Children on bikes poll

mockler007

ive start to notice it a bit more these days on Dublin City's streets, is people who bring their children to school or whatever the case maybe on their bikes handlebars or rear seat, my mum always did it to bring me to playschool in Tallaght at the bottom of the estate. she stopped after me leh got stuck and the rear wheel lock up. ouch
I know i would not do this, I would rather keep them safe with some sort of metal wrapped cocoon and take the higher odds chances on my bike on my own, so the question im asking is this?

would you take the higer risk of mashing your beloved child?
or wrap them better than a mexican would at making wraps?

petethedrummer

No

If and when I have children they will be more important than everyone elses children and indeed the greater good, so I'll be taking them to school in a tank.

mockler007

No

i pressed yes instead of no. dam it :rolleyes:

the big thickos from the island

Lumen

No

Cycling is not dangerous.

Idleater

Cyclelogical

davidsatelle100

No

i have one of the trailers and constantly use it for dropping\collecting them from their Grans (read childminder) they love it

dont know if i'd take it into the City Centre though

rflynnr

No

mockler007 wrote: »

I know i would not do this, I would rather keep them safe with some sort of metal wrapped cocoon and take the higher odds chances on my bike on my ownQUOTE]

...and that is why you fail.

the_syco

No

davidsatelle100 wrote: »

i have one of the trailers and constantly use it for dropping\collecting them from their Grans (read childminder) they love it

Aye, this and the bicycle seats are good for transporting them, so if you stop suddenly, they are likely to stay put. On the handlebars, etc, you stop, they may keep going. Also, short distances at slow speeds, maybe, but I've seen a fe fly along.

Worst case scenario: bicycle hits a pothole at speed (heck, good luck to the anyone seeing anything coming up with someone on your handlebars), kid flies off the handlebars, adult soon follws him, and gets to use the kid as a soft landing.

IMO: get the kid their own bicycle, and carry it home, or lock it at the destination.

morninwood

it really depends on where you are going on the bike.
a leisure cruise on the weekends on routes you know are not dangerous is certainly something i would do with the kid on the bike.
going into town with all the mad traffic is way to dangerous IMHO.

blorg

No

More importantly would be what is more aero. On the one hand it might seem intuitive that unless you have a child with a particularly aerodynamic torso you would be better off putting them in a seat behind you... However tunney has suggested that it is a bad place aero-wise for bottles and you don't have the option of strapping the child to the down tube which is the best place for your bottle.

On the other hand putting them in front on a cross bar seat probably doesn't actually change your frontal profile at all and might even have an aero benefit with the child effectively functioning as a fairing.

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Euro is another important issue.

lukester

No

blorg wrote: »

Euro is another important issue.

Only bring a child on a bike if it fits in a jersey pocket, with no part protruding from said pocket. If you're a domestique it may be acceptable to stuff the child down the rear of your jersey.

Lumen

No

blorg wrote: »

On the other hand putting them in front on a cross bar seat probably doesn't actually change your frontal profile at all and might even have an aero benefit with the child effectively functioning as a fairing

I reckon you could zip-tie a small baby on to some kind of sling mounted between the aero bars.

But then you'd have to find somewhere for your shopping.

tomasrojo

No

This looks handy:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/trailer/product/cougar-ii-9822



Could it be made Euro?

tomasrojo

No

davidsatelle100 wrote: »

i have one of the trailers and constantly use it for dropping\collecting them from their Grans (read childminder) they love it

dont know if i'd take it into the City Centre though

What trailer is that, and where did you get it, do you mind me asking?

Raam

No

lukester wrote: »

Only bring a child on a bike if it fits in a jersey pocket, with no part protruding from said pocket. If you're a domestique it may be acceptable to stuff the child down the rear of your jersey.

The baby should be following in the team car. Suitably restrained of course. Jeebus people, is that not obvious?

ROK ON

When I was a toddler my mother used to cycle around, with me strapped into a child seat at the back of the bike.

One day the bike came to a sudden stop, as I decided (apparently) to get out of the child seat. My ankle became jammed between the chan and the rear casette.

I only found out about this at the age of 16, when repeated rugby injuries to my right ankle were explained by the club doctor as having a weak ankle resulting from a break that never really healed. I told him that I had not broken my ankle, and he begged to differ.

At home I asked my parents had I ever broken my ankle as a kid, and my mum mentioned (rather sheepishly) that I in fact had.

Kids do not belong on their parents bikes.

Lumen

No

ROK ON wrote: »

When I was a toddler my mother used to cycle around, with me strapped into a child seat at the back of the bike.

One day the bike came to a sudden stop, as I decided (apparently) to get out of the child seat. My ankle became jammed between the chan and the rear casette.

...

Kids do not belong on their parents bikes.

Both of my child seats have feet straps to prevent this from happening. One of them is broken, maybe I'll fix it now.

Ankle trapped in cassette? You must have been a very tall toddler. What happened?

Caroline_ie

To avoid the question to begin with, I think children should be banned altogether. No traffic around schools ( no schools obviously ), no baby sitting, more time for spins, etc. So many adventages!
Think about it and start another poll: Should childen be abolished.

blorg

No

@ROK_ON- I broke my finger as a child falling out of a tree and it is permanently deformed, should kids not climb trees any more? (Regrettably I imagine many modern parents would say yes.)

rflynnr

No

ROK ON wrote: »

When I was a toddler my mother used to cycle around, with me strapped into a child seat at the back of the bike.

One day the bike came to a sudden stop, as I decided (apparently) to get out of the child seat. My ankle became jammed between the chan and the rear casette.

Kids do not belong on their parents bikes.

Footstraps are basic equipment on every bike seat I've ever owned. With the greatest of respect (and indeed sympathy), the fact that your feet weren't strapped is not a compelling basis for arguing that all "kids do not belong on their parents bikes". There may be others but that is not one of them.

And I may as well 'fess up: I've been commuting with my children on a variety of bikes for 4 and a half years now so clearly I'm biased. However, the implication that parents who use child seats/carriers/bakfiets/whatever are in some way being reckless with the lives of their children is mildly offensive. It implies that I've decided to put them in harms way regardless of what "common-sense" asserts is a dangerous environment (i.e. the road).

This is not the basis upon which I've chosen to transport my children in this way. As soon as I hear a compelling, rational reason not to, I'll stop doing it. Until then...

mmclo

Rather than should they or shouldn't they how about safest ways to do it. I'm still finding it hard to get the 6 yr old to cycle (scooter is all the rage!). Was thinking about one of those arm thingies that join her bike to mine. Would mean we could cycle the school run once or twice a week leaving me to go on in to town.

Lumen

No

mmclo wrote: »

Rather than should they or shouldn't they how about safest ways to do it. I'm still finding it hard to get the 6 yr old to cycle (scooter is all the rage!). Was thinking about one of those arm thingies that join her bike to mine. Would mean we could cycle the school run once or twice a week leaving me to go on in to town.

Break the scooter (out of sight) then coerce her into cycling using crude emotional manipulation.

I watched the TdF with my 3 year old, regularly disappeared off on bike rides without him then told him how brilliant they were, said he'd be able to ride without stabilisers and go really fast like Bradley when he was big enough.

Drip, drip, drip, has worked a treat so far. :pac:

I wouldn't bother with the trailer bike. Independence is more rewarding.