Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - carrying a baby on a fix

My son's about to celebrate his first birthday, and my wife is finally willing to talk about riding w/him (though she's still talking about walking to the bike path cuz she's scared of traffic). Anyway, I'm wondering about the kid carrier thing. I figger it's time to build up that flip-flop wheel (he weighs appreciably more than my bike at this point) cuz I'll need a lower gear. But I'm wondering whether anybody has any thoughts on carriers vs. burleys etc. I'm totally looking forward to taking him to the farmers' market downtown

TIA,

Magic:)

Personally I wouldn't feel safe carrying a young child on a carrier mounted on a bike. I would prefer and have pulled my sons in a trailer. Be ready to put a granny gear on the bike though cause the added weight gets to you in a hurry :)

Zack

I wouldn't feel safe either. I know some people that are really good on fixies.. but it's your childs life. You take every precaution you can.

Children and fixies don't mix.

Definately add brakes!!!! That's alot of weight to add on, I don't see a problem running a fixed pulling a trailer, you will want a lower gear definately though.

You need Sheldon Brown's Carrababy available from Harris Cyclery. Check it out at:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/carrababy.html

Grins,
Dave

Never Ever Ever put a kid on the bike like that. I see it all the time, you might be the best rider ever but other people are definetly not, and you could mess that kid up real bad. Get a trailer and put a helmet on him/her. Those seats should be banned.

djbowen1,

Carrababy is a joke. Sheldon is well known for his sense of humor.

Dave

You need a long wheelbase (long chainstays) to use carrier mounted baby seats effectively, or the weight will make the bike rear-heavy. Best fitted to touring/city or some old-school MTBs. This is one time you will need a really good flip-out bike stand and low gears.
Dont do it with a fixie.

I wouldn't do it with a fixie, single-speed sure, fixie NO!

I have a childseat on my wife's old mtn bike. I have no problems with this, and was seriously contemplating a trailer. My buddy had a trailer, and hit a curb and the trailer flipped. Luckily, his kid was wearing his helmet (highly suggested with either method) and not hurt, but didn't want to ever ride in the trailer again!

I take my son (now 3) with me an the mtn bike and he loves it. We even do a little singletrack trail that goes through a park in the neighborhood. He loves hitting the roots and the bumps. I constantly hear from him, "Faster Daddy" and "Let's go again".

L8R

A year old is pretty young. The child needs full control of their head to survive on a bike. Add a helmet and it may be a lot for a one year old. Even a trailer will cause their head to shift radically.

There's plenty of time to get the rugrat onto a bike.

Just use duct tape and tape the helmut to his/her head, then duct tape their body to back of the seat in the trailer.. and duct tape the helmut up so they don't have to hold their own head up.