Eco-Friendly Family
KTdidit
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Bike seat vs trailer
KTdidit
member
DH and I have been debating the pros and cons of a bike seat or trailer for DS. This is what we've come up with:
Seat Pros: cheaper, close proximity to DS
Seat Cons: if the bike falls so does DS, not sure if I can keep my balance with an extra 20+ lbs on the back of the bike
Trailer Pros: more comfy for DS, safer if something happens to one of us on the bike
Trailer Cons: expensive, can't see DS behind us, wider - will it fit on some sidewalks?, low to the ground - can cars see it?
Can anyone give me feedback on either options?
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Re: Bike seat vs trailer
As far as the trailer, the trailer I got for xmas was around $100, an Instep one. And it's a double. No clue about the sidewalks since we have to ride on the street here (we haven't used it yet since I just now had $ to order helmets). And I was able to see people with trailers easily in our car and now our van.
Kelbrian posted a link to a bike seat that goes on the front of the bike, which might help with balance. I bet she'll see this post. If I'm still riding with 3 kids whenever that time comes (and DD isn't riding on her own yet) I will get one of those. That'd be SO heavy though!
I'm a firm believer that a trailer is much safer for a child until about 2.5/3-ish. I'm fairly certain Kel agrees with me on that.
We have a burley solo we got on craigslist, and love it.
but you need to wait until at least a year to bike with your LO. Their neck muscles aren't developed enough to tolerate the extra weight of the helmet and the jostling that will come from the bike.
Ok I will look for it. Thanks!
we got a trailer at a consignment store for $40. we don't use it on sidewalks. ours is neon green and i think it has reflectors.
i didn't want a bike seat in case of falling.
We used a trailer for my DD's first two years of her life. We have a Chariot Cougar. Yes, it was definitely expensive, but we don't own a car. It's a quality trailer and will last us through other kids, if we happen to have more. I can use it for biking, strolling, jogging, hiking and skiing. It's an amazing piece of equipment. I would try to stick with brands like Burley or Chariot.
I just recently started using a seat with my DD. It's a Co-Pilot, but I do not really like it at all. It seems poorly made. I am borrowing a bike from a friend right now while I wait for my new bike to arrive, and that is the option that I had, so I took it. I would recommend the Yepp, BoBike or Kettler brands for seats. I've seen all three in person and they are designed very well and hold up to constant use.
You should make sure to go in to a bike shop to get you both fitted for helmets. If you decide to go with a trailer, make sure that you get a flat back helmet for your son - it will not force his head forward and will be much more comfortable (we use the Lazer brand).
Ditto to everything go4 said. I would never use a seat until 2.5/3, but that's a personal preference. You also definitely need to wait until a year to even start biking with your kiddo.
Oh, and here is the seat that is installed on the front. I think someone asked for that. I also found a great link on choosing a trailer or a seat.
ETA: The Chariot has a tall flag (I think most trailers do), glows in the dark, has reflectors and I put lights on it. It's definitely visible. It is also bright orange, so that helps
You just need to make sure that you have lights, a flag and reflectors, and you should be just fine.
You shouldn't really ride on the sidewalk, but I haven't had an issue with the Chariot fitting on it when I've absolutely HAD to get on to the sidewalk. I don't ride, though. I just walk the bike and trailer until I feel comfortable riding on the street again.
Also, my bike sadly slipped from my hands a few weeks ago when I was unlocking it and the bike with DD in the seat fell off the curb to the street. DD was perfectly fine. She fell pretty hard, too. No scrapes, no bruises, nothing. I always thought that there was a huge risk of injury if the bike fell with the seat, and I don't think that is necessarily the case. Obviously, the trailer is safer, but I don't think a seat is that much more unsafe.
Indeed! There are removable benches in the bucket, as well as seat belts.
I didn't want to have to wait another two years or so for a Bakfiets, and this was an option that I ended up really loving and could afford right now.
Yeah, the ones we were looking at were well over $3k. Just not an option for us at this point.
The Madsen rides like a dream and honestly feels pretty much like a regular bike. I don't feel like my balance is off at all, and my daughter loves to ride in it.
I saw that on P&CE! I am so jealous. Why are you apprehensive?
They just look awkward because of the length. I signed up to "learn how to use them" :oD so I find out first hand how they ride. We also get free helmets, so I'm pretty excited about it.
Ooh, how fun! I have to admit that I was pretty nervous about getting on the Madsen at first and thought I was going to have a panic attack. But I got on and didn't want to get off after that. Went for a 10 mile bike ride and knew it was love
We have a bike seat that we've used for Noel since he was a year and I really liked it. I actually have the co-pilot that Kel doesn't like and it's been great for us but I don't have any other seat to compare it to and we don't use our bike as our primary mode of transportation like she does. If I did, I'd probably invest in something nicer. I would also agree that seats get a bit of a bad rap on their safety but it always seems to be in the form of "they're way unsafe if the bike falls" but I've never seen anything legitimate to back that up (I will eat my words for sure if there is data out there on that). I have dropped my bike while Noel was in it and he was perfectly fine. More than fine, he pretty much just looked at me like uhhh what the heck, mom. The seats cocoon them a lot more than you would imagine. I'm sure in a super major tumble like if you rolled it down a ditch it could be a different situation but honestly if you tumbled your trailer down a ditch you're upping the chance or the kid getting hurt too.
I was worried about it being unwieldy and putting me off balance but I've never had an issue. The only thing that I notice is when I need to make a tight turn, I have to slow down a bit more than I normally would but it hasn't bothered me too much. I tended to bike in an area that had a narrower footprint so I felt more comfortable with a bike seat at the time. That said, now I wish we had a trailer because with Ariel, obviously we can't keep using a seat so we didn't get a ton of use out of the seat before we now need to upgrade.
The seat I'm using is older and starting to show wear. I should have explained myself better. It feels flimsy to me. However, the other seats are made out of extremely hard materials, including steel, so I think that has something to do with my bias. Obviously, if I felt the seat was unsafe, I wouldn't put her in it, so that was a mistake on my part to make it seem like it was. Sorry about that
Insert foot into my mouth!
Have you thought about checking out Craig's List for a trailer? You could always sell your seat on there and use some of the money for a trailer. I see double trailers pop up fairly frequently, on my CL and on smaller ones.
I wasn't offended at all - no need to apologize! Like I said, I don't have any other seat to compare it to so I'm sure that makes a difference in my opinion as well.
That's probably what we'll do. Back in our old city, used bike trailers were few and far between, often ran close to retail and if they were cheaper, they were in disgusting condition. From what I can tell from some brief looking around, the picking is much better here!
I don't know the brand of our trailer (bought at Costco) but we love it! We use it generally on the weekends for leisurely bike rides or quick trips to the market. Last night, we biked to a friends house for a BBQ & we loved the fact that our trailer had extra "trunk space" in the back for all of our stuff. We took over food, the kids' backpack, towels, etc. and it all fit with plenty of room to spare & the kids didn't have to have "stuff" at their feet.
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