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Hauling kids on bikes A look at available gear


BY KATHLEEN WILKER When you haul kids on your own adult bike, what you’re doing besides the fun is expanding the car-free, bus-free distance you can travel. There are inexpensive options available for front bike seats, back bike seats, trail-a-bikes and cargo bikes. We’ve tried many of these in our biking family and here’s what we found out.


FRONT BIKE SEATS This is one of my favourite ways


to travel with a small child. A front seat offers a number of advantages, starting with safety. As long as your child is old enough to sit up and listen, these seats are safe. Also, the bike is well balanced with a child up front, and with the child literally right under your nose, you can keep a close eye on what s/he’s up to. More advantages: Front seats are a fun and friendly biking experience for any child – they get a great view and it’s to chat when your heads are close together. Front seats loosen up space.


You can carry gear or groceries in panniers on a back rack with the child up front, and if you can double up with an older child on a trail-a- bike behind. A disadvantage to front seats is a


child can reach gears, brakes and handlebars, so you have to train her not to touch them. Pulling over and delivering a stern lecture on bike safety several times usually does the trick. Two of the more popular front seats available are:


iBert


www.ibertinc.com It’s made in the


United States, and is easy to install and remove. The iBert design


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means the child’s legs are held in moulded “legs” that stretch under the handlebars and out of the way of the adult’s knees. So you don’t have to ride bow-legged with this model. It’s designed for children aged four and under and weighing 17 kilograms or less. $100


Kangaroo from Wee Ride www.weeride.com This is the


front seat our family used. Widely available (I believe we got ours at Toys R Us), the Kangaroo was cheap, relatively easy to install, and grew with our children. You need to install a support bar across your bike for the Kangaroo to be mounted on. If you’re planning on using it on more than one bike, buy an extra support bar for $20 so that switching the seat between bikes is simpler. You can remove the seat from the support bar by unscrewing a large black screw.


Napping is


comfortable on Kangaroos with their built-in head rests. My son enjoyed napping here so much I bungeed a small pillow to the head


rest for added comfort – that way he slept even if the ride was bumpy. The Kangaroo disadvantage is


that most adult riders have to ride bow-legged to avoid bonking their knees on the bike seat. This didn’t bother me, but some riders tell me it’s uncomfortable. Designed for children under four years who are 18 kilograms or less. $60


BACK BIKE SEATS Although they skew the bike’s


balance, back seats still have a lot to offer. They tuck children neatly away from handlebars, brakes, gears and your head. As the child grows taller, it’s a tighter and tighter fit for that little head under yours with a front seat. Back seats can be mounted on speed bikes if you are touring with your child. But back panniers and back bike seats often don’t mix. So add a front rack and panniers to a bike with a back bike seat. It improves balance and boosts storage capacity. A mirror on your handle bar does


wonders to keep an eye on your rear passenger.


Topeak BabySeat with aluminum rack www.topeak.com/products/


Child-Carrier/tpk_babyseat This back seat comes with


its own rack. Install it, and it’s a breeze to remove or install the seat itself – it just clicks in and out of place. The height and weight


www.ottawaoutdoors.ca


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