Good work!
We've only got two (4 and 1yo), but we've been through a fair evolution of carrying arrangements.
- Rear mount child seat from when #1 was 1yo
- Tagalong from just before 3yo.
- Trailer when #2 arrived, went in it in the car seat from 3mo, now big enough that we can put both of them in together.
- Recently bought a (mid-mount) WeeRide seat for the bike we use with the tagalong so that we've got a one-adult-two-kids solution that isn't the trailer (can't use the rear seat and tagalong at the same time).
- And then we bought a tandem!
(This sounds like a lot of stuff, and it is, but we've used every single bit of it at least once over the last weekend)
We're only just getting the tandem set up, and haven't put many miles on it, but it's going to be a game-changer. Capable of carrying all four of us without trailer or tagalong - #2 goes in the rear seat, #1 has a saddle and footpegs mounted to the frame between captain and stoker (kit ordered, perhaps unsurprisingly, from NL).
Fixes the disparity in bike fitness between OH and I and thus extends our range - tandem cost about the same as a fairly basic eBike conversion kit would, but gives both of us a boost.
With the kit we've got, I could assemble a rig to carry five kids on my own. Six if one of them was big enough to ride stoker.
Tandem also cost about the same as a barebones Xtracycle LEAP kit does over here - ie just the chassis, no luggage racks, child seats, etc. At some point I'll make a cargo rack for it, replacing the stoker seat to make a mega-longtail solo.
So yeah, buy a tandem! (Can you tell I'm a bit excited about ours?)
