Three years ago our son Luke was born and our lives changed. When we started bike touring, it was hard to imagine that a few years later we’d be taking a third little cyclist along for the ride on weekend trips, across Europe and even as far away as Cuba.
Family bike adventures are certainly a far cry from the expedition-style touring we did during our world tour. We’ve swapped the 100km days of yesterday for half the distance or less, with plenty of stops at playgrounds, ice cream shops and swimming pools along the way.
This might seem boring to many but we love it. As fellow bike tourist Willie Weir says:
How many places have I sped through because there was no physical impediment to my fast-forward progress? How many interesting sights and experiences have we missed in the pursuit of arriving somewhere else? Bicycles are amazing when they are moving fast, but they are usually the best travel vehicles when moving slow.
And it’s a good thing that we’ve settled happily into this slower routine because this year we’re likely to slow down even a bit more. TravellingTwo is expanding. Yes, that’s right — Luke is about to become a big brother early this summer.
Baby number two is on the way…
This exciting development has us reconsidering our family bike touring plans (we’re hoping to sneak in a lazy autumn tour when the little one is 3-4 months old) and our mode of transport.
Our current bikes aren’t designed to carry two kids and while we could pair a touring bike (with child seat) with a trailer — both of which we already own — we find this a bit cumbersome for daily commuting.
Instead, we’re looking for the holy grail: a bike which can be used for touring as well as commuting, which can carry a baby safely from infancy onwards and which will allow us to transport two kids plus a little bit of luggage such as a tent or some groceries simultaneously.
Does such a bike exist? Maybe. At least we’re about to find out.
Andrew and Luke testing out the Onderwater Family Tandem.
This weekend we’ve been testing out an Onderwater Family Tandem and while it’s not perfect, it’s the bike that so far comes the closest to meeting all of our requirements.
The Onderwater Tandem can be configured to carry up to three kids, including one in a car seat.
Here’s what we like about it:
- Can be used from approximately 2 months old with a special cargo box + car seat (with suspension under the cargo box to minimise bumps).
- Can carry up to 3 kids, with room left over for shopping. Many configurations are possible, including an extended luggage rack for a back seat + panniers.
- As kids grow, they can cycle too! The front seat allows a child to pedal from about 4-5 years of age. A smaller child’s seat, without pedals, can be added behind the parent’s handlebar for kids from about 3 years old.
- Can be taken on trains in Europe — maybe not every train but enough to give us some options if we want to travel further afield.
- Weighs “just” 30kg (approximately). This is clearly far heavier than most touring bikes but it’s not massively heavier than other longtail cargo bikes (they tend to weigh about 25kg) and is a good 15kg lighter than the lightest bakfiets-style cargo bikes (these can weigh anywhere up to 60kg).
- Broadly high quality parts, though we’d upgrade it in a few places (see below).
- Electric assist available, if you want it. We are leaning towards getting an e-bike version of this tandem, simply because we will want to do longer distances and e-bike charging points are reasonably easy to find now in Europe.
- High re-sale value. If we want to go for another bike in a few years, we can recoup most of our money by selling the bike on to someone else.
On the flipside, here’s our list of concerns and potential upgrades:
- The saddle that comes with it is terrible! Definitely needs an upgrade to a Brooks (or your favourite saddle). The brake levers and pedals also seem to be on the cheaper side.
- The handlebars feel a bit cramped for our riding style. We’d like to replace them with something closer to the ones on our touring bike.
- Only available with a maximum of 8 speeds, which is okay for touring in Holland and other flatter destinations but (combined with the weight of two kids + luggage) is unlikely to get us very far if we try and tackle the Alps.
- We wonder if we could make the whole bike a bit lighter by getting a different back rack (the standard one seems quite chunky and heavy), seatposts and handlebars.
- If we use it to carry an infant in a car seat, we’ll have to work out a way of protecting the baby from wind and sun. Protection from the elements would be better in a trailer or a bakfiets-style cargo bike.
- The long wheelbase means that taking sharp corners isn’t as straightforward as with a shorter bike but the Onderwater tandem is surprisingly nimble for its length, far more so than we first expected.
Other alternatives for touring families might include the highly praised Hase Pino, Bike Friday’s family tandem, the Yuba Mundo or Surly’s Big Dummy. We’ve ruled all of these out for various reasons. In a few years they might be great but for the immediate future, none of them are capable (as far as we know) of safely carrying a baby in the way that the Onderwater tandem or a standard bakfiets cargo bike can, and this is an essential part of everyday family life in the Netherlands. We don’t have a car and we need a way not only to tour but also to make daycare, work and shopping runs as a family.
If you have another idea, let us know. Otherwise, it’s likely that we’ll be on an Onderwater tandem before too long!