2 kids one bike

earthmama said:

Hi
I was wondering if it was possible to take 2 children on a bike. I
have a 4 year old 38lbs and a 2 year old 26lbs. I thought about the
trailer bike extension for the 4 year old and a seat for the 2 year
old, seems like it would be hard to keep balanced. I also thought about
the burley bike trailer for 2 but seems as though it would be lopsided
and I don't know if my 4 year old would be ok in there, she is pretty
tall. I live in a pretty small town and would love to commute when
nice, any suggestions, any experience. Thanks Anne

On several occasions I've seen a lady pulling a trail-a-bike and a
trailer. The whole setup was About 18 feet long, and slow going I'm
guessing. But it seems to work for her as I've seen her numerous times.

earthmama said:

I was wondering if it was possible to take 2 children on a bike. I
have a 4 year old 38lbs and a 2 year old 26lbs. I thought about the
trailer bike extension for the 4 year old and a seat for the 2 year
old, seems like it would be hard to keep balanced. I also thought about
the burley bike trailer for 2 but seems as though it would be lopsided
and I don't know if my 4 year old would be ok in there, she is pretty
tall. I live in a pretty small town and would love to commute when
nice, any suggestions, any experience.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Trailers aren't very sensitive to
the side-to-side loading, so I wouldn't worry too much about it being
lopsided with a heavier child on one side. Not sure about the Burley,
but there certainly are trailers large enough fit a 4 and 2 year old
together. When my daughter was two I went cycling with a friend on my
tandem and we towed his trailer with his 6 year-old, 4 year-old, and my
2 year-old. We went on a number of rides with that arrangement and
there was plenty of room, even when some of them started nodding off
and shifting around. Unfortunately I've forgotten the make of trailer.

The longest arrangement I've seen was a couple riding their tandem with
a tandem tag-along bike for their two older kids and followed by a
trailer with the two younger kids.

OTOH, in Europe it's rather common to see children up to 2 or 3 in a
front-mounted seat while their older sibling sits in a seat on the
back.

Whatever arrangement you use, I'd recommend a few trial runs with sacks
of potatos or something similar substituting for the kids so you can
get used to any balance changes and also try some quick turns and stops
to see how those are affected.

earthmama said:

Hi
I was wondering if it was possible to take 2 children on a bike. I
have a 4 year old 38lbs and a 2 year old 26lbs.

I have taken my two and four-y-os in a double trailer. It was a
squeeze in Winter coats and they sometimes bicker. It is a heavy load
on a hill but no imbalance problems. When I take them both now, I use
a bike seat and the trailer but I tend only to do local trips

best wishes
james

earthmama said:

Quoted message said:

Hi
I was wondering if it was possible to take 2 children on a bike. I
have a 4 year old 38lbs and a 2 year old 26lbs.

Quoted message said:

I have taken my two and four-y-os in a double trailer. It was a
squeeze in Winter coats and they sometimes bicker. It is a heavy load
on a hill but no imbalance problems. When I take them both now, I use
a bike seat and the trailer but I tend only to do local trips

I have also pulled a trailer with a two and a four year old aboard. It
does get a bit crowded with both of them in there. When they get rowdy,
it can wiggle the bike around, but nothing significant.

The biggest worry is the quality of your brakes. Stopping the bike with
the additional 80 to 100 pounds pushing from the back requires a good
set of brakes and plenty of stopping distance. Just watch out on big
hills and everything should be fine!

-Buck

Buck said:

earthmama said:

Quoted message said:

Hi
I was wondering if it was possible to take 2 children on a bike. I
have a 4 year old 38lbs and a 2 year old 26lbs.

Quoted message said:

I have taken my two and four-y-os in a double trailer. It was a
squeeze in Winter coats and they sometimes bicker. It is a heavy load
on a hill but no imbalance problems. When I take them both now, I use
a bike seat and the trailer but I tend only to do local trips

I have also pulled a trailer with a two and a four year old aboard. It
does get a bit crowded with both of them in there. When they get rowdy,
it can wiggle the bike around, but nothing significant.

The biggest worry is the quality of your brakes. Stopping the bike with
the additional 80 to 100 pounds pushing from the back requires a good
set of brakes and plenty of stopping distance. Just watch out on big
hills and everything should be fine!

-Buck

My problems with pulling 100 pounds of kids
in the Trailer were of the breaking chain
variety.

We also did the bike pulling tag-a-long bike
pulling Burley for a while. Feasible, but not
very fun.

We also had a two-seater tagalong, which was
the least stable configuration. Too much weight
and kids that were too wiggly.

Scott