.
We bought over a period of a 1-2 months, trialled and discarded two popular ways of biking with our 1 yr old daughter before finding the answer - I intend this article will help you to avoid making the same mistakes we made.
Getting back onto a bike for both Mums & Dads after the arrival of a new child is a terrific low-impact way to grant your partner some "me time" whilst spending some quality time with your new child and it is a terrific low-impact way to enjoy the fresh air, get fit and travel further than you could on foot alone
When it comes to biking with baby there are really only a couple of choices - either a baby bicycle carrier or a trailer. Having used a trailer a couple of times we found it's clumsiness and size restricted our cycling to the widest of bike tracks, the distance of our child from us made us uneasy and also restricted interaction. We weren't happy with our child sitting at "exhaust height" - we soon settled on a child bicycle carrier - or a bicycle mounted child carrier - to give it it's serious name.
There are actually 3 types of carrier you can buy; The incredibly common rear-fixed seat, a front-fixed seat, usual in Europe, and, the newest, a center-fixed seat.
* Rear-Attached - Lots of generic brands - Topeak, Humax, etc etc. very common, mass produced in Asia. These seats really belong in the 20th century and it surprises me that mums & dads still buy them, other than they tend to be cheaper.
Interaction with your child doesn't exist, balance is out, carrying additional items in a rucksack etc is hard. Fitting a rear-fixed seat to a bicycle with disc-brakes can be impossible at worst and time-consuming and expensive at best and fitting a rear-fixed carrier to a bicycle with dual-suspension is usually impossible.
The only upside, other than cost, that a rear-fixed carrier may have is that it can carry a heavier kid, up to 22Kilos or more. Although since this is the approximate weight of a six year old, you have to ask why they're not riding their own bicycle by this time!
* Front-Mounted - Such manufacturers as BoBike, iBert and others, these usually attach by a single point to front of the bicycle. Front-fixed bicycle seats puts your child in front of you, encouraging interaction, engaing your child in the ride, reducing distractions to the rider, however having all the weight attached at the front-wheel also makes steering harder and generally restricts maximum weight carryable to 15 kilos (~3 years old).
* Center-Mounted - Only one brands known to exist - WeeRide. This attaches in two points - at the handlebars and also at the seat post, bettering the pure front-fixed offering by spreading the weight more evenly, whilst still having all the advantages of a front fixed carrier. This type of carrier will also attach to a disc-brake or dual-suspension bicycle.
We discarded the trailer after trying it and we bought a traditional rear-mounted child bike carrier for our 1 yr old child not so long ago. After riding with it once on our bikes, my partner told me she'd never pedal with our daughter again in a rear mounted seat. Our daughters nose was running, she'd kicked off her shoes and unzipped her jacket - and all this out-of-sight behind us.
On top of these "care" concerns are the obvious practicalities of balance and ease of use. With a child behind you, your balance is off, out-of-sight you're unable to react to any sudden movement. Your child will be more restless unable to see where they are going, throwing their weight about to see around you. It's probably more dangerous - since you're concentrating on whats going on behind you - rather than watching where you're going.....
Lastly - ever considered getting off a bike with a rear-mounted carrier - chances are you'll kick your child in the face as you try to lift your leg over . And worst of all - in an accident - you can't protect them, can't put your arms around them!
So we threw it away and bought a center mounted WeeRide child bicycle carrier - all of these problems are solved. Our infant can see where she’s going, we can keep an eye on her, our balance is better, we can get off simply and best of all - there's the added advantages... we'll count doggies, sing songs, guess colours, play I-Spy, we're interacting, all things we couldn't do in a rear-mounted carrier.
So please before you buy a rear-fixed carrier - consider long and hard about whether all you want to do is transport your child from A-B with all the issues above - or do you want to enjoy riding with your toddler and interact, participate. Mike Clarkson
You come here with these keywords:
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mom
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Getting back onto a bike for both Mums & Dads after the arrival of a new child is a terrific low-impact way to grant your partner some "me time" whilst spending some quality time with your new child and it is a terrific low-impact way to enjoy the fresh air, get fit and travel further than you could on foot alone
When it comes to biking with baby there are really only a couple of choices - either a baby bicycle carrier or a trailer. Having used a trailer a couple of times we found it's clumsiness and size restricted our cycling to the widest of bike tracks, the distance of our child from us made us uneasy and also restricted interaction. We weren't happy with our child sitting at "exhaust height" - we soon settled on a child bicycle carrier - or a bicycle mounted child carrier - to give it it's serious name.
There are actually 3 types of carrier you can buy; The incredibly common rear-fixed seat, a front-fixed seat, usual in Europe, and, the newest, a center-fixed seat.
* Rear-Attached - Lots of generic brands - Topeak, Humax, etc etc. very common, mass produced in Asia. These seats really belong in the 20th century and it surprises me that mums & dads still buy them, other than they tend to be cheaper.
Interaction with your child doesn't exist, balance is out, carrying additional items in a rucksack etc is hard. Fitting a rear-fixed seat to a bicycle with disc-brakes can be impossible at worst and time-consuming and expensive at best and fitting a rear-fixed carrier to a bicycle with dual-suspension is usually impossible.
The only upside, other than cost, that a rear-fixed carrier may have is that it can carry a heavier kid, up to 22Kilos or more. Although since this is the approximate weight of a six year old, you have to ask why they're not riding their own bicycle by this time!
* Front-Mounted - Such manufacturers as BoBike, iBert and others, these usually attach by a single point to front of the bicycle. Front-fixed bicycle seats puts your child in front of you, encouraging interaction, engaing your child in the ride, reducing distractions to the rider, however having all the weight attached at the front-wheel also makes steering harder and generally restricts maximum weight carryable to 15 kilos (~3 years old).
* Center-Mounted - Only one brands known to exist - WeeRide. This attaches in two points - at the handlebars and also at the seat post, bettering the pure front-fixed offering by spreading the weight more evenly, whilst still having all the advantages of a front fixed carrier. This type of carrier will also attach to a disc-brake or dual-suspension bicycle.
We discarded the trailer after trying it and we bought a traditional rear-mounted child bike carrier for our 1 yr old child not so long ago. After riding with it once on our bikes, my partner told me she'd never pedal with our daughter again in a rear mounted seat. Our daughters nose was running, she'd kicked off her shoes and unzipped her jacket - and all this out-of-sight behind us.
On top of these "care" concerns are the obvious practicalities of balance and ease of use. With a child behind you, your balance is off, out-of-sight you're unable to react to any sudden movement. Your child will be more restless unable to see where they are going, throwing their weight about to see around you. It's probably more dangerous - since you're concentrating on whats going on behind you - rather than watching where you're going.....
Lastly - ever considered getting off a bike with a rear-mounted carrier - chances are you'll kick your child in the face as you try to lift your leg over . And worst of all - in an accident - you can't protect them, can't put your arms around them!
So we threw it away and bought a center mounted WeeRide child bicycle carrier - all of these problems are solved. Our infant can see where she’s going, we can keep an eye on her, our balance is better, we can get off simply and best of all - there's the added advantages... we'll count doggies, sing songs, guess colours, play I-Spy, we're interacting, all things we couldn't do in a rear-mounted carrier.
So please before you buy a rear-fixed carrier - consider long and hard about whether all you want to do is transport your child from A-B with all the issues above - or do you want to enjoy riding with your toddler and interact, participate. Mike Clarkson
You come here with these keywords:
moms
pregnancy
flowers
gardening
plants
roses
mom
baby
pregnant
flower
winter
seeds
mothers
fall
seed
growing
mother
mums
bike
bikes
buyers guide
buying guide
.
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