# Riding with Triplets - advice needed



## starvingdavid (Oct 25, 2010)

I've been searching but without much success

We've got triplets, about nine months old now. It would be nice to figure out how to go on a ride with them. Trouble is the internet is of no help. Right now I'm just trying to figure out what my options are.

Are there bike trailers on the market for three?

If not, should I consider a trailer along with a seat mounted on my bike?

I have a dedicated mtn bike and roadie, the mtn bike is pretty slow on the pavement and the roadie is fine but I'm a little concerned about stability. Should I consider a third hybrid bike for this purpose?

I've looked at Dutch/cargo bikes but that won't really work for me (I have to walk down/up stairs to reach street).


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## Metamorphic (Apr 29, 2011)

Wow, that's tough. I'd imagine the market for anything that holds 3 is too small to make it worth designing and producing for. The best you could do I would think is 2 in a Burley and the third on a rack mount seat. I saw somewhere there's a cargo bike, trike actually, that has a big bucket in the front. There you go. Babboe Big trike

Part of the problem is any solution is only going to be a solution for about a year, then you'll have to reconfigure as they grow. Could be a lot of very expensive bike purchases that are not really all that much fun.


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## starvingdavid (Oct 25, 2010)

The cargo bike is a very interesting idea, I've thought about it a lot. Ultimately I think it would be pretty difficult. I live up a small hill, so I wonder how much work it would be to crank up hill. Secondly, we don't have a garage and I have to walk down to get to my house from the street. I would need to keep the cargo bike on the street level in a dedicated shed or something.

I've thought about making a gravel bike with donated road bike parts a child seat on the back and pulling a trailer. My concern with this is stability. Say something goes wrong in the trailer, I don't quite know how easy or stable it will be to just pull over and leave the other one on the bike seat.


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## hallin222 (Oct 13, 2005)

Does you wife not ride? Why are you stuck pulling all three? Why not one double trailer behind dad, and one single trailer behind mom.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## starvingdavid (Oct 25, 2010)

hallin222 said:


> Does you wife not ride? Why are you stuck pulling all three? Why not one double trailer behind dad, and one single trailer behind mom.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


It's more that I am home with the kids for a few hours in the afternoon. I figured it would be nice to get out and get some exercise before she gets home.

The other issue is space, we don't have a garage so two additional trailers would be difficult.

It doesn't seem like there is any easy answer to this.


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## SimpleJon (Mar 28, 2011)

Speed doesn't really matter if you are hauling 3 kids, I cant see you going too fast unless you are an absolute beast.

If you don't want to tie up your MTB or its not suitable for mounting a baby seat. I think your best option would be something with a nice long wheel base like a Surly long haul trucker, that is very stable with a rear mounted seat and double tralier- I would also get one of those top tube mounted touring stands or a double leg kickstand, I have used both loaded touring and they are pretty stable.
The LHT will easily take 15 or 20kg on the back and stay stable; so will last until they are old enough to get their own bikes, I've seen 700c hybrids get pretty flexi and unstable with 3 and 4 year old kids on the back.


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## starvingdavid (Oct 25, 2010)

SimpleJon said:


> Speed doesn't really matter if you are hauling 3 kids, I cant see you going too fast unless you are an absolute beast.
> 
> If you don't want to tie up your MTB or its not suitable for mounting a baby seat. I think your best option would be something with a nice long wheel base like a Surly long haul trucker, that is very stable with a rear mounted seat and double tralier- I would also get one of those top tube mounted touring stands or a double leg kickstand, I have used both loaded touring and they are pretty stable.
> The LHT will easily take 15 or 20kg on the back and stay stable; so will last until they are old enough to get their own bikes, I've seen 700c hybrids get pretty flexi and unstable with 3 and 4 year old kids on the back.


This is a great idea, thanks! I like the idea of a double leg / touring stand. The only discussion I've seen on this is on parent type websites and people call out the kickstand as being a weak point. I didn't really consider this option.


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## hobiesmith (Mar 1, 2008)

are you scared of fab work? if not then grab two double trailer and train it, just like over the road trucks. and you won't have to change this setup until they are in their own bikes or you leave them at home. the best part is, you dont have to modify your current bike, hook the trailers up to either of the bikes you already own. try to grab two burleys off craigslist and rock it.


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## TheClash (Mar 17, 2011)

I have the double seater chariot which is great to pull behind (twins here) you can easily fit three across and I believe (don't hold me to it if I am wrong) but I believe you can purchase a third shoulder harness etc. to put in a third "seat"


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## starvingdavid (Oct 25, 2010)

TheClash said:


> I have the double seater chariot which is great to pull behind (twins here) you can easily fit three across and I believe (don't hold me to it if I am wrong) but I believe you can purchase a third shoulder harness etc. to put in a third "seat"


Thanks for the suggestion! I looked into this a little bit and you can get a sling for the Chariot. It seems though its not intended to be used when trailering, only used as a stroller.

my kids eat off the floor: 3 kids in a bike trailer

Not really sure where I will go from here, but its a great idea.


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## Belatu (Oct 16, 2011)

I have triplets. Get a Big Dummy. It will be your best friend. Everything else I tried ended in heartache. You can only put two Yepp seats on the deck. They were almost 3 when they started on this thing. Now they all ride independently.


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## Belatu (Oct 16, 2011)

My kids hated trailers. It turned into a fight for who didn't have to sit in the trailer. And the two leg kickstand is CRITICAL for loading the bike with kids. Look ma, no hands:


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## starvingdavid (Oct 25, 2010)

So to update this situation I ended up getting a separate bike for triplet hauling.

I found an older Trek 6700 at a bike swap last weekend that was set up for commuting. 1x9 drivetrain, disc brakes and slicks. I'm pretty happy with the setup, it's an aluminum frame and I wonder how it will do being asked to pull some serious weight.

We then got a Thule trailer and child seat. The great thing about the trailer is that its foldable and very compact. The child seat can hold about 50lbs while the trailer can take 100. I liked this because they will more or less grow at the same rate (I think).

Its slow, like half the pace of my road bike but thats fine. It has a 34t ring up front and there were very few places where I could spin it out.

In all, I'm fairly pleased with this setup. If they really hate the trailer as noted above I may have to go to a Surley cargo bike but it would make storage a bit harder.


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