Mom / Dad-mobiles, Kid-transporters

Nice. Wouldn’t leave kids alone in the seat with just the stand holding up, but definitely helps save some bike juggling while strapping in a wiggly kid.

Just posted this is the Child Seats thread so apologies for cross-posting....

My kid is fast approaching an age where the bike seat dream can begin. What are the current decent options?

It would be great if there was a quick-release option so me and my partner can have a mount each, and transfer the seat without too much faff. My bike is kept in a paid storage shed that frowns upon big things like baby seats being left attached to bikes, so I might be taking it on and off all the time anyway.

Ideally we could also continue using rear panniers.

Me and my partner both have old steel touring bikes but hers is mixte and mine has a horizontal top tube.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

You'll probably end up with a variety of options. I started with a yepp mini (front) which was a lot of fun, you can still use the rear rack, but they grow out of it pretty quickly. I then picked up a basic hamax second hand and a spare mount and that's pretty convenient for nursery runs and has a much longer usable age range but takes a little getting used to balance wise. It's a pain trying to fit a pannier on the back rack at the same time, but just about doable - for less stress I ended up getting a tubus front rack. A trailer is really great though, (we have a knackered old burley) especially for journeys where they might fall asleep, or you've got multiple school bags and work stuff, or you're going to the supermarket, or it's raining, or it's cold. We both have a mount for that too that's not intrusive to fit, so one can do drop off and other pick up. We use that more than anything.

We've used a yepp maxiwith the seatpost bracket extensively. It's a very nice bit of kit, but carrying a 16 kg child on the rear really offsets the center of gravity. I'm not to keen to try it at the 25 kg weight limit - which is one of the reasons we bought a Bullitt and I'm looking at a MacRide seat for the eldest.

edit- ours are yepp maxi

Good info. At what age/weight did you feel like your child had grown out of the Yepp mini?

They weight limit is 15 kg, if I remember correctly.

Really enjoy the yepp nexxt maxi (kid is 2 and have been using about a year) She really digs it as well. but use it on a bike with low center of gravity and you can feel them moving around. Switching over to a longtail as soon as the weather gets better with the same seat.

@topkek Depends on your handle bar shape. We used the yepp mini front from when she was 1 for about 10 months. By that time, when she was wearing her helmet, I started to struggle to reach the drop handle bars / brakes, but that probably had more to do with the bike's geometry in combination with my short arms. It says you can take them until 3 years, which would be possible if you have sweep back bars I think. It was really good though as she could see where she was going and the front hand rest can also be used as a sort of pillow when she drifted off. It was also really stable and you could walk the bike just with one hand with a child in it.

With the back seat, I still take a 6 year old sometimes, so they last a long time. When they are younger when they drift off they can lurch to one side without you knowing - I once didn't realise this and her head caught a protruding pedestrian crossing button box, (very slowly, but a shock nonetheless). Also I had a few incidents dismounting where I would automatically swing my leg back over the saddle as normal only to find it blocked by a poor child on the back seat.

In terms of being interchangeable between bikes, our conventional hamax mount didn't fit on an older giant hybrid women's frame, and I felt nervous putting it on an 80s Peugeot road/specialized allez frame. It feels sturdy on a croix De Fer though.

That's why I keep coming back to the trailer, they can fall asleep very safely, you can leave them sleeping if you stop, it's really stable, use it with any shaped bike, you can use the back rack if you want (leaving the trailer at nursery before work), you can carry shopping, it's warm dry etc. Ones like the burley can fold pretty flat if storing inside.

I hadn't thought about the bar shape would be a factor like that, good to know! We're only expecting our first in March, but I'm really excited to be able to go riding with him next year.

Just quickly to say thanks all... will have a read and see what works best for us : )

Fyi our eldest was 9 months when she first had a go in the Yepp Maxi.
Couldn't ride for long though, as she would fall asleep when she got bored after 20-30 minutes.

We do have a Croozer Kid 2, that we use to take our 2-year-old and 2-month old out together instead of a pram/buggy. Little one sleeps like a log in the infant sling!

Good deals on Burleys on SportPursuit if anyone is in the market for one

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I'm considering selling this because I could use some extra cash and I'm not really riding it.

It's now got dynamo hub on front wheel and dynamo lights front and back.

I'll write a proper advert and put it in the classifieds soon but this is a really shite attempt at generating interest.

If you need to downsize to just one bike to do everything then it's very useful for that. Rear rack and child seat come off super quick, without them it's a pretty rad Surly Troll you can use as a commuter/shopper, tourer, gravel and mountain biking.

Hydro disc, 11sp, carbon rims, dynamo and lights, Jones bars, it's pure middle class parent checklist.

Enough room for all the shit you need for a daytrip with your kid, and when they get tired, there's still enough room to bungee their bike to the front rack and put them on the seat.

What size is it? And what size wheels?

same vibe

It's a small and 650b wheels
This is the sizing chart for this frame:

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/troll#support

Sadly way too small for me, looks ace though

Multipla forever!

Does anyone have a spare bracket / adapter for a Thule Yepp Mini they'd like to sell on? Not the slimfit model preferably, just the regular version for a quill stem. Thanks.

Free, new, trailer wheels (20"/406): https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/385006/#comment16916853

First dad bike for me, a proud moment!

Cross post from current projects. Very happy with the yepp mini, as I think others have said the quill mount for these is much better than the ahead mount.

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Loving that, @DrDave : )

Similar moment of excitement here for my first baby bike build. Got a cheap Rockhopper from ebay, changed the tyres and saddle, added mudguards, a pizza rack and, of course, a child seat (Thule Ridealong).

Future changes will include swept-back bars and levers with less reach (recommendations welcome).

Will almost certainly get colourful cables and grips whilst I'm at it. That child seat is screaming for a lairy build.

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Got my 2.5 year old started on the Shotgun seat, such a fun way to get around.

@.gaz. if you're after really swept back, I'm using One One Mollymawk and really like them. Currently on sale on Planet X for a tenner.

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How do all you people using front mounted seats get on with knees bumping the seat / kid? I used to have a front Hamax on a Brother Big Bro but found it ruined my pedal stroke which wrecked my knees - was i just unlucky or are you all just putting up with it?