Racks and kiddy seats

matmoo

Can anyone offer any advice re fitting a rack/seat combo? I'm looking at buying a cross bike (first race on a borrowed rig this weekend) but the more bikes I consider as a jack of all trades, the more I eliminate those which have full eyelets/mounting points. Getting to the question - is it safe to mount a rack and child seat using p-clips only or would anyone advise against it? I know there are the seat tube mounted systems but they don't appeal at all as it seems a naff system and having the option of a rack to carry all of my clobber would be a bonus. Any advice most gratefully received.

scholarsgate

I use a seat tube mounted kiddy seat on my on-one inbred singlespeed which also has a rack mounted to it. The seat tube attachment stays attached and the child seat can easily be detached. Also the seat tube mounted child seat offers some suspension to the passenger, so much so that my one year old has fallen asleep on several occasions.

matmoo

Thanks for the info - I'd just automatically dismissed the seat tube mounting as I suppose it struck be a being a little odd and I was worried about damaging the tube.

crackle

I've used P clips in the past to carry touring loads on my 'not really built for it' 531 raceframe bike - about the same weight as a child. Never had any issues.

gkerr4

imo - the seat tube ones are much better for two reasons;;

the flexible mount provides a suspension for the child seat - protecting little johnys back and neck from damaging jolts (as said above, my little girl also, often falls asleep on the seat!)

the seat-tube bracket is much more secure - if you think about the rack mounted ones they are basically held by 4x 4mm allen bolts - with most of the weight pushing onto the two lower rack mounts. They ain't the toughest bolt in the world and are not securing he rack through compression so could be prone to shearing with the weight - depositing little johny on the road

my LBS won't fit rack mounted seats anymore as they believe they would be open to legal attack if a bolt sheared and harmed the child.

crackle

....but contrary to that....

I've used two rack mounted Rhode Gear seats with absolutely no issues. As for the bolt shearing, it seems an unlikely event, otherwise it would happen a lot more to people carrying rack mounted loads. What's more likely to happen is your rack will break. That said, get a decent rack like a Blackburn, not a cheap one. Another case of overcautious H&S gone mad maybe.

'Against' the seat post mounted seats and I looked at this before I bought. They sway a lot more and I mean a lot more and bounce continually. Rack mounted are more stable and yes they jolt a little bit but really not enough to make it an issue, in fact my kids used to enjoy the rough bits. We used to do quite a few forest trails. Ride with a lower tyre pressure and more slowly. Both of my kids used to fall asleep in the seat as well.

And finally - what happens if your seatpost snaps. It's not really designed to take a swaying force acting through a lever, which is what you've got with a childseat and they do snap, not often but they do. At least if the rear bolt shears on the rack or an arm brakes, the whole thing won't just suddenly come off.

PrettyBoyTim

I think they actually fit onto the upright tube between the bottom bracket and the crossbar, rather than the seatpost itself. I was thinking of getting one, but the front gear cables are routed down there which makes it look like a difficult fit, so I'm going to have to stick with a rack-mounted one.

crackle

Ah yes! must read the posts more carefully. :oops:

The ones I tried were on the seatpost (Halfords I think), so therefore my sway observations may not hold as much water but I really don't think the rack mounted one's are an issue and the Rhode Gear seats were very good.

The only accident we ever had was when my youngest climbed off the picnic table and into his seat on the bike. Unfortunately nobody was holding the bike. There was lots of slow motion spitting of tea and cake flying slowly through the air and shouts half finished as the bike slowly toppled sideways with him in his seat and hit the floor.

And the result: Some shock, no damage. The seat crossbar, which he'd thoughtfully lowered, held him in and the shape of the seat protected him completely.

matmoo

Thanks for all the comments - just need to convince my wife that we DO need another bike!