Wednesday, August 08, 2012

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.

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