Kayla

Hi all,

I have four kids and one on the way, ages 6, 4, 3, 1 and unborn. I'd like to get back into cycling. My husband doesn't bike, and I have very rare spare hours, so I'm inquiring as to whether there are any solutions that would fit our ridiculous scenario. After some prelim research, I think an e-assist cargo bike would be our only option. They're very pricey, though, and I'd like to know if it's going to work out for years to come before making the investment. We'd use it for the occasional school drop offs or commutes, but it would mostly be for recreation.

I was initially interested in the Radpower Wagon as it seemed like a very affordable e-bike option. I figured I could put two or three kids on the longtail cargo bench, have a baby in a front babyseat, and potentially trail a tagalong or trailer. However, the payload capacity is 350 pounds. Altogether we weigh about 315 pounds right now, so I don't think that would get us too far into the future....for instance, once my daughter is 10 years old, I would expect us to weigh around 450-500 pounds. Does anyone know if the payload capacity refers only to the weight ON the bike, and their would be additional potential for towing capacity? (ie: if we could offload 100 or so of those pounds into a Burley...?)

I've also been looking into the Bunch Family Cargo Bike, It can fit four children in the front box, up to 220 pounds, plus a baby in the rear and potentially could still trail a tagalong or trailer. So it gives us more payload and room on the bike and looks like the kids would be more comfortable. And the three wheel configuration does seem safer and more stable. However, the price is much higher and I don't like that it seems like it wouldn't feel like a traditional bike riding experience due to the steering difference and the straight handlebar.

Does anyone have thoughts on these two options or alternative solutions? At what age do kids have the stamina and endurance to keep up with typical adults?

Thanks!

~Kayla
(crazy mom)

fietsbob

Bak fiets (Box Bike) maybe add a baby seat on the back rack?

Stadjer

Yes. They have a rear rack specially for carrying a child's seat. A double seat will probably fit too, and they have a steering tube seat.




So that's 2 at the rear, 1 one in front and 4 in the box, so it maxes out at 7 kids. But it is quite a bit of weight so I'd try to put the bigger kids low, in the box and near the centre and not too much weight high up the rear.

Keren

I have "only" 4 kids, 5, 4, 3, and 15 months. I ride a Madsen bike retrofitted with assist. It can carry about 600lbs.
I believe you can add a baby seat in the front, but I assume by the time baby is able to sit upright and fit in a bike seat your older one my be able to follow on her/his own ride. I actually have my youngest in a yepp mini in the bucket with everyone since he's about 11 months old.
When everyone is in its pretty tight but overall I'm very happy with the setup and the kids love it.

riva

You could always ebike the weaker kids so they can keep up with you. Traffic iq is the other issue with little ones, not sure if that is a concern with your use case.

I setup one of those dual trailer deals one time for laughs, and it was just as unstable as you would think. Tandem with a trail-a-bike and then a 2 kid trailer. I wouldn't run it more than up and down the block, and I have pretty good balance. The bak fiet kid bucket deal might work with a 2 wheel 2 kid trailer if you got the legs for it. The single wheel trail-a-bikes are sketchy as heck imo. (crazy dad)

3S1M

Obviously it depends on how far you want to go but I'm betting the 6 year old would be ready to ride. I would imagine they have energy to spare if you're going for like a 1 mile or so. Just might take you longer. I don't know, it's been a while since my kids were 6 and they would just ride up and down the driveway. I wasn't riding at the time. But they did like to ride at that age.