Getting your kids out on the trail is always a challenge. While many younger riders enjoy mountain biking and spend can love to spend time in the saddle, the often don’t have the endurance to pedal up steep or extended climbs. So the creators of Tow-Whee came up with a solution combining a high quality bungee cord inside a strong section of tubular webbing…

Over the years I’ve occasionally run into somebody on the trail pulling a kid with some homemade rope or webbing setup. And I think I was always torn between joking that they should give me a pull, and actually being genuinely worried for the kid might get hurt with such a sketchy setup. That was creator Eric Landis’ thought to, but as a creative mountain biker and climber, he knew he could come up with a better solution.

The solution is simple, but effective. Tow-Whee sews a high-strength bungee cord inside a length of 1500lb rated tubular nylon climbing webbing to create an incredibly strong tether that can be easily attached in order to pull a bike. The stretching design ensures that it picks up the slack when your kid pedals or starts to catch up, going from 180″ (15′) when stretched out, back to 56″ (4’8″) bunched up. That keeps it from getting caught it either the tower’s or towee’s wheels.

The bungee also works well to make the pulling progressive. So as your kid starts to drop back further they get more of a tug. At the same time if they pedal to keep up there is less of a strong force pulling them. The added benefit is no abrupt jerking when you start off or take up slack in the line.

The Tow-Whee was intended as an uphill-only deal, and easily comes on an off the bikes with a simple loop under the towee’s stem and the other pulled over the nose of the leader’s saddle.

Users have successfully used them in reverse to keep young, less experienced riders’ speed in check on descents as well.

The simple $40 tow strap weighs just 5oz/140g. In hivis red/orange, it is intended to pull a 40-120lb rider. If you want one to pull a rider heavier than 100lb, there is also a black Adult version for $50 that is 2′ longer and weighs just an ounce more. Both are made in the US, and available direct from TowWhee’s site.


  1. This is a next level version of the strap I use to tow my kids behind the fatbike on a sled, but I’ve always been a bit concerned about the rearward force applied to the top of the seatpost like that. Maybe it’s not even close to the effect of a rider’s body weight landing on the saddle in rough terrain, but it’s not a comparative calculation I’m equipped to perform.

  2. It would be tempting to go fast on singletrack, which may be dangerous. Long slow climbs would seem safe, and that is the intention. There are several trails I can think of where you could pull up a gravel road and descend a good trail for kids.

  3. Note that the marketing materials do not say, “Tired of riding all the wimpy trails because junior is along? Now ride anywhere you want with the new Towtron 2000!” Does the manufacturer really have to tell you to stay on trails in line with your kid’s riding ability?

  4. How does it do in tight singletrack? I’d be willing to give it a try. I might buy one before it gets sued out of existence like lawn darts and pressurized super soakers.

  5. I currently use a heavy duty retractable dog leash set up, attached to my seat post and a weehoo mount. Being able to lock the leash or allow it to extend/retract on the flats so she can work hard too, is a nice feature. Only attach it for decent climbs to save my 7 yr old’s leg until we get to the fun stuff. We can do a 12-15 mi ride with 1200 feet of climbing that would not otherwise be feasible for Her at this age, even with a decent geared 20″ set up. Actually works better than originally expected. Could things go wrong, sure, but we’re careful and I’ve taught her to communicate with me about what is going on. Has resulted in her being hooked on the mtb!

  6. I have this product. It works great! It doubles or even triples the distance i can cover with my small (4.5) child.

    It’s light, it’s simple, it’s very easy to use.

  7. If you don’t feel like pulling the kiddo up the hill, one might simply find a couple of trailside trees and slingshot that little bastard to the top.

