Bike recommendations for the school run/utility cycling

tomilinski1

Hi all,

My wife has started using her old mtb for riding the kids to school - sometimes with one on the back. And as its cheaper than taking the car out, she has been doing other short trips to the shops etc as well.
I've put mudguards, a stand and a basket on to make life easier.

but I think it could be time to get a bike which is designed for utility riding rather than mountain biking!

Any recommendations? - I was thinking of a dutch style bike that has all the useful bits already attached

Cheers

lfcquin

Have a look at Practical Cyles website. They are based near Blackpool, they carry loads of dutch style bikes.

thelawnet

how many kids and how old?

I've got a Kona Ute (they run to ust under 600 quid for last year's model)

Some configurations:

http://konaute.wordpress.com/2010/01/15 ... argo-bike/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32087813@N04/3861858733/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaptainamerika/3491227501/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21845659@N03/4490675126/

tomilinski1

I should have explained better -
kids are 3 and 5 - although most of the time the 5 year old rides her own bike -
so it would only need to carry one child at a time + room for associated kit + shopping etc!

thanks for the recommendations - i'll have a look

baudman

A tip... get her involved in the purchase.

My partner LOVES her bike. And that's partially because she had the final say in the purchase. I'd been doing a bit of looking around myself, and in the process, I'd got my commuter bike (see sig). I knew there was a mixte version and because I find it such a pleasant ride, I wanted her to give it a ride just as a benchmark. Well... it set the benchmark orright It's now her preferred vehicle to get anywhere. She even gambled with the rain this morning to ride to work in her normal clothes.

Think about what's required. Hills and/or weight = gears. But, derailleur can mean more maintenance and no chain guard. Lights? Guards? Racks? Step through (much easier with a load on the back).

A friend did similar to me and got a really nice bike, triple with ultra-low step through, guards, lights, everything, from GHOST. She LOVES it.

Having said all of that, a hard tail makes a great all-purpose bike. Perhaps if it has crud front suspension, swapping that out for a solid fork could be all it needs. (And I could have done that with my partner's bike, but I don't think she'd have the love she does now)

zebra67

Friends just bought a Trickadoo (?sp?), it's a trike with a bench seat on the back. You can get up to 3 kids on the back seat.

craker

There a big advantages to knocking together a utility bike from whatever you can source especially if its the bike that gets left in public places.

You might want to fit a rear rack; I've got a blackburn rack with a matching detachable child seat. The bike pulls the trailer just fine up the steepest hills (MTB gearing = nice and low). Slicks are another must.

However it might just be you both want new shiny bikes. :P