bikinpolitico

I'm now using my Xtracycle as a mini-van hauling my kiddos around everyday by bike. I was able to make this happen by designing and building a simple set of handlebars made of PCV piping. I've posted some pictures of this setup before, but I finally posted an article about how I built it and how it performs on my blog at: https://austinbikeblog.org/?p=736.

Enjoy!

sherpaxc

whereabouts do you live? I'm off of Brodie and William Cannon.

bikinpolitico

I'm in the Southwood neighborhood- South First northwest of Stassney.

UncleStu

When your children are old & gray-haired, they will still remember the rides you give them now. Excellent!

trevorbikes

Very cool! And I like the pirate flag.

sherpaxc

right around the corner from me! I'd love to swing by sometime and check that thing out. My wife and I are expecting our first baby and I'm trying to learn as much as possible since we are a car lite family. We both used to commute by bike until she got pregnant but we don't feel it's safe anymore since she has to cross the 360/Mopac interchange.

fordfasterr

awesome !

If I ever have kids, I'm gonna whip them around in one of those things !

atbman

Looks great, but I wonder, what do you inflate the front child's protecting airbag with?

zoltani

I do not have the words to describe the awesomeness of your mini-van!

Fishy

Looks cool - I'm sure the kids think it's a blast.

The Burley trailer I currently use definitely makes for a sluggish trip, but the upside to it is that there's a lot of structure around my daughter should her dad wipe out like the klutz he is. (Although I have yet to crash with her in tow, you never know.) The trailer will keep her in her seat and her arms and legs out of harm's way as much as possible.

I'd be a lil nervous with your set-up, I think. My concern would be for the little appendages ending up under some of the frame if you ever went down.

Pig_Chaser

Ha, that's awesome. Looks like your kids are having a blast too.

d2create

I keep seeing kids sitting on those things and all I can think of is the butt pain. Giv'em a cushion, man!

GV27

Heck, they're little kids - they're having way too much fun on the bike to even notice!

I snapped this one of a Dad's bike when I was picking up my son from school last week:

BigDaddyPete

Looks like so much more fun than my kids in a trailer. Anyone know if I can get one of those trailer bikes and hook the trailer to that. My boy is almost too tall for the trailer.

bikinpolitico

The younger one has plenty of cushion. They're called Pampers!

stevo9er

I use milkshakes when I want to inflate my rear.

wyeast

I'd imagine that pvc piping would probably flex and break (admittedly, creating a bit of a bleeding hazard), unlike metal rails which could pin a kid under.

bikinpolitico

Yes, wiping out is now more of a risk, but the Xtracycle does make the bike quiet a bit more stable. My kids are outgrowing the trailer so we had to do something. With more freedom, comes more chances for road rash, but that's life.

Metricoclock

i see a surly big dummy in your future to handle the added weight of your kiddies in the near future.

bikinpolitico

A unified Xtracycle compatible long tail bike frame sounds promising. We'll see.

BBnet3000

i got my start in biking riding in a kids seat mounted on the back of my dads bike

i must have been rather young (possibly too young to remember, supposing that its accurate that you generally dont have memories of under age 3) but i actually do remember riding in it.

BigDaddyPete

I love my Burley, especially since I managed to put it on its side last week with both kids in it. They were fine, scared, a little annoyed at dad, but fine. And isn't that the point. And since they keep getting in and asking for longer rides, I'm assuming they're fine.