letsgorideabike

Hi everyone! I’ve been perusing these boards for a couple of days now and this seems like a great community. I am interested in doing some more biking with my kids and, if it works out, potentially getting rid of one of our cars! I’m trying to come up with a setup that will work for me and my two little ones, aged 1.5 and 4.

First, I’m not talking about any long commutes here. The majority of my trips will be under 4 miles round trip. The maximum trip I would be taking would probably be 10 miles roundtrip. I did a survey of our neighborhood and was so surprised by the number of businesses that are within 1.5 miles of my house: library, preschool, elementary school, two community centers, three grocery stores, four parks, a bunch of restaurants, four cafes, my dry cleaners, two drug stores, my bank….the list goes on and on. Even Home Depot and Target are only 2 miles away. Why I didn’t think of switching to a bike before is beyond me.

For nearly any trip I take, I will have to use a combination of neighborhood streets and busier streets that have a 50 mph speed limit (although some people think it's a highway and go 65). And I know that there are a lot of people that are vehemently against it, but on the busy streets I will be on the sidewalk, for several reasons: 1) we have a lot of hills in our area 2) we do not have a lot of cyclists using the road, other than experienced cyclists that ride fast, and people around here just seem to not know how to share the road with them 3) we don’t have many pedestrians using the sidewalk 4) I’m not going to be riding fast, and I don’t mind slowing to pass driveways or stopping at every light.

I’ve been researching bikes, trailers, child seats, etc. and here’s the setup I am leaning towards: xtracycle (although I don't know which type of bike) with a peapod seat on the back for my 1.5 year old and my 4 year old in a Burley Solo trailer. In a year or so, I will probably put my younger one in the trailer and my older one can just ride on the back of the xtracycle. Now, I have no idea what it’s going to be like riding a bike with a 20 pounder in a bike seat, three bags of groceries around my back wheel, and towing a trailer. How stable will this setup feel? What about going up and down hills? I am planning on getting an electric kit installed for the sole purpose of helping me get up these hills – I can barely push a stroller up some of them. But coming down hills, how hard will it be for me to brake while carrying a load?

I am leaning towards the Solo trailer because it seems to be well constructed and it has the thinnest profile of any I’ve been able to find (which I think I’ll need for sidewalk riding). I really liked the design of the Tanjor trailer because it’s tandem-style and could fit both of the kids, but they don’t make them any more and I can’t find a used one. Will the solo trailer be thin enough at 27 inches to not have to worry about banging it into things? Are there any other options?

If you're still reading, thank you sooooo much, I’m very sorry for the length of this post! This is a big decision for me, and I’m not sure how much of this gear a local bike shop around here will stock. So if you have any advice on how this sort of set-up will work for my situation I would GREATLY appreciate it. Thanks so much! I look forward to becoming a truly bike-dependent mom.

masiman

That's an interesting set of requirements. I don't think there will be any one perfect answer.

The pros of your Xtracycle solution are that it has a large cargo capacity (trailer plus racks on the bike) in addition to being able to carry the kids. The Marin model seems to be the better choice as it has a disc brake and a more efficient riding position. Discs are not required but they will make for better stopping power.

Another option is a tandem with some combination of trailer, bike seat, etc.

The Xtracycle option gets you through a couple years but it is not as flexible as the tandem in future years. Your 4 year old is likely ready or will be ready within the next year to take a pedaling position in your cycling. Whether that is on a trail-a-bike, stoker position or on their own, they will be able to and should start to get used to being up and maybe contributing to the effort. So then it becomes a question of what will you do when the 1.5 year old is 4.5? The 7 year old should physically be able to ride to the locations you need, safety is a different issue but not one I could speak to.

With the Xtracycle, in these scenarios, you would be looking for ways to get your "tween" kid into a pedaling seat. You'll need some form of TAB and your train will be longer.

With a tandem, you will have that position available for your current 4 year old, in the future for your younger, and a place where you and your SO could ride together if you desired. More flexibility in the tandem but less cargo capacity. There are a few

I'm not trying to change your mind on the bike choice, just trying to give you all the info about what I think your options are.

I'd recommend the 2 kid trailer over the singles. They do fit sidewalks, and again you will have flexibility for seating your kids. Also the 2 kid trailers have better resale than the solos.

Whichever configuration you decide on, don't worry about the stability. The bike trailer combo will handle fine. Give yourself extra room to stop. On hills don't let your speed build up to much, learn how to break so that you do not overheat your rims. The weight can push your rear wheel to the side under heavy braking, so keep your weight back if you need to brake hard. You won't need the bigger gears very often, 30-35mph is plenty fast going down a hill with all that weight on relying on those small brakes. Downhill will be easy, brake technique mainly. Uphill will be the bear, low gearing will be your savior. Get the lowest gear you can. I have never tried the electric kits but I would have my doubts about their usefulness. A motor that would help you would need alot of torque, which means alot of amps, which means a big powersupply, which means alot of weight.

This is our rig.

letsgorideabike

Thanks so much for your reply! I'm going to do some more research on the Marin model. And I think disc brakes are probably a good investment with the number of hills in my area. The tandem option sounds like a good alternative too. I would need to figure out something for storage. I wouldn't trust a couple grocery bags in the trailer with one of my kids - everything would be opened and sampled before we made it home .

Maybe another option down the road is getting a trailer bike and putting it onto the back of the xtracycle to replace the trailer. Then the kids can take turns getting a free ride and pedaling. Or I could get a double trailer bike - any experience with these? My oldest is not very adventurous and would probably be okay just getting a ride. She still gets excited about going for a walk in the stroller. My youngest will probably want to start riding sooner.

So you don't think the extra width on a two seater trailer will matter? I have some experience walking with a double jogging stroller and have come across a few places where it was a little hard to squeeze through - next to a mailbox, or a telephone pole, etc. I'm just so scared I will end up side-swiping something and then my girls will never want to ride with me again!

Thank you for the breaking/hill tips! 30 mph sounds so fast to me! Can you tell I don't ride very much? So the electric kit wouldn't be worth it? Even combined with pedaling it wouldn't be any help? Getting uphill is probably my biggest concern. I don't want to have to be rescued because I couldn't make it back up the hill to get home!

Thanks very much for your comments. You have given me a lot to think about.

bab2000

Just my 2 cents, but 30 MPH on a bike with a trailer is a little fast to expect those little brakes to do the job.


I trailer a double and had to stop quickly on path ride with 2 grandkids, at 23 mph to zero quickly as a deer stop mid trail. We stopped, but about five beyond where the deer had been.

You should consider first develope the confidence to make the plan ride without the extras first, master that first then consider additional setup as you become comfortable with the new plans.

Regardless, I now helmets are in your plans as well for you and the little ones.

All the best.

letsgorideabike

Thanks. Yeah, I will definitely NOT be going that fast starting out, if ever. And we will all be wearing helmets. Don't worry, I am a very cautious person and I see no reason to speed down a hill or anywhere with my precious cargo!

HardyWeinberg

I think trailer width on the sidewalk is not going to be a limiting factor, you'll be slowing down to ped speed often enough anyway that you'll be able to navigate narrow spots just fine. The 2 seat trailer should cover your kids plus grocery needs for at least another year if not 2 (probably not 2, maybe 18 months, I don't know how big your 4 yr old is). I had my kids in a 2 seat trailer (burley), w/ nontrivial cargo until about a year ago, when the oldest turned 6. Umm, I did kinda flex the frame so the wheels cant outward now, but it still works fine for the 3.5 yr old and as much groceries as I care to tote.

I like the trailer we got but I wish we'd gotten the widest one they had to keep the 2 kids fitting into it a few extra months.

Right now I am down to one kid per bike, so if we all bike somewhere, one parent bike gets the trailer, the other the trail-a-bike. I am not keen on testing out the t-a-b/trailer train, the t-a-b alone pushes my center of gravity enough that I am not feeling up to playing w/ more variables at the moment. I am potentially interested in xtra+trailer, but functional issues aside, the logistics of setting it up are a ways in the future for me. I wonder about a tandem t-a-b, which available, but probably not useful for another year or 2 for me (and longer for you obviously).