Anyway, last Wednesday, in the midst of all the returned snow and cold we headed out to the Library and as we toddled through snowdrifts along the riverbank pathway we spotted a pair of Canada Geese!
Unfortunately they both took off as I stopped to get out my camera...
With the warm weather approaching (or so they say...) I've been starting to think a lot about what to do for kids bikes... There's so few companies that actually make decent bikes for small children. Everything looks like the bastard offspring of a bmx and a mountain bike. Knobby tires, built like a tank and almost as heavy as MY own bikes... Also anything with wheels smaller than 20" seem to be built for use with training wheels. If you put the seat up to a reasonable height for a bit of leg extension there's no way the rider would be able to touch the ground with their feet. Lower the seat so they can touch the ground and they're picking their nose with their kneecaps!?
I've been checking out the Batavus catalogue as I know a year or so ago they had a kids version of their personal bike - complete with rack, fenders, light, and I think a three speed hub!? But when I click on kids bikes I get the following message: "De door u opgevraagde pagina kan niet worden gevonden" I'm guessing they are updating their website with he new years stuff... though it's been like that for a while. I've also been looking in on Fourth Floor Distribution (the Canadian/US distributor of Batavus - and a lot of other neat stuff...). They still have last years catalogue up and it doesn't look like they has any kids bikes last year...
sigh...
I may just have to settle for one of those tanks and find some smoother tires...
I've found the same problems with bikes for our daughter. No solution sought or found, just putting up with what we have for now. I'd be interested to hear what you find and how it works out for your kids.
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kids bikes...
Looking at a couple options for something new for Finnegan. Amanda checked out Curbside Cycle when she was just in Toronto - hoping they might have a junior version of a Batavus Personal Bike (which Batavus DID make a year or so ago) or some other sensible bike for getting around. Most kids bikes seem to be junior mountain bikes and built like tanks because, I presume, the companies figure the only thing kids will use them for are hucking them off whatever kind of jumps of whatever and no kid is actually going to use a bike to get anywhere further than the corner convenience store to buy a slushie...
Options we are considering at the moment are the Electra Townie 7D 20" and the Norco City Glide. I'm not thrilled about the derailleurs... why doesn't anyone build a kids bike with an internal hub gear!?
I did get a child stoker kit for the tandem. I haven't installed it yet - the idea was that Finnegan would sit on the back of the tandem and keria would be towed along on the trailer bike. Keira tried out the trailer bike last week and she's just too small for it - even with the seat in the lowest possible position and the super tiny cranks we brought for it. The tandem train, when I get it set up, would really just be used for longer distances as for shorter trips I hope to continue to use the yuba with the kids on the back or riding their own bikes more and more...
I could do a whole post/rant on it... probably should...