Child carrier

[vvill]

@GuyContinental 25772 wrote:

identical complaint- lots of surging.

I have that issue too with the trailer. The attachment is basically fixed straight to the chainstay, and if you’ve ever drafted close behind someone who starts to stand up and pedal out of the saddle you’ll know that it means surging. It’s not really a fault of the trailer per se, but I’m sure there are some designs which can damp the oscillations better.

For helmets, I also just got whatever was around at Toys R Us – Bell, I think.
I waited until almost 12 months (good neck control) before attempting either kid on the bike. Both my kids were 90+ %iles for height/weight when they were younger (my daughter is still big for her age), so a little before 12 months was okay.

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 25844 wrote:

Most bike seats, like high chairs, are fine once the kid can hold their heads and bodies upright (with helmet, of course). By 9 months, ours was more than comfortable in her seat.

Our limiter was the size of her head. We had to wait until 7 months before it fit her and at that point, sitting and holding her head up was just fine.

[Tim Kelley]

There was mention of this in the Missed Connection thread, but I wanted to stay on topic so I’m reviving this thread to post this question here:

I have a child seat that goes over the rear wheel. With a second baby on the way (eventually, that is–nothing yet folks, don’t get excited!), I am curious about baby seats that are positioned up front so I could easily carry two kids at once. I am concerned about safety though–in the event of a crash while moving, or tipping over from a stationary position, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of protection.

Dasgeh, or anyone else with a front carrier, have you ever had a wipeout? I could imagine going over the handlebars and crushing the little one.

[eminva]

@Tim Kelley 27408 wrote:

There was mention of this in the Missed Connection thread, but I wanted to stay on topic so I’m reviving this thread to post this question here:

I have a child seat that goes over the rear wheel. With a second baby on the way (eventually, that is–nothing yet folks, don’t get excited!), I am curious about baby seats that are positioned up front so I could easily carry two kids at once. I am concerned about safety though–in the event of a crash while moving, or tipping over from a stationary position, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of protection.

Dasgeh, or anyone else with a front carrier, have you ever had a wipeout? I could imagine going over the handlebars and crushing the little one.

My first advice is to space them out so the first one is on her own bike by the time the second one is ready to join you. Failing that, I think it’s time for the cargo bike, Tim!

Liz

[dasgeh]

@Tim Kelley 27408 wrote:

There was mention of this in the Missed Connection thread, but I wanted to stay on topic so I’m reviving this thread to post this question here:

I have a child seat that goes over the rear wheel. With a second baby on the way (eventually, that is–nothing yet folks, don’t get excited!), I am curious about baby seats that are positioned up front so I could easily carry two kids at once. I am concerned about safety though–in the event of a crash while moving, or tipping over from a stationary position, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of protection.

Dasgeh, or anyone else with a front carrier, have you ever had a wipeout? I could imagine going over the handlebars and crushing the little one.

Congrats, Tim! Welcome to the club.

We’ve never had a wipeout or crash of any type, probably because having the kid on the bike makes us super conservative cyclists. That said, I feel more secure with the little one up front than in the back — We can see, hear and talk to her, and our arms are literally around her. We’ve never had a rear seat, but we have friends who have tried both, and we found internet posts of people who had tried both and overwhelmingly people preferred the front seat for smaller children.

Liz- we’re considering a cargo bike (bakfiets version — Xtracycle doesn’t work for little ones), but are concerned about the gearing. We tried a Christiana when we were in London, but didn’t love the trike thing. Otherwise, we’re dying to find somewhere to test drive a bakfiets or similar around here. Please let us know if you have any leads.

Otherwise, we’re thinking of getting the wee-hoo to go with the front seat — by the time #2 will be able to do the BoBike Mini. #1 will be 3 months short of 3 yo. Luckily, our friends are getting a wee-hoo, so we’ll be able to try it out.

[KelOnWheels]

@dasgeh 27421 wrote:

Otherwise, we’re dying to find somewhere to test drive a bakfiets or similar around here. Please let us know if you have any leads.

Daily Rider?

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 27421 wrote:

Congrats, Tim! Welcome to the club.

We’ve never had a wipeout or crash of any type, probably because having the kid on the bike makes us super conservative cyclists. That said, I feel more secure with the little one up front than in the back — We can see, hear and talk to her, and our arms are literally around her. We’ve never had a rear seat, but we have friends who have tried both, and we found internet posts of people who had tried both and overwhelmingly people preferred the front seat for smaller children.

Liz- we’re considering a cargo bike (bakfiets version — Xtracycle doesn’t work for little ones), but are concerned about the gearing. We tried a Christiana when we were in London, but didn’t love the trike thing. Otherwise, we’re dying to find somewhere to test drive a bakfiets or similar around here. Please let us know if you have any leads.

Otherwise, we’re thinking of getting the wee-hoo to go with the front seat — by the time #2 will be able to do the BoBike Mini. #1 will be 3 months short of 3 yo. Luckily, our friends are getting a wee-hoo, so we’ll be able to try it out.

Well like I said, it’s more just thinking about the possibility now.

So it sounds like the seat up front is better suited for lower speed, recreational type rides where you can be super conservative. I seem to recall that your husband races–is he comfortable with it out in morning rush hour traffic? If you did have a crash it would be pretty disastrous right?

At what point do they outgrow the seat? What at what weight limit do you find it to be impractical?

[vvill]

@Tim Kelley 27408 wrote:

I have a child seat that goes over the rear wheel. With a second baby on the way (eventually, that is–nothing yet folks, don’t get excited!), I am curious about baby seats that are positioned up front so I could easily carry two kids at once. I am concerned about safety though–in the event of a crash while moving, or tipping over from a stationary position, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of protection.

In terms of riding safely with babies/young kids, I’ve never really felt all that comfortable riding out beyond my neighborhood, or a park. I don’t know that any of a trailer, rear/rack-mount seat, or front seat would handle crashes above a certain speed/severity that well. As with dasgeh, I ride very conservatively with a child.

I have the WeeRide, a seat that attaches to a bar that you install over the top tube. There’s a piece of padded plastic in front of the child (around chest level) but it’s mostly for them to hold onto/sleep on, I think. I chose it because it was inexpensive, but I do actually feel more comfortable with a kid in there than in my trailer because you are physically very close to them. I do feel like I have to be more careful mounting/dismounting though since with the seat + child the bike is much more top heavy than you’re used to. Demo pic – you might notice I installed the stem and wide riser bars off my MTB on my hybrid to give me some extra room up front.

I have fallen off once with my son (then 3 y.o.), but it was just a tip over when we weren’t moving, in the backyard, on a grassy surface.

[dasgeh]

Does the daily rider have bakfiets? they don’t say anything about them on their site?

@Tim Kelley 27424 wrote:

So it sounds like the seat up front is better suited for lower speed, recreational type rides where you can be super conservative. I seem to recall that your husband races–is he comfortable with it out in morning rush hour traffic? If you did have a crash it would be pretty disastrous right?

At what point do they outgrow the seat? What at what weight limit do you find it to be impractical?

All seats come with use guidelines. Ours (which is from and accredited in the Netherlands) is made for:
For children from 9 months to 3 years
Suitable for children weighing from 9 to 15 kilos

Our friends with the iBert are still using for their 38 mo daughter, but are buying a wee-hoo because she’s not really comfortable any more.

Both husband and I are very comfortable with her on our bikes — we even got two brackets so we can easily switch the seat from my bike to his. I’m on an ebike and out in rush hour much more than him. I’m not sure what other kind of riding you’d do with a little kid on a bike. Personally, I would be super conservative regardless with kid on bike. The studies from Europe (where there are a lot more front bike seats) seem to come out equal as far as front v rear bike seats in crashes. If you think about it, going over the handlebars is basically the same for the kid whether their in a front or rear seat (they’re strapped in, so wheel/bars will hit, then them, if the bike goes over). Sideways falling is “safer” in the front bike seat in that you and the handlebars keep the kid from hitting the ground, but the seats themselves have less side protection (because of the fact that you and handlebars are there) than rear seats.

Trailers come out better in safety tests, but there’s nothing in any study I’ve seen that adjusts for incidence of crashes. In other words, _when_ you crash, it’s best for your kid to be in a trailer. I’ve never seen a study that says kids get hurt more or less overall in bike seats v. trailers, but anecdotally it seems there are a lot more crashes with trailers.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

I’ll just throw in my two cents. The type of bike does matter when carrying kids up high (iBert/Bobike or seat over the rear rack). Having something with forgiving geometry and step-through frame is going to be better for keeping balance when stopping/starting. By forgiving geometry and I mean a bike that is inherently stable with a load (Dutch bike, hybrid, etc). The big issue is that the perfect kid-toting bike won’t be perfect for long. Kids grow up fast. My three kids are now all under their own power so it’s more about corralling and leading then toting them around.

See the picture of the bike setup for the Torker Cargo T. Very common to what you might find in Europe.
http://www.joe-bike.com/accessories/child-seats-and-trainers/

[KelOnWheels]

@dasgeh 27426 wrote:

Does the daily rider have bakfiets? they don’t say anything about them on their site?

If I remember correctly the guy who works there that came to Friday Coffee Club mentioned they had just gotten or were getting some in.

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 27426 wrote:

Both husband and I are very comfortable with her on our bikes — we even got two brackets so we can easily switch the seat from my bike to his. I’m on an ebike and out in rush hour much more than him. I’m not sure what other kind of riding you’d do with a little kid on a bike. Personally, I would be super conservative regardless with kid on bike. The studies from Europe (where there are a lot more front bike seats) seem to come out equal as far as front v rear bike seats in crashes. If you think about it, going over the handlebars is basically the same for the kid whether their in a front or rear seat (they’re strapped in, so wheel/bars will hit, then them, if the bike goes over). Sideways falling is “safer” in the front bike seat in that you and the handlebars keep the kid from hitting the ground, but the seats themselves have less side protection (because of the fact that you and handlebars are there) than rear seats.

I do most of my riding, utilizing the kids seat, in the bike lanes of Wilson and Fairfax and occasionally in traffic on a road like Glebe. I guess I should ask what you mean by super conservative–recreational rides on the WOD, or do you get out on the roads with any frequency or duration? I’ve got about a mile with her, and even in inclement weather she’s generally okay.

Flipping over the handlebars is a non-issue because there is so much weight in the back already. Do you have to watch your front brakes with your front seat?

As for side safety, in a situation where you laid down the bike, does your setup keep her from hitting the ground? We’ve tipped over once, and with the way the seat wraps around her she was completely protected.

[dasgeh]

@Tim Kelley 27447 wrote:

I do most of my riding, utilizing the kids seat, in the bike lanes of Wilson and Fairfax and occasionally in traffic on a road like Glebe. I guess I should ask what you mean by super conservative–recreational rides on the WOD, or do you get out on the roads with any frequency or duration? I’ve got about a mile with her, and even in inclement weather she’s generally okay.

Flipping over the handlebars is a non-issue because there is so much weight in the back already. Do you have to watch your front brakes with your front seat?

As for side safety, in a situation where you laid down the bike, does your setup keep her from hitting the ground? We’ve tipped over once, and with the way the seat wraps around her she was completely protected.

We ride mostly on roads, but very conservatively. E.g. when there’s a car running in the parking lane beside the bike lane, we’ll often pull into the traffic lane to be sure we don’t get doored or pulled-out-into. When we pull up to intersections, even where we clearly have the right-of-way, we slow, look for cars turning right, etc. Where there’s an alternative to a larger road, we take the smaller road (e.g. Key Blvd to get around Clarendon). Every once in a while we’re on the Custis trail, but otherwise, we’re on roads. We’re on Quincy pretty much every day.

I’ve never had a front brake issue with the front seat. As FFX mentioned, type of bike is key. We have the front seat on dutch style bikes, which are super-stable anyway.

We’ve never laid down the bike with kid in the seat, but it has fallen with the seat on it, and the seat didn’t touch the ground at all – the handlebars did. I think the only way the seat would hit before the handlebars would be if the butt of the seat hit first (i.e. if the handlebars were turned all the way away from the direction of the fall).

[aflapr]

@Tim Kelley 27424 wrote:

At what point do they outgrow the seat? What at what weight limit do you find it to be impractical?

We bought an iBert when our daughter was old enough to hold her head up. I like dasgeh’ recommendation for the BoBike mini.
The iBert was very easy to install on my wife’s Novara hyrbid and has held up well. Our daughter is just under the 40 lb weight limit and it is definitely time to move on to a larger capacity carrier.

I’ve done some bicycle touring/caming with a full load on the rear rack (paniers, sleeping bag, tent, etc) and I found that having our daughter up front was much more stable. My wife was less comfortable biking, but adjusted very quickly. Luckily, we had some time in Key West to adjust to traffic and there were no hills there. But even after moving here, my wife adjusted easily.

We did buy sunglasses for our daughter though for rides – not only for the sun, but for bugs, etc.

[dasgeh]

The other cool thing about the BoBike Mini is there’s a windscreen. In the winter, I sometimes put it on my bike even without the bike seat, because it’s SO MUCH warmer.

Sunglasses are key without the windscreen (not worth using when it’s hot — the breeze is nice)

[Author]

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