Rear and front childseat recommendations - Kona Minute

daniel_b

Hello all,

I now have a 7 day old child, and looking for bike options for her :-)

I have just invested in a Kona Minute:


And only after doing so have discovered that the choice of child seats that will apparently fit is pretty much Yepp.
Either the Maxi that requires this additional rack for some reason:

And seems to retail for around £100

Or, for the smaller nipper, the Yepp mini:

The mini seems to weigh in at around £70.

Has anyone used either of these, and is the front one viable for leg clearance.......?

Levi_501

I know it is exciting, but I would not take her on a bike until next spring/summer.

She is still very small and will before a while and for a newborn, a bike is very cold.

When you have spare time over the winter (you will not have much) get your bike ready for the warmer weather and buy a trailer. My reccomendation is the Chariot Cougar.

BTW, Congratulations!

daniel_b

Levi_501 wrote:

I know it is exciting, but I would not take her on a bike until next spring/summer.

She is still very small and will before a while and for a newborn, a bike is very cold.

When you have spare time over the winter (you will not have much) get your bike ready for the warmer weather and buy a trailer. My reccomendation is the Chariot Cougar.

BTW, Congratulations!

Hi Levi, thanks for the congrats, and no worries at all, I like to plan ahead, and realise she can not go on a bike until she can support her own head, which will be next summer at earliest.
However I do like to do my research and get the various bits ordered and fitted in good time!
I will take a look at the cougar.

daniel_b

I have taken a look at the cougar.

Assuming I am looking at the right thing, it would seem to be somewhere in the region of £750, is that correct?

baudman

We used a BoBike mini, from about 8-9m.

If I was starting again, the Yepp Mini is better by pretty much every measure.

Levi_501

Daniel B wrote:

I have taken a look at the cougar.

Assuming I am looking at the right thing, it would seem to be somewhere in the region of £750, is that correct?

Are they that expensive now!

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... ar-ii-9822

baudman

I don't know the price of the Croozer in the UK. But for most people, at the prices down here, I don't think the extra to pay for the Chariot makes it that much better than the Croozer.

Is it a better trailer? Certainly - although some of the plasticky bits make me question it. We also made great use of the load space in the rear of our Croozer - kid's inevitably = extra cargo.

But does a Chariot 'earn' the extra money it requires? If you are on a budget - I'm not so sure. On the flipside, if you can afford it - I'd go for it - if you wanted a trailer.

But... would you need it with a Minute? Yepp on the front... then put seat-post mounted handlebars and a half seat on the rear once they grow out of it? Panniers would hold your cargo.

Daz555

Having moved my kids from a seat to a trailer I would never recommend a seat. Not a patch on a trailer for the rider or the passenger in my opinion.

Daz555

Having moved my kids from a seat to a trailer I would never recommend a seat. Not a patch on a trailer for the rider or the passenger in my opinion.

Daz555

Having moved my kids from a seat to a trailer I would never recommend a seat. Not a patch on a trailer for the rider or the passenger in my opinion.

Levi_501

baudman wrote:

I don't know the price of the Croozer in the UK. But for most people, at the prices down here, I don't think the extra to pay for the Chariot makes it that much better than the Croozer.

Is it a better trailer? Certainly - although some of the plasticky bits make me question it. We also made great use of the load space in the rear of our Croozer - kid's inevitably = extra cargo.

But does a Chariot 'earn' the extra money it requires? If you are on a budget - I'm not so sure. On the flipside, if you can afford it - I'd go for it - if you wanted a trailer.

But... would you need it with a Minute? Yepp on the front... then put seat-post mounted handlebars and a half seat on the rear once they grow out of it? Panniers would hold your cargo.

IMHO, the suspension system does make it worth it and if I was buying again, I would go for another one. We nearly bought the Trek GoBug Deluxe, but glad we went for the Chariot.

monkimark

Daz555 wrote:

Having moved my kids from a seat to a trailer I would never recommend a seat. Not a patch on a trailer for the rider or the passenger in my opinion.

What are the advantages of the trailer? I'm currently putting together a bike that will be a baby bike to carry my (currently 5 week old) daughter next spring/summer.

I looked into trailers but they look cumbersome and heavy - I can see there's a benefit to being able to carry stuff in there but between me and the wife we can carry what we need in bags/panniers. I can see it being a problem to get through the barriers you often get at the start/end of cycle paths too - do you find that is an issue?
I'm also a bit concerned about having her on a low trailer behind the bike for any bits of road we have to ride on - seems like the trailer would be hidden from view of drivers.
Not to mention the fact that the trailer mentioned above would cost about 6 times the value of the bike it'd be attached to!

The front mounted seat looks ideal as long as it doesn't hit my knees - it just seems safer to have her where I can see her, at least while she's very little.

It's possible I'm wrong about all of that - I'd be interested to hear opinions on any of the above

Daz555

+ Both my kids preferred the trailer to a rear seat - more comfy, somewhere to keep a toy or two and a drink etc, more exciting.

+ Keeps kids dry in the rain.

+ You can carry two kids in many trailers plus a load of luggage - handy when out for day trips.

+ I have the Burley Bee and yes it is heavier but the weight is in the right place - low down and it does not affect the handling of the bike at all even with two kids and luggage.

+ Easy to get the kids in and out and no fear of toppling over.

+ Trailers remain usable for longer. I can still take my 3yr old to nursery and 6yr old to school at the same time.

- You have to be sure of your width when approaching narrow sections - with a 2 seat trailer there a small chance that you may come across a gap that is too narrow. It has not happened to me yet though.

- Much more expensive.

Just my two penneth.

monkimark

I'm not sure that the ability top carry 2 kids is an advantage - the wife might start getting ideas...

htsw5

Personally, I went for a rear seat as I didn't like having to splay out my legs with a front seat* and with only doing drop offs at nursery I wanted to have a set up that I could easily ride solo.

(* - others will have had better experiences)


For a more balanced review, check out this link about all different types of child carrying bikes.


http://www.fionaoutdoors.co.uk/2013/09/a-guide-to-childrens-bike-seats.html

daniel_b

My missus wants to try a rear seat before we go the trailer route if required.

Rutland cycles were cheapest, but still a touch over £90, so was delighted to bag a seat and carrier rack thing off the bay of e for £55 delivered :-)
Loving the Kona by the way, although as mentioned elsewhere the brakes are not much to write home about.