Options for a 4yr old

On 5/4/04 1:37 pm, in article
[email hidden], "Ian Archibald"

Quoted message said:

Any advice/recommendations for taking our 4yr old with us
on our bikes. We have Marin hardtails in case the advice
depends on what we're riding. From what I can see we have
3 options (discounted a child seat already)...a trailer, a
trailer bike or an attachment to connect his bike to ours.
Cost is a factor but not as much as safety.

I have a giraffe (bit like a trailgator, see chw-chw-Open ↗
hite.btinternet.co.uk/html/trailgator_tow_bar.html) which is
useful. The kids love it, especially as it means they can
ride on the road rather than the pavement.

It does suffer from the problem that any slight give in the
joints is magnified so a full trailabike would be better.

Tips: ensure the thing is done up as much as possible and
is straight.

A trailer will be boring for a 4 yo.

I found it quite tiring as you are constantly having to cope
with a different set of balance requirements. The better
your child can balance, the easier it will be (a lot easier
for the 7 yo than with the 5yo.)

Personally, if I know the child will not be riding on their
own, I'd get a trailabike. If it will be mixed solo/tow then
the trialgator will be the way to go.

..d

On 5 Apr 2004 05:37:10 -0700, [email hidden] (Ian Archibald)

Quoted message said:

Any advice/recommendations for taking our 4yr old with us
on our bikes. We have Marin hardtails in case the advice
depends on what we're riding. From what I can see we have 3
options (discounted a child seat already)...a trailer, a
trailer bike or an attachment to connect his bike to ours.
Cost is a factor but not as much as safety.

Any advice gratefully received.

Assuming an average sized (or bigger) child, from your list
of options I'd say a trailer bike. For maximum stability try
for one that attaches to a rack rather than the seat post.
The former are arranged so the pivot point is above the axle
of the towing bike, if you see what I mean. The Isla Trailer
bike (no longer made) is one such, but there is another
make, but I can't remember the name. Possibly Burley.

Have you considered a kiddy back tandem? Or a normal sized
one with kiddy cranks?

Tim

In message <[email hidden]>, Tim
Hall <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

On 5 Apr 2004 05:37:10 -0700, [email hidden] (Ian

Archibald) said:

Any advice/recommendations for taking our 4yr old with us
on our bikes. We have Marin hardtails in case the advice
depends on what we're riding. From what I can see we have
3 options (discounted a child seat already)...a trailer, a
trailer bike or an attachment to connect his bike to ours.
Cost is a factor but not as much as safety.

Any advice gratefully received.

Assuming an average sized (or bigger) child, from your list
of options I'd say a trailer bike.

Yes, there'd be no point in a trailer if they are 4.

Quoted message said:

For maximum stability try for one that attaches to a rack
rather than the seat post. The former are arranged so the
pivot point is above the axle of the towing bike, if you
see what I mean. The Isla Trailer bike (no longer made) is
one such, but there is another make, but I can't remember
the name. Possibly Burley.

Burley Piccolo.

The problem with these is that they ain't cheap, though not
quite as good, the Adams Trailerbike is a more reasonable
price, particularly if we are talking occasional use rather
than everyday. ISTR Guy reckons his was ok.

Quoted message said:

Have you considered a kiddy back tandem? Or a normal sized
one with kiddy cranks?

We've another on the way, I'm already eyeing up a
triplet :-)
--
Chris French, Leeds

chris French said:

Burley Piccolo.

Seconded, but

Quoted message said:

The problem with these is that they ain't cheap, though
not quite as good, the Adams Trailerbike is a more
reasonable price, particularly if we are talking
occasional use rather than everyday. ISTR Guy reckons
his was ok.

It was, and was used every day. The Adams has the most
compact fold (you need to check it is the folder). Gears are
a bit irrelevant but nice-to-have.

Quoted message said:

We've another on the way, I'm already eyeing up a
triplet :-)

Thorn Me'n'U2 - can't recommend it highly enough.

--
Guy
===
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Washington University

In message <[email hidden]-
berlin.de>, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

chris French said:

We've another on the way, I'm already eyeing up a
triplet :-)

Thorn Me'n'U2 - can't recommend it highly enough.

I know :-)

I have a few years before I need to worry about that,
though the campaign with SWMBO is already underway. Though
she does seem to like the idea of me being loaded down with
sprogs :-)

I'm pondering a child back tandem though. Elinor is over 3
now, which means she will be out of the trailer well before
'tiny sproglet'.
--
Chris French, Leeds

Guy said:

Quoted message said:

Thorn Me'n'U2 - can't recommend it highly enough.

and chris French responded:

Quoted message said:

I have a few years before I need to worry about that,

Ditto.

Quoted message said:

though the campaign with SWMBO is already underway. Though
she does

seem to > like the idea of me being loaded down with
sprogs :-)

Thankfully I won that one some time ago. DW was persuaded of
the benefits of a tandem the first time we met a couple on a
tandem where the stoker appeared to be doing very little :-)

The long term plan is to get a Me'n'U2 with a
trailerbike. The SJS ads suggest a height of up to 4'11''
for the middle seat of the Me'n'U2, but I reckon DW ought
to be OK at 5'0''.

All of which reminds me, Guy, how long is the Me'n'U2? If I
can stand it on end in my hall then I should have no trouble
getting it into my bike room. Otherwise, I probably ought to
start thinking now about alternative storage solutions.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdannyOpen ↗
Why I like OE6 - speedy5.freeserve.co.ukoe6.htmlOpen ↗
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

chris French said:

I'm pondering a child back tandem though. Elinor is over 3
now, which means she will be out of the trailer well
before 'tiny sproglet'.

I'd certainly go the tandem route if you can. My daughters
went onto kiddiecranks at just over three. The big advantage
over a trailer bike is that they can't be lazy as their feet
are _forced_ to rotate. Then its not long before they are
actually pushing, and they loved to 'help'. When on a
trailer bike they tended to freewheel a lot.

I think this helped when they moved on to their own bikes.

John B

Danny Colyer said:

The long term plan is to get a Me'n'U2 with a trailerbike.
The SJS ads suggest a height of up to 4'11'' for the
middle seat of the Me'n'U2, but I reckon DW ought to be OK
at 5'0''.

The problem won't be height, it'll be leg length. Hie you
down to Bridgewater if you have the chance, and try one out.

Quoted message said:

All of which reminds me, Guy, how long is the Me'n'U2?

Longer than a long thing with extended "super extra long"
lengtheners. I can't remember the number but it is about 4"
short of the roofline of a Volvo 940 estate.

Quoted message said:

If I can stand it on end in my hall then I should have no
trouble getting it into my bike room. Otherwise, I
probably ought to start thinking now about alternative
storage solutions.

You are looking at a one-way trip to herniaville if you
even try it!

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

Just zis Guy said:

The problem won't be height, it'll be leg length. Hie
you down to Bridgewater if you have the chance, and try
one out.

Which sounds a bit obvious; what I mean is that there is
limited space in the middle seat, so someone with long upper
legs will bang their knees on the bars.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

Just zis Guy said:

The problem won't be height, it'll be leg length. Hie
you down to Bridgewater if you have the chance, and try
one out.

Makes sense, it's not too far. We paid a visit to SJS a few
years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the tour that we were
given. Also spent a fair bit of money.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdannyOpen ↗
Why I like OE6 - speedy5.freeserve.co.ukoe6.htmlOpen ↗
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine