Nightshade

Naysayers, take a quick look a these photos will show that the youngest child gets protection
and the older children have some sort of proper seat. None of these photos show a
situation where a buckhorn bars wait impale the child as could happen with this X- setup.

wyeast

How is the buckhorn significantly different than any other configuration where the youngest child is held in between the front handlebars by the parent? I suppose there's the difference that the child is held in between the buckhorns by an older child, but the physical layout to the bars themselves isn't any different?

allbikes

Hi Blythe. It sounds like you know you are stuck without a good option for the baby until later. Personally, my wife and I used a trailer with both of our boys beginning around 7-8 mos. old. We'd strap them in and stuff firm, soft objects around them for stability and keep a constant eye on them for comfort. We have bike paths and sidewalks everywhere and never rode on the streets. I'll accept ridicule on this but, we both felt more comfortable with this option than with a car/car seat. Obviously this isn't the answer for your commute on 45mph roads. I just feel that sometimes safety is overdone.

As our first graduated to a trail-a-bike, we began trips to the store using a mountain bike, attached to a trail-a-bike, attached to a trailer. The triple long method. Each with an orange flag even though we cross only one street. This worked perfectly for years. Now, the eldest is 8 and capable of comfortable riding around 12 mile stints. Our 3 year old is on the trail-a-bike and the trailer has been converted into a utility/grocery getter trailer. The trailer is 10 years old and the bottom canvas is the only original fabric to survive. We use it daily and in relative worth we should have paid around $8,000+ for it's value to us.

Trail-a-bikes are great for growing kids and using existing bikes. Just be aware that a 3/4 year old on a trail-a-bike is super-duper fun! It's like riding a tandem on which the rear person just mildly spins the pedals for appearance. You're dragging that kid and the bike. Add the trailer full of groceries (or whatever) and you're getting a great workout on hills.

spambait11

Admittedly, there is no great ready-made solution for transporting kids with an X. The X was not designed for long-distance kid-carrying in mind, but people make do. To me, the scariest part of this setup is when people in cars throw things at you. The other big danger is when the kid(s) on the back gets sleepy. In any case, barring any mishaps or other serious injury, we all know that the X is only a stop-gap solution until kids are old enough to stoke tandems.

EuroJoe

Still cant tell if you are serious, but I am reminded of Eddie Izzard and his "babies on spikes" sketch! )

Yeah,so, yes, so that was it. There was a spirit of ex-empire, this thing of “things can't be done," whereas in America, I thought there was a spirit of "can be done!" The pioneer thing.

"Go do it, what do you want to do?"
“I want to put babies on spikes."
"Go then! Go!”

It's the American Dream! "

Blythe

Thank you all for your relpies. You have given me a lot to think about and look into.

santiago

First it was ejection. Now it's impaling. What's next? Is my choice of drive-train going to open a portal to hell that I'll fall into?

I'm all for mitigating risk but you take it to OCD levels. Your fear of aluminum speaks volumes.

Elkhound

If he really believes what he says, he'll contact the CPS offices of the bloggers whose children's pictures I posted. I intend to check those blogs to see if they report that some officious busybody has reported them for child endangerment. If not, I call him to withdraw his statements.

OK, Tightwad--put up, or shut up.

squirtdad

Blythe...sorry I don't have pic...but on my coffee run today I saw a mom with two kids...sounde similar to your ages....

She had this (I asked her....search amazon for bicycle front seat) on the front https://www.amazon.com/iBert-Safe-T-F...7714578&sr=8-2 and a Rhode gear seat on back. Bike was an electra townie....helmets and smiles all around


adn

Nightshade

Originally Posted by Tightwad
Naysayers, take a quick look a these photos will show that the youngest child gets protection and the older children have some sort of proper seat. None of these photos show a situation where a buckhorn bars wait impale the child as could happen with this X- setup.

This was my whole point.....to get people to THINK about the environment they place their
children in to consider any dangers in that environment. Just throwing a set of bars
on the seat for 2 small kids to "hold onto" don't get it.

While an X isn't ment to carry small kids there is one X owner on this board that did it right
by building proper protective seating for his kids. THIS fella knows how to think things through!

bizzz111

ahhh, I remember back when I was a kid and the big vehicle every kid wanted to ride in the back of was a subaru brat. Nothing like crusing down the road at 60mph with just a set of bars to hold onto.

And you were pretty lucky getting the bars to hold onto. Growing up on a farm meant going to town in the back of a 4x4 pickup grabbing onto nothing but the lip of the truck bed. Or we would travel around town on our bikes; one kid pedaling and the other sitting on the handlebars..... with no helmets!

Compared to those days, an extracycle with a set of bars on the back is paradise. Now no one is satisfied unless the average kid has 3' of bubblewrap around them at all times.

rhm

...

Actually, from what I've seen (in Leiden), your pictures were pretty conservative. It wouldn't be that unusual to see the mother holding an umbrella (to keep her cigarette dry) while riding over wet cobblestones on a narrow city street next to a canal....

Well, okay, perhaps I exaggerate... but standards are different in different places, and what society considers acceptable tends to dictate I've also heard that it's perfectly acceptable for a Dutch mother to put an infant in his crib for a nap, completely unattended, while she goes to the grocery store; this allows her to make the trip by bicycle, in less time, while carrying more food back to the apartment, than would be possible if the child had to come along. In the US this would be considered very irresponsible. Therefore the kid has to come along, and therefore the trip has to be made by car, and therefore the grocery store must have ample car parking, which only a large supermarket can afford, so therefore it has to be in the suburbs ... and ... and so on....

My kids would rather ride on the back of my Xtraxcycle than go by almost any other mode of transportation, and mine doesn't have either the seat cushion, the foot rests, or the handlebar of Santiago's rig. I've thought about adding them; but it would only encourage the kids, and I'd rather they ride their own bikes. I agree, riding this way is more dangerous than some activities, but comparing it to playing with a gun is just silly.