Baby jogging strollers while rollerblading?
Stuart Kreitman
jen...@nsspc3.enet.dec.com writes:
>
> Can anyone comment on any experience they've had and the relative safety
> of using a baby jogging stroller while on rollerblades? I would like to
I push my kids in conventional strollers all the time, and they really
enjoy it.
A jogging stroller would roll faster and with more stability, but you'd rather
get your fitness at a slower, safer speed, right?
If you can lock the wheel pivots, you'll have more control and less chance of
"losing it" on cracks and bumps. Your rollerblades are more sensitive to road
surface than those larger stroller wheels. Just try it.
Use common sense. Skate within your competence, strap the kid in securely,
add a bike helmet, and put the $300 in their college fund.
skk
Spectre
>jen...@nsspc3.enet.dec.com writes:
>
> Can anyone comment on any experience they've had and the relative safety
> of using a baby jogging stroller while on rollerblades? I would like to
Over the summer there was a guy that used to come into the store that I worked
at with his baby in a BIG stroller, with tires (the rubber ones with air!).
It was called the "Baby Jogger" I believe. It was origionally designed for
jogging with the baby, and was a tri-cycle setup. A nice feature that it
had was a hand brake on the handles, so you can brake the stroller when you
come to a stop, instead of relying on your strength to stop ( a good idea
so you don't dump trying to deal with the extra weight).
Sorry I don't have anything concrete about it, but maybe one of the other
netters have heard of it, and can fill in the details?
-Jeff
--
'Studying only reminds you of the things you don't know'
* Jeff Schreiber *********** __ While people are dreaming of flying, ***
* aka - "Spectre" ********* / /__ Birds are dreaming of Rollerblading! ***
* j...@kepler.unh.edu ******* /____/ They can only take my Rollerblades when ***
* j_sch...@unhh.unh.edu * 00000 they pry them off my cold, dead feet!!! ***
*******************************************************************************
* My opinions are mine and only mine. I don't care *
* if they are wrong and you can't have them anyway! *
Phil Earnhardt
>Over the summer there was a guy that used to come into the store that I worked
>at with his baby in a BIG stroller, with tires (the rubber ones with air!).
>It was called the "Baby Jogger" I believe. It was origionally designed for
>jogging with the baby, and was a tri-cycle setup. A nice feature that it
>had was a hand brake on the handles, so you can brake the stroller when you
>come to a stop, instead of relying on your strength to stop ( a good idea
>so you don't dump trying to deal with the extra weight).
The baby joggers appear to be the best available solution for serious cargo
carrying. As it is, you're limited to about 20-25 pounds in the best available
backpack technology (IMHO) -- the Ultimate Direction Voyager pack.
The only data point I can provide is the guy who Roller Bladed from coast to
coast several years back used one for carrying his stuff. He said it was great
for the descents. I forget which summer this was; it was the year that
Rollerblade introduced the Racerblade (1990?) -- Rollerblade caught up with
him somewhere around Boulder to give him a pair of the Racers.
This guy was going from west to east...I remember earlier there was someone
going from east to west who got stopped by the CO State Patrol at the border.
This second guy was more clever and didn't make a big bruhaha about his
trip and found no Police Blockades at borders.
>Sorry I don't have anything concrete about it, but maybe one of the other
>netters have heard of it, and can fill in the details?
On the ones I've seen, the wheels/brakes/tires are pretty low-grade bike
stuff. If you were really interested in hardware for serious descents, a
disk brake would be a good idea. And don't forget the patch kit!
>-Jeff
Have you ever had a chance to shop in a grocery store on in-lines? The cart
gives you tremendous stability and you can take skating strides in
ultra-slow-motion. It's lots of fun. The baby joggers should give a
fairly similar feeling.
--phil
Paula Burch
In article <1992Oct21.2...@PA.dec.com>, s...@tantalus.pa.dec.com (Stuart Kreitman) writes:
|> I push my kids in conventional strollers all the time, and they really
|> enjoy it.
|> A jogging stroller would roll faster and with more stability, but you'd rather
|> get your fitness at a slower, safer speed, right?
|> If you can lock the wheel pivots, you'll have more control and less chance of
|> "losing it" on cracks and bumps. Your rollerblades are more sensitive to road
|> surface than those larger stroller wheels. Just try it.
|>
|> Use common sense. Skate within your competence, strap the kid in securely,
|> add a bike helmet, and put the $300 in their college fund.
You must have some great sidewalks where you live. In my neighborhood, a
regular stroller is laughably useless even at a snail's pace. A jogging
stroller is far, far better than any regular stroller could be, even just
for walking!
Trying to use rollerblades with a regular stroller? You'd look pretty
ridiculous walking slowly on the tips of your skates as you struggle
with the stupid stroller! (Our jogging stroller, the `Three Wheel Wonder,'
cost $160 or $170 from the Right Start Catalog, our best baby gift--a bunch
of our friends went in on it together.)
I often go for walks with a neighbor. She's struggling with trying to get
the useless (but not cheap) Graco stroller to go stright, and she always
ends up in the middle of the street, which makes me nervous. Meanwhile,
I'm pushing Will along in his baby jogger with one finger, including tilting
it back with the front wheel off the street from time to time to entertain
him. I can't quite do it with my little finger alone, but any other single
finger is quite strong enough to control the thing. It's a delight. I would
get the expensive model with the hand brake if I lived in a very hilly
city, though--Houston is terribly flat (sigh), so not having a hand brake
is fine for us. The hand brake is probably a good idea for rollerblading.
Save your money--don't buy a regular stroller! For shopping, a lightweight umbrella stroller is better, anyway, since it's easy to toss in the car. For anything else, the jogger is so much easier and more pleasant to use.
Paula Burch
pbu...@bcm.tmc.edu
Tamara Shaffer
>
>>In article <1992Oct20....@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com>,
>>jen...@nsspc3.enet.dec.com writes:
>> Can anyone comment on any experience they've had and the relative safety
>> of using a baby jogging stroller while on rollerblades? I would like to
>
>Over the summer there was a guy that used to come into the store that I
>worked at with his baby in a BIG stroller, with tires (the rubber ones
>with air!). It was called the "Baby Jogger" I believe. It was
>origionally designed for jogging with the baby, and was a tri-cycle
>setup. A nice feature that it had was a hand brake on the handles, so
>you can brake the stroller when you come to a stop, instead of relying
>on your strength to stop ( a good idea so you don't dump trying to deal
>with the extra weight).
>
>
with *hand brakes*. I tried pushing my daughter in a stroller
while on my skates, and the momentum and uncertainty of being
able to stop quickly, with *her in front of me*, helped me decide
that I could skate while my husband pushed her instead. (on foot)
BTW, regular strollers won't work, if you haven't already found out.
They just aren't built for speed.
Good luck and have fun! I think it is wonderful to show your child
that exercise and fun are synonamous.
TAMARA
mommy to Melissa (5/1/91) and ? (due 5/8/93)
ps -- I've been "grounded" by my ob/gyn. :( No skating until the
baby comes. It's tough.
Thomas Page
The problem with regular strollers is that they shake the baby to death at
anything over slow walking speeds. I am so sold on baby joggers that I
recommend them even to friends who do not run, just to to use as a regular
stroller. I trained for the LA marathon last year doing almost all of my long
runs with one of my kids or the other in the jogger.
As for the specific question asked, I would not push a jog stroller wearing
roller blades unless it was on a very safe bike path. It is hard enough to stop
a stroller on a dime when you are running. It would be impossible for me in
roller blades. Maybe if you are a very skilled skater, but I wouldn't feel
comfortable.
Tom
George Scott
>In article <1992Oct22.0...@newshost.unh.edu> j...@kepler.unh.edu (Spectre) writes:
>>It was called the "Baby Jogger" I believe. It was origionally designed for
>>jogging with the baby, and was a tri-cycle setup. A nice feature that it
>>had was a hand brake on the handles, so you can brake the stroller when you
>>come to a stop, instead of relying on your strength to stop ( a good idea
>>so you don't dump trying to deal with the extra weight).
>The only data point I can provide is the guy who Roller Bladed from coast to
>coast several years back used one for carrying his stuff. He said it was great
>for the descents.
>On the ones I've seen, the wheels/brakes/tires are pretty low-grade bike
>stuff. If you were really interested in hardware for serious descents, a
>disk brake would be a good idea. And don't forget the patch kit!
A dissenting opinion: I own a Baby Jogger, and it has a hand brake. The hand
brake is useful only as a parking brake. The brake lever controls a standard
(cheap) side-pull brake on the front wheel. If you've run with a BJ, you know
that 90% or more of the weight is over the rear wheels. It's very easy to lift
the front wheel off the ground - I often use this going around corners. And I
don't think I'll get any argument that once the front wheel is off the ground,
the hand brake is useless.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George N. Scott EMAIL: geo...@nrel.gov
Wind Research Program (formerly SERI) VOICE: 303-231-7667
National Renewable Energy Laboratory 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393
ATT Larry M. McWilliams
>Trying to use rollerblades with a regular stroller? You'd look pretty
>ridiculous walking slowly on the tips of your skates as you struggle
>with the stupid stroller! (Our jogging stroller, the `Three Wheel Wonder,'
>cost $160 or $170 from the Right Start Catalog, our best baby gift--a bunch
>of our friends went in on it together.)
Where can a person get the 'Right Start Catalog', is there a phone
number or address I can write to?
Thanks,
Larry McWilliiams
l...@depot.cis.ksu.edu
Keith Grant
The number for "Right Start" is 800-LITTLE-1 (800-548-8531). Their address
is:
The Right Start Catalog
Right Start Plaza
5334 Sterling Center Dr
Westlake Village CA 91361
My own preference for baby joggers is
The Baby Jogger from
Racing Strollers Inc.
Yakima Wa
509-457-0925
I got their super jogger model which has quick release hubs for easy
transporting. Assembly was a simple matter of unfolding the frame,
sliding the wheel pins into the axle ends, attaching 4 locking pins, and
sliding on the quick release front wheel. All their units have hand brakes
as well as wrist straps. The brakes include a parking lock.
Huffy also makes a baby jokker. Their number is 800-242-6110.
--
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
I I Common sense and a sense of humor are the I
I Keith Eric Grant I same thing, moving at different speeds. A I
I k...@strathspey.llnl.gov I sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. I
I I (or perhaps dancing is just common sense) I
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
I For certain it is, that any ideas expressed above are of my own humble I
I opinion and bear nary a relation to the policies or positions of LLNL I
I or of any agency or contractor of the U.S. Government. I
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Stuart Kreitman
Grant) writes:
>
> In article <lmm.72...@depot.cis.ksu.edu.cis.ksu.edu>,
l...@cis.ksu.edu (ATT Larry M. McWilliams) writes:
> |>
> |> >Trying to use rollerblades with a regular stroller? You'd look pretty
> |> >ridiculous walking slowly on the tips of your skates as you struggle
> |> >with the stupid stroller! (Our jogging stroller, the `Three Wheel
Wonder,'
> |> >cost $160 or $170 from the Right Start Catalog, our best baby
gift--a bunch
> |> >of our friends went in on it together.)
Ah don't look reedeeeculous and ma stroller ain't stupeed. Ah KNOW haow
to do it, ya see....
I have a MacLaren folding unit which tracks very straight and spins
well, unlike the
Aprica and probably many others. Since there's always more toys than
time, and I have
been a cluttered toy-buying parent for lo these 6 years, I resist buying STUFF.
I was trying to suggest that the original poster just try a stroller
(with safety gear)
to see if it made any sense at all. Satisfy your curiosity, and then
spend the $$.
Not the other way around.
ObParanoia: If you can't handle a sluggish stroller on skates at low speed,
but you can go faster with a jogging stroller, then you're increasing
the hazard to yourself
and your best beloved child, because you haven't become a better
balanced skater, only faster.
So be carefull.
ObSkating: I mangled, cleaned, and lubed my bearings after 2 years use.
It took 3 washings with
white gas to remove all the grit. Phil Wood tenacious oil (from my bike
toolkit) slowed them down,
and reassemby slowed them down even more. I guess I really want speedy
axle bits.
skk
--------------
Read Rudyard Kipling to them. over and over again!
Jim Aites
| Save your money--don't buy a regular stroller! For shopping, a lightweight
| umbrella stroller is better, anyway, since it's easy to toss in the car. For
| anything else, the jogger is so much easier and more pleasant to use.
Excuse me, maybe my brain is running a bit slow this morning, but didn't the
chinese solve this problem a LONG time ago? Rickshaw (ped), silkie (horses),
CHARIOTS (fer cripes sake)...ie...pulling something with wheels is MUCH smarter
and safer than pushing one! True?
Has anyone seen one of these? (If not, I'm gonna try building my own.) <grin>
Tony Chen
>Excuse me, maybe my brain is running a bit slow this morning, but didn't the
>chinese solve this problem a LONG time ago? Rickshaw (ped), silkie (horses),
>CHARIOTS (fer cripes sake)...ie...pulling something with wheels is MUCH smarter
>and safer than pushing one! True?
>
>Has anyone seen one of these? (If not, I'm gonna try building my own.) <grin>
There might a slight hitch, since skaters' legs move sideways more than
they do forward-to-back (like a horse). Also, if you have some vehicle with
only two wheels, pulled by a skater, you'll have to make sure the vehicle
(carrying a baby) doesn't get dumped backwards if for some reason the skater
changes from leaning forward to an upright position. I guess baby-helmets
would be in order 8-)
If you go with a three-wheeler, then you're back to the problem of the
wheel getting in the way of the horse/skater. Perhaps two wheels forward,
one wheel back is a half-way solution. Heck, have a four-wheeler, with a
dead-man's brake (so if they're no one pulling, it stops automatically).
Throw in a TV and baby-bar, and you have a 200-lb "stroller" 8-)
-Tony Chen
adc...@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu