Recreational & Family - trail a bike and a rear child seat

Hi,

I have two kids, aged 2 and 4, which I drive to kindergarten every morning.
I currently have a rear seat and a trailer, but the roads and sidewalks are a little too narrow for the trailer.
I want to move my older daughter to a trail-a-bike, and have my younger son on a child seat.
I heard many warnings about using front mounted seats, but most trail-a-bikes don't allow a rear seat as well. (I only found one that does allow, but it costs 350 EUR http://www.roland-werk.de/engl/addbike ).
I thought of buying a trail-a-bike which attaches to the seat post, and weld a rear chair to it. Has anybody done such a thing or thinks it is unsafe for some reason?
Thanks,
Omri

Hi,

I have two kids, aged 2 and 4, which I drive to kindergarten every morning.
I currently have a rear seat and a trailer, but the roads and sidewalks are a little too narrow for the trailer.
I want to move my older daughter to a trail-a-bike, and have my younger son on a child seat.
I heard many warnings about using front mounted seats, but most trail-a-bikes don't allow a rear seat as well. (I only found one that does allow, but it costs 350 EUR http://www.roland-werk.de/engl/addbike ).
I thought of buying a trail-a-bike which attaches to the seat post, and weld a rear chair to it. Has anybody done such a thing or thinks it is unsafe for some reason?
Thanks,
Omri

I don't think you'll be able to put a child seat on the front arm of a trail-a-bike, if that's what you mean, because the childs feet would bump the rear wheel when you turn. I suppose you could put one on the back of the trail-a-bike, but I'd rather have easy access to the child, even if you can't see him or her the whole time.

With respect to that Roland: while I see nothing inherently unsafe about seat post connectors (despite their grave warnings), they are a pain. That Roland looks much more user friendly, and probably has a more 'positive' connection.

Omri:

A couple options:

1. If you can find one; an Adams tandem Trail-A-Bike - they show up on eBay from time to time - (http://www.gopbc.org/gopbc_all_about_bikes.htm; scroll approximately 1/3 of the way down) and an Adams baby seat (http://www.trail-a-bike.com/interface/adams.php?loc=b&sku=bs) or equivalent. This will allow you to transport the kids for 2-4 years to come. It might not cost much less than the Roland though depending on shipping (not sure where you are) Safety issue for the tandem Adams t-a-b surrounds not exceeding 66% of lead bike weight in t-a-b (max 55 kg per my owner manual).

2. A Burley Piccolo. Like the Roland, they mount to a rear rack, allowing you to add the standard child seat to the back of your bike. They can be found on eBay/Craigslist ((http://cgi.ebay.com/Burley-PIccolo_W0QQitemZ330178628174QQcmdZViewItem) at a lower cost / more often.

For either of these cses you will be able to get your money back (assuming you keep it well maintained) as there are always people to buy them when you are finished.

I am also unsure of what you were impling with the addition of the rear chair... Adding a rear seat to the t-a-b is possible but would make riding tricky as it would unweight the rear wheel of the lead bike when travelling with only the 2-year-old...

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Don
(temporarily not riding due to broken arm and 4-year-old daughter is not impressed)

Hi,

I heard many warnings about using front mounted seats [...].

What warnings about front mounted seats have you heard? I'm considering getting one and would like to know. I also tow a TAB, and I was thinking the front mounted seat would improve the weight distribution and handling more so than a seat anywhere else.

I would think that a rear-mounted seat on a t-a-b would be a lot more dangerous than a front-mounted seat. Can you tell us more about the warnings you've heard?

When I was in China I saw these great little baby seats that mount on the front of the toptube with the kiddo facing the rider. I would recommend tring this for a mounting position.

The add-a-bike is excellent. Well worth investing in, and much more stable than seatpost fitting trailers.

Omri:

2. A Burley Piccolo. Like the Roland, they mount to a rear rack, allowing you to add the standard child seat to the back of your bike. They can be found on eBay/Craigslist ((http://cgi.ebay.com/Burley-PIccolo_W0QQitemZ330178628174QQcmdZViewItem) at a lower cost / more often.

Due to the way in which the Piccolo attaches, I do not believe it is possible (nor advisable) to attempt to attach a child seat to the Piccolo-specific rear rack.