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Bikes

Cargo biking, family cycling, bike touring and biking for transportation.

Parent and small child drink hot tea from tea cups

How I stay warm winter bike commuting: Bar Mitts and diet

Bar Mitts are an great way to keep hands warmer on cold bike commutes. The other thing that's helped me considerably is adjusting my diet for the season. I have long thin fingers and bought one glove and mitten design after another, yet my fingers would get cold

Burley Piccolo attached to a Surly Big Dummy

How to attach a Burley Piccolo to a Surly Big Dummy

This post used to be titled "How to attach a Burley Piccolo to an Xtracycle. While the Surly Big Dummy originally used Xtracycle brand rails and top deck, in 2022 all Xtracycle bikes use 24" rear wheels, which changes the geometry of how the Piccolo would attach and

Bakfiets with carseat and umbrella stroller

Carrying a baby stroller on a cargo bike

There are a few options carrying a stroller on a cargo bike, like Radwagon, Yuba Mundo, Surly Big Dummy or an Xtracycle. The simplest options is do without. Perhaps a sling will do. If the stroller is to be used primarily on lightly used sidewalks, a bicycle with a child

child looks off towards a field on a country road, smiling. Cargo bike with carseat is nearby.

Counting Cows: Our Favorite Family Bike Touring Game

To pass the days bike touring with our five and eight year old children, my wife taught the rest of us a car game she learned growing up in Vermont. The game involves counting animals you see along the road. The game itself is now near extinction as a car

Surly Big Dummy and Yuba Mundo at a yard sale

Surly Big Dummy vs Yuba Mundo vs Bakfiets

Update 2022: I wrote this in 2012 when I had all three bikes, and reviewed and refreshed it this year. The basic differences between these models remain unchanged. Enjoy! Cargo bikes are increasingly viable as car-replacement vehicles, but there are some significant differences between the options to choose from. The

Back and white silhouette of child riding a push bike.

Crashing when the stakes are lower

I learned about gravel the hard way, when I was twenty. I biked into a sharp turn off a busy street at full speed. There was gravel there and I went down hard and fast. Bam. No one was there to give me a hand up. Fortunately, the intersection was

A big sister reads to her little brother under a bakfiets cargo bike weather canopy.

Cargo Bikes vs Bike Trailers

own Let's look at cargo bikes vs bike trailers for a couple different cases: first, for everyday, around-town user. Next, we'll consider what's best for a bike tour with children. To qualify my answers, I've owned single wheel trailers like the BOB