CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Calling cycling families - want to show off your bikes? PLUS buy/sell

(159 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by sallyhinch
  • Latest reply from weezee
  • This topic is resolved

  1. sallyhinch
    Member

    Having started the women's cycle forum as part of the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling, the thing seems to have grown legs and has now sprouted not just some 'belles on bikes' rides but also the idea of a Bike Curious event for families (obviously not just a women's responsibility) who want to try out different setups for transporting children by bike.

    The idea is to gather as many practical solutions for child transportation together for people to try out and ask questions from those who are already using them. It will be from 10 to 12 on June 14th, probably at Sciennes primary school. There may also be fun stuff for kids to do, training for parents in riding with their families and it may end with a 'kiddical mass' family bike ride.

    I know that many of you have a wealth of experience in transporting children around in a variety of rigs, so if you'd be interested in helping other families explore the options and could spare a couple of hours on a Saturday morning that would be fantastic. We'll try and get various bike shops involved too (suggestions welcome) but having the 'been there, done that' experience from families with nothing to sell (except maybe some secondhand kit...) will probably be as valuable if not more so. Plus you could all try out each other's bikes as well. If you're happy to give advice and demonstrate but not trust strangers with your bike that would be cool too.

    Suzanne Forup (of the CTC) is the chief organising force here but I am helping out on the sidelines

    Posted 10 years ago #
  2. Uberuce
    Member

    I still want to crash a women's cycling thingie by turning up in full drag, but the idea of crashing a family cycling thingie by turning up in a onesie and demanding transport is more delicious still...

    Those bar stewards at Circe have kinda ruined it, cos anyone with a Helios can just say 'yeah sure' and hoik up the teleseatpost, but hey ho.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  3. wingpig
    Member

    I can lend you a babygro stuffed with stuffing for you to bungee to your Carry Freedom and provide you with a recording of a six-month-old child's wailings...

    Posted 10 years ago #
  4. Uberuce
    Member

    A voice box thing like Steve the monkey in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs? I approve.

    Off topic: rate yourself 1-10 on the Proud Dad Scale at having the wingpiglet ride POP on his velocipide?

    Posted 10 years ago #
  5. sallyhinch
    Member

    @uberuce - no need to drag up for the WCF, it's just that the panellists will all be female to avoid the usual spectacle of five blokes and a token woman hand wringing over 'why women don't cycle' or some such tired question. And I'm sure your child wrangling skills will be invaluable.

    And yes, one day women-focused events will be unnecessary and people will wonder why families are considered to be a primarily female concern. Until that bright day, however...

    Posted 10 years ago #
  6. HankChief
    Member

    Sally -I would have been up for this, but can't make that weekend.

    Have accumulated quite a collection as well...

    2x child seats (1 down tube mounted and 1 rack mounted)
    2x tag-a-long (1 seat post mounted and 1 rack mounted)
    1x trailgator
    1x helios tandem

    & soon to get a 2child trailer.

    Slightly tricky to transport it all at once though. ..

    .

    Posted 10 years ago #
  7. SRD
    Moderator

    We'll be there.

    Can bring: tandem, trailer, hamax seat, copilot limo seat. (all a bit the worse for wear...).

    Posted 10 years ago #
  8. wingpig
    Member

    9.2.

    14th is ringing kitchen-calendar bells but possibly in an I'll-have-both-children-that-day sort of way, so I might be able to bring an occupied double-trailer.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  9. SRD
    Moderator

    @wingpig - strongly recommend shared google calendars for whole family . Also make sure you put school calendars in ASAP.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  10. wingpig
    Member

    I have attempted shared online calendaring before, to no avail. Paper kitchen calendar almost works when I do all the transcription thereto.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  11. sallyhinch
    Member

    Ha, yes, the only requirement for any calendar system is that it all be in one place, whether that's google or the kitchen calendar.

    Hope the bellringing is of the 'bring the kids along' kind

    @SRD thanks, those all sound great

    Now then, who's got a bakfiets?

    Posted 10 years ago #
  12. sallyhinch
    Member

    we have a webpage for this now

    Posted 10 years ago #
  13. crowriver
    Member

    14th June is the Edinburgh-St Andrews bike ride, which No.1 son and I will be riding on a tandem.

    Otherwise I would have been up for it, as short of a bakfiets or recumbent I've tried/accumlated just about every child transport contraption know to cycledom.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  14. chdot
    Admin

    "14th June is the Edinburgh-St Andrews bike ride"

    Ah, calendars.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  15. chrisfl
    Member

    We have a bike with a Weeride on the front and have just been donated a rear seat, that I'm planning on using on my bike (Child number two isn't quite big enough yet to put on a bike).

    My wife is looking at getting a new dutch style bike (probably a Batavus Mambo - which is designed with room for a front and rear seat) with a set of Yepp seats (http://www.yepp.nl/uk/Home).

    I think we're free that day, and if so would be happy to bring them along.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  16. sallyhinch
    Member

    @Chrisfl - that would be great, thanks

    Posted 10 years ago #
  17. calmac
    Member

    Worth letting people know it doesn't have to be expensive - I got a tagalong on gumtree for £45, and a very quick search shows that there are 4 tagalongs on gumtree in Edinburgh, from £25 to £65, typically £50 being normal.

    And as these are already second hand, there's a good chance of getting pretty much the same price by selling it on in a couple of years.

    One plea though - please, please, please don't make this a female-dominated thing. I know cycling things are normally male dominated, but anything to do with children and everyone, men and women alike, seems to think it's the woman's business. If we want to become a more Scandanavian-style society then a bit of Scandanavian-style parenting is badly needed.

    So please, don't just say "men are welcome too". That just reinforces the view that it's not really for them.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  18. SRD
    Moderator

    "So please, don't just say "men are welcome too". That just reinforces the view that it's not really for them."

    Agree.

    I think its a function of the same people organising the women's bike ride, the women's forum and this event, but still unfortunate.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  19. wingpig
    Member

    @calmac All good points. If I make it along I might label various things with their derivation and cost. We got a CoPilot Limo for the price of the petrol to Straiton and back (collected by nont-(yet)-cycling wife along with a bunch of other child-related plastic things), one free lightly-hacksaw-marked compatible Blackburn EX1 (which has since died) for nowt, another EX1 and a Taxi for £10 or £20 via this forum, another EX1 from the back of Stephdoh's old non-emigrated commuter (since donated to SRD), another EX1 from the Bike Station for £3 and a trailer for around £10.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  20. sallyhinch
    Member

    I personally am also a bit concerned about the family bike event appearing under the women's cycle forum banner - as SRD said, it's mainly because it's the same people organising it so it was handier to bundle everything together, but I agree it's entirely the wrong message to send out about who is responsible for childcare. I'll feed that one back and see what we can do.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  21. acsimpson
    Member

    I'm hoping to come along (with my wife, son and wicker child seat) to see what others have. Hopefully said wife and son will be happy to come on the post show ride too.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  22. sallyhinch
    Member

    @calmac, @SRD - is this wording better? http://womenscycleforum.wordpress.com/bike-curious-family-workshop/

    Posted 10 years ago #
  23. calmac
    Member

    Very impressed, ta!

    Posted 10 years ago #
  24. SRD
    Moderator

    definitely better :)

    Posted 10 years ago #
  25. weezee
    Member

    We'd be happy to bring our Urban Arrow (electric assist Bakfiets) along. We use it every day for our 3-year old twins plus shopping etc. It gets same amount of use from both me (mum) and himself (dad) so it's an equal opportunity parenting machine. We did almost come to blows as to who got to cycle it for PoP though...

    Posted 10 years ago #
  26. chdot
    Admin

    Looks like another CCEers show off funny machines to each other...

    Hope some normal people turn up too!!

    Posted 10 years ago #
  27. SRD
    Moderator

    Hoping to get posters out to schools/nurseries. can you help distribute?

    Posted 10 years ago #
  28. sallyhinch
    Member

    @weezee - Urban Arrow would be brilliant, I was hoping someone would turn up with something like that (who won the POP battle??)

    We haven't really started marketing it yet beyond the folk here - wanted to secure enough 'funny' bikes before spreading the word more widely. There will be a facebook event soon (and posters are in the works)

    Posted 10 years ago #
  29. wingpig
    Member

    Can stick one in a nursery tomorrow (if printable file available anywhere) or Thursday...

    Posted 10 years ago #
  30. weezee
    Member

    @sallyhinch I won the Meadows to Holyrood leg but he got the feeder ride from KB & the rest of the day going to cafes & playgrounds. ;-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply »

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin