Hi! I’m not sure if I should post this question here or in the cycling or “where can I find” folder, but here goes: our daughter is now almost 12 months old and we would like to take her on short bike rides along the river paths.
I would like to hear if any of you have experience with baby bike seats, which ones you recommend and where to buy them? I’ve seen one on amazon.com called “iBert Safe-T Front Mounted Child Bicycle Seat” which I find promising. But I have no idea if it is available in Taiwan and where I could buy it or a similar product. Thanks for any suggestions!
I believe my girl was about that age when I started taking her on rides. I used a locally made/sold seat of molded plastic that fits between your legs so you have to ride bowlegged, straddling the thing. Of course that’s uncomfortable (for the adult) and harder work, but I wanted her in front of me, not behind where I couldn’t see her. That was probably a good thing, too, because she fell asleep on almost every ride and her head would fall down forward, so even though she was strapped in, I would reach around with one arm and hold her upright, pedaling one-handed back home with her.
We almost had a serious disaster once when I was riding her in that seat and suddenly there was a huge thump and the bike came to an abrupt halt. “What the. . . ?” I looked forward and saw – holy shit – she had stuck her foot into the front wheel, which spun it abruptly to the fork where it became lodged firmly, completely between the fork and the spokes. Not only that but she was wearing sandals. “Shit, shit, shit. . .” I quickly dismounted and tried to spin the wheel backwards to dislodge her, to no avail. Finally after a couple of minutes I was able to wrest her foot free. Miraculously, she wasn’t screaming, but I was petrified, certain there was very serious damage. I rode home ASAP, carried her upstairs and told my wife, “get a bucket of icewater.” No explanation, just get the damned bucket. I figured we’d stick her foot in there briefly before we went to the hospital for xrays. But miraculously the sole of her shoe had borne all of the brunt in the incident, stopping us and completely sparing her from injury. She was fine. Anyway, we got lucky. Whatever seat you get, make sure your kid can’t stick limbs in the wheels.
Despite those stories, she never did suffer an injury on the bike and she loved it.
Thanks for your story, TM. I’m glad your girl didn’t get hurt. I’ve seen the kind of front mounted bike seat you mention. Having to pedal your bike bowlegged makes it less appealing to me. I might try either the rear mounted one or try to get the iBert Save-T from the US.
Yes, I agree with all the advice here about being extra cautious when riding on roads. I went on a first test ride with my baby in a rear-mounted bike seat yesterday afternoon. My wife was acting as “wingman” to keep an eye on the baby.
Unfortunately we need to cross two very busy main roads here in Xizhi in order to get to the river path. I really loathe to take my baby anywhere near those roads, especially Datong Road where the entrance to the river path is. Lots of cars, trucks and scooters everywhere and traffic lights or zebra strips don’t make things much easier for cyclists. But the worst thing is the pollution and noise level (and that nobody here seems to care, that’s really sad). I will have to find a time when traffic is less busy next time. Safe riding everyone!
Yes, but some distances are too far for them to run, especially in summer heat. Also, the path on the bike trail is very congested and a dog running back and forth across the path would cause even more havoc.
I let her run for a while in the more wide open spaces along the trail, and put her in the Ibiyaya when she gets tired, or if the path narrows.
The seat goes on the front which allows you to talk to your kid as you ride and eliminates the need for a “wingman”. The table also offers a makeshift headrest when the kid gets tired.
Me and my shiela got new bikes on Tuesday and hers has the weeride seat on it. Our baby is 16 months old and about 13kg. That seat cost us $3300 and can handle kids upto 18kg. We’ve been out twice for short rides to the shops and the park, and the baby absolutely loved it. The first time we took her off and put her on the floor, she was crying “me me me” and pointing at the seat, trying to get back on! Yesterday my wife said the baby took her hand and walked her to the bike and started pointing at the door because she wanted to go out on the bike. That’s the first time she’s actively tried to get my wife to take her out apparently.
The beauty of the weeride is that is has a big padded rest for the kid to fall asleep on or just hold. The bad point is that you have to ride like John Wayne. I just put it on my wife’s bike and left mine as god intended.
So my advice on bikes is go for it. The kid will love it and it’s great fun for all the family. We bought Giants. If you do too, shop around. We got offered 10% off from almost every shop we went to (Giant try to fix the prices) but eventually we found a small one, the owner works there, he gave us 15% off and included 4 lights and a lock and changed the grips and pedals. He said he’d do 20% if you pay cash on bikes over $50,000. It’s in Taoyuan, PM me if you want to know where exactly.
Unless you’re really tall, just slide the kid’s seat forward and your seat backward to avoid riding bow-legged. Just be careful when you make a sharp turn that the handlebar doesn’t press against the kid.
Does anyone need a barely used kiddie seat for a bicycle? I’m giving one away. I’m sick of looking at it now and just want it to disappear. Very good condition!
