Saturday, November 20, 2010

Not-babies-anymore onboard

With my daughter now four and a half, she's been motoring around great on her training wheels. But even as she progresses in riding on her own, sometimes I'd like to be able to put her on my bike with me for short rides. I've seen the Bobike Junior (see pic), which says it's for kids 5-10 years old (!).

Anyone have experience with it, or other options? I'm not a fan of the trailers, and my daughter is too big for the front-mounted kid carriers.

Here is a good article, if a couple years old, from the Portland Oregonian on the subject. I figure Portland oughta know.

4 comments:

  1. I take my son to school three days a week on this and he loves it. I love how it folds down and out of the way (and gives you a rack option if you really need it).

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  2. I would agree that an Xtracycle, Mundo, Yute, or other variety of long tail bike is ideal for your situation. With one kid you can definitely use a regular wheelbase bike, but the stretched wheelbase really provides stability and, of all the options out there, the smoothest, "regular bike" ride when carrying weight. It would afford you the option to carry your daughter plus groceries, (or even spouse).

    I use a Yuba Mundo to transport my two kids, and I love it. I also just got a Christiania trike (through Boxcycles). The trike offers complete weather protection for the kiddies, and less worries about black ice and slipping, so I get to ride more of the year.

    There is a dad at my daughter's school who uses an old beat up tandem to take his daughter to school (she can't even reach the pedals). And a neighbor has a Brown Cycles tandem, which he steers from the back seat and the front seat is kid sized.

    Another real popular one-child option are the tag-alongs. Many of the companies offer 5-point harness type seats options for the younger kids.

    Bottom line is there are many options when it comes to toting one child. It gets a bit more complicated at two or more kids.


    If you ever want to try out one of mine, let me know.


    Cheers,


    Max

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  3. Apologies to all for my repeating info supplied in the linked article (which I just now read).

    One thing to clarify in the discussion of biking with kids is the difference between recreational riding and utility riding. Having a child old enough to ride a bike, is not the same as having a child old enough to sufficiently use a bike as transportation.


    Max

    The blog Car Free Days (carfreedays.com) had some interesting discussion on the topic of transitioning kids from Xtracycle passengers to riding their own bikes in traffic.

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