New bike designs coming out of the Netherlands

Right then,

Found this article on Yahoo today:

Urban young ride demand for bicycle innovation



...and wondered if there were new family friendly bikes seen in Munich. I myself tow a Kindercar behing my mountain bike in spring and summer. Double seats for two little ones. With the extra boy in the family I am going to be buggered towing both of them round this year!

Und?

i've seen quite a few of the behind-the-bike kid trailers. but none of the 3 wheel versions - which actually would be very helpful for pub-crawl nights

The have them in denmark made by the hippies in Copenhagen. Forget what they are called as I was stoned when someone told me.

Christiania Bikes are the ones you see all round copenhagen. Not just used for moving kids around, I've seen people apparently moving house using them.

Not as Funky as this one:
[img]http://www.workcycles.com/workbike/bicycles/conference-bike/images/cobi-side120.jpg[/img]

Here's a site of the maker. They have lots of other strange looking bikes. Have a look...

You see a lot of these bikes lately. Mostly, they are being used by "yuppie" mums and dads for bringing their kids to expensive daycare centers, mostly in Amsterdam. Very expensive, but also practical, I reckon. Nice to have a couple of screaming kids in front of you, more effective than the usual polite "Achtung bitte" if people are walking on the bicycle paths.

Should you be interested btw check here. German en English info, and German dealers! No dealer located in Munich though.

They take most of the impact in a head on crash too, which I guess is an added bonus

Joking aside, I actually find these "less bad" than the trailer (behind-the-bike) kind. As it is I don't like the idea of small children being so close to the traffic (or in the middle of it, in places where biking lanes are not on the pavement or simply don't exist) with only a bit of canvas and a frame for protection, but the thought of riding a bike with the kids behind - where I can't see them at all, or the traffic - positively freaks me out.

It ain't much if it ain't Dutch!

oh I agree, I'm not convinced I'd like to use either model really with kids (especially considering how bad I am at bike riding). I guess these versions are better than the classic baby seat on the back - I'm not sure I'd trust myself riding a bike with kids attached at all.

That's one aspect I hadn't thought of - that danger might be coming not so much from other road users but rather from the parent!

But one advantage of the trailers is that when the kids aren't there to transport, you disconnet it and you have an ordinary bike.
The monstere in the photo stays that big - and I guess its not as manouverable, especially in heavy traffic.