Family bike.

fresheire

Hi all,

That might be bit silly subject, but since my kid was born a year ago I did not have time to cycle and right now I do miss it a bit (maybe not on a day like today) but still can't find the time to go off for couple of hours. However I was wondering would 1 year baby be able to be put on a bike in a propper seat ?

I only have a road bike at the moment, so I won't be able to fit a seat on it.

Could you recommend a decent bike capable of carrying a baby seat and the seat itself if anyone has some sort of experience here in those type of family bikes ?

Cheers!

biko

There's a few variations but these two I think is best

Just hooks onto your existing bike


Trailer, kid is secured inside. Can also be used for shopping.

fresheire

biko wrote: »

Trailer, kid is secured inside. Can also be used for shopping.

I've seen these before, but tbh I don't think I would feel comfortable enough going on the roads with that. Maybe it's a false perception, but I just find that pretty dangerous as it would be the kid at the first line of contact if someone hit my back (and I would not be able to do anything about it). But maybe that's because I've never used it and having baby with me on the bike is brand new concept to me...

Lumen

I've used a road bike with a (Hamax) rear seat. The handling was a bit funny but it worked fine.

Wouldn't bother with a trailer until you have more than one kid to transport.

rp

fresheire wrote: »

I've seen these before, but tbh I don't think I would feel comfortable enough going on the roads with that. Maybe it's a false perception, but I just find that pretty dangerous as it would be the kid at the first line of contact if someone hit my back (and I would not be able to do anything about it). But maybe that's because I've never used it and having baby with me on the bike is brand new concept to me...

Trailers are they safest way to carry kids on a bike: what actually happens in crash-tests is the trailer get shoved out of the way, cuz its so light. Until they got too big, I ferried my kids around in one everyday without a problem (except when I dropped the bike on an icy hill and they busted themselves laughing at me). They are very visible in traffic and command more respect that an on-the-bike seat.
However, the fronted-mounted bike seat proved to be the most dangerous in the crash tests (Allianz).

rflynnr

rp wrote: »

Trailers are they safest way to carry kids on a bike: what actually happens in crash-tests is the trailer get shoved out of the way, cuz its so light. Until they got too big, I ferried my kids around in one everyday without a problem (except when I dropped the bike on an icy hill and they busted themselves laughing at me). They are very visible in traffic and command more respect that an on-the-bike seat.
However, the fronted-mounted bike seat proved to be the most dangerous in the crash tests (Allianz).

That's interesting: do you have a link for that research?

im invisible

Ive heard of a town bike, even a village bike, but never a family bike

rp

rflynnr wrote: »

That's interesting: do you have a link for that research?

I can't find the original page (it was in German anyway) but here's a quote from it that I've posted before:

"Crash testing by the Allianz Center for Technology - Passive safety needs improvement. The transportation of children by bike is the safest in special child bicycle trailers, whilst child seats on the carrier or on the handlebars of the bicycle offer far less protection in an accident."

"Children can suffer more serious injuries when transported on a bicycle seat mounted between the handlebars and the rider, where, as here, a collision occurs due to the careless opening a car door."
"Serious injuries in seats in the bar area.
All the crash tests carried out using dummies, by the Allianz Center for Technology, showed that "children" in a seat in the bar area or on the rack suffered the most severe injuries in collisions, and the following impact with the ground. On the other hand, the dummies in the bike trailer had only minor injuries, as the trailer in the accident was either not in the direct collision area of the open car door, or in the case of the swerve, were hardly effected, and even in the case of a side impact from a car at 20 km/h, surprisingly was not overturned, but merely pushed to one side."

Thsi graphic is also from Allianz:


Also: http://www.fahrradstudio.at/products/chtrailer/safety

route66

Or one of these:

WhisperingDeath

rp wrote: »

Trailers are they safest way to carry kids on a bike: what actually happens in crash-tests is the trailer get shoved out of the way, cuz its so light. Until they got too big, I ferried my kids around in one everyday without a problem (except when I dropped the bike on an icy hill and they busted themselves laughing at me). They are very visible in traffic and command more respect that an on-the-bike seat.
However, the fronted-mounted bike seat proved to be the most dangerous in the crash tests (Allianz).

+1

I use this practically every day with the kids and am treated with tremendous respect by overtaking cars --almost embarassingly so. Very safe as too far as I can tell -- very wide base and low centre of gravity -- incredibly unlikely to flip. Even if I fall off my bike the kids are very secure whereas if they are seated on the bike there's a greater danger to them if I come off.

fresheire

any particular type of bike you'd recommend for the trailer ? I don't suppose a road races is the best choice ?

fresheire

im invisible wrote: »

Ive heard of a town bike, even a village bike, but never a family bike

Well, you get the idea...

rp

fresheire wrote: »

any particular type of bike you'd recommend for the trailer ? I don't suppose a road races is the best choice ?

I've attached them to road bikes, touring bikes and mtbs, no problem: the best hitch is the low type that attaches near the chain-stay / seat-stay joint, so I wouldn't attach it to a carbon bike, is all...