Child seat

[RRH]

Hi all, having a slight child related dilemma...

I recently sold my Marin. I had a 'wee ride' seat, that mounts between the seat tube and handlebar tube (I'm sure there's a better name for it than that!), which was great.

The new bike, which is a cube ltd, doesn't have sufficient space on the 'handlebar tube' to attach the wee-ride as everything above the crossbar moves with the steering.

I've tried attaching our old child seat to the seat tube, but theres a cable running down the back so that won't work either.

Any ideas?

A mate offered me his trailer, but many of the tracks I ride are really narrow.

Is there a seat that with actually Mount on the seat post?

Thanks in anticipation...

[Mr Will]

I'd give the trailer a try, in practice they are narrower than you'd think, especially the single ones which'll go through anything you can fit your handlebars through!

They also have the big advantage that if you have an off for any reason, your child will still be upright and safe (and probably laughing at you).

[anonymous-user]

I've got a trek mountain train, it's excellent. I think they're about £140 new but mine was £40 on eBay. They attach to the seat post and are fantastic for going on rides with the kids before they can ride or if you want to go for a longer ride thats too far for them to take their own bike.

If you do really tight circles you can make it go backwards and you can also trackstand them.

[anonymous-user]

Actually how olds your child? My mountain train is only good if the can sit on a seat and hold the handlebars without trying to get off. Possibly from 2 years and upwards?

[RRH]

He's three. I've got a mountain train already, which we used with the girls, but I really wouldnt be confident about him riding it just yet.

Might try the trailer if there's no other option.

Thanks for your help - any further suggestions very welcome!

[Mars]

Mr Will said:

I'd give the trailer a try, in practice they are narrower than you'd think, especially the single ones which'll go through anything you can fit your handlebars through!

They also have the big advantage that if you have an off for any reason, your child will still be upright and safe (and probably laughing at you).

Oh yeah, my kids love the trailer. A cycling friend has a bike-seat for his lad, and another has a Tag-Along. With both of these, your bike-balance is affected by the child, especially if he's restless. The Tag-Along is especially bad in this regard but that particular one has a worn joint so as the Tag-Along slops from side to side, it throws the main bike off balance quite suddenly and forcefully. With the seat, you just have a higher CoG so if you have to get out of the seat to climb a hill, your bike is noticably top-heavy.

My trailer isn't perfect - I could only get a double (costs/availability) so it's wider than I'd like, it definitely requires more of an effort to pull along, and the one I have only has 16" wheels which means my daughter gets rattled around inside but she is safer in there than with a seat (we don't travel on roads - I wouldn't put my children in a trailer on the road - they are too exposed/vulnerable) and she loves it. So much so, in fact, that I've just shelled-out for a new (but still cheapo) one off Ebay with 20" wheels and limited-travel suspension.

I'd really love a Chariot Cougar but even 2nd hand they're going for >£400. If I'd thought about it a year ago, or even when my (older) son was young-enough to use one (so I could keep it to use with my daughter), I might have gone with one as they are light and easily the best on the market. But I don't travel fast with my daughter in tow, and I don't have any time constraints (we only use it for fun/leisure) so being in a low gear all the time is fine.

There's a wierd effect of towing a trailer - you know that feeling you get of being pushed when you're in one of the front carriages of a roller-coaster? When you reach the bottom of a hill on your bike, you expect to start slowing, or at least to lose the push you had whilst you were pointing downwards. With the trailer, you continue to feel the push long after you've levelled out. It's like having your own version of KERS.

Here they are, having fun on one of our rides:

Edited by Mars on Tuesday 21st June 11:37