The iBert-safe-T seat is a front mounting bike seat so you can actually interact with your child and they enjoy the view other than the back of your head. Here's a blog post about it from our friends at New York Outdoors Blog.  

 photo by Beth Nazario   

Totcycle has posted a great article on cycling with kids of all ages.  It starts:

"Now that I'm a self-styled family biking expert , I do get asked a bit about what bike or seat is best for such and such family configuration. And I'm always happy to answer at greater length than is perhaps hoped for.

So here it is, my opinionated take on what bike setup you need for you and yours. I should note my biases: for cycling a la familia I like big sturdy practical bikes with cargo capacity. Because you'll soon want to do a lot more than drive your bikes to Sunday toodles along the bike trail, and having some ever-ready cargo ability makes bikes so much more practical for errands, school dropoffs, and everyday cycling ...

I also don't love bike trailers, which seem to be the default way to bike with young kids in this country. Yes, they're easy to find, let you ride your existing road or mountain bike without much modification, work well with narcoleptic toddlers, and have good weather protection. BUT - the awkward maneuvering, lack of interaction with your kids, and the intense dislike or, at best, tolerance that they inspire in passengers (my daughter won't ride in a trailer unless another kid is along, which works until the squabbles start) make me unenthusiastic about trailers. In some respects, they might be safer than some of the other options below, but they can and do tip over.

If you like to ride bikes for the wind on your face, swoopy turns, the sensation of self-powered speed, and getting to experience the world around you with all of your senses ... then so will your kids! if you're a reasonably confident & careful rider, don't miss the delightful conversations and shared delight that comes with riding together on a family bike. Get giddy..."  (read whole article)

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Life can be a challenge for a family with young children that is serious about cycling. There are several awkward years, when the children are to big for child seats or even bike trailers, but too little to keep up with the adults on their own bikes. We covered trail-a-bikes in a previous post as one option.  Another option is a suitable tandem which can  allow your family to maintain a continuous cycling tradition.

Tandem bicycles, particularly for families already riding one, can be another option for families with a young rider. You can buy a tandem but new ones are very pricey and there are not many used ones available. When your kids are tall enough, you can install a kidback, also known as a child stoker kit. This device raises the rear crank set so children who cannot reach the normal stoker pedals, can ride along and help pedal.

One of the issues with tandems is that when you pedal, the child must also pedal unless they take their feet off the pedals. They can just spin the pedals, taking it easy. This, along with price, is why trail-a-bikes (where the rider can coast), are more popular than tandems for riding with kids.

The tandem bike itself is a bigger investment than a tag-along but it may be worth it for a family that wants to go long distances. The tandem puts the child up at about the same level as the adult, and often the child has steering and shifting capabilities. This set-up can work for a wide age range as your child grows but who knows how long a pre-teen would want to be seen on a tandem with his or her parents.

this article was adapted from the tandem section in Fit Family

top photo by tandemracer     lower photo courtesy of Sheldon Miller

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Once kids have outgrown bike trailers or child seats, a popular option is a trailbike, also know as a tag-along or trail-a-bike: a bike that attaches to an adult bike. They are great for the kid who is just starting to ride a bike on his or her own but who hasn’t mastered balance as well as for the child who can ride but not for long distances. It can be an excellent way to bring youngsters along on longer rides and give them the excitement of cycling with mom and dad.

Here’s what bike shop owner Andrew Brewer says in Fit Family:

“Trail-A-Bikes come in single speeds and 7 speeds. Gears are okay but by the time the kid gets to the point that he’s running his own gears, he’s probably going to be on his own bike anyway. Our daughter spent a lot of time on that thing, a Trek Transport, I think. She loved it. She’d pedal and then, of course, she wouldn’t pedal… If mom or dad is going fast enough then the gears are fine, but it is more expensive for the gears. By far, we sell more single speeds. They come in 20 and 24-inch varieties depending on how big your child is. The cool thing there is that, I don’t know about Trek, but Adams Trail-A-Bike makes a special needs seat, which is essentially a back brace and a seat belt so that a child who has special needs can sit and ride without falling off, and I think that’s really neat because the kid feels like he’s riding a bike.
A friend of mine just told me about the Trail-Gator. You don’t have to take the wheel off…. If it’s cheap and you don’t have to buy a bike, it’s a neat idea. The problem with all bike equipment is that you go through it so fast. All this stuff needs to be inexpensive…”

Some parents note that there they notice a lot more kid movement on a trailbike  than when pulling a trailer and that speeds can pick up, particularly on descents.  Others say that since the kids are on them for just a few years, that there are many good used ones available.  Nearly all feel that the kids love helping dad or mom with the ride.

Some biketrailer resources:
Adams Trail-A-Bike

Burley Piccolo 7 Speed Trailercycle

InStep Pathfinder Bike Trailer

WeeRide Pro-Pilot Bicycle Tandem Trailer

top photo by psd     lower photo by Dave Haygarth

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