Baby seat and bike thoughts

hemper0r

I would love to have your thoughts around baby seats and bikes.

Here's my situation, fairly straightforward and white page style of an exercise: 10 month old baby, I want to be able to ride around for casual rides with the kid enjoying every second of it. I don't have a proper bike (I only have a full carbon road bike). So I'm going to be buying both the bike and the seat.

Seats: front vs rear debate... I'm leaning towards front seats, only drawback appearing to be risk of falling on the child if you do fall. Seems like he would be having a better time. Not sure if they can nap there though.

Bike: I'm not a big fan of hybrids and such. Would likely prefer some comfortable road bike, so that I also enjoy longer rides myself. Not sure if the position is suitable for front seats though, and if suitable, even comfortable. I would use the bike for commuting him to the daycare also, though doesn't really make a difference.

Thoughts? Experiences?

shirley_basso

Be aware child may not like wind in their face so front seat with a shield if your looking to go farther afield n

hemper0r

Shirley Basso wrote:

Be aware child may not like wind in their face so front seat with a shield if your looking to go farther afield n

Fair point. Wind let alone bugs and such, we have a lot of them where I'm planning to go most of the time. Thanks

shirley_basso

I would go front seat with a shield and get a step through hybrid and take it easy. You can't really work a more aggressive position on a road bike I don't think.

I will be looking into something similar and currently have 2 carbon road bikes and a ladies shopping bike. Will probably buy a hybrid or men's shopper to take the bairn around on.

Also looking at a cargo bike but that's not good for longer rises.

hemper0r

Shirley Basso wrote:

I would go front seat with a shield and get a step through hybrid and take it easy. You can't really work a more aggressive position on a road bike I don't think.

I will be looking into something similar and currently have 2 carbon road bikes and a ladies shopping bike. Will probably buy a hybrid or men's shopper to take the bairn around on.

Also looking at a cargo bike but that's not good for longer rises.

Even touring road? I thought you could get around it. Then maybe the debate is hybrid front seat vs road or touring rear seat.

shirley_basso

I would always go front as your kid will never hear and word back there and you'll never hear them!

While I see the arguement for a tourer, what will it do that a hybrid can't, while carrying the little one?

hemper0r

Shirley Basso wrote:

I would always go front as your kid will never hear and word back there and you'll never hear them!

While I see the arguement for a tourer, what will it do that a hybrid can't, while carrying the little one?

Probably nothing indeed. But I just dislike the handlebar, brakes and shifter. Actually isn't the position very similar to a touring but with different bars?

hemper0r

I just googled and found this, which seems perfect imo:
https://images.app.goo.gl/v1dHXV542q2uBxwy6url

slowbike

We went for a back seat - mostly due to the fact that we didn't have suitable bikes for front loading - ie, my TriCross is a good utility bike, but with the narrow bars and body position, there's not a lot of room for a little one there too.
On the back he got to look side to side and interact with whoever else you're riding with - plus he's protected from the wind. We could also recline the seat when he went to sleep - I don't suggest doing 10%climbs as getting out of the saddle when they're awake is tricky enough - but when they're asleep you don't want to rock the bike !

Re step through frame - this made getting on/off a lot easier - as you have to load the child before getting on - getting your leg over a crossbar is a bit tricky - and I had to wait for my wife to come and hold my bike when I stopped on a climb (that was the 10%er) having run out of gears to ride smoothly.

monkimark

I had both of my kids on a Yepp mini front mounted seat on a mountain bike from a similar age, I think it would be difficult to make it fit on a drop bar bike unless it was very upright and even then I wouldn't fancy it - the better handling and brakes of a wider, flat bar is very much required with a kid wriggling about.
I have no concerns over safety, if anything, I'd say better to have the kid protected between your arms if you fall off.
I didn't bother with the windscreen for ages as the bracket didn't fit my bike but I bodged a solution after a particularly cold ride last winter, I don't think it's absolutely necessary as long as they're wrapped up.

Having moved on to a rear mounted seat for the eldest, the front seat is much better for being able to chat etc. while riding and they can nap in it (it has a sort of handle thing that they can lean on. The main downside really is having to ride with your knees out a bit so they don't bump into the seat.

hemper0r

monkimark wrote:

I had both of my kids on a Yepp mini front mounted seat on a mountain bike from a similar age, I think it would be difficult to make it fit on a drop bar bike unless it was very upright and even then I wouldn't fancy it - the better handling and brakes of a wider, flat bar is very much required with a kid wriggling about.
I have no concerns over safety, if anything, I'd say better to have the kid protected between your arms if you fall off.
I didn't bother with the windscreen for ages as the bracket didn't fit my bike but I bodged a solution after a particularly cold ride last winter, I don't think it's absolutely necessary as long as they're wrapped up.

Having moved on to a rear mounted seat for the eldest, the front seat is much better for being able to chat etc. while riding and they can nap in it (it has a sort of handle thing that they can lean on. The main downside really is having to ride with your knees out a bit so they don't bump into the seat.

Thanks much, very helpful!

hemper0r

Slowbike wrote:

We went for a back seat - mostly due to the fact that we didn't have suitable bikes for front loading - ie, my TriCross is a good utility bike, but with the narrow bars and body position, there's not a lot of room for a little one there too.
On the back he got to look side to side and interact with whoever else you're riding with - plus he's protected from the wind. We could also recline the seat when he went to sleep - I don't suggest doing 10%climbs as getting out of the saddle when they're awake is tricky enough - but when they're asleep you don't want to rock the bike !

Re step through frame - this made getting on/off a lot easier - as you have to load the child before getting on - getting your leg over a crossbar is a bit tricky - and I had to wait for my wife to come and hold my bike when I stopped on a climb (that was the 10%er) having run out of gears to ride smoothly.

Thanks a lot. Makes sense.

I guess as I reading and pondering, I'm really thinking "what bike could I get that would resemble a road bike the most and allow me to have the front seat option?".

All thoughts and suggestions more than welcome.

monkimark

My view is that the more like a road bike it is, the less suitable it is for a front mounted seat.
My view is slightly skewed though because we live next to some good but occasionally bumpy woodland paths/gravel tracks and so we very rarely ride it on the road.

Things I want in a bike with a bike seat:
- Upright position so I don't get hit in the sternum by a tiny bike helmet
- Wide bars for control
- big tyres for grip/smooth ride
- Low gears for hills with the extra ballast (i have a tag along bike on the back as well)
- Good brakes

For me, that bike is an old mountain bike with the bars swapped for something with an upsweep to sit me up a bit more. It helped that I already had an old mountain bike at the time I was looking for a bike seat.

hemper0r

monkimark wrote:

My view is that the more like a road bike it is, the less suitable it is for a front mounted seat.
My view is slightly skewed though because we live next to some good but occasionally bumpy woodland paths/gravel tracks and so we very rarely ride it on the road.

Things I want in a bike with a bike seat:
- Upright position so I don't get hit in the sternum by a tiny bike helmet
- Wide bars for control
- big tyres for grip/smooth ride
- Low gears for hills with the extra ballast (i have a tag along bike on the back as well)
- Good brakes

For me, that bike is an old mountain bike with the bars swapped for something with an upsweep to sit me up a bit more. It helped that I already had an old mountain bike at the time I was looking for a bike seat.

Thanks makes a ton of sense. Appreciate the detailed insight.