MTB childseat recommendations

John_Carter

Hello,
Our family likes to bike in nature, the grown ups have bikes (mine is a Cube Acid) and our daughter has a frog MTB (she's 8 ). Her little brother is almost 3 - he has a balance bike but its not really for nature...

So I'm looking for a child seat that works well on an MTB and is safe and comfortable. Ideally I'd like it to be easy to remove it and its accessories from my bike when I'm on my own... I looked at the Weeride but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks!

John_Carter

Common... nobody takes their child Mountain biking?

We used to hire bikes at Epping forest and they can come with a rear mounted child seat, it's a bit uncomfortable to ride but definitely doable and the little one is very happy usually...

Any feedback would be appreciated.

baudman

There was a guy who posted on this some time back. He used one that was essentially just a saddle and footrests that mounted to the top tube.

I did a search for it but I couldn't find it - it would help if I could remember the product's name. :roll:

John_Carter

Perhaps the Weeride?

othello

When our two kids were young, my wife and I both had a CoPilot Limo childseat on our MTBs http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DAWYSE4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00DAWYSE4&linkCode=as2&tag=studathome-21

The seat comes with a Blackburn rear rack, and the seat clips onto it. So when you don't need the seat you, you can easily clip it off, leaving the light alu rack. You could still take the rack off if you wanted, or ride with it on.

When we bought ours there was only one rack option, but I see they also do a disc rack and a standard one. I remember the rack fitted my Marin hardtail fine.

The child seat is fantastic though. Really comfortable for the kids, very safe and it even has a reclining function to tilt their heads back (they would regularly fall asleep in the back!). We used to take our two offroad a lot, and the seat resting on the rack makes it very secure. Recommended.

kwi

A lot of rear seats attach by clamping onto the seat tube, if you go this way make sure it doesn't interfere with the front mech cable.

John_Carter

Thanks for the feedback people!

The co-pilot is very expensive (£200) and doesn't have any suspension (for the child).
At the moment I'm leaning (ha) towards the Hamax Siesta because it has suspension - an elegant install without a rack and I have some experience with it (we hired bikes at Epping forest that came with it...).

My question is can I ride single track (blue routes) with a child at the back? Together with the seat that's an extra 25kg (I'm 90kg), can I do berns etc safely?

I was hoping to get a mid-mounted seat like the Wee ride but it on;y goes up to 18kg child weight (mine is a big boy, almost 3 and already 17.4kg) - and I'm a bit concerned about my knees hitting the chair, not sure how comfortable it is to cycle like a frog for hours... The Hamax goes to 20Kg - which should be enough until he gets his own little bike

Any additional advice is welcome!

othello

Yes the copilot doesn't have suspension but it is very secure, especially if the child is heavier. The seat is sitting on the rack, and has no place to go when over rough ground.

I've seen riders on the trails in Swinley Forest with child seats on the back, the variety that are 'floated' and have some bounce. To be honest I have been scared to watch! The amount of flex in the arm when going over rough ground was extreme, and the poor child in the back was bounced around everywhere.

John_Carter

Thanks mate,
I agree they bounce around but what is the alternative?
When we go over rocky terrain we stand in attach position, the poor child cant - hard-tail is very hard indeed when you are sitting tied to the rear wheel...? So perhaps bounce is better? Maybe there is a way to limit the bounce...?

In a year or so he'll probably be able to cycle his own bike and join us but for now I have to think of a chair etc...

Any more ideas are welcome...

baudman

John_Carter wrote:

Perhaps the Weeride?

Nah, not the WeeRide. That is quite a wide unit, and I reckon on most MTB frames would be pretty woeful, with the required knee splay

I still can't [cbf, after 10 mins of searching] find that older post but it was a unit more like this - http://www.co-rider.com/Bikes.html

John_Carter wrote:

I agree they bounce around but what is the alternative?
When we go over rocky terrain we stand in attach position, the poor child cant - hard-tail is very hard indeed when you are sitting tied to the rear wheel...? So perhaps bounce is better? Maybe there is a way to limit the bounce...?

In a year or so he'll probably be able to cycle his own bike and join us but for now I have to think of a chair etc...

Any more ideas are welcome...

With a hard tail, and that extra weight on the back, I'd also start to worry about your rim, and ultimately, mounts and/or frame.

The option suggested above puts the weight between both of the wheels, where it should be. The ride would be better for them, and for you, than being way out on the back.

John_Carter

Baudman,

Thanks mate do you mean the LOCT: http://www.loct.co.uk/
Looks cool but not sure if they are in business, sent them an email to find out.

BTW
I don't ride so much with the child to worry about the rims/bike maybe once a week if the weather is good.. ;-)
So I'm more concerned for the child and our ability to do single trek together than the rims...

I tend to agree that a mid mounted seat is probably the best option, perhaps the wee-ride after all? I hear mixed reviews on how hard/easy it is to pedal, it does depend on the bike and rider's geometry, and with air suspension I could compensate for the child's extra weight...

baudman

John_Carter wrote:

Baudman,

Thanks mate do you mean the LOCT: http://www.loct.co.uk/

YES! Thanks - thought I was going crazy there for a while.

John_Carter wrote:

I don't ride so much with the child to worry about the rims/bike maybe once a week if the weather is good.. ;-)
So I'm more concerned for the child and our ability to do single trek together than the rims...

I don't see it as an issue with frequency of riding - more with hitting a single bump the wrong way. A bicycle wheel is very strong - stronger than many people realise. But, if it at an angle, they can buckle quite easily. Especially if they're just 'machine built' and haven't been tensioned properly.

John_Carter

Quick update,
I got the Weeride after realising that the seat post clamping seats won't work for my Cube Acid bike due to the rear mech cable.

The Weeride is a great seat and my son absolutely loves it, the handling of the bike is not influenced by it at all - I just added some more air to the rockshox and it was perfect.

The seat can be a bit fiddly to install (mainly the bar) buy the fine people at Cycle Surgery in Chalk Farm installed it for me and helped re organise the seating position.

Cycling with your legs a bit like a frog is not to hard and I got used to it fairly quickly. One tiny warning, the seat has leg posts for the child which can be hight adjustable - make sure there is more than minimal clearing between them and the front wheel/suspension, when the child pushes down on the plastic it can deform and go lower than planed, likewise when the suspension is compressed - the seat can prevent you from turning the handlebar! after a couple of these I increased the clearance and everything is fine now.

Great seat and awesome service from Cycle Surgery!

derbygrimpeur

John, do you use the weeride with clipless pedals? I'm interested in getting one but wondering whether the knees-out pedalling is oncomfortable with clipless pedals.

thanks

fyldavo

does the weeride scratch the top tube it sits on?

natrix

fyldavo wrote:

does the weeride scratch the top tube it sits on?

It shouldn't do

derbygrimpeur

the support for the weeride sits above the top tube. Hasn't scratched mine.

baudman

natrix wrote:

fyldavo wrote:

does the weeride scratch the top tube it sits on?

It shouldn't do

It can, however, scratch the head tube, which is where it attaches at the front. For some bikes, it may sit extremely close, almost on, the top tube. Flex can mean it can scratch at a few points. It can also scratch the seat post - especially if you find you have to remove the plastic spacers to mount it.

Meh - my kids' safety is more important than scratches to my bike.

liztd

Have you thought about a weehoo attachment? Suitable from 2 yrs and they have pictures of people doing single track in the US on them. We got one for our son because he found a CoPilot seat a bit bumpy and we've never looked back in terms of family rides although no tried it on any singletrack yet.