What to do with my twins?

[tjf9]

Hi there! Not sure if there is a better place for this question, but I don't see a category for family riding. Anyway, so my boys (4 1/2, ~35 lbs each) are outgrowing the trailer. It is like pulling teeth to get them to ride in it these days, and I really want to work toward more riding, not less! So, I'm trying to figure out the next step.

As far as I can tell, I have 3 options:

1. Bakfiet (http://clevercycles.com/store/?c=web2.68)
2. Xtracycle (http://www.xtracycle.com/)
3. Double Trail-A-Bike (http://www.trail-a-bike.com/product/trail-a-bikes/original-tandem/)

Criteria:
- Must comfortably and safely carry 2 growing boys, preferrably for at least a couple of years
- Solution needs to work for both DH and I (he's only about 5'9" and I'm 5'3", so it's not that much of a difference. I'm a much stronger rider tho)
- We live in a relatively flat area, but there is an occasional hill to surmount

I really have no idea which way to go. The bakfiet is appealing because the kids are in front and I can get a rain cover for winter, but it's *very* expensive and I'm not sure how useful it will be in 3 or 4 years. The Xtracycle is much more reasonable, but with the kids in back, unrestrained and pretty high up, it seems kinda unstable. The trail-a-bike seems long and unwieldy, but they'll be helping (some) and they might find it more fun, like they're riding their own bikes.

Anyone with experience in this arena? Informed opinion from you wise ladies is welcome as well! I'm befuddled :confused:

[Tuckervill]

How cooperative are the kids? I can see the trail-a-bike being a source of frustration for one twin or the other. I guess they can stop pedaling, even though you are still pedaling, but what about when one of them stops? Would it cause an issue for you? For the other twin?

Are they old enough and interested enough to pay attention to being on the bike for the whole ride? That's another concern I'd have about the trail-a-bike. You might not be able to ride as far with them responsible for their own uprightness and holding on. In the trailer they could even fall asleep!

Safari wouldn't load the Xtracycle page, so I didn't see the picture of the family version--but I keep picturing it with twins hanging off the side like panniers!!! lol.

I think whatever you do there's going to be a transition period where your riding changes, until they can be a little more independent. I think the box bike is a big investment, and if you bought one you'd be through with it before you got your money's worth (kids grow!), unless you were planning on more kids. You're kind of stuck in a spot--too big for the trailer, and the available options aren't going to last until they're independent riders. That's going to change how much and how far you ride, for a little while.

I haven't seen the Xtracycle with the family option, but I think that might be the way to go, with the trail-a-bike next.

Have fun shopping!

Karen

[sfa]

You're entering the difficult years of cycling with kids--too big for infant/toddler carriers but too little to ride on their own (although not far off--my nephew turned 6 in February and accompanies my sister on all of her rides since she went car-free this summer; the longest they go is maybe three miles, but it's in the mountains of Virginia and he's able to keep up). I guess the question is whether it's worth the money to get something that may only be useful for one or two years. The other question is what sort of cycling you're doing--if you're riding for fun/fitness then I'd probably opt for the double trail-a-bike. They can use it on your outings until they can cycle on their own, and you probably wouldn't have any difficulty reselling it when you're finished with it. But if you're cycling more for utility/transportation, then I'd give some serious thought to the xtracycle or the bakfiet since they would be useful for a lot more than just carrying around the kids. Instead of using the bike for two years or so, you could use it for many years for regular transportation--and they can carry a LOT of groceries! Of the two I'd opt for the xtracycle just because it isn't so expensive or cumbersome, and I wouldn't worry too much about them being unrestrained and high up--they'll get used to it pretty quickly, as will you with the weight positioned differently.

Sarah

[mtbdarby]

I would vote for the trail-a-bike if your goal is to get them riding to start focusing on the bike and learning to pedal. The other two seem to be strollers on wheels. On the TAB they will start to work as a team with you and each other. Of course, they'll probably fight about who gets to sit where, but kids will be kids.:D

I don't have twins and my son just turned six. We are using a TAB and it makes him feel good about riding a bike. He's still afraid to try and ride a bike by himself so this is helping to slowly build his confidence and concentration. HTH, best of luck with whatever you decide.

Dar

[fastdogs]

my son hated the trailer by the time he was 4. He has a little bike with training wheels, but rides so slow and stops so often that it's better to walk with him rather than try to ride. We have a 2 mile paved loop in a park we can ride on, and he does fine on that.
I have a trail-a- bike too, but the tires are 20" and he can't reach the pedals yet, so we haven't been able to try it. I think he'll like being able to pedal when he wants to. The double trail a bike looks like what you'll end up needing, but I don't know how these things handle at all since I've never got to use mine yet. I wonder if they unbalance you a lot as the kid(s) shift their weight.
vickie

[Grog]

I can see lots of uses for the Bakfiet, but maybe not in your neck of the woods, and having seen one this week I'm not really sure your boys will be comfy in there even for a year. And they ARE expensive.

A friend of mine does this:
http://mgagnon.net/velo/images/velo-triple.jpg
(see his website: http://mgagnon.net/velo/index.en.html)

but his oldest was 7 when they started. Yours being twins makes it more complicated.

I have very little experience riding with children, but I think that if it's just for leisure riding (you don't HAVE to take them somewhere on a bike and need to get there at a certain time) you could start training them with the trail-a-bikes and soon on their own bikes, even if it means going for much, much shorter rides. Then perhaps sometime soon they would be able to ride a tandem, but that's another expensive beast *shudder*.

[maillotpois]

We got a tandem for our daughter when she was about 6 or 7. It worked quite well. The trail a bike, even for one kid, got VERY unwieldy and was no fun at all as she got bigger. The tandem handled great.

Search for "triple tandem bicycle". I can't believe the price on this one ($370!): http://www.bikemania.biz/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=PI_Tandem3

I am sure it's not the best components, etc., but it would handle way better than a trailer.

These guys knows EVERYTHING about tandems, triples, etc.: http://www.precisiontandems.com/ You would no doubt need kid backs (redundant cranksets that go on the seat tube to shorten the reach) for both for some time.

[Triskeliongirl]

Bike friday sells some triple tandems. Perhaps with different stems which are easy to swap you could make the front of the bike work for both you and your husband. Or what about a trail a bike on each of your single bikes, so all 4 of your could ride together, but you would each only need to tote one kid. Eventually you could move to tandems or single bikes.

[cyclingmama]

I have a colleauge who had a triple tandem made for him and his girls, 6 and 8, and they will ride 12-15 miles without issue.

You don't say if you want to be able to take them places by bike, or if you want to ride yourself and need to take them out of necessity, or if you are just trying to plan family time on bikes. My kids are 3 and 5, but weigh 39 and 49 pounds respectively, so with almost 80 pounds of kid plus the weight of a trailer or similar its out of the questions, particulary since I live in a hilly region. When we want family time on the bikes, I take the hybrid and their bikes to the rail trail near our house and we ride together, each on our own bikes. We go pretty slow, but on a flat smooth trail like that, even the 3 year old will do 2.5 miles.

When I want to ride, I find times that work and barter with my husband for riding time. Weekday mornings I ride from about 5:20-6:45, then shower quickly before getting them up at 7 (I work and they go to daycare and camp). Saturday mornings the negotiating comes in. I'll ride from 6-10 or so, and then I'll take them from 10-2 so DH can do whatever he wants to do, then we have the late afternoons/evenings to do things together as a family.

Good luck!!!

[tjf9]

Thanks for all the great input! You've all really given me some great things to consider. I didn't even think of a tandem! I'll have to look into that as well.

I'm really looking for a solution that will allow me to reduce use of the car. Every weekend I pack the kids up in the van and we do something (go to the zoo, children's museum, park, etc.) and I'd like to find another way to do those things, and/or find other things to do that don't require the car. I also want to get them to be more active by default. Instead of the assumption that we get in the car to do everything, I'd like to get to a place where we only get in the car sometimes.

Right now, I try to get them in the trailer on Saturday morning, and it's a no go, so we get in the van. Until we can figure out the bike, I think we might try more public transit too...

Thanks again for your help!

[sfa]

They'll probably love public transit. When my DD was about that age I used to take the bus to work and would get off about a half mile early to pick her up at daycare. It was easier and faster to walk home from there, but she ALWAYS asked if we could take the "city bus" (not to be confused with the less sexy school bus, which she also liked but it wasn't quite so grown up and cool) instead. And nothing thrills my kids more than taking the light rail or Metro to get someplace!

Sarah

[Pinkryder]

We are dealing with some similar issues these days. Both DH and I would like to go for longer rides with our kids, we have 4.5 yr old twins and a 3.5 year old. We are not sure how much longer this is going to work but...Just yesterday we went on our first long ride on the W&OD trail in N.VA (almost unbelievably!) my husband had a single trail-a-bike behind him and buggy attached to the trail-a-bike, also behind him (he is in pretty good shape!). Then we had the other child in another buggy behind me. All three kids took turns on the TAB (the 4 yr olds spent much more time than the 3 yr old), we just had them switch when they got tired or when another wanted a turn.

We will probably get another TAB (to go behind me) and keep the one buggy (behind DH) in case someone gets tired. But we may also consider getting a double TAB and eliminate the buggy all together. My DH said that they definitely DID help him when they pedaled up hill. Now, no mistaking, it was not a fast ride, but we had a really fun time.

And as a sidenote, we did pass a couple on a tandem, with an older boy (6-8yrs?) on his own bike, but attached to the tandem somehow (they must have some connection available, his front wheel was lifted off the ground), and then they also had a buggy attached to his bike behind them with a younger child. I was just glad to see that we weren't the only people forced to pull an enormous train down the bike path! :)