Child seat with panniers...

[sucka free]

is this possible? I'd like to put some bags in conjunction with the child seat, but am unsure whether this is possible or not.

[Michel Gagnon]

There are a few solutions, but none are exactly what you want. Best solutions are towards the end.

1. Some bike seats install over the top tube. I don't like the concept, but others do. On the plus side, bike is stable; on the minus side, you loose some mobility.

2. Some rear bike seats aren't fixed on the luggage rack, but rather have their own support. With such a seat, you could install panniers on the luggage rack and the baby in the bike seat. Only problem: these don't seem to be the most stable bike seats.

3. Get front lowrider racks, and install panniers over the front wheel.
Advantage : with panniers in front and baby behind, you get good weight distribution.
Drawbacks: you can't hang oversize stuff in front panniers, and you need to balance left and right panniers.

4. Get a trailer.

[DieselDan]

Kettler makes a child seat with panniers.
http://www.kettlerusa.com/img147.gif
They aren't very big.

[simsi]

I use a lowrider rack at the front (Tubus rated for 15 kg). As mentioned above the weight distribution is better than having all the weight at the back of the bike. The only problem is when I don't want to carry any luggage, but almost have to take something (a couple of kg in each pannier) to balance the front end a bit.

[JR97]

My wife recently got a child seat made by Giant. Nice quality and came with a rear rack. However, compared to a trailer, I find the seat to be a very dangerous option for carrying a kid. With my 35 lb. 4 year old, the effect on handling was very noticable. I made the mistake of standing up while climbing a small hill at the park and damn near wheelied over. Luckily I got a foot down to keep the bike from falling all the way over. Taking corners felt very iffy at any speed. On the flip side, I"ve carried 2 kids in the trailer with little or no effect other than a little drag while climbing hills.

[HardyWeinberg]

I was wondering about a rear-child-seat/front-rack-for-luggage setup for commuting. 1.5 miles to drop 2 yr old at daycare, then 5 miles to work. Do rear-rack mount child seats come off, could I leave the seat w/ her at the daycare, or are they permanent fixtures?

I biked the kids to this daycare for a year, before, in a trailer (older is in K now), but a) the people who invited me to keep the trailer in the breakroom aren't there anymore and b) it always was a hassle to, after dropping the kids in their respective rooms, break the trailer down and carry it in, find an inconspicuous place to stash it, then reverse the process in the pm before liberating them.