Do you ride with someone?

[Nvreloader]

How many of you ride with a better half, someone you care about, small G-kids etc.
Have you even thought about what would happen if they or you had a bike malfunction that could not be repaired/fixed on the spot? The bike has mechanical problem, but can be ridden or towed home safely, and you are several miles from home base?

How would you get them home? Do you carry a bike tow line with you?

I made a 15' long by 1 inch soft nylon strap, the strap is tied to the rear of my bike and then is wrapped around the steering stem of the towed bike, IT IS NOT TIED off,
the nylon strap is wrapped from the bottom up the steering stem of the towed bike, over lapping the turns for at least 6-8 turns, then the free end is then grabbed by the rider and held against the handle bar end, by hand pressure only.

If a problem occurs' when being towed, the towed rider just release the free end and the tow line unwraps from the steering stem allowing the towed rider to control the towed bike, as they wish.

I used this with my 7yo G-daughter, was all slightly down hill going, but uphill on the return trip, she got tired and got off and was pushing her bike home, I attached the tow line and showed her how it works, then pulled her several miles to camp, with no problems on a gravel road.
ps,
It didn't take long, before the other 2 also "got tired" and wanted to be towed home by Grand Pa...lol
Glad I had a 750w bike and lots of back up battery power.

You can also buy one here,
I don't like the way they tied off to the towed bike.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DTPF54F4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2EIEVPBN1PFLY&th=1
There are several options,
Your thoughts or suggestions...
yrmv

 

[stompandgo]

Not yet.

 

[Aushiker]

No.

 

[sc00ter]

I've used a tow strap (Chase Harper brand) once in all my years of 2 wheel ownership. Once was enough for me. If the bike breaks down with the wife and I, and its to far to walk home and grab the truck, we just leave the ebike/scooter/motorcycle and call a cab. Go back and pick it up later. I don't do apps like Uber or anything. Farthest I've broken down? Two hundred miles from home on the side of the interstate. Wife's sister came out and rescued us! I went back the next day and retrieved the broken scooter (crappy Qlink, aka CFMoto) with m y minivan. I miss that van.

 

[indianajo]

Nobody has the patience I do, nor the stamina. Nobody rides as slow as I do, I sit upright. In last 17 years I had 6 unrepairables. Shimano 7 speed rear race came unscrewed, dropped the balls. Could not have been towed. Rear shimano 6 speed axle broke under my enormous 180 lb weight. Could not have been towed. Rear tire blew, 7 " rip in side wall. Could not have been towed. Rear tire knifed, could not be towed. Rear tire poked with pick, could not be towed. Schwinn roll up tires would blow off the rim, but now the folding ones from Panaracer are just sleazy, run out of round, but don't blow. I carry one plus 3 tubes and a pump. Seat converter (post clamp to rail seat) the shaft broke. I could not even sit on the bike, much less be towed.
I rode mostly off the edge of cell phone coverage, or only had friends with mini-cars that won't accept a bicycle. So I have frequently walked pushing the bike. I wear good walking shoes and carry plenty of water. Longest push was 11 miles, another was 9.

 

[PCeBiker]

I ride alone.

I don't want to feel responsible for anyone else's mistakes, or have them feel responsible for any of mine.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Over 90% of my rides are solo. The rest are with the missus, a few friends (one at a time), or occasionally a local group of mostly roadies.

No rides with someone else who came to need a rescue. And I've needed only one myself — after a failed flat repair ~4 miles from home on a solo ride. One of my riding friends picked me up.

Can't see myself carrying a tow line just in case on my usual 38 lb 240W mid-drive gravel bike. Lots of hills around here, so I limit its cargo to ~1 kg of essentials. No onboard storage for anything else.

 

[mschwett]

I ride with my kids for weekend outings. In the event or catastropic failure or other emergency, lock the bikes up and jump on a bus, train, Waymo, uber.

 

[PCeBiker]

I've pulled over more than a few times to swap my batteries or fix something, and had people stop and ask if I was ok.

I haven't riden much of any off-road trails this year because it's been a wet year, and this kinda s*it really sucks,..

 

[indianajo]

I've pulled over more than a few times to swap my batteries or fix something, and had people stop and ask if I was ok.

I've pushed my bike with groceries and a blown tire waving a $50 bill at pickup trucks and SUV's and only fellow church members ever stop. One spandex rider did offer his 32 mm x 27" tube and CO2 cartridge, which unfortunately did not fit my 57 mm x 26" knifed tire. Obviously to the rich people owning the properties where I ride, I'm homeless. Actually I ride back & forth between 2 homes for exercise. Pushing my bike is not my preferred type of exercise. In June I bought my own pickup truck, which cost 20% more than my city house bought 1984, and 5/12 what the country house cost in 2023.

 

[Roamers]

We never ride alone. I can't imagine a case that towing would be the best/only solution.

 

[Gordon71]

No. It gets tricky enough where I live with cars passing me on curves including uphill curves. A lot of people are just too stupid to wait for a safe place to pass. There have been a few close calls with cars coming the other way. Passing more than one bike would just make things worse.

 

[6zfshdb]

I usually ride alone but sometimes with my wife & brother.

I always carry a tow strap when riding with someone else. The only time I needed it, I bent a rim and couldn't tow the bike. Instead, I left my brother with the busted bike at a trail road crossing and rode his bike back to my truck. I then drove back and picked up both bikes.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I think the problem here is that the most probable catastrophic failures that would render a bike unrideable would also make it impossible to tow the bike as well.

With most imaginable drivetrain failures you can usually jury-rig it well enough to get home slowly with modest discomfort. E.g. if you bend or break a chain or wreck the derailleur hanger you can remove parts of the chain (you do carry a chain tool, don't you?) and the hanger and make the bike an awkwardly geared single speed for the trip home.

 

[Chargeride]

I always carry a bag of nylon straps, grips, chain extractor, spare tube, roll of electrical tape, multi bit screwdriver and a length of metal trim with holes.
And a spare old school phone with a prepaid sim.

 

[Base]

Kommit tow system? TowWhee strap? to name a few.... M-\wave and Zefal also have those systems

in adventure races they use a small diameter dynamic climbing rope to tow the weakest teammember on the mtb courses. usually a 6.2mm dynamic cord from a twin rope system.

 

[McApple]

I usually ride alone, a group ride once a week during the Summer months, and with DW on occasion. My rescue strategy is a cell phone, and for backup, a couple of $20 bills in my pocket.