My son is 10 now, and grew up in the Bobike. I love that thing. Children (my child) are not only awesome to interact with and talk to, sometimes they just freak out, turn red and scream, board-stiff in a rictus of anger and frustration. It's way better to have that happen in front of you than behind you, I think.
That only happened once. We used my wife's 3-speed Steyr with the Bobike. I did set it up on my 63cm low-trail touring bike, but it was unrideable. You (I) do have to ride with your knees out wide, but it's easy for several miles at a time. We each dropped the bike with the kid in it once, and he wasn't fazed. We were. As far as protection goes, the kid has a helmet, five-point harness, wide sweeping bars on either side, and a parent watching out. There isn't much else you can do. Philip Philip Williamson www.biketinker.com On Dec 19, 8:08 am, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote: > Yes, mounting a bobike mini requires fairly upright handlebars, a la > Euro city bike. But I believe the payoff is worth it: Sharing the joys > of biking with your kid by being able to ineract easily, giving them a > great view and the sense of actually cycling, rather than being > luggage on a bike. > > Not sure about the no protection comments. Yes, it doesn't have a big > plastic shell around the back of the head, but I am not sure how > crucial that is assuming your kid is wearing a helmet that fits. And > the helmet that we have for our son that fits him nonetheless extends > so far to the back of his head that I can't imagine sitting in a bike > seat with a headrest with the helmet on. I know that the better bike > seats now have a cutout for a helmet, but I wonder if they are deep > enough (and low enough, for the smallest kids who need it most because > their helmets are proportionally the biggest). > > Disclaimer: Have never ridden a bike with a kid on it, but will report > when my son is old enough to ride in the bobike mini. > > Gernot > > On Dec 17, 10:40 pm, rw1911 <rw1...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > The Hillborne could do it all. > > > I've heard some negative things about the Bobike carrier... no > > protection, mounting challenges, knee and body interference. Take a > > look at the Topeak Babyseat II. While big and kind of ugly, it looks > > like an easy on/off solution that uses a rear rack and appears to > > offer some protection. > > >http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiawathacyclery/2384323028/ > > > (Disclaimer: I have no first hand experience with child carriers (yet) > > but have been researching options for the summer when my son is old > > enough to ride along) > > > On Dec 17, 4:38 am, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Hi everyone, > > > > since plenty of you seem to be snowed under with time on your hands, I > > > thought I'd tap into the collective wisdom to reconfigure my stable. > > > > I know that the answer to this question is n + 1, where n = current # > > > of bikes, and I am open to that possibility, but would prefer to keep > > > n = 2 (not counting the tandem). > > > > Here are my riding needs, in order of frequency/importance (btw, don't > > > have a car): > > > > 1. Commuting: 5-8 round trips a week, short (10-30 minutes) frequently > > > wet, occasionally in the dark. Fenders a must. > > > > 2. Mixed road/dirt road rides, once a week, 3-5 hours (Jack Browns > > > work, but are a bit skinny for these rides). Fenders a must. > > > > 3. Starting in 3 months or so, kid hauling as well as recreational > > > rides with kid, in a Bobike mini seat, mounted to the stem. Kid > > > hauling will be infrequent and short distance (to meet mom for lunch > > > at her office), and the majority of recreational rides with the kid > > > will most likely happen on the tandem, which is also being modified > > > for kid hauling duty. Should have fenders, though I wouldn't ride with > > > the kid if it was already raining). > > > > 4. Occasionally the weekly ride is a 2-3 hour single track ride with > > > about 1 hour of road riding to get there and back. Would prefer no > > > fenders for this setup (two dirt rides ago my friend Paul got > > > something stuck between tire and front fender, and it wasn't pretty > > > (fender buckled, downtube scratched, though he didn't crash). > > > > 5. Occasional brief tours (S24Os). Any longer tours would happen on > > > the tandem. > > > > 6. Occasionally need a visitor's bike for people of varying heights. > > > > Current stable: > > > > 1. 2009 56cm Sam Hillborne, usually sporting Jack Browns, 42mm > > > fenders, noodles, front basket, rear > > > rackhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/25150...@n08/5185320523/ > > > > 2. 1990 17" Fisher Sphinx monster cross. Currently sporting 700C 35mm > > > Paselas 52mm fenders, porteur bars, rear rack. Relatively high bottom > > > bracket.http://www.flickr.com/photos/25150...@n08/5242295929/ > > > > 3. 2008 Tank (Taiwanese brand) mtn tandem, sporting 26" 35mm slicks, > > > fenders, rear rack. Extremely high bb, virtually no bb > > > drop.http://www.flickr.com/photos/25150...@n08/5267816307/ > > > > 4. Other 700C tires in the stable: 42mm IRC Mythos CX Pro Slick (semi > > > knobby), 40mm Kenda Kwick Roller Ez Ride (smooth; coming soon). > > > > A) I have tried mounting the kid seat on the Sam with the noodles, > > > moving the technomic deluxe as high as possible, but am doubtful that > > > the kid seat will work with either noodles or moustache bars, unless I > > > get a dirt drop stem (My chest gets in the way of my kid's head). > > > Seems like the kid hauler will have to have porteur bars. > > > > B) I don't think I want to use porteur bars for recreational road or > > > off-road rides, especially with the horizontally short stem and > > > upright position that would be required for mounting the kid seat. > > > > C) The Fisher is too small to take the kid seat, I think. It has a 1 > > > 1/4" threaded headset, and tall stems don't seem to be available (not > > > sure that they ever were). Have purchased a Nitto stem riser to use 1 > > > 1/8" threadless, but even with a very tall stem (110mm, 35 degr. > > > rise), the bars are still too low for the kid seat. The only cheap way > > > to get this bike to have a chance to work as a kid hauler is to add an > > > insert to the steerer tube so that it can accept a 1" dirt drop stem > > > or some such, or to have a custom stem made. > > > > D) Would like my Sam to be set-up as my go fast, rather than the > > > Fisher. > > > > E) Prefer to have the Fisher set-up as the trail bike (may get 50mm > > > tires for it eventually, which won't fit the Sam). > > > > F) Would like to try a 650B low trail bike one of these days. > > > > G) Would prefer a low bb bike for kid hauling, to facilitate getting a > > > foot down at stops. > > > > Possible Solutions: > > > > I. Buy a VO Polyvalent, have 4 bikes: Sam go-fast/commuter, Fisher > > > trail bike, VO kid hauler/commuter, tandem family van. This way I will > > > get to try a 650b low trail bike. But buying a bike and having it > > > shipped to Thailand is an expensive proposition, especially with the > > > threat of a 60% import duty. I have no plans for a trip to the US to > > > bring a bike with me, which would avoid the import duty. Probably > > > can't afford this option right now, and car port space is already > > > limited. Financial outlay: $1700 or so. > > > > II. Buy a Polyvalent, sell the Fisher. Solves the space problem, helps > > > with the financial problem, but Sam would have to be the go fast and > > > trail bike. This would involve only occasional tire and fender > > > switching, so that would probably be alright. But financially this > > > would still be a stretch. Financial outlay: $1000 or so (assuming I > > > can get $500 for the Fisher, and use its seatpost and saddle for the > > > VO). > > > > III. Making do with the bikes I have, I see 4 options: > > > > a) Set up 2 cockpits for the Sam, one with noodles, one with porteur > > > bars. Fisher is dedicated dirt bike. Disadvantage: If usually set up > > > with noodles, will I really want to switch cockpits just to ride to > > > lunch with my son? (Especially if I have to carry him in a sling while > > > switching bars...) Alternatively could have the Sam set up with > > > porteurs by default, switching to noodles only for the weekly ride. > > > Financial outlay: around $60 for cable splitters. > > > > b) Figure out a way to get a tall stem on the Fisher, turn it into kid > > > hauler, and have the Sam be go fast and trail bike by switching tires > > > and mounting/dismounting fenders. Financial outlay: around $70 for > > > dirt drop stem, $? for steerer conversion to 1" (should be cheap here > > > in Thailand if it can be done at all). > > > > c) Putting a dirt drop stem and moustache bars on the Sam, I could > > > perhaps make it work as a kid hauler, and also as a trail bike. It > > > might even work as a go fast that way, but I could set up the Fisher > > > as the go fast. Financial outlay: around $70 for dirt drop stem > > > (already have the moustache bars). Another $50 for a powdercoat > > > repaint of the Fisher. If I am using it a lot for fun road rides, I > > > don't want to ride it with its severely chipped paint. > > > > d) Just use the tandem as the kid hauler, regardless of whether mom is > > > coming along or not. Since distances will be short, riding the tandem > > > should be fine. Sam is commuter and go fast, Fisher is trail bike. The > > > only issue is recreational rides with kid but without mom, but that > > > won't happen too often. Main drawback: Very high bottom bracket makes > > > stops a bit awkward, though at least the top tube is low. > > > > So far, III c) seems the most intriguing. > > > > Any other ideas? > > > > Thanks, > > > > Gernot -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
