Tow along bike carrier

Dorasmum · #1 (**permalink**) 24-07-2008, 08:02 PM

Anybody as unexcited about the whole tar-jay super sale hooha going on? I went through the catalogue but only found one thing that made my credit card tremble.

They have aNorthern Star Tow-along Child Carrier for $99- half price apparently. It can carry up to 45kg, I was thinking I could still carry both kids in it to take DD1 to school. She's about 25kg and DD2 is about 13 so still under the limit and by the time she's bigger DD1 will be confident to ride her own bike.

Anybody ever used one before? Or used this brand?
http://lasoo.com.au/portal/offerdeta...&source=search

Had to laugh today, DH was telling me how disgusted he was at seeing a toy exercise bike, I explained how it was a computer game but he still thought it wasn't on

Probably right.

Em

Marmee · #2 (**permalink**) 24-07-2008, 08:10 PM

Yeah - I reckon those exercise computer games are pathetic...but that's just my opinion

Get out in the darn sunshine and off the computer!

I am soooo not excited about the toy sale, either. In the past, I have wanted to get there on the opening day as there has been at least a few things I wanted to buy. But this time - there's nothing. Zip. Nothing I want desperately enough to race out to the shops. I think I dog eared 2 pages all up.

That tow-along thing looks great if you don't already have a bike seat like we do. Great for transporting two, aswell

2pips · #3 (**permalink**) 24-07-2008, 08:22 PM

Im with you both on the toy sale thing.

As to the bike tailer. We have one but ours is german. We have had it for 4 years now. The one your looing at looks great simialar in style, but it is a lot narrower than the bike shop kind. It may be bit squashy for 2 after a while. For the price though its pretty good. We paid $400 for ours and that was a bargain at the time.LOL... If you can go along they have one set up so you can see it and try the kids out in it to see if they fit. they still need to wear bike helmets in them as well so check the fit. good luck.. we cant live without ours and the 8 year olds still fight over a ride.

emd · #4 (**permalink**) 25-07-2008, 02:53 PM

My mum runs four star guest cottages and has just recently got bikes for hire as well. One has a baby seat on the back, and another has a two-child tow-along carriage. Looking forward to my next visit home so I can try it out with the kids.

I love these bikes, but at around $3K we can't afford it. And we live up a hill anyway, can't see me riding a bike uphill with three kids and the shopping in it. And school is not even bike riding distance. But if you like the cargo bike concept, there might be some cheaper ones on this blog list.

Dorasmum · #5 (**permalink**) 25-07-2008, 05:05 PM

Ok I did pop into target to have a peek at what the fuss was about and ended up picking up one of those self-assemble mini junior tramp things with a bar to hold on to for $30. Just tried to assemble it but one of the leg frames is missing all the holes for the bolts so it's useless. Grrrr. I could now take it back or just ask my Dad to drill some for me but since it's painted blue, self drilling would damage the paint. It's now going to to have to wait till next week because we're 25km away from town.

I saw also the 'exercise bike' that hubby saw and yes it's actually a real child size exercise bike, not the computer game one that I thought he was talking about.

What happened to real bikes?? I'm planning on incorporating a bike path around our whole back yard as the grass/lawn separater. Won't be that long but would be perfect for tricycles and scooters.

Em

starbuckozzie · #6 (**permalink**) 25-07-2008, 06:09 PM

I've got one but not this brand. My DS is nearly 5 and is about 20kg. He's too tall to fit comfortably in ours now (and it's American so is pretty spacious).

My DD is nearly 2 and with the two of them in it it's pretty heavy for anything but flat riding. Ours is rated up to 100lb.

If I were you I'd go to a bike shop and try one out (even if not of this brand) to see if it's worth spending the money. The one you are looking at looks fairly cramped and you might find both kids whining about being uncomfortable.

Having said that, we've loved ours and taken it on holidays with us. We even did a cycling only holiday but with only one child. We still take it to do the shopping but again with only one child.

Dorasmum · #7 (**permalink**) 25-07-2008, 07:09 PM

Yeah it's probably too small, DD1 is pretty tall for a almost 6 yr old, I might do that, go and check out the bike shop. Both of the girls love an excuse to whine..so they probably would.

I saw one of those bikes emd on another forum, some mum had just ordered one, great idea. We've got to start thinking about things to reduce fuel usage.

2pips, $400 is probably still worth it, I'd have to make sure I did use it. Though it would keep it's resale value if I didn't?

Em

starbuckozzie · #8 (**permalink**) 26-07-2008, 07:42 AM

We bought a trailerbike recently. The first time we tried it DS rode 20km non-stop so we are very pleased with it. However, I still haven't found a satisfactory method for taking the two children on my bike. DS rides his own bike to preschool (about 2km) but it's a bit stressful at times what with crossing roads and getting tired (I have DD on the back of my bike so can't help him much). 6 months ago the trailer (the one that takes the two kids) was perfect but sadly we are starting to outgrow it.

You might like to try checking out what they do in The Netherlands and whether anybody imports stuff from there. Bikes are mainstream there and they have some ingenious methods of taking kids around.

2pips · #9 (**permalink**) 26-07-2008, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dorasmum

Yeah it's probably too small, DD1 is pretty tall for a almost 6 yr old, I might do that, go and check out the bike shop. Both of the girls love an excuse to whine..so they probably would.

I saw one of those bikes emd on another forum, some mum had just ordered one, great idea. We've got to start thinking about things to reduce fuel usage.

2pips, $400 is probably still worth it, I'd have to make sure I did use it. Though it would keep it's resale value if I didn't?

Em

Cute about the whining..LOL.. I agree the $400 was money well spent and it will sell for the same on e-bay if we were inclined. My kids are super tall too and at 8 years old they still fit into it so it is value. they must be the only kids in the world who are not keen to learn to ride bikes. Im hoping when we move they will be more interested being in a slow country town. None of their friends ride around the streets here, its the drop of in the car kind of town Sydney..LOL..

Hubby builds racing bikes so I'm going to see if he will build me one similar to those Danish ones. Would be so much better than towing so I could see them and talk as we ride along.

Dorasmum · #10 (**permalink**) 26-07-2008, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Hubby builds racing bikes so I'm going to see if he will build me one similar to those Danish ones. Would be so much better than towing so I could see them and talk as we ride along.

I'm sure it could be built for a lot less than 3 grand too!

Em