Commuting with a toddler

cyclingprop

So, some friends of mine want to ride to their youngun's school with him attached (2 year old), drop him off and then carry on to work. Can anyone help in recommending child seats for bikes please? To them, safety for him is the highest priority.

Cheers
CP

arran77

I've used the Hamax ones for both of mine and had no complaints.

asprilla

I use a Hamax Kiss mounted behind the saddle. No complaints, but if I were to have a 'moment', particularly when dismounting its a long way to fall. It also effects you centre of gravity substantially.

Trailers are safer in this regard, but Mrs A wouldn't let me get one for fear of someone not paying attention and running it over.

Not tried the handlebar mount seats.

I guess they all have their pros and cons.

menthel

My wife uses a co-rider and has done since our son was about 2. She usually just unbolts the main part and leaves it at afterschool club when dropping him off and then carries on to work. Design has changed a bit since we got our one though!

http://www.co-rider.com/Co-Rider_Mark_III/Riding.html

rjsterry

The Hamax seats do take some getting used to: I stuck mine on my old Giant and it was almost unrideable with the 4yo on board*, but fitted to a much more stable Marin hybrid, it's fine. There's a chap who rides a BMC with Mavic Cosmics and a Hamax, so I guess it depends on the particular set up, rider and passenger.

*10st of me on a basic '90s steel frame + 2st of 4yo directly over the rear axle + the springiness of the Hamax system, made for some very interesting handling.

arran77

Asprilla wrote:

I use a Hamax Kiss mounted behind the saddle. No complaints, but if I were to have a 'moment', particularly when dismounting its a long way to fall. It also effects you centre of gravity substantially.

Trailers are safer in this regard, but Mrs A wouldn't let me get one for fear of someone not paying attention and running it over.

Not tried the handlebar mount seats.

I guess they all have their pros and cons.

Mrs 77 had a 'moment' when one of ours was in it, he was sound asleep at the time, it woke him up but nothing else

secretsam

There's a kids 'n' family forum on BR - might try there?

zx6man

The one in Halfords was much cheaper than the hamax for us (£30 new iirc), did the same job. I even got mine from ebay almost new for £10.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... wgoddDoA9A

jeepie

Used a Hamax I picked up second hand for both my crew. Liked it.... The most memorable moment I had with it was when after a long ride my lad fell asleep listing to one side. This really did ruin the centre of balance of the bike

BigLights

When i bought one for my wife's bike (she rides to nursery 3/4 mile away, then another 1 mile to work) I talked to the dude at my LBS (which is fantastic, BTW) who used to run a bike rental firm in the New Forest. As such, he'd tested a fair few child seats and was pretty adamant that the Hamax efforts were the business, so we rolled with that and were very happy with it (she's now 4 years old, too big for this seat).

I am not a fan, at all, of the rear trailers, I just think they are below the sight line of drivers so very dangerous, but people who use them seem happy. I do, however, like those delivery style front seats (you can carry up to 2 munchkins), but it means the bike is quite a chunker if you're continuing a long way to work.

BigLights

Oh I should have added - once they can sort of ride a bike (3.5 in our case, with stabilisiers) you can get a 'tow bar' which locks the front handlebars....so all they need to do is sit and hold on. Good idea. 2 years old, though, is probably a bit wee for that.

arran77

BigLights wrote:

I do, however, like those delivery style front seats (you can carry up to 2 munchkins), but it means the bike is quite a chunker if you're continuing a long way to work.

A box bike?



8)

mlgt

Agreed on when your child falls asleep it does affect the handling

However in such weather ensure they have correct clothing as it can get quite cold when they are cycling. My little one is 19 months and I will take her to playgroups every so often. I put the seat on my Mekk with clinchers, but now settled with the old MTB instead. Its heavier but at least is more grounded!

Many times I felt quite bad as she was quite cold and had a runny nose soon after.

asprilla

arran77 wrote:

BigLights wrote:

I do, however, like those delivery style front seats (you can carry up to 2 munchkins), but it means the bike is quite a chunker if you're continuing a long way to work.

A box bike?



8)

Last summer I specced one with a 500w pedelec system. Would have been fun taking the kids round Richmond Park and taking scalps up Queens Road.

Koncordski

Shed a bit of weight from the heavier components, some decent bars and saddle. Probably a riot of fun when you put the hammer down, pretty much the safest way to go i reckon. Plus do your weekly shop with it. http://bakfiets.nl/eng/modellen/cargobike/short/

arran77

You definitely need to consider wrapping them up well or protecting them from the elements.

Ours have those all in one waterproof suit things you can get a bit like these.

tgotb

I hit 27mph once with my daughter on the back, scalping a guy in club kit. If she'd been carrying a whip I'd still bear the scars.

She's quite good at racing now; I wonder whether there's a connection...

Agent57

I used a Hamax seat with my daughter. Looked like the current Kiss, but this was more than a decade ago. Once I was astride the bike, it was fine, but getting on and off could be tricky - almost dropped her a few times.

These days, I think I'd go for a trailer instead. Better weather protection, for a start.

asprilla

This is what I was looking at: http://cargobike.co.uk/Products/Family- ... fiets.html

With upgrades, natch.

veronese68

We used a Hamax when our two were small enough, then went on to a tag along thing. Being a truly irresponsible parent I may have had a 'moment' or two and crash tested both of them (off road I should add) and I can say that in that event the child will look at you for guidance so laugh and they will laugh too. They are now big enough and bad enough to do their own crashing so no harm was done.

htsw5

Another Hamax owner here - can't fault it but as they get bigger you do notice to the change in centre of gravity...

There is a good (and fairly balanced) review of options on here
http://www.fionaoutdoors.co.uk/2013/09/a-guide-to-childrens-bike-seats.html

Personally, I went from a Hamax to a tag-a-long and then when no2 arrived now have one of the tandems at the bottom of the link with the Hamax on the back.

Definitely need to wrap them up warm but nothing stopping you doing it year round - I use a couple of balaclavas and good all-in-one suits.

Harry182

+1 for Hamax Kiss. Built-in suspension and easily demountable.
My wife and I use to swap pick-up and drop-off. We had the mounting bracket on both our bikes so could leave the seat at the nursery and complete our commutes unencumbered.

cyclingprop

Thanks for the pointers all - will pass on and mention the other forum to them

mlgt

Never tried a balaclava. Just a light beanie and then her baby helmet on top.

Koncordski

Asprilla wrote:

This is what I was looking at: http://cargobike.co.uk/Products/Family- ... fiets.html

With upgrades, natch.

There's a lot of internet chat re. the Bak-Fakes as they call them. Although most of this is aimed at Chinese copies of the Bakfiet.nl and christiana bikes and seems to my mind very much along the line of when china started to produce carbon race frames. Some of them are going to be crap/dangerous but equally some of them are going to be just as high quality but without the european stickers. The pricing for 'genuine' dutch made bikes appears to be between £1300 and £1600. the copies seem to reatail at £600-£800. Just mentioning it because i'm looking at getting one for shopping trips and am finding it hard to tell what's what.

asprilla

Koncordski wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

This is what I was looking at: http://cargobike.co.uk/Products/Family- ... fiets.html

With upgrades, natch.

There's a lot of internet chat re. the Bak-Fakes as they call them. Although most of this is aimed at Chinese copies of the Bakfiet.nl and christiana bikes and seems to my mind very much along the line of when china started to produce carbon race frames. Some of them are going to be crap/dangerous but equally some of them are going to be just as high quality but without the european stickers. The pricing for 'genuine' dutch made bikes appears to be between £1300 and £1600. the copies seem to reatail at £600-£800. Just mentioning it because i'm looking at getting one for shopping trips and am finding it hard to tell what's what.

Indeed. I came up against the same issue. The company I linked to are based in Derbyshire and build to order including frame. I specified a suitable mounting point on the head tube for a light as I didn't fancy having one on the bars and blinding the kids if they looked round.

mroli

Re the ones that go between your legs - I have an ibert and my mate has a WeeRide. They're great for pootling and keeping very little ones wrapped up by your legs and arms (and talking to them and being close to them). At 2 and for commuting - I think that you're looking at a back seat mounted seat. The Hamaxes are good - I've got a mate who has used them and thinks they're good.

I use a Yepp Maxi for my little one - once you get round the faff of attaching it to the seatpost, it is really good. Looks pretty smart, my 2 1/2yr old daughter loves it and the seat slides off leaving just the post mount.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_832915_langId_-1_categoryId_165476

You can buy further mounts to use them on different bikes and I've used it on a Dahon minivelo and my cross bike no worries. Probably a bit on the expensive side - but if it gets used every day......

pinarello_fan

TGOTB wrote:

I hit 27mph once with my daughter on the back, scalping a guy in club kit. If she'd been carrying a whip I'd still bear the scars.

Done that too - daughter was telling me to go faster! (Her mother was a way back having kittens!). I had a CoPilot Limo - really comfortable for the nipper and stable. Slid off the bike rack easily too for non child based rides

el_presidente

Got 2 Hamaxes for sale currently, just not got round to sticking an advert up. £30 each sound reasonable? let me know if any interest / pics etc