We weren’t really planning on buying another bike, but we have been trying to figure out how we were going to continue to ride everywhere we want as a family. With Little Ding riding his own bike instead of being towed in the bike trailer, we’ve been enjoying family rides in which we all ride together, but have been frustrated because now we can’t ride as far- he is not able to put in the same miles that we can. We loved riding to the zoo for example, but that’s too far for him.
We had already considered a variety of family cargo bikes but we’ve been limited by price as well as by storage. We live on the 2nd floor and do not have garage space. No bakfiets, Madsens, Christianias, or other sorts of box-style cargo bikes would be suitable for us. At a couple of the Kidical Mass rides we watched as one parent pulled up on an Xtracycle with her’s child’s toddler bike tucked into one of the side pockets. Brilliant! But Little Ding’s bike is larger than a toddler bike, and has the two extra fat-tire ‘training’ wheels, and we weren’t sold on the Xtracycle for various reasons.
The Big Dummy wasn’t too bad, but a little pricey and not as upright a bike as Mr. Ding wanted – his wrists are having a harder and harder time with his hybrid. Overall we wanted something solid that could haul a heavy rider as well as lots of cargo, allow a disabled rider to ride in the back, tow a kid’s bike, and not be too expensive. Then someone reminded us that J.C. Lind Bike Company here in Chicago was now carrying Yuba Mundos! Ding Ding!
The blue Yuba after Mr. Ding's rainy test ride
We stopped by the bike store on Wells street on a rainy Saturday afternoon and checked out some of the bikes in the store and Mr. Ding headed out for an initial test ride.
Mr. Ding takes a Yuba Mundo out for a test ride while the Van Moof bike looks on
The Yuba is 6ft 9 inches long – not your standard-length bike. A steel bike made to haul 440 lbs of cargo plus a rider, it is the strongest in terms of the load it can carry, of all the longtail cargo bikes. The rear rack can hold 2 child seats, along with grocery bags on each side. Here’s one in the store configured with two different kinds of child seats for riders of different ages.
