We're avid cyclists, but we haven't made a particularly large investment in what we ride (this is changing now that it has become our main mode of transport in the warmer months). Until our youngest, who is six, is old enough to be riding independently, we'll be in a level of flux in terms of what we're riding, and we're always looking ahead to what we'll need next, both as the boys grow and as our activities change.
Our 11-year old has quite a nice heavy-duty mountain bike (by Raleigh) which he rides everywhere. He even took part in a cyclocross race with it last summer, which is kind of insane (in cyclocross you have to carry your bike over or around physical barriers!). Our recent trip to Dartmouth/Halifax was the first time he rode more of a regular hybrid bike, and he enjoyed it. It reinforced for us that he'll need a hybrid or touring bike for the longer road trips that we plan to do, in part so that he can help carry things (it was awesome that he could handle two of the panniers while we were on holiday), but mostly just so that he isn't lugging the weight of a mountain bike around.
Our six-year old started riding the tag-along/tandem attachment behind my bike (a nice but not expensive hybrid from Schwinn, the Soto) when he was four and he's very happy and comfortable on it. The picture above is of my oldest pulling him on it last summer (it's a bit weird to see your 10-year old riding your bike and pulling another child behind him, but also pretty cool). It's an Alleycat that we picked up for $50 at a neighbour's garage sale many years ago and our first son rode it happily for one season before graduating to a two-wheeler. Our youngest isn't in a hurry to ride a two-wheeler on his own and is quite happy on the tandem attachment. So much so, that we're thinking quite seriously of investing in a proper tandem bike when we can. My husband loves to do research, and this is one of his pet topics at the moment. I think I see a post brewing just about tandems.
My husband has a 50 year+ basic fixed wheel bike that he adores (and he laughs at how trendy "fixies" are these days), but last year graduated to a recumbent bike. He was keen to try something different that would be better for his back and after extensive research found a Canadian recumbent that he really liked. Further research turned up a nearly new second-hand one in Saskatoon that we purchased. Even though he's the second owner of the bike, the company, Maxarya, have been amazing about one or two issues that he had with the bike and even took it back for a frame replacement shortly after we purchased it from the original owner (we only had to cover the shipping costs!). What he would like to have when we can add to our stable of bikes, is more of a mountain bike so that he can hit the rough trails with our oldest, who loves mountain biking. This is something that we'll try to source second hand and it needn't be anything fancy.
If you've read the post about our bike camping trip earlier this summer you'll know that we've modified an old Axiom trailer for hauling stuff (rather than wee ones!). We'd like to graduate to something a bit more sophisticated and weather-proof when we can, but for now it'll do. It's something to research and keep an eye on as we do more of the around-town hauling of groceries and heavy things, as well as what kind of longer distance bike trips we do.
For the day-to-day, however, we're extremely happy with our Axiom Stormproof series panniers; we have two sets of these, for a total of four, and they are incredibly durable and easy to use (waterproof too). I regularly make trips to the library or to pick up a few grocery items with the boys with two of these in tow; we take all four when doing a larger grocery run, when we go on an outing, etc. Having used a different type of pannier with our bike rentals recently, my love of our panniers has been reinforced. The rolling top makes them especially useful as the usual restrictions around dimensions don't exist. (Incidentally, my bike carries the greatest load, with the tandem attachment at the back and a set of panniers at the front; the pannier arrangement isn't ideal as front panniers effect steering and stability far more, but I've got used to them very quickly and our current tandem attachment won't accommodate rear panniers.)
Our small shed is also home to two three-wheel recumbent bikes that our children ride for fun, not distance, as well as a three-wheeled scooter called a Trikke and a regular two-wheeled razor scooter, both of which belong to our 11-year old. He's just in love with anything with wheels and still misses the go-cart that he outgrew a number of years ago. We're still trying to figure out how to replace that one...but that's another story.
The Golden Rule is that there are no golden rules.
Posted by: Supra skytop | Wednesday, 03 November 2010 at 09:05 PM