Two children plus you on one bike - is it safe?

[jennifersofia]

I don't mean a trailer type arrangement, I mean one child in front of you and one child in back, with you doing the pedalling. Has anyone done this - has anyone done this in London? Pros and cons?
Still trying to crack the school run dilemma...
TIA

Sounds dangerous and hard work!

how old are the children? Is a pushchair and a buggyboard an option?

You can get adult tricycles, can't you - that would be safer from the pov of overbalancing (but cars wouldn't expect to see 2 wheels at the back and would probably clip one) - how far do you have to travel?

I found one small child on the back hard work on the few occasions I tried it and that was on empty roads.

They are both just over 30 lbs - the walk is just over 30 minutes - they are both exhausted when they come out of school and we often have meltdown. Currently do pushchair and buggy board, but it is really heavy to push - also looking for something faster as I will need to do it 3x a day. Children are 3 and 4.5. Interesting idea of the tricycle. Maybe I can get one with child seats..

Is there a reason you have discounted the trailer arrangement?

I have done this! Will post later, mad baby.

How old are the kids? Would one on a trailer bike and one in a seat in front of you be an option? thatd make it easier on you I should think.

Jennifersofia,

It depends on what type of terrain your talking about. With hills and the like if you want to transport 2 kids by far the safest way to do it is in a trailer, many cycle experts argue that the trailer is safer no matter what as there is a lower centre of gravity and cars give you a much wider berth.

I use both. But I only have one. I did just get back from Holland - where its really flat. Its completely normal there to have smaller baby on a handlebar seat and bigger toddler in a rear bike seat. I have even seen customised bikes with a type of huge wooden basket on front you could sit 4 kids in (strapped in then two further bike seats ont he handlebars and back. (That looked a bit extreme to me) anyway its safe - but only if the terrain is safe. I.e. no hills. As soon as hill enter the equation for me it just doesn;t feel safe. Its scary enough with DD in the rear seat peddling or puching uphill.

You might be best to source a trailer. I idd a lot of research into them .Raleigh make good ones - yu can often get second hand ones on ebay.

HTH

Emma x

There are quite a few ideas compared on This cycle website Spokes

I think the tricycle suggestin is also a great one. I saw some customised ones inholland with kids seats on the back . Might be worth researching. That way it would stay stable for you to strap them in safely.

heres one on ebay. You'd have to source the seats but it mentions its suitable for that. ebay trike

I only asked about the trailer as DS will be 5 next March and so probably will want his own bike if we go out for a ride rather than our trailer.

It's supposed to take 2 children up to around aged six. If you want it you are welcome to it. We would have to work out the logistics of getting it to you.

I've done it with two kids, one was 2 or so, the other was about a year (and not mine!). We had a crash. Everyone was ok.

I'd be nervous about that much extra weight on a bike. If you're relatively light, then the total weight is probably ok, but then if they start wiggling, the bike might wobble. And if you're not light, then that's a lot of load on one bike.

I'd be tempted by the tag a long for the 4.5 year old. Or a pram for the 3-year-old, and likeabike for the 4.5-year-old ... or his/her own bike.

Wow, Kathlean, that is a generous offer. I haven't totally discounted the trailer option, but I am in London (narrow roaded east London at that!) and would worry about the trailer being quite vulnerable. There are also issues of width - eg. getting it through my front door to lock it up out the back, getting it into nursery, etc. I am going to borrow one from a friend for a few days to see if it would work. Could I possibly contact you later about it?
Re: tricycles - thanks, I saw that one on ebay - having measured my door, again, I think it will be too wide.
Thanks for the Spokes website, zippitippitoes, will check that out later.
Thanks for the advice too NQC - will consider tagalong. (Just don't think that laziest child in universe would use the likeabike) Which do you think is better - the type that attaches a proper child's bike to your bike, or the tagalong?

No problem, like I said I don't think it is going to be of any more use to us so it may as well go to a good home.

It packs down into a box that is only about 8 inches wide which we still have (I think).

Or you could just partially collapse the top section to make it slimmer.

It's about three foot square on the other dimensions.

You know those little motors you can have on a bike or a scooter these days, js - I wonder if it would be possible to have one of those attached to your buggy, so you only had to steer rather than push? (I am quite serious! Not sure if it would be allowed from a safety pov though.)

I do it everyday - getting on and off the bike is the worst bit. - no more dangerous than just one. The child in the back affects the bike the most. The child in the front (once you are on) you won't notice.

mind you I am not in London - but in Cambridge.

I was never going to cycle with 2 - felt it was too dangerous - but one day I was walking back puching my bike and dd1 was walking and we went to cross the road at a (oh god my mind has gone blank - a traffic like crossing for pedistrans) - the traffic light was red and the green man was red - dd1 ran across the road when a red car went through the red light and missed her by inches. -

oh god i must prood read - the man was green for us to walk safely!

Yes you really must prood read, cb

I have a cold

• thats my excuse

I have a tagalong, as I figured I would use it for both kids, and DS1 doesn't have his own real bike yet. But I'm sure the other kind is good, too.

The good folks at London Fields cycles, on Mare Street, in Hackney, are very helpful for this stuff. They sell tagalongs and fit them, too.

(The trailers do look good, but I fear them in central London. There are ones that convert into 3-wheel pushchairs, which looks like a really good idea.)