Ok I want us to become a Cycling Family. Where do I start?

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

Right bit of a brain dump here but very interested in other peoples thoughts

am about to sort out and sell vast swathes of baby crap (oooh whole other thread about Issues here) so I should have some cash . Enough to spend about £300 on my bike, plus fixings for car, helmet for dd, etc.

I have ds 3.5 who will have a decent xmas money bike, and dd 21 months who has around £50 to spend on something like a decent trike or similar (PIL into such things. can sub a bit more here)

I have the world's crappest bike, it is too big for me and very heavy and putting me off cycling. I need a new one, preferably one for women. I do have one of those kids seats that go on the front but I hate it oooh so much, its impossible to cycle properly with it.

dp has no bike but can sort himself out given cash. he is a low priority really, he can have my old bike for a bit.

The ideal is for us to use the bikes to get round and about and also to head off with them in the car on occasion.

So I need

1. A bike that I can have on the road, with some method of conveying dd. I don't do bike trailers for numerous safety neurotic reasons so she needs to be on a seat.

1. Thoughts on adult trike

1. Thoughts on whether it is acceptable/safe for a 3 yo to be on the pavement while I am trundling along the road (we are talking quiet back streets in the early afternoon-the back from nursery run, which is about 2 miles-not the M4 in rush hour, btw). He has a bell and is trained to use it.

will come back and witter more as I google for stuff.

Any more thoughts

oh and can I take ds running with me on his bike, do you reckon? Through the park and so on?

[fillyjonk]

am bumping this a little as the great bike quest begins again, only with less money involves

ds can now ride a bike unassisted

he is prob coming out of kindergarten

but there is the added hastle of needing a rack for the car we are about to replace

[fennel]

I have a Dawes Hybrid. I wondered recently about getting a new better bike as I'm cycling a lot but my bike shop told me that for what I do (mostly on road or cycle path, up and down hills, bike seat on back) a hybrid was about right.

trailgators are a bit cheaper on Ebay (new) than in bike shops. maybe £35 instead of £50.

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

ok now have actually BEEN to bike shop am thinking

dawes or felt £399 bike

trailgator

bobinke for dd

am soooo tempted by funny bikes and by dutch bikes but finance wise I can only afford one bike and so whatever I get has to do me when the kids aren't with me also.

(this is all once i sell my pushchair + sling menagerie )

[frogs]

Fillyjonk, here is a Dutch bike from a uk website.

[TheOriginalXENA]

I have one of these bikes For DD2 -2 and DS2 -1
DS1 9 rides on his own and DD1 has a trailgator on the back of DH's bike (would really recommend) she has learnt to ride properly now so By the summer I plan on pulling her back on the back of mine as far as the bike trail and then letting her cycle herself

[foxinsocks]

have just checked and mine's an old Claud Butler

[breadandroses]

ooh love those front seats with windscreens

[breadandroses]

We had a trailgaitor for dd1, used it to haul her up to Richmond park and the tedious journey home. It's fab cos you can just click it on and off, so if the child wants to cycle for themselves they can. Wouldn't get one of those half bikes that attches as they don't last very long imo.

[FrannyandZooey]

Filly I think you have prob moved on but the answer to "how does ds feel about not steering?"

is that he doesn't care, because he is in the sit down kind of trailer (you know, where they are in a little kind of pod on wheels)

I think you maybe are thinking he is on a tagalong

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

prob is that knees hit seat so end up bow legged

ALSO it attatches to bar. now i am probably going for a drop bar womens bike, cos they look funkier, so won't be able to attatch it

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

oh yes we do have a secondhand shop locally

will check it out

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Filly - will read whole thread later, but can you tell me what you don't like about your current bike seat? It's the one that NQC has just recommended that I get! (I have a thread in products about bike seats for kids which you might want to nose at too).

[foxinsocks]

Scummy, we're not right by the river by any means (but a walking distance away) and I went for a walk there yesterday (on the stretch between Teddington Lock and Hampton Court). It is beautiful - when we moved here, I never even knew it (the path) existed! We do, however, live in the smallest possible residential accommodation known to man .

Filly, I'll check out what my bike is for you. I know what you mean about dismissive local bike shops - v annoying for you. Have to drag kids out but will post back later when I've had a look (tis v exciting, bike shopping!).

[frogs]

In Germany (which is quite a serious cycling place in its own right) they call those kind of bikes 'Holland-bikes'. Maybe you're after a high-spec trad sit-up-and-beg bike? Would certainly be heavy. But actually a good touring bike might do the trick too. Try a good second hand bike shop too -- you can get a better-quality bike for the same money, and a slightly scuffed bike has a lower nickability factor, which is important (well, here in London it is, anyway).

[ScummyMummy]

Must be lovely to be a cycling Netherlander, yes. Social housing good there too. I think those bikes look lovely- quite heavy, built for durability and ease of use not speed maybe. Could be perfect. You need to try a few and see if you like the ride though.

[fennel]

Fillyjonk, I don't know about that particular bike, but many of the bikes you see in the NL are big and heavy - what they call, I think, a "mummy bike" which is specially good for having 2 child seats on, front and back. They look old fashioned, often black with wicker baskets, so maybe the one in that link is something quite different.

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

this is what i want, but with brown hair

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

aaargh are they heavy fennel?

hmm

right i need to give this matter some thought

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

no sadly

wales

which is lovely in its own way

[flack]

Why do you think trailers are so unsafe? They are so lite, will fly up in the air if hit and detached, not go under wheels. They bounce fairly well. Child should be "okay" if strapped in securely. Much safer than a bike seat, imo and ime, from where they can easily end up thumping helmets on tarmac or getting road rash.

Trailers keep them dry, keep them from whinging if it hails or they're grumpy, gives you extra luggage space.

Under 5s not reliable for every day commuting, ime, unless passively seated and strapped in. I guess you can just try your DS on his own bike every day, and see how it goes. If you're really against trailers I would go for the trike, then. Not stable on fast turns, but good in all other respects, several mums locally have them. BUT the good ones are much too expensive for your £300 budget.

Join the CTC to get more advice about family cycling. There is an email list for cycling families, too, not sure how to join: [email protected]

Think that you would really want a good Hybrid for your new bike. Again, CTC pages can advise.

[ScummyMummy]

Thanks, fennel. Will definitely give it some thought.
fis- do you live round there? Am super if so! SO beautiful, that part of the world.

[fennel]

following that link, Dutch bikes are very good for fixing LOTS of child seats too - my front child seat is Dutch, and it really needs one of those big heavy dutch bikes to be attached to.

I would love, from a cycling point of view, to live in the Netherlands.

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

my local bike shop scares me

i do know the basics at least re bikes but they are very dismissive

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

and thoughts here?

[FillyjonkIsMilitantAboutFruit]

I like these btw, any thoughts?