Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ash L. on May 11, 2013 at 4:13am

It's probably too late for you to make it to this morning's ride in Logan Square but next week is is the Lincoln Square Kidical Mass on Saturday the 18th. They meet at the gazebo in Welles Park at 10ish for a 10:30am ride. It should bring out some cargo bike options for you to test ride in one place. If you can make it to Logan's ride next month, we've got a ton of cargo bikers that show up every month. 

I've got a kid back tandem and a fake Chinese bakfiets you're welcome to test too if you just want to come by my place near Kedzie and Fullerton this weekend/next week. I responded to your post on Facebook at Kidical Mass so you're welcome to message me there so we can set it up. 

So sorry again about your Pilen.

Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on May 12, 2013 at 6:39am

We used a Burley trailer for many years and really liked it. It was pretty easy to pull (aluminum), had lots of space for beach stuff, the screen and rain cover for riding in different weather, also, if you end up tipping over (bad curb, inattention, etc.) the trailer stays upright. It also lets you get any bike you want for yourself and not worry about one bike doing everything. With the covers, I would even ride my kids in pretty cold weather with them bundled up.

Permalink Reply by Anika on May 12, 2013 at 3:24pm

I am also near Ash and have a Yuba Mundo set up for a 2 year old and 6 year old to ride on. If you are in the area, you are also welcome to try. Our Madsen is currently on loan in another area of the city but there are many other families in the neighborhood with this set up as well.

We do well getting both groceries and kids on our bike and the Yuba allows us to also easily tow the 6 year old's bike on as well when she is either tired or we can't safely bike in a certain area with her on the street. None of these bike are able to be loaded on public transit though due to length and width. We do have the ability to load extra kids on occasionally which is nice for play dates or taking kids somewhere. Downside to both of these bikes was that we needed to design covers for rain and winter - although neither ended up being a big deal.

Permalink Reply by Katy Kelsey Morgan on May 17, 2013 at 7:25am

It was too late for the Logan Square Kidical Mass (I got the message on my phone, but we were headed to do other errands), but I'm planning to be at the Lincoln Square ride gathering at the gazebo to talk to people and check out the options for kid-carrying.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on May 19, 2013 at 5:13pm

We'll have another kidical mass in Hyde Park on memorial day (it should be posted on the calendar shortly).  You're welcome to come down south and test drive our bikes and others!  We have an xtracycle set up for about two kids between about 2 and 7 in age, and Anika's Madsen set up for an infant plus a child.  We've used the xtracycle for trips to costco, for trips to the beach, for a pre-Thanksgiving trip with two kids to pick up turkey and squash and yams and everything else.