Recreational & Family - What bikes for my husband and I + trailer for 1 yr old.

I'm hoping you all can help us. we are looking to buy bikes for my husband and I, plus a bike trailer for our 1 year old daughter.

we plan to do pretty basic biking, nothing crazy, especially because of our daughter. mostly flat, some beach, etc.

we don't want to really spend more than $400 per bike. We are also thinking about getting the burley d'lite (sounds nice from what i read anyway).

can you recommend a good bike for us, and advise if the burley d'lite is our best option? we will eventually have 2 kids we hope.

should we be looking at comfort or hybrid? and which brands/makes are recommended?

thanks so much. i'm a complete newbie, but we want to buy something that will last for years to come and provide lots of fun and enjoyment for our family.

First off, DH means downhill in a cycling forum rather then dear husband.

The Burley d'Lite is an excellent choice. I really can't recommend something better.

As for a bike, if you're beach riding, avoid a suspension fork. Salt water will destroy the best of a fork no matter how well it is sealed. A hybrid is a good choice, as you get the lower gearing you need for trailer towing. Expamles would be Specialized Expidition, Giant Cypress, or Trek 7200. Recreational MTBs work well too, if equppied with slicks.

thanks for pointing out my faux pas. the only other board i visit is a parenting/baby board!!

a friend rattled off a few brands for me the other day. can you tell me which of these are better/worse? raleigh, cannondale, diamondback, trek?

thanks for the reply.

Diamondback and Raleigh are bad (short answer).

I would suggest going to a LBS (local bike store, not lazy bastard spouse ;) ) and get a real feel for what is out there. Trek, Specialized, and Giant are among the biggest names in cycling. Bianchi, Cannondale, Burley and a few others also make great rides.

Hope this helps,

ehenz

We just bought a Burley d'lite and its the coolest thing ever.

Diamondback and Raleigh are bad (short answer).
Sorry, but I have to disagree. There is nothing wrong with Raleigh. You get lots of bang for the buck. I own one and have ridden many happy miles on mine. Did my first metric century on it.

It's not as good as some other brands but still a good bike for someone on a budget or a newbie looking for a good entry level bike (that was me when I bought it :) ).

http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/raleigh/Raleigh-right.jpg

Go with the best Trek hybrids you can get for your money. I bought my wife a Trek 730 when we got married in 1996, and it was the best $400 I even spent. She used it all the time before we had kids; less so now that we have two kids. (We are in the market for one of the Berley trailers, so maybe that will change this year). I took her bike out for a spin last fall just to check it out, and it remains in practically like-new condition. I think they changed the numbering scheme, but her bike probably translates today to the Trek 7300. The cost is probably in the same neighborhood. To get it without the suspension, you may have to go with their "FX" series, which I think means the hybrid is equippped a little more like a road bike.

I agree with the posters who say avoid the suspension fork. With a youngster, you will probably not be doing the kind of riding where it would be helpful. If you do end up in a beach town, the salt will not be good for it.

I firmly believe that if even if you have to spend a little more than $400 per bike (say, $600), you will be rewarded with a bike that you will be more inclined to ride, as well as one that will last for years.

Even if you do not go with Trek, I suspect that hybrids will be your best bet, because they will work well for most of the riding that you can expect to be doing with a young family: a jaunt on a paved bike trail; a spin around the subdivision after dinner in the summer; a short ride to a playground, where you may be on a dirt path for the last couple of hundred yards. In short, hybrids were invented for the all-purpose riding that people with kids may be doing.

We have the InStep Turbo Elite. It does not have the quality of the Burley, but costs a lot less.

I have found it quite adaquate for taking my daughter to school or camp, year round. Given that, I'm sure it would be perfect for occaisional weekend rides.

Paul

At around $400 I considered the Burley D'lite beyond my price range. I paid $100 for an Instep trailer at Target and it lasted about 4 years until my kids outgrew it.

By the way, it's for sale this Saturday at a local yard sale! $60 and it's yours. :)

thanks for the feedback. in looking at trek's site, how can i tell which does or doesn't have the suspension fork?

there is a local bike shop about 20 mins away that i called and they do carry treks. they don't carry burley bike trailers, but they carry trek trailers. he suggested one (can't recall which) and said it was comparable to the burley d'lite. said it was $430 or so.

since we cannot see the burley dlite in person, wondering if it's worth it just to order over the internet?

We joined REI, waited a year, and used our dividend coupon to buy the burley for $344.

We had a avenir trailer that was around $200... but it wasn't even half the trailer that the burley is... The recessed helmet area alone is worth the price for the burley.

Also take a look at Chariot brand trailers... we looked at those, and almost got one... but being from Oregon I decided to support a local business that puts out an excellent product instead.

thanks for the feedback. in looking at trek's site, how can i tell which does or doesn't have the suspension fork?

there is a local bike shop about 20 mins away that i called and they do carry treks. they don't carry burley bike trailers, but they carry trek trailers. he suggested one (can't recall which) and said it was comparable to the burley d'lite. said it was $430 or so.

since we cannot see the burley dlite in person, wondering if it's worth it just to order over the internet?

I looked at the trek trailers...and I am confident in saying that it would be more worthwhile to buy a USED burley for the same price ;) Where do you live? There should be a dealer thats not TOO far away... Like anything else its good to compare several different brands before making a choice...

http://www.burley.com/dealers/default.aspx

ah yes, that's the unfortunate part. i feel like we live in the middle of nowhere in north carolina. we moved here from sunny san diego, and needless to say we are missing it VERY much. shopping around here is VERY limited :( and driving several hours away with a 1 yr who hates car seats, well it's tricky!

but even just reading reviews on the burley trailer, i agree it sounds much better.

My goal is to one day move to the middle of nowhere in North Carolina... <sigh>

As an avid cyclist for over 25 years, a father of a now 4 year old boy, and a bike shop employee for the past 19 years, I'm going to suggest a Comfort bike vs. a Hybrid.

Why? Well, you stated the "Beach", to me, (being on the West of FL) that means SAND. Loose Sand at that. A thin tire that comes on a hybrid will cut through the sand and dig in and STOP. A Comfort bike with a 26" big fat squishy tire will have better control in loose sand and you'll find that riding on the beach will be much easier. Plus, a comfort bike isn't as tall.

Burley is a great company and their trailers are top-notch. However, you will pay more for them. However, I think they're worth it. I got mine handed down to me from a friend, and after about 8 years it was still better than the In-Sport found at your typical "X-Mart" store.

As far as the bikes. Most Bike Shop brands will be comparable in the sub $400 range. You can find decent bikes in the "closer to $300 range". These bike have suspension forks, a suspension seatpost, an adjustable stem (angle and thus forward or upright location of the handlebars). If you can, look at a Haro "Del Sol". We sold these as quickly as we could stock them. They were $50 less than the Gary Fisher's (owned by Trek and similarly priced bikes) and actually had more features and better components. Unfortunately they don't list the Comfort bike line on their website. www.harobikes.com, but there is a dealer locator.