UKC

Afternoon all

We took our 18 month old daughter on her first cycle ride on Sunday along the Tissington Trail. She seemed to enjoy it so i'd like to do some family rides. Rather than continue to hire bikes I thought of buying a child seat to put on my mountain bike (a chris boardman one).

halfords seem to carry a wide range of seats but i was after some advice from the collective.

If i went for a rear seat are they simple to take on and off? i'd prefer not to go mountain biking with my mates with it still attached!

The "WeeRide Safe Front Child Bike Seat" which runs along the cross bar seems good. Does anyone have any experience of these?

All and any advice would be gratefully received.

In reply to rob sykes:

I have the standard removable sort. Removing is a simple matter of a click of a button so it takes all of 5 seconds. I didn't fancy the crossbar front mounted version because I thought it would be awkward to cycle with it on since my legs are pretty long. The only way i could accomodate it would be to pedal bow legged which I didn't fancy.

I don't think there is much difference between the various rear mounted seats so I'd opt for the budget option.

In reply to rob sykes:

I tried the Wee ride and it disnt work for me. My mate who is taller than me DID find it worked fine for him.

I ended up with a Hamax Sleepy (I think), but needed a different fit kit to get it to work on my bike. It was great for about 5 years, but am now on trail gaters...

Shes almost at the age where she might be getting a bit heavy for a child seat.
Try a trailer, great for chucking everything in and easier for the child to fall asleep in< which is usually a good thing.

In reply to rob sykes:

A friend of mine has the front seat. He says his son is more engaged with the ride since he can see straight forwards. It doesn't seem to make it harder for him to ride. But I've never tried it myself.

I used to ride with a club in which one guy would bring his two kids in a trailer! 40-80 mile rides, this guy would crank along at the back of the pack. The kids usually fell asleep after about 30 mins.

In reply to Bob_the_Builder:

I had the "Yepp mini" front seat and it was superb, attaches to the front stem rather than the top tube/head tube so rotates with the handlebars.

L

In reply to Leonard Tedd:

Doesn't that make steering feel really weird? I know you wouldn't be going fast so it shouldn't matter, but I'd find it really unnerving I think.

My friend likes his (I don't know the brand) because it is close enough to the body that he can peer over and check on his son (so he told me).

In reply to rob sykes:

I have a Hamax Sleepy (or something similar) and went for the first ride with my daughter (14 months) the other day. She loved it, laughed and clapped the whole way, until she started snoring

I have a mate who has both the front-mounted (Weeride) and rear mounted (Hamax) designs. He says the weeride is good but it has no suspension so the tiniest of bumps goes straight through to the nipper, so he now uses the rear-mounted design more.

In reply to rob sykes:

I have a rear seat in the loft, yours for a tenner if you can collect in Huddersfield

In reply to rob sykes:

morning all

thanks to you all for your advice and suggestions - looks like i have some research to do before making a decision!

cheers

rob

In reply to Bob_the_Builder:

no, not at all (not sure why). I needed to add a steerer-tube extender which raises the stem level (to avoid overlap between the child seat and my knees when pedaling). It's heavy at the front, and needs careful balance when not cycling. But fine when cycling. (bike was an old 26" stumpjumper hardtail).

In reply to Dick, Still a Fat B:


At 18 months? I hope not - I had mine in until they were almost 5 - The weight limit was 22kg I seem to remember...

In reply to rob sykes:
Hi,
I have used both for my son when he was small, the wee ride is good, child can see whats going on, not just your back and you can also keep aneye on them in case they nod off, however it is more suited to a small child as they are between your knees hence the rear mounted seat for when he got bigger, mor ecomfy for the rider but a bit detached contact wise for you and passenger.
I still have both seats which are both in good condition which I keep meaning to put on ebay but have'nt got round to it.
If your interested I am based in Kent or I could find out postage costs. They are not terribly heavy but would be quite a large parcel.

I could send you pics if required.

Regards
Graham.