Weehoo Bicycle Trailer

Thanks to my sister visiting we had time for a grown-up bike date yesterday so where did we go? The bike store of course!

While I was there the saleslady told me about a new child trailer, the Weehoo. Upsides are said to include the enclosed chain, the adjustable seat position, the fact that it *is* a seat (not a saddle) so the Future Cyclist could nod off without falling off, and it even has pockets for water bottles.

She showed me the video on the website and I instantly said "Wow, that looks like Colorado!" I was specifically thinking Lafayette, where my sister lives, but I wasn't surprised at all when I got to their Facebook page and see that they're based just down the road in Golden, CO. Now that Coors doesn't give out unlimited free beer at the end of the tour I don't know many people who go out there (except on a bike ride) but when we're home for another family wedding later this summer I may have to check out a Weehoo - it will be a while before we can use one, but once we can it looks like just the tool to resume our bicycle adventures!

Photo from the Weehoo Facebook page

Italian Moms on Bikes

Since my friend is still looking for her replacement "mom's bike", I thought I'd post all the mothers (and fathers!) we captured out cycling in Italy.

 When I saw these bikes waiting outside the bakery I knew there would be a family of cyclists nearby.

 Sure enough, ten minutes later I heard the older child happily chatting with her mother as they safely cycled through the walled city of Orvieto.

 This mother in Florence has both of her children on her way into town on the dedicated bike lane along the river.

 This mother and her daughter were navigating the piazza near the Duomo in Florence.

 This family was parking near the Spanish Steps in Rome.

 Riding as a family in Villa Borghese seems to be the thing to do on Sunday. Bonus points if you bring a picnic lunch!

Some cyclists even appear to get their start on the safe walkways in Villa Borghese.

This little girl was enjoying her lollipop as Dad cycled home along Via del Corso, which was closed to traffic several times while were were visiting.

This little girl was quite relaxed heading off somewhere with her mom and dad. I even caught her yawning!

You're unlikely to see a little girl balancing on a bike like this in Boston!

New Bike for a Friend

I get the fun job of helping a friend shop for a new city bike. She's mother to two, so the bike must carry the 18 month old, and in this case reliability trumps aesthetics. I'd still like to find her something cute, and regular readers know I'm a bit out of my element when it comes to new bike shopping, I'm a vintage bike kind of girl. But as I adjusted my brakes yet again this morning I knew that I should limit this bike search to new bikes. I thought I'd list my thoughts and hope that you, dear readers, could chime in with ideas and suggestions.

My friend is about 5'7", a very fit triathlete, with two young girls (4 years and 18 months) who are also growing up to be cyclists. Her previous city bike was a generic hybrid, which was stolen off her fenced back patio! This bike will have to go in the same spot, but we hope to have it better secured. She has a triathlon bike, this should be her upright kid-hauling city bike.


1) dream bike would, of course, be a custom ANT ($2,700)
Upside would be that it would be perfect for her and her family, now and in the future. Downside would be the price. But look at those lines! The headlight! These lavender rims! And working with Mike is so fun. I love the upgrades he has planned... Sigh... It's fun to dream about the custom colors I would choose.


2) REI offers the Electra Ticino ($800), onto which I imagine we could add a chainguard. This bike looks a lot like mine, which may be why I like it, but it has cantilever brakes, which appeal to me for kid-carrying. She'd also get the REI refund on the purchase.
Downsides include no eyelets for a rear rack (and thus no baby seat). This is a deal-breaker Electra!


3) A new maker, Public, offers a cute Mixte ($750)
My friend would love the color options, it has a chainguard, and internal hubs ($890 if she needs the 8 speed). There are eyelets for the child seat. As people have commented on this blog, the fender line shown on their website bodes poorly for their overall attention to detail, but we can hope that was just the poor work of the bike stylist?

(Photo credit to the excellent blog Lovely Bicycle, who steps in where bike manufacturers fail!)

4) KHS offers the Green bicycle ($350) in black only.
I think the biggest downside to this bike is that certain parts of it do look really cheap. On the other hand they're some of the parts I'm most likely to change anyway. If we got a sprung black Brooks saddle and a pair of black swept-back handlebars I think it would go from "cheap" to "simple little black bike" pretty quickly. I don't believe the included rack is rated to carry a baby seat, so we'd have to switch that out. Also the ladies' bike only comes in 14" and 17" frame sizes. She might fit on a 17" but I know I wouldn't! I do like the idea of an internal hub for her, but while I'm ok with 3 speeds and a rack of groceries, I don't know about three speeds and a rack of toddler. She may need more gearing options. This bike works well for some but definitely has some drawbacks.


5) Trek offers the Belleville WSD ($660)
It has the 3 speed internal hub, includes the chainguard and fenders and racks. The front rack would likely be very useful to my friend, the rear rack would again probably have to be changed for the baby seat rack. Somehow there's something about this bike aesthetically that I don't like - has it got too much going on or something? Maybe it's that saddle.


6) Gary Fisher has the Simple City 3 ($600)
I can't put my finger on it but this bike (and the 8 speed) does not excite me at all, and the women's version is worse.


7) Specialized Globe has a beautiful candy apple red Live 1 Mixte ($580) but I think my friend needs some gearing. Otherwise I think this bike has a lot going for it, particularly for taller ladies.


So readers, are there any new bikes out there that are exciting, and meet my friend's needs? Should I start looking into vintage bikes with new components (à la Renaissance Bicycles?) How can a lady haul toddlers in style?

Shiny Green Vintage

Perhaps I've never seen a vintage bike in a condition as impeccable as this bike spotted outside a swank South End restaurant. The gleam of the chrome was overwhelming in the evening light.

I'm not sure how safe the child seat is, but I love the black and white plaid with the green and chrome bike.

Handsome Parisian Men on Bicycles

All so very handsome, and all with a chaincase or guard:








Only papa seems to be riding the other way! His route is part of my husband's former commute, the most beautiful city commute in the world.

Behind the Brown Jacket

I've been blogging for a while, and start to see old friends again. She's always looking so pretty! I was slow to get their shot so it's hard to see her sheer brown stockings, tall brown suede boots, and well-cut jacket. I'm also unclear whether or not she has a hand in raising that next generation of chic cyclist on the next bike over - whether daily or just in passing she is certainly setting a good example!

Cycling with Kiddos

While we are nowhere near that yet, I'm starting to put some thought into what will be required to continue cycling once little people enter our lives.

One of my most cherished memories is skiing at Tahoe when I was about 5 years old. My dad made a piece of pie with his skis, and held me as I made a piece of pie with mine. We went so fast, the wind rushed through my hair, and I was still warm. The thrill of an adventure, protected by the strong bulk of my father's body, was a highlight of my early childhood.

So you'll understand why I just adore this dad and daughter, out on their adventure. He'd just pointed something out to her, I'd love to have had that kind of time each morning with my dad.


The law in MA prohibits babies under the age of one on single person bikes. So what to do for that first year?

The bike trailer is an ever-popular option. However this photo, taken at the same place on the same morning as the dad above, illustrates my concerns about a trailer:


The child is just so far behind, so hard to see/hear, and those trucks out there so big! I think this may work better in suburban environments than in the big city.

A girlfriend who is pregnant has told me she's going to get a cargo bike. This makes a lot of sense, if you have somewhere to park it. How do Europeans park these things? On the street? What about theft and rain? Bakfiets and Madsen Cargo Bikes seem to be the most popular. I think that Bakfiets might be better for infants, and the Madsen better for children, but I'd welcome additional data. Where is the second-hand market for these bikes? I've never seen them for sale.

Once they are big enough, there are infinite options with an extracycle, tandem, or Trail-a-bike. There's even a jumpseat for my husband's Brompton! (which would be good for the storage issue)

But what to do for that first year?

Best of Boston

Innovation is everywhere, but it is a particular strength in Boston. I think of this as the best of Boston - tinkering, innovating, families, community, practical fun...


I've seen these two often but they're always going to quickly to get a good shot. The younger one always has a huge grin on his face, he's pretty happy to be out with Dad.

This dad has great taste in bikes

Dad and his nice bike just dropped Junior off at day care. He's not wearing a cycling cuff, he has a chain guard to go with what looks like an internally geared hub.

This photo reminds me a bit of the Porn for Women book (that link is safe for work). The Amazon description states:

"Give the fairer sex what they really want - beautiful PG photos of hunky men cooking, listening, asking for directions, accompanied by steamy captions: "I love a clean house!" or "As long as I have two legs to walk on, you'll never take out the trash." Now this is porn that will leave women begging for more!"

I wasn't so into the book, but this dad with the baby seat on a sexy bike?
Not bad... :)

Guest Photos: Colorado SuperMum

How does she do it?

Looking great with kids in tow, N bikes for transportation and for recreation. Yesterday they biked to get ice-cream, followed by a stop at a park where this photo was taken.

But beyond that they actually took their kids (and pictured bike) on a two week trip through the Colorado mountains, which included a trip over Trail Ridge Road. Amazing.

I'm sure she looked chic throughout the whole family adventure. My hat's off to you N!

For more inspiration on their adventures, please visit her blog.

Jillian's Custom Child's Bicycle Seat

I started this blog to be the repository of all the cycle chic I wanted to remember. With permission I'm reprinting the Custom Childseat post in its entirety from Jillian's blog - I don't ever want to lose this inspiration!

My green experiment has been on hold for the most part as far as the cycling aspect goes because I had no seat to transport Ellie. And frankly, I just couldn't justify spending over a hundred dollars for one of the ghastly seats that are available to me here. So, I paid 30 for one of those ghastly seats. You gotta love craigslist.


What I got for that amount was the Copilot Limo seat which retails for around $130. Saved quite a bit there. Which left me some room to purchase the items to personalize it. I know, I know, those of you who may read this trying to figure out how to do it are like, GET ON WITH IT ALREADY! So here's what I did.

First I took off the seat padding and any straps that were removable. Then I taped off the remaining harness with duct tape. The rack that comes with the seat was originally black and I couldn't have that on my pretty white bike, so I spray painted it a high gloss white. The dentist in Jeremy came out and he was all you know the spectrum of white is huge so it may not match. But to me, white next to pretty white is better than black on white. So as that was drying I spray painted the body of the seat lime green. I chose green for a couple of reasons. 1. I thought it would be highly visible in the event of our imminent death by truck squashing. 2. If we ever have a son I can just change out the fabric on the seat cover and it will work for him also.




At first I left the handlebar red but after some time the contrast between the green really got to me and I spray painted it green too. As all of that was drying I made a very basic pattern for the seat cover by tracing it onto a piece of scrap fabric I had left over from my bicycle basket liner. When I cut the pattern out I left about a two inch margin. Then I simply hot glued the fabric margin to the opposite side of the seat cushion. It is important to note that if I had a sewing machine or a drop of patience I could have made a much better cushion cover that could be easily removed and washed as needed. Well, that's the plan but for now I needed immediate gratification and there's nothing better than a glue gun for that.

When that was finished I slipped the straps from the harness through it and attached it to the seat with the Velcro that came with it. I also added a couple of self adhesive Velcro strips to the edges to make it a little more secure. The I took some coordinating hot pink fabric and hot glued it around the arm rest and added a Velcro strip to it and I was done. Jeremy had to file the rack down slightly for it to fit my bike, but when it was all said and done I had only spent a total of $41.
$30 Child seat
$8 two cans of spray paint
$3 one yard of hot pink fabric from the clearance rack.






So, now that it is all done and on my bike I can honestly say that I am happier with it than I would have been with the bobike seat of my dreams. Because I created it. It is one of a kind and I'm proud of myself. For not accepting something that I wasn't happy with and being resourceful. Now I just have to pray that I don't kill us both.
THE END

Why I want a Mixte someday:

It just seems easier to get on and off a mama chariot if it has a dropped top bar. This is NOT a mixte, but you get the idea...

Photo by bilobicles