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Old 05-08-14, 02:33 PM
  #17  
mel2012
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The only reason I would remotely consider a trailer is because it has been so long since either of you have been on a bike and it might take a little while for you to regain your equilibrium/balance.

In general, I am a huge fan of bike-mounted child seats and much prefer them over trailers. A front-mounted seat (iBert, WeeRide, Bobike Mini, Yepp Mini) has no effect on the handling of the bike while in motion. They can be a bit tricky to load and mount.

A rear-mounted seat, especially with a heavier child, can make it more difficult to balance, but the only time I've ever "dropped" a bike with a child seat is when I was walking my bike over a steep curb with a 40-lb child in back. I've never had any falls or near falls while on the bike, even with a child in the front and one in the back. We've traveled thousands of miles over the last two years and never had any problems.

Bike-mounted seats make "family biking" a true interactive, engaging, learning family experience. Trailers isolate your kids, placing them down and back from you and making it hard to hear or interact. In addition, I wouldn't trust a 3-year old in a trailer with a one-year old, so I wouldn't count on transporting two at once. Another issue with a 1-year old in a trailer is they may be too short to reach the "helmet well" that most trailers have these days to avoid the helmet being pushed forward over his/her face.

What you could start with is one bike-mounted front seat for the 1-year old and a used/cheap two-seat trailer, primarily to be used for the 3-year old, until you get comfortable with riding again.

I recommend step-through frame bikes for easy mounting/starting/stopping. Virtually any type of bike, including road bikes, can carry a trailer. For bike-mounted rear seats, you'll generally need rack mounts and front-mounted seats won't work with drop bars. Other than that, find a bike that's comfortable and enjoyable to ride.

If you decide to start earlier than 1 year, I would pick a high-backed front seat like a Bobike Mini or Yepp mini, rather than a low-back seat like an iBert or WeeRide.
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