Originally Posted by BrocLuno

I understand the dilemma. I have a granddaughter now, and when she was younger, we hauled her around on the rack. Yes, you need to keep your weight forward. Yes you need some tire cross-section to get the job done. But our trails are either pure road bike, or not conducive to a trailer. Sounds like your are better in that regard ...

Given your explanation of the roads and trails, seems like a trailer will work. So that's pretty easy to fit for both bikes. I'd also get skeletal rear racks (lunch, nappies, windbreakers, etc.). I'd like some semi-serious gearing for trailer pulling up gradient. I'd also opt for the largest diameter wheels you can swing in a a deal. They have better roll-over on pavement irregularities. And they are nice on trails. 27.5 or 29'ers are good

So crappy roads are tricky. It's either high pressure road tires and you take the hit on the pavement defects, but they roll efficiently, and you try to get some compliance out of the front end. Or mid-sized tires (cross-section) at mid-pressure and a maybe a plainer front end, but more rolling resistance ... Does not have to be suspension. There are good steel forks with enough give/spring to take the worst out. So, given your situation, I think I'd be looking seriously at gravel bikes. They are form of Hybrid. Do a bunch of YT reviews and watch the way the bikes act. See if that interests you ...

If you score a chassis with a tapered head set, you can upgrade to a Lauf fork when funds/time become available (used ones are starting to show up in the market). As your babe grows, you'll dedicate the existing chassis to road/gravel, tune it to be responsive and light, and pleasing in your average environment.

A bit later you can get a used MTB and tweak it, so that as things progress, you can challenge yourself on the more technical trails when time permits. So MTB stuff can get very techie and very spendy, very quickly. Many riders find themselves drawn to niche riding like down hill (DH) for the rush and the skill required. You will not know where you are going in that regard, so start slow. An aluminum hard-tail (used) with a very good fork (also used) and a dropper seat-post will get you a long way in finding what intrigues you ...

I recently bough a Specialized Hardrock Sport for $80. I got a nearly new Manitou R7 Elite air fork for it for $150 off eBay, and lost that horrendous RST fork that came on it. Some new cables, a bit of brake work and a tire swap and I'd ride that thing most anywhere. The chassis was/is nice and light and tough, but the OEM fit-out was very low grade to make their price point. This is so common in MTB stuff it's cliche'. I also bought an older FS K2 not long ago for $100 with air on both ends (Marzocchi & Fox). Not something you run across every day, but the owner just upgraded to a new Santa Cruz something and wanted it gone. Those deals do come along, not often, but they do

Point being you can explore a lot of MTB stuff/territory/conditions w/o breaking the bank - in the beginning. As you refine your tastes and build your skills, you can sell the used chassis for what you have in it (more or less) and progress upward. Buying new here, and taking the depreciation hit each time is not such a good plan at the start ... If you are real lucky, your baby will grow up to like trail riding, and as they get to middle childhood years, will have their own XC or All Mountain bike and ride with you. You'll be watching them ride away (kid energy & reflexes) while trying to keep up. But, it'll be fun

My guess, and it's only a guess, is that you'll end up with an "All Mountain" bike. There again, it'll take some research to figure out what it means exactly and which tweaks are important to you ... And, in the meantime you'll have your family outings and get some exercise - win/win

Originally Posted by mtb_addict

This looks like so much fun. Although I have never seen anyone actually use something like this on the trail or on paved MUP either.

https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/fea...r-the-Ride,206

Originally Posted by Maelstrom

But I live in an area with a large number of mountains so I am biased.

Originally Posted by Witterings

Inadvertently that's actually the funniest comment I've seen on the forum for a while ....... what percentage of people that buy MTB's live anywhere near a mountain ...I think it became the "Buzz Word" quite a few years back that manufacturers came up with and seemed trendy and everybody that lived anywhere .... including in the city of London which is pretty flat ... bought one.

Originally Posted by BrocLuno

Yeah, very funny

I live at the bottom of mountains on both sides. So anywhere but up valley is a serious climb

Building my first eBike on a hardtail chassis with good fork so I can get up the 1,200 feet easier to the trails I want to ride

Originally Posted by Photokid1970

Trek DS 8.4 and MT 206

At 19 months they may not be quite ready for this - but both of mine were able to ride the Trek mountain bike trailer at 3-4 years. My son is now 7, but I've taken him on light trails with this setup and he did great.

Our neighborhood is fairly hilly, so although he can go out on his own, it was difficult for him to keep up with me until he was able to ditch the training wheels. So we'd go on separate bikes when he wanted to "do it by himself", but then he'd hop on the back with me when he wanted to "go fast".

Plus, with this setup, you get LOTS of comments from bystanders and other bikers. My kids love the attention! I bought the first one at the LBS, then I bought a second one from CL so my wife could carry the other child on her Trek Neko. At their current ages (7 and 4), it's really the only way all 4 of us can ride together when we are doing anything outside of the neighborhood.