Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => Miscellany => Kidstuff => Topic started by: TimO on 02 June, 2013, 04:28:48 pm
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Not for me, for one of my colleagues, who I'm guessing has just start looking into child seats for her bike and daughter.
She's only just started back at work, so her daughter is quite young, and I wondered if there's any minimum age at which such seats are recommended to be used?
Can people suggest what are the better models, and what she should be looking at? Apparently her local bike shop has suggested the Bob Bike and Copilot models, but have admitted that this is based on their customers, and not from personal experience, presumably being a bunch of unmarried blokes. ;D
Any useful advice gratefully received and passed on. If you need to ask any questions to clarify things, I can obviously also acts as an intermediary for those as well.
I don't know what bikes she (or her boyfriend) have, but I'd imagine something fairly mainstream, not cheap, but likewise not terribly expensive, ie marginally better than a BSO, but not a lot, like a lot of non-enthusiastic cyclists bikes.
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Just to clarify a bit, their bikes are the Trek Hybrid 7.3 FX and 7.3 FX WSD:
Trek 7.3 FX (http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/road/fitness/fx/7_3_fx)
Trek 7.3 FX WSD (http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/road/fitness/fx/7_3_fx_wsd)
They look like fairly bog standard hybrids, with eyelets for racks and mudguards, and Shimano derailleur gears and V-brakes.
Being able to move the seat between the bikes is a desirable feature.
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The co-pilot ones attach to a rack, and if they both have a rack then it is very easy to move the seat between bikes. The only down side of a co-pilot is the footwells - not very long and the velcro restraining strap is a fiddle. Other than that they are very secure and sturdy.
I also have a Hamax which is seatpost mounted. Hamax do a rack mounted version as well. The foot straps are better on the Hamax. The mount can scratch your seatpost if you are precious about things like that. Hamax make a rain cover which is really effective and also fits over the Co-pilot seats.
I like the Yepp seats too, but they don't have such good side cover and I haven't used one apart from the odd ride around a block.
Seats can be used from when the child can support themselves well - I've known some 8 month olds be fine and a 10 month old be too floppy. It depends on the child. :)
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A second vote for hamax seats- from customer feedback again.
One of their current range has a recline knob so that when Little Tyke falls asleep you can wind the seat back a bit to make them more comfortable. Hamax also do additional seat tube brackets so that a seat can be swiftly swapped between bikes. They recommend from about 9 months to 22kg.
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A third vote for Hamax - from personal experience. I had one of the seatpost mounted versions without the twiddly layback thing and it was good. You could swap it between bikes if you had a spare mounting block. Whether these have been surpassed significantly in the last 8 or so years I don't know.
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Weeride. Look it up. Wonderful things.
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Weeride. Look it up. Wonderful things.
I've already cut and pasted fairly extensively from some of the previous threads, including many mentions of the WeeRide!
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I'm not so fond of the Hamax, and would advocate the Co-Pilot. It's nice and secure, and easy to remove when you don't want it, leaving no parts or brackets on the bike. If you go for the posh model, you can stand it up as a seat when its off the bike, so you don't have to wake a sleeping wean.
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After MiniGB grew out of the Weeride I went for a Hamax with the mounting bar for small frames to allow me to still use the rack for panniers.
With no access to the rack it would mean carrying stuff in a rucksack, which would be rammed into MiniGB's face.
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I got a rack mounted hamax when my son was young - I was attracted by the recline function, suspension and higher maximum load (22kg versus 18kg)
I have used it extensively, and now use it for my daughter. She started going in aged about 8 months and still goes in now nearly 4. She is now just about big enough to need the extra weight capacity.
To be honest the recline function isn't that great, it only reclines a little and if they fall asleep their heads still loll about all over the place.
I would only recommend seats to confident cyclists because they definitely have an effect on the centre of gravity. I think a trailer is a better option for those less confident although their width can be problematic on narrow cycle paths. The other benefit of child seats is that they are closer to you so you can hear them singing, wipe their noses and they can give you a push in the back to help if you are going up a steep hill! Their proximity does also mean that they can help themselves to jelly babies in your back pocket and ping the elastic of your shorts at inopportune moments
I would also recommend helmets and elbow pads for the occupant as if you do fall it's quite a height for the little one.
I use a handlebar bag
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they can give you a push in the back to help if you are going up a steep hill!
This definitely! :thumbsup:
Little Cudzo loved being on the bike in his child seat but his very favourite thing was splashing through puddles. I'm not sure whether a trailer would have made this more fun by giving him a better view or would have lessened the splashy feeling.
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Or got him covered in splashwater?
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That's the other possibility. But don't most child trailers have a kind of plastic window? Anyway, he might have enjoyed it!
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I seat was bought, fitted, and has been used, apparently quite successfully. A couple of moderate distance journeys have been made(7 miles and 4 miles), which she appeared to enjoy.
It's a Bobike one (conventional rear fitting, behind the cyclist), which looking back at the bits I emailed from comments in this thread and elsewhere, I barely mentioned, but it seems to work for them, and I'd imagine all the more general comments also helped.
(http://jakal.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk/~timo/xanthus/Random/Bobike.jpg)
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Child's face seems to be suffering some rucksack damage, thobut...
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Mrlogic had a go of our child seat last week and managed to completely break it attaching it to the rack. Seat is now at the tip. Fortunately mini-me is now just big enough to go on the tandem.
This means I have a very good condition Hamax rain poncho which is free to a good home - if anyone wants it let me know.
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Mrlogic had a go of our child seat last week and managed to completely break it attaching it to the rack. Seat is now at the tip. Fortunately mini-me is now just big enough to go on the tandem.
This means I have a very good condition Hamax rain poncho which is free to a good home - if anyone wants it let me know.
Tip - Hamax rain ponchos also fit other makes, including Co-Pilot Limos. :)
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Our monsters have graduated to hamax plus trailer now so I have a wee ride for sale if they are interested.
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What are the current thoughts regarding child seats?
The boy is almost 17 months old and I’d like to take him out with me on some short rides.
The bike will probably be my tourer, which has a Tubus logo rear rack. Will a seat tube mounted seat clear this?
Any specific models to look out for?
Any other thoughts or tips?
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Generally, seats are rated up to around 22kg.
If you have a rear rack, most seat tube mounted seats will probably bounce off it under load. Hamax do a carrier mounted seat. Other manufacturers do but my experience is with Hamax
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I had a non-carrier mounted Hamax on a hybrid with a rear rack. The seat was good overall and he enjoyed it a lot (and used to push me in the back when we were going uphill: he wasn't yet talking but he was clearly thinking "Faster, Daddy!") but I don't remember whether it bounced off the rack or not. If it did, it certainly wasn't a problem. I guess this will vary with your bike's geometry though. Also, although the Hamaxes I see around now look identical to the one we had back then, it was 13 or 14 years ago.
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I had a hamax mounted on my tourer and it cleared the rear rack sufficiently to be able to fix a couple of empty ortliebs to the rack. The family cycling group on facebook have lots of current knowledge on the available seats.