Looking for Child Bicycle Seat recommendations

[joannect]

DH and I love to ride our bikes around the beach board walks during the summer and would love to be able to take our one year old with us (with a helmet on of course). Which ones are the safest or is this just a bad idea? Thanks.

ETA: He'll be almost 18 mos by summertime. :)

[janeybwild]

We bought this one (although not from this site and quite a bit cheaper). It was recommended by others from here (a search of the archives will likely turn up the discussion). We love it. DD was 14 months when we started using it. It feels safe to us. HTH.

http://www.livingincomfort.com/bk10762.html

[Jen841]

We have the same and rode many miles with it last summer when Jude was 1. I highly recommend it! Riding with him was so much fun. Early morning rides were the best. In Chicago they would allow you to ride in the zoo before 9am and we has such a blast.

Memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[searchdog]

I am just putting in my two cents that if go with a trailer, then you don't have to worry about if you were to fall off your bike with DC strapped in, they would fall with the bike. If you use a trailer most (not sure if all) are designed so the trailer stays upright even if the bike falls over. Just something to think about.

I realize a trailer may not be practical for where you are going to ride but just thought I would throw that our there.

[Sistapril]

Sistapril

I found 2 seats for my bicycle on www.onestepahead.com and was considering the seat that goes in-front of you instead of behind you - does anyone have this seat (the "Bobike mini)?

http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?lGen=crossSell&itemID=215755&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=215755&wSubCat=86285&change=117

I was wondering if anyone had tried this and if they felt it was safe or if it made it harder to steady the bike with the child up front like that.

[o_mom]

Second this one - we love it!

[brittone2]

I think trailers are generally safer as a PP mentioned but if you aren't riding on the road, it is a little better (although if you would crash randomly there is still a chance of injury with the seat regardless).

I didn't click on the above links but we have a Rhode Gear bike seat and also a Burley D'Lite trailer. I like both of them, but I prefer the trailer when we have DS. DH is a fairly serious cyclist and doesn't mind using either the bike seat or the trailer.

We started using both w/ DS this past summer when he was right around 18 months or so.

[clc053103]

Can I join in this post? I am interested in a bike trailer OR bike seat for use on the boards this summer w/ DS (a very large boy, will be 1 yr this summer), and would love to see any other recommendations! I googled the Burley D'Lite recommended by PP, but it's out of our price range.

Thanks!

[chlobo]

We saw a lot of this kind of thing in Europe. Mosstly the kids weren't wearing helmets either (ugh).

For me, this setup wouldn't work. DD is very fidgety and once she started moving around in front of me I think it would be very distracting. I can just imagine her trying to turn around.

However, if you child isn't that fidgety then this kind of setup might work well.

[o_mom]

For bike trailers, the top of the line are Burly and Chariot, but both are $$$. I really, really, really wanted one of these - especially the Chariot <drool> - but it was not to be in our finances. They rarely show up used and even then they are almost as much as new.We recently picked up an InStep Quick n Lite for $98 at Target. Now, so far we have only used it twice (it is January you know), but it has worked well.

What you get for more money is mainly ease of use. For example - the Chariot folds in like 5 sec, all parts are quick release including the stroller wheels and handlebar, you don't have to remove the cover, etc. With this one, you have to remove the cover and the stroller handle bar to fold it. The stroller wheel is a screw knob type attachment, rather than quick release. The hitch is a cotter pin type attachment and so on.

For us is that the folding is a major drawback, since we have nowhere to park it unfolded. If we had extra space in the garage to leave it unfolded, it would be much different. I wanted to use it as a stroller too, and it is just enough extra effort that I'm not sure I will do it often. One other thing is that it is a trailer or a stroller, but not a jogger like the Burly and Chariots are.

Bottom line - if you have somewhere to leave it unfolded and just want a basic trailer for light use, this would be a decent one. If you are a hard core biker,need it to fold quickly or want a jogger, then look hard at the more expensive ones.

HTH, I'm sure others will chime in!

[brittone2]

The Burley and the Chariot Cougar (I think??) get good reviews.

We totally lucked out on the Burley. We were considering buying one but it was pretty pricey for us too. We stumbled on one at a flea market while we were antiques hunting one weekend and got it for $50 in great condition. THey often pop up used on craigslist.org or ebay, although still not inexpensively.

If you aren't going to do any hard-core cycling, I think a less expensive trailer works out fine for most people. Costco sells one that I think has gotten some decent reviews here (check the archives...I'm not 100% sure on that).

[brittone2]

What she said :) I didn't get to read the above post before I posted but I agree 100%. Unless you are a very serious cyclist or plan to use the trailer really really often, you don't necessarily need an expensive one. The ability to convert the Burley and the Chariot to a running stroller makes the cost easier to swallow if you don't already own a running stroller (we have an inexpensive running stroller already). We leave our Burley totally up most of the time and don't find ourselves folding/unfolding it very often because we just don't need to.

Also, the less expensive trailers can be heavier, but again, for just recreational use that probably isn't that big of a deal.

[Hippoharbor]

I just looked at this model tonight at my local bicycle store and the plastic shell seemed kind of flimsy,especially the pull-down bar (didn't stay clipped closed very well). Any comments regarding this please? thanks

Michelle