It’s been a while since I babbled about bikes. When I was surprised by this last pregnancy, researching bikes fell to the wayside because biking while preggers wasn’t really an option for me, what with being not only a clumsy novice but on anticoagulants. Biking with an infant under a year also wasn’t going to be on my list of things to do, so I tried not to think about it too much.

But then everything went pear shaped and I continued to not think about it too much.

However, recently I entered a contest for a Zigo, a new-ish family bike that I haven’t talked about before. I didn’t win (probably deservedly, I’m sure there are people that really can’t afford this and would use it a lot more) but now I can’t stop thinking about it. Could a Zigo be the answer to my family biking dilemmas?

I haven’t mentioned this bike before, even though I knew about it, because I didn’t think it was really what I was looking for.  I think it’s novel and a good idea, it is just very different from my original vision. Which means, of course, that it’s more sporty than stylish and more functionally specific as a kid carrier than a universal cargo carrier that I’ll keep for a decade or two.

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get a bike that would fit every single need: carry myself and the kids, carry cargo like groceries, something that could be carried on the car to other destinations, plus be a bike I wouldn’t feel silly in by myself and would last me the next decade or two even after the kids have long outgrown being carted around. Also, it’s also important to me that if I’m looking for something to last a a long time that it somewhat reflect my personality. I know that sounds shallow, but I can’t help it. I want to love my bike. And the Zigo? It’s not as sexy as a Betty Foy nor is it as cute as the Radish. It’s a dilemma.

I thought the answer was an Xtracycle, but for several reasons I couldn’t make up my mind. Should I get a unified frame like the Surly or should I add a Free Radical to a regular bike? If so which bike? Should I get a new one with bells and whistles (and there are so many to choose from!) or should I get more of a beater? How much Dutch style do I want? Could I get away with just a FR8 family (be still my heart!)?

And then there’s the blatant fact that I just couldn’t shake feeling unsafe with the whole damn idea. I’m just not that good a cyclist. I wouldn’t trust myself not to fall over at the slightest gust. Could I risk doing that with my kids? But I desperately want exercise to be a part of my daily life, not some horrible chore. So I kept going back and forth between Xtracycles and trikes like the Christiana. A trike felt like it would be a lot more stable, even though I wouldn’t be able to take it anywhere in the car and I would feel silly by myself.

And so on and so forth. I could never made up my mind.

But the Zigo… I realized many wonderful things while perusing the website:

• The kid carrier folds flat. Ah ha — that might fit in my car. The bike portion could fit on a rack. I could take the kids to Green Lake or the Burke Gilman! Check!
• I also realized I could put a pannier on the back to tow the eldest’s bike so I could carry him in the Zigo when he was tired. That’s one of the reasons I was even looking at cargo bikes to begin with instead of just a trail-a-bike. Check!
• The Zigo in kid mode is essentially a trike, which my gut tells me would feel a whole lot more stable. Check!
• I could take off the kid carrier and ride it like a regular bike, albeit an odd small wheeled bike, but a single bike nevertheless. Check!
• I wouldn’t have to put the toddler in a bike seat, which was a concern for hubby. Check!
• I believe, although I haven’t seen one of these in person, that this bike might be narrow enough to navigate the sidewalks instead of the scary arterial roads around here. Check!
• Bonus: The kid carrier can be a double stroller, which I don’t have but wish I did. Unexpected check!

I was very surprised with how well the Zigo fit my criteria.

So what don’t I like? Well..

• The sporty look is not me at all. But I can live with that. The green is lurvely.
• I really don’t like how the kids are at car exhaust level, like a trailer, but I can see how that’s safer as far as center of gravity goes than up high on a regular bike.
• I wonder how a Zigo does in a dooring situation?
• Also it just doesn’t have the cargo capacity of something like the Madsen or the Xtracycle. It looks to be specifically built as a kid carrier, which gives it a limited lifespan.

Notice how much shorter that list is than the former? Me too.

So there you have it. A new, surprising and unexpected contender that the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. Of course I absolutely relish the idea of toting the boys to fun locales, of Boo practicing his biking skills and the babe enjoying all of this with us, but then I wouldn’t have to harass Boo to finish the trip, I could just cart him the rest of the way when he was done. I could take the Boo to school down the road and it would actually be fun instead of a pain. I could do a myriad of errands by myself should I gain the confidence to do so. I’m still not 100% assured of the safety of the whole idea, which is a major concern for the rest of my family, but at a minimum we could enjoy the trails and Green Lake, and for me, it would be worth it just for that. In any case, surely something like this will have good resale value in the Seattle area.

Of course all of this depends on us not having another baby, but still. It’s a good idea. And even if we do have another baby, the idea can hibernate for another two years. Since right now it’s only January, I’m going to keep mulling it over. But for now, I like it. I like it enough that I’m thinking about going for a test ride sometime. That would be fun :)

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 10:58 pm and is filed under Thoughts, Etc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.