MyZigo... the first 200km...

Seems like it didn't take very long but the Zigo has already made it to the 200km mark in just over a month (that doesn't even include trips it's made as a pram)

The bike has slotted into full time commuting duty and with the pod attachment it's getting fairly regular trips to kindy and the park.

Firstly the most impressive aspect is the service from Zigo. I had an issue with the locking mechanism last week and even though I'd bought the bike second hand AND it's out of warranty they still shipped me a replacement free of charge within a week.

As a bike, it's not the speediest thing around, probably topping out at about 24km/h flat out on the pedals. Having said that I'm actually quite glad that it's a slower paced machine. On commuting duty it means I can quite happily ride to work fully dressed in work gear and arrive without needing a change. On a roady there is alway a temptation (for me) to try and chase down that next rider. On the Zigo I'm just happy to cruise along and enjoy the ride. Also being more like a folding bike geometry the lower centre of gravity loaded up with panniers makes handling a breeze.

In full Bike/Pram combo mode it's a head turner. It's pretty rare for me to be riding it somewhere without getting a comment. Mostly I'm asked where I got it and how they get one (Hoffy Cycles Bike shop is the place to go if you're in Queensland). The kids love it... well mostly... the littlest one (10mo) still isn't the biggest fan of helmets or seatbelts so it's often an effort to get her in but on the trip she is usually either giggling with excitement.... or asleep. It's got enough storage up in the pram that I can keep snacks and blankets etc for ready access and with the panniers I can load it up with enough stuff for a picnic and changes of clothes for water park adventures.

Really it's been the perfect solution, being able to have someone push the pram to kindy and have someone else do the pickup run on the bike on their way home. The changeover only takes a few minutes and works seamlessly.

The only negative things I can really say about it are that when riding the bike separately, the mechanism that controls the brakes from ChildPod mode is a bit noisy on the bumps when you're riding the bike alone and the child pod is just slightly wider than our other double pram meaning there are a couple of doorways it won't quite fit through. They are pretty small negatives in an otherwise fantastic package.

If you're looking for a way to transport two kids around and don't like the idea of a trailer this is definitely the solution to go with.

The Zigo... a week in..

After being in search of a cargo bike for a while, we decided that the fixed cargo solutions were going to be good for weekends but not so good during the week. So we started looking at some of the bike/pram solutions and discovered a new one for sale (still boxed) on eBay for almost half the RRP.


So after a successful bid and a not so short trip to Esk to pick it up, a very excited little boy helped me unpack it and build the b(ike p)ram.

Since then it's managed a few short trips to the park or coffee as a the bike pram. It takes a little bit of getting used to riding a trike vs a 2 wheeler, the lack of leaning on the corners made me a bit uneasy the first couple of times. One that is sorted out it's quite fun to ride and being able to keep an eye on the kids is really easy. Obviously I mounted the garmin and some clip-ins to it from the outset.

With the addition of the Zigo though I also scored a stand alone commuter bike which has meant the other commuters have had to go. It's in a similar vein to the townie with the high seating position but the gearing (obviously for when you have the child pod onboard). While it's not quick (topping out at about 24km/h pedalling at about 110rpm) it makes a perfect bike for commuting already dressed for work. Even if I got the rush of blood to chase down that roadie (which may have happened more than once or twice riding the fixie) it's not remotely possible so I just kick back and roll through to work.

I might have lost some hipster cred losing the fixie and commuting on the Zigo, but so far it's the perfect combo for child transport and commuting duty.