Cycling with baby - options?

[Jo]

wafflycat wrote:
>
> "POHB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> "sothach" wrote
>>
>>> Trailer. Safer than the child seat by far.
>>
>>
>> Not disagreeing, but let's not overstate the dangers of a regular
>> child seat for when the kid is big enough to sit up and hold its head up.
>> A decent child seat actually protects the kid pretty well.
>> I was cycling with a friend last summer when she fell off, she got a
>> nasty gash on her leg but the kid on the back was fine and happy. The
>> sides of the seat protected his arms, body and helmetted head and the
>> leg/foot bits of the seat protected his legs.
>> They're also easier to manouver through certain kinds of gates and
>> bollards.
>
>
> Aye. Nathan was in a child seat from less than a year old - and now he's
> a strapping 17-year-old who loves cycling - so his early experience
> can't have been that bad ;-)
>
> Cheers, helen s
>
Ditto. All three of mine were in a child seat from around 3 months and
have lived to tell the tale! Trailers were not so readily available
then. I reckon if I ever get grandchildren, and I am allowed to take
them out I will get a trailer though.
Jo

 

[Julesh]

wafflycat wrote:
>
> "POHB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> "sothach" wrote
>>
>>> Trailer. Safer than the child seat by far.
>>
>>
>> Not disagreeing, but let's not overstate the dangers of a regular
>> child seat for when the kid is big enough to sit up and hold its head up.
>> A decent child seat actually protects the kid pretty well.
>> I was cycling with a friend last summer when she fell off, she got a
>> nasty gash on her leg but the kid on the back was fine and happy. The
>> sides of the seat protected his arms, body and helmetted head and the
>> leg/foot bits of the seat protected his legs.
>> They're also easier to manouver through certain kinds of gates and
>> bollards.
>
>
> Aye. Nathan was in a child seat from less than a year old - and now he's
> a strapping 17-year-old who loves cycling - so his early experience
> can't have been that bad ;-)
>
> Cheers, helen s
>
Me too. I recently slid on a patch of fresh mud and dropped my bike
complete with 14 month old son in the child seat (Rhode Gear Limo.)

The seat is excellent as it provides wraparound protection for its
contents so not only was he undamaged but also didn't show any signs of
noticing anything unusual had happened! Obviously if I'd been wearing a
helmet I wouldn't have grazed my leg either

That said I'm tempted to buy a trailer for this one purely because of
the difficult of using the rear rack for carrying any else (like
shopping) with such a large rack mount seat fitted and because the
business of getting my leg over the top tube of a regular frame isn't
getting any easier.

Julesh

 

[wafflycat]

"Julesh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...


>
> That said I'm tempted to buy a trailer for this one purely because of the
> difficult of using the rear rack for carrying any else (like shopping)
> with such a large rack mount seat fitted and because the business of
> getting my leg over the top tube of a regular frame isn't getting any
> easier.
>
> Julesh

That's a downside of childseats. When Nathan was in a childseat, it was on
my hybrid which has a step-through frame, so I avoided the leg-over problem
;-)

Cheers, helen s

 

[John B]

Julesh wrote:

> > Aye. Nathan was in a child seat from less than a year old - and now he's
> > a strapping 17-year-old who loves cycling - so his early experience
> > can't have been that bad ;-)
>
> >
> Me too. I recently slid on a patch of fresh mud and dropped my bike
> complete with 14 month old son in the child seat (Rhode Gear Limo.)
>
> The seat is excellent as it provides wraparound protection for its
> contents so not only was he undamaged but also didn't show any signs of
> noticing anything unusual had happened! Obviously if I'd been wearing a
> helmet I wouldn't have grazed my leg either

ISTR that rear seats went through a massive improvement phase about 10/12 years
ago and became much higher with the 'wrap' side protection. I think Rhode led
the way. Before that they were flimsier and protection from a fall such as you
experienced was much less.

We spent a lot of time and research in getting our first child seat which was
nearly 18 years ago, for our first daughter and eventually plumped for a good
(for the time) Hamax.
Yes, I dropped it too and young'un received quite a bump to the head :-(
We were on a 'wild-cycle camping' tour of Corsica and i clipped the front
lo-riders against a verge when pulling up to teh side of teh road. The high CoG
caused the bike to swing over.

I am now quite horrified how poor the seats were in those days.

It was not long after that we obtained our trailer which was superb - such a
difference for safety, but as has been said they can be a bit of a nuisance in
heavy town traffic.

Yes, seats have improved tremendously, although the the CoG issue and the
parking problems remain.

> That said I'm tempted to buy a trailer for this one purely because of
> the difficult of using the rear rack for carrying any else (like
> shopping)

Beware though, if you have the space you will fill it .

> with such a large rack mount seat fitted and because the
> business of getting my leg over the top tube of a regular frame isn't
> getting any easier.

I do recall hitting our young'uns head a couple of times when lifting my leg
over her.
You could always try swinging your leg over the handlebars instead.

John B

 

[Julesh]

John B wrote:
>

>
>
>>with such a large rack mount seat fitted and because the
>>business of getting my leg over the top tube of a regular frame isn't
>>getting any easier.>
>
> I do recall hitting our young'uns head a couple of times when lifting my leg
> over her.
> You could always try swinging your leg over the handlebars instead.
>
> John B
>

I can't imagine I could possibly lift my leg high enough to go over the
child seat as my build is more Jocky Wilson ("Supreme Athlete") than
Billy Elliot these day. There was one occasion when I was without baby
but had left the seat attached, tried to get off in the usual manner and
discovered it was a great way to fall over sideways. I was assuming I
was doing what everyone else does - basically stand alongside the bike
and do a form of pathetic kung-fu style sidekick to get my leg over the
top tube to get, on and a sort of reverse version of that to dismount.
This generally works OK if you don't get tied up in the gear and brake
cable inners that are threaded along the top of the tube

I'll try the leg over the handlebars technique and see how I get on!


Julesh