mvpapa

I've been looking at possibly getting a Velo Orange Polyvalent as an around town and 'get out of town' bike.

1. Hauling myself back and forth to work.
2. Hauling two little ones to and from daycare, the park, etc.
3. Grocery runs.

4. Getting out of the house and away from number 1 and number 2 listed above for overnight camping trips.

Years ago I had a 80's road bike that was a quasi-conversion to being a porteur style bike (friction-shifting, porteur rack, albatross bars of awesomeness) that I enjoyed quite a bit, but also had a lot of limitations. Hooking up a trailer (back when it was just one kid) was a pain in the rear and the bike had control issues with weights over 10lbs on the porteur rack.

I'd like to know if there are any other suggestions or experiences that people can share as to what works best for them?

unterhausen

For those purposes I'd probably get a Surly Long Haul Trucker. The Polyvalent looks interesting though.

wayoutwest

I have a Polyvalent mk II.




It's pretty awesome. I use it for everything. Long rides in the country, commuting, grocery runs (I have a saddlebag, too), stops at the beer store, friends houses, etc. I sold my car. I love this bike. Things I would have done differently:

42mm tires, instead of 38s
cloth and shellace'd bartape
different front rack.

gerv 

Nice bike. Looks like it would fit the commuting bill.

mkeller234

That is really nice looking. I've done shellac on cloth tape a couple of times but lost interest in it. It looks nice, but it lacked in comfort. It looks like you used leather? If so, that is way nicer than cloth, in my opinion at least.

tarwheel 

Nice job on your Poly. The green and honey brown look great together.

fietsbob

2 children.. might have to look for a long tail cargo bike or a Bakfiets,
with a low front load area
you will still need a trailer for the children with that rig.
unless you are assigning the mother of your children the kid hauling task too,
and double child seat fitting out, her bike . or one of her Bikes..

Its an N+ 2 situation, if you want one of those you need that, plus another bike
for the car free family responsibilities.

dvald001

Nice bike! What kind of bag is that on the front?

wayoutwest

Acorn Bags Boxy Rando Bag.

dvald001

The VO Polyvalent or the Surly LHT could handle those tasks for sure, but me personally I would go for the VO Poly just because when they're built up they look MUCH nicer than a LHT. Ever since I went down to a single car family I've put a higher premium on having bikes that look function well and look good.

Chesha Neko

I'm thinking about building up a MkII as my second bike. How's the sizing? I'm curious about the long top tubes. I normally ride a 56 or 57, but their 57 has a 59cm top tube.