anichka

How do you do it?

- How many miles (with and without kids)?
- What type of bike?
- What type of kid-carrying device?
- Year-round or only fair weather?

I am trying to become a year-round commuter with a toddler in tow. We've done well so far this spring/summer with a Yepp Mini mounted on the front of a vintage 3-speed Raleigh, but I am wondering how we'll get through winter. We have a bike trailer but my son and I both kinda hate it, and I am hoping to get a bike that is a little better hill climber than the one I have now. The 3-speed doesn't always cut it out here in the PNW when I have a kid and two pannier bags loaded with stuff.

ExpatinEU

If you have money to burn the europeans have solved this problem with tons of strange (and kind of awesome) ideas. A few links to get you thinking:

https://www.workcycles.com/home-produ...as-family-bike
https://www.triobike.com/default.asp?clicked=379

I couldn't believe how many people owned the box style in the netherlands. They have rain covers, and it seems like everyone owns one.

I haven't seen the more tandem style (like the fr8) in action, but it's more "bikey". You could possibly remove the seat aspect of the rear rack I'd guess and the bike would still be something you'd use once your kid gets his own bike.

PaleoFloridian

My husband drops our daughter off at preschool in the mornings in the (our only) car and I ride up to get her at Noon. It's about 3 miles round trip.

I have a Madsen cargo bike. There are a couple of threads in the Utility Cycling section on cargo bikes, if you want to go that route. I love my bike. I affectionately call it "Freightliner" or "Dump Truck" LOL

The bucket IS the kid carrier in my bike, complete with seat belt.

Year Round. Summer has sucked picking my kid up in the heat of the day. She has conked out in the bike several times. We have ridden home in the rain a few times as well (I'm in FL and we have a summer afternoon rainy season). I'm still looking around on Lands End and LLBean and such places for a winter rain/wind/coldernawitchestit parka for us both.

SpasticSprocket

I love that triobike, It looks like it could hold any kid that fits in a standard stroller, and when they outgrow it? You get a trendy looking grocery getter. Heck I don't even have kids and I want it.

treadtread

I sometimes drop my son n this:


I used to drop him at daycare, about a mile from home, bike back and then ride my sirrus to work. Last week I took the magna minivan-bike to work instead. Was a lot more work, but manageable - my commute is 3 miles one way. A few strange looks, but that's all

anichka

How does a cargo bike do on hills? I know they are popular even out here (at least in the blogosphere), but I haven't seen any trucking up hills with kids since I've lived here (only since January, but still...).

I just got my son wet weather pants and jacket set from LL Bean to prepare for the winter in sizes large enough to layer. The prices weren't too bad for something that will probably last us less than a year at his age.

ExpatinEU

That triobike converts to a regular bike with 20" wheels (and the kid part converts to a stroller). If you didn't watch the video converting back and forth you missed the cool part.

PaleoFloridian

I'm in a small town in Florida, so I'm mostly a flat-lander, but there is a hill in my neighborhood which is a blast to go down, but a ***** to get up. This recent blogpost that I found has a decent review of the Madsen. My complaints about the review was the author complaining that the bucket got dirty. Um hello, floor mats in a car get dirty too? But she was trying an older version which didn't have drain holes in the bucket. The Madsen is very easily wiped down. She also said she had dumped her kids out while trying to turn it. That's never happened to me! The kickstand is easy to put down, too. She had borrowed an older model and many of those kinks have been worked out. https://humofthecity.com/2012/08/22/we-tried-it-madsen/

LOL at y'all recommending a triobike! I have gotten **** on here before for spending $1500 on a cargo bike and now the triobike is an option?! That's like the Mercedes of kid-haulers!

ExpatinEU

Odd that this forum (not the commuter section necessarily) will glorify spending anything for the latest titanium/carbon fiber/unicorn horn bike. But spend money on a bike that's gonna WORK and you get flack. Cargo bikes may not be cool, and hauling kids is probably one of the least glamorous cargo uses; but if there was one thing that would motivate me to cough up big money for a bike, it would be transporting my (hypothetical) kids.

dalegribble

I walk with my kids to their school(about 2 miles) and push my bike along side. Once they are dropped off I ride to work(5 miles the other direction).

PaleoFloridian

Just to follow up again... the Madsen is heavy. If I were going more than 3 miles or so and with hills, I would probably spring for an electric assist.

BassNotBass

I want to get vasectomy reversal and move to Amsterdam just so I can own/ride either the Triobike or the WorkCycles FR8. (OK, maybe I'll just adopt a grandchild and move to Amsterdam).

HardyWeinberg

I used mtn bike gearing and a trailer. I spent a year using road-triple gearing w/ the trailer and a nontrivial hill from their preschool it took me that long to figure out why I was so tired when I got them home. My kids never had trouble w/ the trailer but every kid or set of them is different. At the end when I really wished my daughter would get on a trail-a-bike she didn't want to let the trailer go. Too much responsibility to hold onto the t-a-b less time to lounge in splendid luxury of the trailer.



(she was riding in there from ~12 months through age 5-ish, at 1st w/ her older brother and then alllll to herself)

chefisaac

this thread rocks!

Shavit

amen. 'bikes as transportation' hasn't quite caught hold all of the way in this forum. It'll be nice when more people catch on ... maybe then our cities/governments/businesses will too.

The trio looks outstanding (and not so expensive. More likely than not it would pay for itself in a year from your gas budget if you actually used it.) I'd probably still go for the cheaper fixed version of the 'bucket' bike. (Just feels like too many moving parts and not enough money to get it fixed.)

I have a "dutch" bike (maybe not so different than your current bike, who knows?). year round (unless for some reason i feel like taking a cab. sometimes i'm grouchy). no kids of my own, but someone posted a link up top that shows the set up for when i help out my brother and haul my niece (between 5-10 days a month, year round). It's essentially foot pegs and a seat . Real easy to fabricate if you can't find access in a store/online. Feels much safer than having the seat in the back to me (weight distribution? don't know, just feels off/too different) and cost a whole bunch less. Plus, the foot pegs can adjust as she grows and it's really nice to have the her company. Sometimes his older daughter hitches a ride by sitting on the rear rack. (it's safe, don't yell at me.)

My brother lives close and the school is close ... maybe a 3-4 mile ride from his house to the school, but it's only a little out of my way going to work so i've never really worried about it. We often take a detour when time permits for ice cream/ hot chocolate depending on the season.

The three-speed can be a bit difficult on hills. If you are in the market, I'll recommend this one (7-speed if the link sends you to a different screen). It's quite a bit easier to find in North America than some of the others and a few friends and my favorite bike shop have spoken highly of its quality/sturdiness for hauling kids/groceries/etc. I like the way it looks too ... I'm sure some other, similar bikes would do the job fine.

Pedaleur

I used to take my daughter to school downtown (~7km) on a regular basis in all kinds of weather. On nice days, we'd take the ride-behind; when the weather sucked, she'd ride in the Burley trailer and sings songs for me. What a life! Alas, now we live within walking distance of school.

The three-wheels family bikes rock, but trailers are so much cheaper -- and more flexible.

yellowtanktop

We use a trailer. My husband does preschool drop-off (2 kids) by bike+trailer, 3 miles each way, rain, wind, sun. Weather is irrelevant for him. He then returns home and heads back out to ride to work. I pick up the kids, sometimes with a bike+trailer combo, sometimes by car. I'm pickier about the weather. He uses his hybrid with the trailer and changes to his folding bike for work, which might be an additional 2 to 8 miles each way, depending on which location he needs to be at that day. I have a city bike (very heavy, step-through frame, 5 speeds). Our trailer (and usually my bike rack and bike basket, depending on how many errands I'm running) is always loaded with stuff as well. Very heavy, for me especially as I am small, but I just do it anyway. Uphill and headwinds all the way home...good workout and no need for the gym afterward!

krobinson103

My daughter and I ride on that. If it rains we wear rain suits. 25kg of kid on the back on a steep hill makes it interesting some days, but we really roll on the flats. Blew past a few road bikes the other day and the looks on their faces was classic.

rlp

Starting when my daughter was about 5 we use to commute on a tandem with child cranks installed. After dropping her off I would ride the tandem solo to work. The only issue was putting up with all comments from motorist telling me I had lost someone, most were joking but some were serious. Being in SoCal weather was not a big issue, we would ride in the cold and light rain. She is now 22 and still talks about it.

Ktea

I take my 1 year old son to daycare every day on my way to work (picking him up on my way home). I ride a Trek 7.2fx with a Topeak kid seat. We just moved to this area so while we've been cranking out this commute every day for the past few months we haven't hit winter weather yet, so we'll see how that goes. Rain is not fun, but we each wear rain jackets & rain pants under the assumption that we won't melt. The trip to the daycare is about 1.5 miles and then I have an additional 3/4 mile or so to work.

anichka

I'm actually looking into electric assist bikes now for the first time ever thanks to this thread! I figure with a 15-25 mile commute every day with my son in a hilly area, it might be worth it? I don't want to spend the time in a car, but I also can't afford the estimated 2-3 hours it would take me to get my kid to daycare, get myself to school and/or work, etc. Trying as hard as possible to keep us as a one-car family without making life too hard for now.

The pics on this thread are great!

GodsBassist

The last place we lived: (he was 3~5)
1/4 mile trip to daycare we walked to. 4 mile trip to church and anywhere else was in the trailer. We got about 2 thousand miles on it before one of the wheels literally fell off on the MUP.

Where we're at now: (he was 5 and now 6 yo)
1 mile to day care he walks or rides his scooter, and the grocery store is across the street. Anywhere else we need to go is on the Trail-a-Bike. He likes pedaling.