One for the parents out there

I am looking for a bike to cart my daughter around in and was thinking of buying the Christiana Bike. (http://www.velorution.biz/?page_id=972)

A friend who has offered to sell it to me his as he thinks it's not as a good as a Bakfiet, which he wants to get. (http://www.velorution.biz/?page_id=984)

Should I be getting a Bakfiet instead?

Has anyone got any experience of these or any other suggestions?

Search up Velorution on the forum before you decide to buy from them. I cant really advise you on the products though, having never seen either.

Mmm i think the Christiana Bike looks more stable having two wheels under the weight at the front
drains/potholes etc will throw it so i'd feel more secure.
But its the added width, could be a swine around london, i also am not sure about the internal gears and internal brake combined. costly service right there..
tough. i'd go and jump on both see which feels solid. then think about your mostly widely used route (traffic/road serfice etc), storage/parking and cost to service..
well thats what i'd do, i was looking at these a while back. got no kids but love the idea of not having a bag to lug about!

They are just too expensive to really justify.
Babies can't go in unless they are supported and by 4 or 5 they are too heavy and should be riding their own bike!
Just buy a kid seat and then a trailer and buy yourself a new bike with the change. It'll still be cheaper.

I would advise you to go to a dealer, who is a real specialist.
A good one should have both, so you can test them and see what you like most.

If he sells only 1 type, that can mean 2 things:

• Either he strongly prefers 1 above the other and can give a good explanation, resp. convince you.
  
• Or he's allowed to sell only one brand while his collegue sells the other one. He'll do everything he can to make you buy his bike.
  So, be careful!
  

check these guys out- good place friendly service, unusual solutions.
http://www.londonrecumbents.com/

atomic.a
There is another Danish bike, I'm afraid I can't remember the name, that is reportedly a lot better than the Christiania trike - the carrier looks like fibreglass or something, its kind of like a big bubble. Apparently it's steering mechanism works a lot better, something to do with the way its pivot is arranged. There's a mum I've seen about East london who rides one. Sorry I can't be more help, but try and find out about that too.

I have to say though, kzark seems to have a point.

Found it
They're called triobike
http://www.triobike.com/

Wow.. that looks like a victorian Bat mobile.. DO IT! get that one!

Found it
They're called triobike
http://www.triobike.com/

aren't those like 7 grand?

What!? really?

just did the conversion to USD.
4,256.14 USD

More like €2500

yea. still. pretty steep. much less than i thought. but still steep.

A really decent roadbike costs more than that.

so does 3000 lbs of tomatoes. what gives?

You know you want to.

They are just too expensive to really justify.
Babies can't go in unless they are supported and by 4 or 5 they are too heavy and should be riding their own bike!
Just buy a kid seat and then a trailer and buy yourself a new bike with the change. It'll still be cheaper.

Well they are cheaper than a car, and if I buy my mates Christiana it will be cheaper than shop price...

My daughter is 5 months old and just starting to sit up quite well which is why I was thinking now is the time to go for one of these. Initially I was thinking about bolting a car seat to the base of the boxes. I don't think a trailer is really safe enough, which is why I was looking at this style of bike.

You know you want to.

I do love Yehuda.

Not sure about those Trio bike they look a bit ugly to me and are expensive.

Well they are cheaper than a car...

Bang, there's the point, while we may moan about how expensive those cargo bike are, it's still a lots cheaper than a motorised vehicle and that without even including insurance, petrol, vehicle taxes, MOT, etc.

in reality, it's a very very cheap transport, it's just expensive for a bicycle.

in reality, it's a very very cheap transport, it's just expensive for a bicycle.

It really isn't Ed, trust me. :-)

Well fair enough, compare to an £800 Cinelli MASH frame for fixie skidding on, it's not so expensive.

I was pretty set on a Christiana, even got a quote made up for my preferred set-up. Mrs Smallfurry was less than impressed with the lack of head support for the children though. Ended up just getting a trailer. Not sure how would compare to the Christiana, but I'm actually surprisingly impressed with it. My 3yo loves it and has kitted it out with a little radio his favourate Donald Duck comics, and a blanket. The large rear storage area also means that I can carry the ridiculous amount of extra clothes he needs at nursery, or three or four shopping bags.

The autumm storms recently kicked in here, and while the trailer was near impossible to pull into the worst winds (I saw birds being blown out of the sky FFS), it was really stable from side winds.

www.dutchbaby.co.uk

I have been carting around my 3 year old on the Yepp Maxi for the last 3 months. Fantastic bit of kit and far better then the co-pilot I was using before....

Cheers
ed