!–paging_filter–pHaving a kid changes everything, but it doesn’t have to end your bike-friendly lifestyle—something Dutch parents, with their country’s vast, flat bicycle paths, cyclist rights-of-way and sturdy, safe cargo bikes, have recognized for generations. It’s also a concept that besties and cycling enthusiasts Tyler Gillies and Davey Oil hope to impart to local riders with their shop, GO Family Cyclery, open since last October, where they sell Dutch-style cargo bikes to families looking to two-wheel it together through life./p
pThe store’s inventory includes several styles of cargo bikes, including the longtail ($1,600–$3,000) from Xtracycle, with an extended backend that has a flat surface for mounted child seats, panniers (saddlebags for bikes) and a hooptie, which seats as many as three kids at a time. The long john (from $3,000), or bakfiets in Dutch, is a freight bike with a large cargo box in front, traditionally used to carry big loads on flat land, but is well-suited to Seattle’s hills./p
p“We’re really looking to expand bikeability for everyone,” says Oil, a former bike educator, who lives with his wife and two kids on Capitol Hill. “We’re part of a movement to create cycling opportunities for every fitness and fear level.” And thanks to their relatively light weight, extra space and stability, “the cargo bike is the tipping point,” he continues. Gillies, a former stay-at-home dad (as well as a mechanic/trained electrical engineer/barista) who lives in Wedgwood with his wife and two kids, concurs, adding that the store’s inventory of bikes and accessories is deliberately chosen as much for substance as for style. “I want to use things that work well and that I find beautiful,” he says—an intersection the two nimbly manage in their friendly all-purpose shop, where they fix bikes of all kinds, safely retrofit most bikes into cargo versions and can even add an electric motor for a little more get-up-and-go.em GO Family Cyclery, Greenwood, 8417 Greenwood Ave. N; 206.363.4663; a href=”http://www.familycyclery.com” target=”_blank”familycyclery.com/a/em/p