Bicycle child seat , trailers and commute to work.. what do you do?

jon1981

So I'm reaching that milestone in life where dropping a child to creche on the way to work will become part of my routine. The creche is 2.2km into my journey of 8km to work. The plan is, i drop and the wife collects (suits our working hours). I currently commute on a road bike so I have a couple of options

1) I use my current aluminium road bike with a trailer , some of the 2.2km journey could be taken by suburban quieter roads. I could leave the trailer at the creche and my wife can collect the trailer and baby in the evening.

2) I buy a hybrid or heavier road bike and a child seat, though my concern with that is the child is more open to the elements and obviously if i fall, so does the baby.

Also keep in mind I'll be carrying a backpack with work laptop and perhaps some clothes. Curious how other cyclists manage this?

schemingbohemia

Age of child would be helpful.

jon1981

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Age of child would be helpful.

Will be 12mths.

Lustrum

I do this with our two on a road bike. When the first came along, I wasn't too keen in having her in a trailer behind me in Dublin's traffic, so got a bobike mini and you can get an adaptor for road bikes. I figured aswell that if I fell off the bike, at least with her between my arms I could try my best to protect her.

https://bobike.com/en/product/cat/frontseats

Once no.2 came along and he was big enough to get on the bike, he went onto the front mounted seat and no.1 moved back to the back on a bobike maxi

https://bobike.com/en/product/detail/classic-maxi

Both my wife and I have the mounts on our bikes, it takes roughly 2-3mins to swap the seats from one bike to the other, and the two kids are happy out on the bikes every day, rain hail or shine

axer

I'd say you are best to drop off your child and go back home - leave the trailer there and then cycle to work. Would take 20 mins to drop off your child but that's not bad overall - would be more comfortable cycle then to work and back.

jon1981

Thanks Lustrum, looks good. What type of bike did you put these on? A hybrid I presume?

jon1981

axer wrote: »

I'd say you are best to drop off your child and go back home - leave the trailer there and then cycle to work. Would take 20 mins to drop off your child but that's not bad overall - would be more comfortable cycle then to work and back.

yeah I'm thinking going back with the trailer might be an option too, but was trying to avoid it though i guess the additional exercise would be the silver lining

Lustrum

jon1981 wrote: »

Thanks Lustrum, looks good. What type of bike did you put these on? A hybrid I presume?

I'm on a Scott Speedster, my wife has a Carrera hybrid - I'd happily send you a photo of the set up but I haven't a clue how to do so here

If you're interested aswell, the polisport guppy was the smallest helmet we could find, when they were that young we had to put a beanie hat on their head to help it fit, but at least now they're well used to wearing helmets

tomasrojo

I work for myself, so I just go home mostly to do some work after dropping them off at school, but since I have a cargo bike, I can just park that wherever I go. One big advantage over a trailer, which is a bit of a production if you're not bringing it in with you.

Grassey

tomasrojo wrote: »

since I have a cargo bike

Sorry to derail - but is there anywhere local with decent priced cargobikes? I had a look and all seem to start from €1500

jon1981

Cargo bike is a cool idea but it would be way overkill for me given i only need to transport the child over 2km also my wife would flip seeing that thing coming through the house every day

alentejo

Would definitely recommend bobike rear child seat. First used on my 12 month daughter and still going strong and she is six years old.

CramCycle

Child seat, leave it in the creche. If my partner is there first, she picks it up and throws it in the car.

Jo Satan

I would also recommend the bo-bike mini for 12 months up to 3 years old, it feels more balanced and controlled than a rear seat especially if you have a wobbly moment, plus you can see your child at all times if the helmet slips etc. its

The issues with a trailer are whilst you can pick your line on a bike you cant always with a trailer. I would think that it would be pretty bumpy on broken surfaces and gutters etc as the wheels are much smaller than your bike wheels.
Not good to be shaking little ones about.

I've shipped my two kids around using a a bo-bike mini, a mini and rear seat, a mini and trail-gator and then a rear seat and trail-gator. That accounts for about seven years of commuting without any safety issues.

jon1981

Thanks for all the comments so far. Good to hear alot of people are confident with their little ones on the bike (or towing behind one).

Dublin traffic scares the life out of some of the family members, no doubt I'll be receiving the "are you really sure it's a good idea" comment in the near future too :rolleyes:

jon1981

Hey,

Getting to the point where I need to make a call on trailer vs bike seat as she will be starting creche soon. To folk that use bike seats, what do you use to keep the little ones protected on wet windy days?

J

mr spuckler

I have my son up front on a Weeride seat. my wife has the same mounting bar on her bike so she picks him up in the evening, we leave the seat at the creche. it takes a few seconds to screw the seat on or off.

regarding clothing, if it's wet at this time of the year we'll have him in a simple splash suit like this and put these over his shoes to keep his feet dry.

in the winter we use a padded splash suit when wet, and this balaclava. and gloves obviously! I'd say there's been about 3 or 4 days in a year plus when we've brought him in the car because the weather was too bad.

it's worth asking - if going with a trailer can you leave it under cover at the creche? that I know of none of them are fully waterproof, even with rain covers on.

Ferris

I have started dropping my 3yr old to the crèche a couple of days a week on the way to work. I just leave the seat on the bike which is an MTB. I have a laptop and clothing in a bag on my back also. The seat is a hamax one I got off a friend, this could do with upgrading as its a bit wobbly due to the mounting, the bike is rock solid however.

Overall it works fine and the little one loves it, she complains about going by car now. I have found that cars give me a much wider berth when the child is with me.

monkeybutter

Grassey wrote: »

Sorry to derail - but is there anywhere local with decent priced cargobikes? I had a look and all seem to start from €1500

This one has a decent price on it http://www.greenaer.ie/product/urban-arrow-cargo-bike/

Grassey

Ha. I actually tested rode on of them at the Bike show a while back. With one of my mates in the front. Was great craic flaking it up the ramps! Not so great on the turns (where was the trust!)

I think I'd be shot if I brought that home though!

site_owner

thing about cargo bikes is that they seem to hold their value better than regular bikes, so if you look after it, it wont cost you that much in the long run.

i use a trailer, its great. i have 2 kids and they have too many bags and junk that they need to bring in and out every day.
its a 1.5km cycle on suburban road.

the trailer is huge and has to stay out the front under a cover. there are smaller ones, but quality varies

monkeybutter

Grassey wrote: »

Ha. I actually tested rode on of them at the Bike show a while back. With one of my mates in the front. Was great craic flaking it up the ramps! Not so great on the turns (where was the trust!)

I think I'd be shot if I brought that home though!

Imagine actually dropping 5k on it, i've seen a few around so looked up the price.

Fools and their money and all that

loyatemu

was behind a guy with a kid in a eCargoBike this morning on the Rock Rd. He left me for dead at every set of lights and eventually disappeared into the distance - possibly says more about me than his contraption though

Mr. Grieves

jon1981 wrote: »

Hey,

Getting to the point where I need to make a call on trailer vs bike seat as she will be starting creche soon. To folk that use bike seats, what do you use to keep the little ones protected on wet windy days?

J

I find the Hamax poncho excellent for a child seat. Fits over feet and helmet. Doesn't need to be a Hamax seat.

http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/bike-accessories/child-bike-seats/hamax-child-bike-seat-rain-poncho

barrabus

jon1981 wrote: »

Hey,

Getting to the point where I need to make a call on trailer vs bike seat as she will be starting creche soon. To folk that use bike seats, what do you use to keep the little ones protected on wet windy days?

J

pop rain / ski gear and a neck gaiter.

jon1981

I'd be shot if I brought one of those Cargo yokes home. The other thing is, the creche is 1.5km into my 8 km commute, so don't fancy cycling the Cargo bike all the way into work.

Hani Kosti

Grassey wrote:

I think I'd be shot if I brought that home though!

Most certainly 😊

Tigerandahalf

@jon81

I have a trailer but I think a bike seat is probably best for a commute to the creche as there is less stuff to keep dry and store afterwards.

Do bear in mind that you should try out the kid on it first. Some kids just don't take to them and the battle to get on a helmet is another matter.
Maybe a helmet that will be waterproof is best as the normal vented ones would need a cover of some sort and kids have a habit of pulling off things they wear.

Also re the laptop get a good ortlieb pannier and store all your work stuff in it. I am sure you can get fashionable ones too with a shoulder strap.

John_Rambo

jon1981 wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments so far. Good to hear alot of people are confident with their little ones on the bike (or towing behind one).

Dublin traffic scares the life out of some of the family members, no doubt I'll be receiving the "are you really sure it's a good idea" comment in the near future too :rolleyes:

Yeah, I got the trailer, it was a few years ago and they weren't very common then.

Pros;
- If I fell, the baby didn't.
- Less top heavy
- Baby could bring toys, teddies & food.
- Baby was weather proofed.
- The trailer can be used for all sorts of stuff. Like going to the park & beach with pop up tent, toys, wetsuits, picnic, buckets & spades etc...
- Trailer still in use for the above even though "baby" is now cycling his own bike.
- Other commuter cyclists were cool & supportive, lots waved & said hi.
- Kid, straps or bits hadn't a chance of getting caught up in wheels.
- You'll always keep the bike in tip top shape! Brakes particularly.
- As he got older he could have an ice cream on the way home on summers Friday.
- Even if disapproving, drivers DID give me plenty of room and respect.

Cons;
- Some family members equated it to child endangerment.
- General bad vibes from some car drivers. Filthy looks, shaking heads, snide, tut tut comments from pedestrians and beeping on some occasions. (again a few years ago).
- Babies and toddlers falling asleep due to the motion. Much more so than in a car. There's a spring to stop jerking action that led to a soft, gentle pulling motion. And this WAS a problem, arriving to creche with a fast asleep kid.
- Head wind is a bitch.
- A degree of disconnect in bad weather. Couldn't hear if he was crying.
- A niggling fear of phone using, distracted drivers. But I guess you'll get that whatever way you transport young kids.

Overall Dad & son liked it. It was 3k to the creche and another 1.5k to work. Some really good lighting options available now to go on the flagpole that's attached to the trailer.