Baby seat advice?

the glass woman

Hi everyone,
I hope its ok posting this here, I'm not big into cycling, but i'm just looking for some advice.

Basically I'm looking for a bike, just to get from a to b, the shops for example, as I don't drive. I have a son who's 2 in august, so it would be so handy to pop him on the back of the bike and head off, instead of the whole buggy/bus/walking thing.

Would anybody have any advice on buying a bike with a child carrier? How safe are they and what kind of price would I be looking at?

Any help at all would be so much appreciated.

Thanks

Lumen

Of the two child seats I've used, my favourite is the Hamax Sleepy.

It's main advantage over a rack-mounted seat is that by attaching to the seat tube via two flexible metal rods, the child benefits from a bit of a suspension effect. The bracket has a quick release button, and it's very quick (10 seconds on or off).

The downside is that the bracket may brush your legs as you pedal, particularly if you have flappy legwear.

If you choose this style of seat, any bike with an accessible seat tube will suffice. If you go for a rack-mounted seat, your options may be more limited - you'll need something with eyelets for the rack.

I have in the past used this Hamax seat on a racer, and it made the handling a little odd having so much weight over the rear, but my current cyclocross bike is a little more stable.

penexpers

the glass woman wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I hope its ok posting this here, I'm not big into cycling, but i'm just looking for some advice.

Basically I'm looking for a bike, just to get from a to b, the shops for example, as I don't drive. I have a son who's 2 in august, so it would be so handy to pop him on the back of the bike and head off, instead of the whole buggy/bus/walking thing.

Would anybody have any advice on buying a bike with a child carrier? How safe are they and what kind of price would I be looking at?

Any help at all would be so much appreciated.

Thanks

Hey,

I got this seat from Argos for my four year old

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3333932/Trail/searchtext%3EBIKE+SEAT.htm

It worked really well, felt very secure and she enjoyed using it. As Lumen says, it changes the handling of the bike slightly but nothing too major. Just keep the speeds down.

I don't need it anymore, so I would sell it to you for 20, if you were interested.

the glass woman

thanks guys for the advice,
Having looked at some articles online, i'm starting to veer towards the trailer option. Any thoughts on those?

Harrybelafonte

Mixed views. Visibility is low. I think it depends on where you're cycling

Lumen

the glass woman wrote: »

thanks guys for the advice,
Having looked at some articles online, i'm starting to veer towards the trailer option. Any thoughts on those?

I use a trailer when I want to take both kids out at once, but I wouldn't bother with just the one.

Whilst trailers are quite practical by being fully enclosed and having space for shopping, they make you much longer and wider, which makes traffic more difficult to negotiate.

Depends on exactly what you want to use it for, where and when.

tinofapples

penexpers,
Is that a decent seat ? I've been looking to get one and had my eye on that one it's cheapest around, seen them at €65 just about 30 mins ago. My girl is just 17 months old so it should do her for awhile ??

tomasrojo

I've no experience of baby seats of any kind, but there is further discussion here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055341885

There's a link to some study that Allianz carried out that rates trailers as safer than either rear-mounted carriers or top-tube-mounted carriers.

I do have a Bike-hod trailer, and I find that it prompts motorists to give you a wide berth. Perhaps child trailers have a similar effect. My faith in humanity says it must be so. But it's been wrong before.

thecornflake

im not a huge fan of those trailers ,

for the park and other such outings they are grand ( but i have seen people clipping other people with them ,forgetting that they have it on the back of their bike , but so long as you are mindful of that then it will be fine)

as for using them on cycle tracks? , you must be having a laugh , i saw a guy cycling down the howth road with his kid in the back of one , there were cars coming so close to them , i felt like slapping the guy across the face for being so stupid to do that to his kid. Plus , these were the cars that could see them. What would happen if one of those stupid jeeps couldnt see them ? or a truck ? , the trailers are too low down for use on the road , and those little flags are not good enough to signal to cars or trucks.

as for cycling on the path with them , well thats just a pain in the ass. People always thinking they can run everyone off the path with them.
( im not saying you are one of these people, im sure you are very safe with your children , im just giving my opinion based on my experiences )

tomasrojo

tomasrojo wrote: »

I've no experience of baby seats of any kind, but there is further discussion here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055341885

There's a link to some study that Allianz carried out that rates trailers as safer than either rear-mounted carriers or top-tube-mounted carriers.

I do have a Bike-hod trailer, and I find that it prompts motorists to give you a wide berth. Perhaps child trailers have a similar effect. My faith in humanity says it must be so. But it's been wrong before.

Whom are you addressing here? If it's me, I should clarify: a Bike-hod is a goods trailer, not a child trailer. I have never used a child trailer, and I don't cycle on the footpath, either with the trailer or without.

tomasrojo

Sorry, I misposted there. I was just asking thecornflake who the "you" in "( im not saying you are one of these people, im sure you are very safe with your children , im just giving my opinion based on my experiences )" was.

the glass woman

tomasrojo wrote: »

I've no experience of baby seats of any kind, but there is further discussion here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055341885

There's a link to some study that Allianz carried out that rates trailers as safer than either rear-mounted carriers or top-tube-mounted carriers.

I do have a Bike-hod trailer, and I find that it prompts motorists to give you a wide berth. Perhaps child trailers have a similar effect. My faith in humanity says it must be so. But it's been wrong before.

Thank you for that link, I read through it and have def made up my mind, I'm going for a trailer as the trips I'll be making are to the shops, the park, etc, all of which are 20mins walk down the main road of a housing estate with very wide paths, road, and grass areas.

I saw one on ebay for 68 sterling, which looked good, but i should prob get a bike first!

thecornflake

oh sorry , i was directing that towards the OP , sorry should have clarified that

tomasrojo

the_glass_woman: I think someone on this forum recommended this one, but I imagine it's pricey (can't see a price here):

http://www.tout-terrain.de/2/products/trailer---kids-bikes/singletrailer/singletrailer.html

thecornflake: Thanks for clarifying!

Lumen

the glass woman wrote: »

Thank you for that link, I read through it and have def made up my mind, I'm going for a trailer as the trips I'll be making are to the shops, the park, etc, all of which are 20mins walk down the main road of a housing estate with very wide paths, road, and grass areas.

I saw one on ebay for 68 sterling, which looked good, but i should prob get a bike first!

I have a Raleigh trailer, like this (may not be exact model). I bought it from Stagg Cycles in Lucan.

They had two models of Raleigh trailer, which were identical except one was aluminium alloy (lighter) and the other steel. I got the steel one, as the price diff wasn't worth it.

It attaches to one of the chainstays of the bike, which seemed a good idea as the pivot point doesn't change as you corner - I can actually lay the bike flat with the trailer attached and the kids inside.

The flag lasted about half a mile before falling to bits, otherwise great.

Only slight "hitch" is that it won't fit on my wife's Pashley as the chainstays are "complicated".

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

It attaches to one of the chainstays of the bike, which seemed a good idea as the pivot point doesn't change as you corner - I can actually lay the bike flat with the trailer attached and the kids inside.

Lumen - your one looks resonably sturdy.

What is it like descending in them, are they stable.
This is a serious question - I will be living in a reasonably hilly area to get anywhere will require going up or down.

Would you take one on a country road for example?

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

What is it like descending in them, are they stable.

Bunny hopping at 50kph speed might be an issue, but I'd worry more about the climbing tbh. The combined weight of trailer + kids is not insignificant. After any kind of climb, I'd want the descent to last as long as possible.

ROK ON wrote: »

Would you take one on a country road for example?

Haven't tried it. Would depend on the surface quality - there isn't much in the way of suspension.

Feel free to borrow the trailer and do some hill repeats of Chapelizod before your family goes west.

quenching

Well I've used 2 of these Ibert seats and my 3 and 4 year old love them. You can talk to them as their head is just in front of yours, and they seem more protected if you fall over as your arms surround them. They attach to the handlebar stem with a single "spike" and a quick release system - just slide the seat on and off. Seem more stable than rear mounted seats.

Only suitable for weights up to 38lbs though.

Nietzschean

Lumen wrote: »

Feel free to borrow the trailer and do some hill repeats of Chapelizod before your family goes west.

you haven't been tempted to TT up kippure with the trailer attached then?

Lumen

Nietzschean wrote: »

you haven't been tempted to TT up kippure with the trailer attached then?

Of course, it's just a bit tough to organise logistically, and I'm not sure my plastic chainstays can take the strain.

Húrin

the glass woman wrote: »

Would anybody have any advice on buying a bike with a child carrier? How safe are they and what kind of price would I be looking at?

Remember that child carriers are not an inherent part of any bike. They are just a component that can be clamped/screwed onto a bike.

Lumen

Húrin wrote: »

Remember that child carriers are not an inherent part of any bike. They are just a component that can be clamped/screwed onto a bike.

It depends on how far down the rabbit hole you go.

Húrin

Lumen wrote: »

It depends on how far down the rabbit hole you go.

FFs there's always one!

BostonB

Lumen wrote: »

It depends on how far down the rabbit hole you go.

What is that?

Lumen

BostonB wrote: »

What is that?

It's awesome, that's what it is.

Fietsfabriek Pax-Max Duo

I suspect it's ludicrously heavy, but at some stage I feel I may have to scratch the itch.

3DataModem

Superb.

I have twins on the way at Christmas (or at least, my wife does!).

Seems like my letter to Santa will write itself.