Child Seat for bike.

Utter Consternation

I commute by bike every day to work in Dublin CC and from next year will be bringing our toddler on the bike a short bit of the way to drop her off to a creche.

The creche itself is 2.8km from the house, but i'll be cycling for another 10km to work after that.

What type of seat should i get? Any suggestions? I've a hybrid Trek bike.

I do a fair bit of cycling at the weekends too and would like to bring her out on longer spins on greenways etc.

I have to say that i am nervous at the thought of it. I've a cousin who was knocked down with his kid on the back of his bike a while back by someone who was on their phone whilst driving. They were both ok, but it could have been a lot worse.

JMcL

We found the Hamax Siesta great. It reclines so if they doze off it's more comfortable. The bracket stays on the bike, and it's quick to remove or put on the seat. Works fine with a rack as well, though YMMV with panniers depending how they attach.

If memory serves, we got ours in Decathlon, but I'm pretty sure I've seen them in Halfords here as well

mr spuckler

Hey, is there a quieter route through housing estates for the stretch to the creche? I brought my fella on the bike through the estate for our trip of about 1km and never really had any issues. Tbh as he got older he wanted to go on the busier road because the estate was more boring and again we never had any problems.

I bought a hybrid specifically so that I could use a Weeride seat and found it brilliant. You can very quickly unscrew the seat from the mounting bar and leave the seat at the creche for your cycle into town, then attach it to another bike with a second mounting bar if you like. The bar itself isn't the prettiest but that never bothered me. The huge benefit is that you've the child between your arms as you cycle, both that you can see them and they also feel safer imo than sitting out the back. They also have a great view up front!
I have one off the bike in D5 if you want to try it out temporarily sometime, see if she likes it etc. My 3 1/2 yo has outgrown it but his baby brother might make use of it at some stage.

For bad weather, we had him in a splash suit, wellies or kids shoe covers, balaclava and gloves.

steamsey

https://dutchbikeshop.ie/yepp-maxi-child-bike-seat-easyfit/

Have this. Very happy with it. Have been using it for 3 years or so. Suit kids up to maybe 3.5 or 4

AndyBoBandy

I got this Raleigh one from Amazon a few years ago, and it seems fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A0I5YXA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Didn't use it so much in the beginning (weather/being lazy) but been using it heavily this last 2 weeks bringing our 4 year old to/from big school, and it works just fine. He's still only about 19 kg (3kg off the 22kg limit). Seems to be a good quality seat with plenty of protection. (the bike fell over on the grass in the garden and the child was completely protected (do it again he declared)).

Utter Consternation

mr spuckler wrote: »

Hey, is there a quieter route through housing estates for the stretch to the creche? I brought my fella on the bike through the estate for our trip of about 1km and never really had any issues. Tbh as he got older he wanted to go on the busier road because the estate was more boring and again we never had any problems.

I bought a hybrid specifically so that I could use a Weeride seat and found it brilliant. You can very quickly unscrew the seat from the mounting bar and leave the seat at the creche for your cycle into town, then attach it to another bike with a second mounting bar if you like. The bar itself isn't the prettiest but that never bothered me. The huge benefit is that you've the child between your arms as you cycle, both that you can see them and they also feel safer imo than sitting out the back. They also have a great view up front!
I have one off the bike in D5 if you want to try it out temporarily sometime, see if she likes it etc. My 3 1/2 yo has outgrown it but his baby brother might make use of it at some stage.

For bad weather, we had him in a splash suit, wellies or kids shoe covers, balaclava and gloves.

Ah cheers. There's only the one route unfortunately. That looks ideal and is what i'm looking for. She's only twelve weeks at the moment though, so we won't be able to trial it.

The detachable option is great. That was something i was thinking about. I know the creche does let you leave the seat there.

Thanks for the offer.

I'm also trying to resist the temptation to buy one of these:

https://radpowerbikes.eu/pages/radrunner

I've a few problems with my knees from footie in my younger days. It's compatible with chair that Steamsey has suggested.

I'm convincing myself at the moment that i can get the chair you've suggested for fluting around at the weekend and the electric bike for those hard winter months with the driving wind and rain.

Schrodingercat

+1 on the wee ride. They are great, and the kids love it. You can chat away to them on it and point things out. My 2 year old falls asleep on it. It is a bit more difficult to cycle with because your knees stick out but nothing too serious. The biggest problem I have is convincing my 5 year old she is too big for it.

Interested Observer

Is there a consensus on trailers for children? Are they considered more/less safe? I have 2 kids I'd need to haul around with me and having them both on the bike with me just seems a bit unstable, so from that point of view a trailer feels like it could be a better option.

tombliboo83

Interested Observer wrote: »

Is there a consensus on trailers for children? Are they considered more/less safe? I have 2 kids I'd need to haul around with me and having them both on the bike with me just seems a bit unstable, so from that point of view a trailer feels like it could be a better option.

I’ve used my burley bee for my twins the past two years. They’re approaching the max weight limit in the next few months but I’ve found it to be fantastic for transporting them, mainly for leisure use. The max weight is 100lbs. Whilst they’re very safe trailers, I’d never use in serious traffic for prolonged periods. Theyre by far the cheapest option for transporting two little ones-otherwise you’re looking at a Dutch bike with two bike seats mounted to it or a far pricier cargo bike.

Interested Observer

tombliboo83 wrote: »

I’ve used my burley bee for my twins the past two years. They’re approaching the max weight limit in the next few months but I’ve found it to be fantastic for transporting them, mainly for leisure use. The max weight is 100lbs. Whilst they’re very safe trailers, I’d never use in serious traffic for prolonged periods. Theyre by far the cheapest option for transporting two little ones-otherwise you’re looking at a Dutch bike with two bike seats mounted to it or a far pricier cargo bike.

Thanks, would you have a link to the one you have by any chance? I've just had a look on amazon and there's all sorts of stuff from all sorts of sellers.

The reason I'm asking is to take my twins to creche in the mornings. It's a 30+ min walk, a 5 min drive there but literally could take any amount of time to get back in the traffic, or else under 10min cycle each way, which clearly sounds like the best option to me as I cycle to work anyway. Though I'd need to drop the trailer back home, are they difficult to attach and remove?

Grassey

My Missus has the Hamax suggested above for creche runs.
I use the weeride, which I prefer as it doesn't mess with bike balance, and feel safer having her encircled by my arms.
Little one likes mine more as she can see whats going on, and hold the handlebars [and mess with the garmin] and point out things and chat with me. Unless shes tired and wants to sleep and then she likes the Hamax.

Gotten over 2 years out of them so far.

tombliboo83

Interested Observer wrote: »

Thanks, would you have a link to the one you have by any chance? I've just had a look on amazon and there's all sorts of stuff from all sorts of sellers.

The reason I'm asking is to take my twins to creche in the mornings. It's a 30+ min walk, a 5 min drive there but literally could take any amount of time to get back in the traffic, or else under 10min cycle each way, which clearly sounds like the best option to me as I cycle to work anyway. Though I'd need to drop the trailer back home, are they difficult to attach and remove?

Can’t find a link but google burley bee yellow trailer. They’re pricey brand new 350€ I think but mainly due to its much higher load capacity over cheaper trailers. Very easy to detach. Plenty of videos on YouTube of them, also plenty of storage in the rear for bags. I might be selling mine, just need to clean the fabric etc, keep an eye on adverts.

mr spuckler

Interested Observer wrote: »

Thanks, would you have a link to the one you have by any chance? I've just had a look on amazon and there's all sorts of stuff from all sorts of sellers.

The reason I'm asking is to take my twins to creche in the mornings. It's a 30+ min walk, a 5 min drive there but literally could take any amount of time to get back in the traffic, or else under 10min cycle each way, which clearly sounds like the best option to me as I cycle to work anyway. Though I'd need to drop the trailer back home, are they difficult to attach and remove?

Just to throw another option out there I've previously used a Croozer kid for one and am currently on a Chariot Cougar 2 seater. Both are the type that can convert into a stroller or jogger if required so are that bit more expensive, but worth it imo, especially if you can pick one up second hand as I did with the Chariot. Today for example I picked up the 3 1/2 yo from creche with his 2 month old brother already in the trailer, cycled to the shop with the 2 of them and changed to stroller in about a minute then walked around the shop with it before loading up the purchases into the back and reconverting to trailer mode! All the while I'd the older fellas bike strapped to the handlebar on the back of the trailer!

For what you asked, detaching the trailer from the bike takes about 10 seconds, maybe 30 to put it back on!

Lustrum

Interested Observer wrote: »

Is there a consensus on trailers for children? Are they considered more/less safe? I have 2 kids I'd need to haul around with me and having them both on the bike with me just seems a bit unstable, so from that point of view a trailer feels like it could be a better option.

We take 2 of our 3 on the one bike, we've a bobike mini on the front for the 20 month old, and a bobike maxi on the back for the 3.5 year old. They love it, and I'd swear by the bobike seats. I have them on my Scott road bike (bobike do adaptors for the mini) and herself puts them on her hybrid. Send me a pm if you want more info

De Bhál

Interested Observer wrote: »

Thanks, would you have a link to the one you have by any chance? I've just had a look on amazon and there's all sorts of stuff from all sorts of sellers.

The reason I'm asking is to take my twins to creche in the mornings. It's a 30+ min walk, a 5 min drive there but literally could take any amount of time to get back in the traffic, or else under 10min cycle each way, which clearly sounds like the best option to me as I cycle to work anyway. Though I'd need to drop the trailer back home, are they difficult to attach and remove?

Could you not leave the trailer there to be collected when the kids are collected.

I used a bike trailer for 1.5 years. Kids were comfortable and dry in all weather's. It was a 2.5km journey to childminder. Kids were collected by wife in car and I collected trailer on the way home. The 2.5km was 99% on segregated cycle path.
At the moment when required I use the hamax seat which does the job no bother