bike seats for baby

[madcyclist]

Hi,
Does anybody have any advice about bike seats for 8,omth old baby. We both cycle to work and hoepfully will use the bikes when we drop dd off to childcare soon.
We are not sure what is the best type of seat for such a small baby. He won't have to go far, but we want him to be comfy -)

We have a front bike seat by (I think) hammax) which is really good and easy to put on and take off and easy to put dd in. She likes it too. We have one bike seat and 2 bikes because you can buy different attachement fittings. It doesn't take as much weight as the rear ones but does up till she is about 3. I think the rear ones affect the weight balance thingy on the bike but the front one only affects the speed I cycle at.

I had a Hamax rear-mounted seat which goes from 9mths to maybe 4 years. V. good -- I liked it and used it a lot, for the older two, and planning to use it for dd2 once she's old enough. you can buy two fixing kits so you can use the same seat on two different bikes w/o any palaver.

The Hamax baby helmets are good, too -- they sit more snugly than some of the other brands, and cover more of the head.

Sorry to interupt but does anyone have any experience of the pods that u can attatch by a pole to adults bike? I think u can sit two children in them but unsure. Would love any info if anyone can help. thanks

we looked at the hammex ones too but ended up buying a Rhode Gear instead. They are much wider on the sides and just seemed a lot sturdier. There is a bar for them to hold onto.
We bought it online, about £20 cheaper than the stores.

i have a bike trailer, it is heavey to use, but my kids are large (well dd2 is) and i am unfit. seats 2 kids pretty comfortably, has a place at the back for a small amount of shopping. havent used it as much as i would like, so really must either use it more or sell it.

Misdee - can you remember where you got that from?

CUPPY: no idea about "pods"?, but we have a trailgator and I wouldn't recommend it... am hoping to buy a proper child-size tandem for the 4.5yo soon.

TATCITY: They sell trailers pretty cheap on Ebay, new or 2nd hand.

MADCYCLIST we a cycling family, too! If cost is no option, the Rhode Gear ones are nice because they recline. I am pretty sure that there are seats with a raincover accessory, if you're going to use it every day well worth it. WE just have cheap Argos type seats, but we don't use them for every-day errands (just walk places, instead). The nice thing about a trailer is that you can bung things like the baby's change bag or other stuff in it, but you'd need somewhere to store it with childcarer or at work. Also, easy enough to jump on train with 1 or more bike seats, a complete faff to take a cycle trailer on the train (though we have done it...). I think the Burleigh trailers are nicest we got a Koolstop one (ok, but we've worn it out) via the CTC small classifieds.

One nice thing about the front seats is they are supposed to make riding more stable (according to CTC reviews). And you can put a small child in front with a larger child on trailer bike behind (friend did this for local journeys). There are 'family bikes' which have a built in front seat for child onthem, on Ebay. Not well rated, but have seen those bikes fairly cheap on Ebay, too.

Cuppy, there is a brand of trailer called a pali-pod, is that what you mean? I think they're all quite similar, though the burleighs are the top of the range. We bought a Raleigh one off ebay for £75 new from a retailer, he sells loads on there. I think it's great for leisure cycling on cycle paths, though they mostly say only suitable from 18 months up. We put dd in it in her baby car seat so it's a bit more comfy for her. Haven't got a bike seat yet.

tatcity, got it from a catalogue (great universal i think) just over a year ago. was around the £100 mark. been looking on ebay (just put in bike trailer) and u can get a new or 2nd hand one at a reasonable price there.

Good point about trailers being from 18 months.. I had forgotten. WE stuck DD's carseat in there, strapped in smug (it's a 2-child seat). AT 8 months wedged her in next to her big brother, on a booster seat made out of cloth nappies.

My friends used a trailer from 3 months, but on roads not off-road, and with the baby well padded. There's a cheap (probably too cheap and not very good) trailer in the Argos catalogue.

we just used the cheap bike seats you can get in any bike shop for about £30, used them from about 7 months and never had a problem with comfort. Their heads droop when they sleep but they don't complain! I also have a Dutch front seat which you can use with a back seat (so transporting two toddlers on your bike). common in Holland, gets a lot of stares here, but it's harder work than the back seat as their heads with helmets get in your face.

Am very interested in trailer bikes - does anyone have one that's just a pole which attaches a 4 year old's bike to their bike, and is it any good? or do you really need the whole, more expensive, trailer bike? What age can you use them from?

Yes, Fennel, we have the pole you just attach between adult & kid bike (0urs is the Trailgator, also there is a similar product called Giraffe, I think...). I wouldn't recommend it -- hard to get the fastening tight enough... but more importantly, you attach it to a child's bike that was never intended to go adult speeds, doesn't have the gears for it (so child ends up peddling furiously) , may not even be structurally strong enough! We are buying a tandem when we can afford it, but I think a proper trailer bike would be ok.

ps: Trailgator is intended for wheels with diameter 14" or bigger, so you can use it whenever your child is on a bike that big.