ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Our Family Bike Fleet

Updated on December 17, 2016

Why We Have More Bikes Than Family Members

One thing that we enjoy doing as a family is riding our bikes around the neighborhood. There are more than 12 miles of trails and this does not include the sidewalks along the streets.

The biggest challenge we have is getting a bike for everyone to ride. Our daughter has special needs that have prevented her from learning to ride a bike independently so far. But we continue to experiment with various ways around this issue.

She is old enough now that we are trying a tandem bike this summer, so we have an additional bike in the garage for now.

In the summertime, we ride to the pool. During the school year, the kids ride their bikes down the street to school. Many shops and stores are a five minute bike ride away as well.

Other times we like to ride to one of the local parks to burn off some of the kids' energy or explore the trails to see if we can spot some wildlife.

It is a fun and inexpensive way to spend time together outdoors.

All of the pictures were taken by me unless otherwise noted.

How Our Tandem Bike Arrived

We ordered the bike online and had it shipped to us. It arrived three days sooner than promised, which we were very pleased about.

Final Assembly

It took me about an hour to put together. It was mostly assembled. The handle bars and seats needed to put on as well as the front wheel, fender, and pedals. Minimal tools were needed - about 3 different allen wrenches. Here is the bike before the first test ride.

Kulana Lua Bikes on Ebay

Our tandem bike is a Kulana Lua made by Pacific Cycle (formerly Schwinn). If you are looking for an entry level tandem bike to try out, this one won't break the bank. We have put a lot of miles on ours so far and it works well. At some point, I want to upgrade to a tandem bike with gears to make it easier to pedal when going very slow (or when my partner decides to stop pedaling :).

How We Got Along Before The Tandem Bike

My daughter was small enough that up until recently we could put her in this bike cart and go for a ride. But she grew to a point where even I could not haul her this way. And it was not a great experience for her anymore either.

The only thing we did not like about this cart was that dirt and water kicked up by the back tire of the bike would end up in the cart. There is a net that would stop any big stones but not the fine grit. There is also a plastic layer that can be unfolded as well, but that usually made the cart too hot for my daughter to be comfortable. She like the feel of air blowing in her face!

Some Comments About My Bike

Looking at the picture above, you may be saying that it certainly would have helped ease my burden to have a bike with gears. But since I already had this bike before we got the cart, I stuck with it. I would have much rather had one of these bikes!

My Daughter's Other Bike

While we use the tandem bike to go on family bike rides, we also have my daughter ride on a 'typical' bike with training wheels to keep moving her towards riding independently.

She is getting better with each week, particularly gaining strength in her legs for pedaling and learning coordination for steering and braking.

Over the last several months she has taken a liking to this bike and riding it. A lot of her friends ride their bikes, so she wants to be like every other kid.

We found a good bike and a set of training wheels that will work with the bike and not stand out or look too different for my daughter's liking. The bike is an Electra Little Betty model.

UPDATE - My Wife's Now Former Bike

As referenced above, we bought an extra coupler to put on her bike so that we could hook the bike cart to her bike or mine. You can't really see that in these pictures since it is so small and attaches on the rear of the frame with the axle of the wheel.

This is a Schwinn Legacy model.

Meet The New Bike - Almost

We tried this bike for a few days, but it didn't make the grade. The handle bars were not long enough, causing my wife to have to lean forward a bit. That was not comfortable on anything more than a short ride. So this bike was sent back even though it does look nice, for a girl's bike that is.

This bike is a Schwinn Clairmont model.

And Here Is The New Addition To The Bike Fleet

This bike is on its probation period. So far the reviews from my wife are good. The handlebars are long, allowing my wife to sit more upright and comfortably. The bike is nice and light as well.

The only downside at the moment is that there are no fenders, so puddles can leave their mark. Maybe I will have to find a way to make some fenders. Anyone know how to make fenders?

This bike is a Phat Sea Wind model. That's right, I said Phat.

My Son's Bike

This bike is a Schwinn Sidewinder model.

Our Ideal Bike For Riding With Our Daughter

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)