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Original poster

How to get two children onto one bike?

33 replies

Wilbur · 27/10/2006 15:00

I want to take my two older children to school by bike. Ds1 is nearly 6 and dd is 3.5. Ds1 has been using the trailer bike for a while and is great with it but he's not ready to cycle on the roads by himself. I've recently seen a couple of people using delivery bikes/trikes with a big box on the front to transport up to three children around. Do you think this is safe? It seems as safe as a trailer to me, unless I'm missing something, esp if one can rig up some kind of seat belts inside. Or what about a normal trailer? I think ds1 might be too big for one of these now, but perhaps I'm wrong. Would really appreciate any thoughts from the cycling crowd.

OP posts:
MaloryTowersTaurean · 27/10/2006 15:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nailpolish · 27/10/2006 15:02

you can get clips that attach childs bike to your bike

i think NDP has one or knows someone who does

then ds1 could go his own bike

Pollybloodyanna · 27/10/2006 15:09

christiana here is one of those bikes with a box on the front. Very expensive I think!

covenoveneer · 27/10/2006 15:10

What about this for ds2 and this for ds1?

nailpolish · 27/10/2006 15:11

maybe thats what ndp was on about coven, the bike thing attached

alligator · 27/10/2006 15:17

just bear in mind that seats and trailer bikes do make it much more difficult to balance the bike. I'd do a test run to see is you can manage it if that is waht you are thinking of.

covenoveneer · 27/10/2006 15:17

front child's seat on E-bay.

covenoveneer · 27/10/2006 15:20

good value tag along .

SNORcacKLE · 27/10/2006 15:38

description is what you really need!

Original poster
Wilbur · 27/10/2006 16:42

Oh yes snorkle - a couple of families at ds1's school use these, they are great. I think dd is a bit young to sit on a bike seat on her own just yet, but maybe I'm wrong.

Yes, you're right about a test run alligator - dh usually takes ds1 on the trailer bike so I'm not fully used to that yet. I was quite fancying on of those delivery bikes, becasue they're actually trikes so fidgety kids unbalancing you are less of an issue.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 27/10/2006 16:47

I take two kids on my bike all the time. DS1 is 5, DS2 is 2. DS1 goes on a half-bike on the back, DS2 goes on a Centric Safe Haven front seat. Depending on your DS2's weight, he might be too big for that sort of seat, though?

We go on the road, my stability is fine. People give you a lot of room when you have a couple of kids on the bike.

Original poster
Wilbur · 27/10/2006 16:49

Yes, I just checked out the front seat that comeoveneer found but dd would be too heavy for it. Otherwise that would have been great.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 27/10/2006 16:53

How heavy is DD? Centric Safe Haven is good to 40 lbs I think.

NotQuiteCockney · 27/10/2006 16:53

Oooh, that massive tandem may be my long-term cycling solution, though, for when DS2 gets heavier than 40 lbs.

TwigTwoolett · 27/10/2006 16:54

we have a trailgator which personally I think is the best kind of tag-a-long because you can unhitch their bike easily and it folds away

you can get a seat for the cross-bar in front for the smaller one too

although it must be very heavy

Original poster
Wilbur · 27/10/2006 16:55

She's just under 40 lbs (how did that happen to my teeny little girl?) so probably would only be able to use a 40lb seat for a few months. Although our old back mounted seat has a 40 lb limit, I think, and she still fits easily into that. Hmmm, will have to check.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 27/10/2006 16:57

I'd be nervous of using a seat near its weight limit, as they might fail in a crash.

Those tiny little crossbar seats might do the job, then. They're pretty small and light, at least.

Original poster
Wilbur · 27/10/2006 16:58

I think dh looked at a trail gater as an option for when we all go cycling together - he would have dd on the normal trailer with ds2 on his handlebars and I would have ds1 with his own bike on a trail gater. Yikes, so much kit. Clearly, I have too many children and will be stuck in my blimming volvo forever.

OP posts:
Original poster
Wilbur · 27/10/2006 17:00

Yes, I agree about the weight limit. I see a mum at ds1's school who brings her yr 1 child in wedged into a rear mounted seat that looks just like ours. She's small and slim but she must weigh more than 40lbs at 5 yrs old.

So are those handlebar seats good for slightly older kids then?

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 27/10/2006 17:01

Is your route to school on roads? Any chance your DS1 could go on his own bike on the pavement/path, with you nearby, with DD on a trailgator or similar?

TwigTwoolett · 27/10/2006 17:03

my 5.5 year old rides on the pavement and I ride behind on the pavement with DD in her bike seat behind me

I've never had any problem with other people .. I have taught him to stop cycling and wait if people are coming towards him

SNORcacKLE · 27/10/2006 17:03

You can put children as young as 3 on a Me'n'U2 (either with special low fitting saddle at the back, or kiddycranks in the middle) but whether it's a good idea or not depends on the child and how long the journeys are. They are easier than a trailer though as it's more stable.

NotQuiteCockney · 27/10/2006 17:05

I really don't find the trailer a hassle in terms of stability. Maybe I'm just used to it, but it's fine, particularly as long as DS1 doesn't go mad with the wiggling or pedalling standing up.

NotQuiteCockney · 27/10/2006 17:05

Snorcackle, you sound like you have a Me'n'U2 ... how much do they cost?

SNORcacKLE · 27/10/2006 17:06

I think the handlebar or crossbar seats have a lower weight limit than the rear ones usually. Having a large weight there would affect your steering too. A child at my childrens nursery travelled in a trailer right until school age.