hitch receiver exactly as would an automobile trailer hitch, except that the WeeRide comes with a quick release bolt for easy attachment/detachment to/from the lead bike. The hinge for folding the WeeRide is also secured by a quick release bolt. Those two quick releases are all you need to mess with when you want to go for a ride. Very simple!

The bike is *almost* too big for my 4.5 yr old daughter to ride. She was freaked out at first because, even with the seat all the way down, she can't touch the ground with her feet. And the hinged coupling between the seatpost "hitch" and the WeeRide frame has a little play in it, so it felt a bit wobbly to my daughter at first. But once she got used to the idea that she's firmly attached to Dad's bike, and Dad's bike doesn't tip over :) , she started to enjoy herself. More about fit: the crankarms on the WeeRide are pretty long, so I expect my kids to be able to enjoy it for as long as we want to. It will take a *very* long time for the kids to physically outgrow this bike.

A few thoughts about safety. First of all, the WeeRide does not have any braking capability. The copilot's choices are to pedal or to freewheel. This is good, since it ensures that the copilot can't lock up the back wheel. It seems like that might potentially cause problems (think jackknifed 18-wheelers). Second, the "pilot," or lead bicyclist, needs to avoid bumps as much as possible, and if not possible, the pilot needs to warn the copilot, just as on a tandem bike. The copilot can *not* see straight ahead when riding! Third, the pilot must avoid any sudden movements if possible. Don't stop too hard, accelerate too suddenly, or turn too quickly! It's very easy for the copilot to space out and relax a bit too much, since they don't have to do any work! Warn in advance before turning etc. if possible.

All that said, my 4.5 yr old daughter LOVES being a copilot! This half-bike allows my wife, my 7 year old son, my daughter and I to all go on rides together and explore a lot more than we could when my daughter was riding her little 16" bike with training wheels. Much more enjoyable for all this way!

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great!, May 16, 2007

By 

Katherine Batalov (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WeeRide Co-Pilot Bike Trailer (Sports)

I purchased this item for my 4.5 year old daughter. We all enjoy bike riding, but my daughter was scared riding in the street (she does great on paved trails). I wanted to spend the summer riding as a family to the library, pool, etc so I bought the co-pilot for my daughter. She LOVES it.

It is easy to attach and take apart, the seat and handle adjust to her height, and the attachment bar folds so it is east to store. She rides along and waves and chats with people she sees out on the street and every evening asks to go for a bike ride.

When she pedals I can tell, but it is really not that much help. I only notice it if I am trying to slow down and she is pedaling. I thought it would be awkward for me to balance but no problems so far.

The only thing I am cautious about is taking a turns, you need to take them fairly wide. I took a sharp turn when my older son was riding behind me and the co-pilot tipped over.

All in all I am glad I bought it and we have been enjoying our bike rides.

158 of 177 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars We returned ours, I have _serious_ safety concerns!, August 17, 2007

By 

Theron (SF Bay Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WeeRide Co-Pilot Bike Trailer (Sports)

Our experience with the WeeRide co-pilot was very disappointing. Our son was dumped off the bike once, and we found that a critical bolt almost came completely loose which could have caused serious injury during a ride. This review is long but before you buy this product I suggest you read the details of our experience! Note: our four-year old _loves_ riding on a trailer-bike, so I agree with all of the other reviews that trailer-bikes are a great, great thing for 4-5 year-olds. However, if our experience is representative I'd stay away from the co-pilot!

We bought a WeeRide co-pilot trailer-bike because REI recalled the one they make, called the Novara Afterburner, which we were very happy with. We ride our bikes a lot and although REI said they would send a fix for the Afterburner in a month or two, we couldn't wait that long. I only have experience with these two trailer bikes but will offer a comparison of the two.

Assembling the co-pilot once it arrived wasn't too bad. I liked the REI trailer-bike because we could try it out before we bought it, and then it came already assembled -- but certainly ordering the co-pilot online has its conveniences too. The first disappointment was that the co-pilot has a piece that has to be semi-permanently attached to the parent's bike. The REI trailer-bike has a quick-release mechanism that makes it easy to move the trailer-bike from one bike to another. Moving the co-pilot takes 5-10 minutes and an allen wrench.

On the second time we used the co-pilot, our four-year old was dumped off the bike. My wife was walking her bike while our son rode the trailer-bike, and she made a somewhat tight turn to get the bike turned around. The trailer-bike leans a little bit when you make a tight turn (same was true for the REI trailer-bike) and our son is pretty used to it. Except with the co-pilot, the lean of the trailer-bike and the weight of our son caused the mounting piece attached to my wife's seat post to suddenly pivot around, increasing the amount of lean in the trailer-bike to about a 45-degree angle. Our son wasn't prepared for this and fell over sideways. Fortunately he was only shaken up a little bit, and he had enough positive experience with our REI trailer-bike that he was willing to get back on. However, we have some friends that had a similar experience and their daughter refused to ride it again (I don't know if it was a co-pilot or some other brand).

When we got home, I checked the tightness of the bolts that attach the mounting piece to my wife's bike, and it was pretty tight. Nonetheless I could fairly easily yank the mounting piece side to side. I then proceeded to tighten the bolts to the point that I was stripping them, and still I could move the mounting piece side to side. Finally I had to insert some pieces of rubber around the seat post and then re-tighten the bolts to the point of stripping them before I felt comfortable that the sudden pivoting problem wouldn't happen again. The problem is that the mounting piece doesn't have sufficient contact surface area with the seat post. In comparison, the REI trailer-bike attaches _extremely_ tightly to the seatpost and there is absolutely no play, whereas the co-pilot still had some small amount of side-to-side play even when tightened to the maximum.

On our third ride with the co-pilot, one of the bolts in the bracket for holding the flag wiggled loose and the flag fell off somewhere. That was annoying, but at least there were no potential for injuries that time.

Our fourth ride with the co-pilot was the longest yet (about 10 miles). Halfway into the ride I noticed that one of the bolts on the arm that attaches the trailer-bike to the parent's bike was loose. I didn't have the right tool to fix it, so we just watched it carefully while we rode home. When we got home, I checked just how loose it was, and it was only about 1.5 turns away before the threads disengaged. The bolt still would have had to then shake out so I cannot say how long that might have taken. However, this is a _serious_ safety issue! The bolt is at the point in the arm (close to the parent's bike) that allows the arm to pivot up and down (e.g. when the trailer-bike goes over a speed bump the angle of the arm needs to change). If we had been riding along at full speed and that bolt had shaken loose, the arm of the trailer-bike would do a nose-dive into the pavement and our son would probably get thrown head-first off the trailer-bike.

We immediately stopped using the co-pilot, and shipped it back. I would caution anyone who buys one to be very careful and inspect yours repeatedly. We are much happier with our REI (Novara Afterburner) trailer-bike -- although the recall has been a drag at least I am reassured that REI is taking safety seriously. Much more seriously than WeeRide seems to be!