Bike Seats for Baby

[Jen841]

For a birthday gift my brother and sister in law want a bike seat for my nephew who is 19 months old. Any recommendations? I know I need to get a helmet too.

[KathyO]

I don't know what your budget is, but the best seat IMHO is the Copilot Rhode Gear Limo. (First made by Rhodegear, which was bought by Copilot, which was bought by Bell, so you will see it listed with an assortment of brand names.) http://www.bicycle-source.com/rhodlimtopof.html has them for $99. I love mine, and so does my friend who got one too. And our toddlers pester us for bike rides all the time! We bought based on the number of consumer recommendations we found. They are sturdy, easy to use, well designed, some nice safety features, and some great usability features.

They've got solid side protection in case the bike goes down, a nice padded "grab bar" for the child, comfy padding, a slight recline for kids who fall asleep in the seat (mine used to) orange side flashing and rear decals/reflector for visibility, multiple harness slot positions, adjustable foot cups, an easy installation that has markings to ensure that the centre of gravity is correctly positioned, and the seat can be easily released from the bike without tools to (a) act as a child's seat on the ground if you're out on a picnic - the grab bar rotates back to become the back "feet" for the chair, and/or (b) leave it behind when you want to go for a solo ride.

If it's beyond their planned budget, you could go in on it together - it really is great to use!

HTH,

KathyO