Recreational & Family - CoPilot Limo mounting question

Hi all, would appreciate your advice. I purchased a CoPilot Limo from someone on craigslist yesterday, and it came with a Blackburn Ex-1 rack. Unfortunately, the bicycle i'm using is a dual suspension mountain bike and doesn't have any brazed points or eyelets to mount the top part of the rack (http://www.google.com/search?q=blackburn+ex-1+rack&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1024&bih=653).

I'm not sure if there are any additional installation parts missing from the rack I purchased, but I figured i'll need something like a seat post clamp to secure the rack to my bicycle. Something like this, http://www.amazon.com/Electra-Seatpost-Clamp-Mount-31-8mm/dp/B0030IJZN2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306676362&sr=8-1.

Anyone have any experience with this and can advise me if this will be secure enough for a child seat? I believe the load will be on the lower part of the rack onto the bottom of rack (towards seat stay where the bottom mounting point is) rather than this top connection point.

Thanks for your input! Manufacturer is not available on this long weekend and i'd like to head out with the kids this nice weekend.

I'd be very leery of installing that rack on a bike with rear suspension. The mounting points at the dropouts (where the rear wheel connects) will move in relation to the other mounting points. I have a seatpost collar like the one you linked to and it works fine for my rack, but the bike has a hardtail (non-suspended) rear. Usually, folks who want to use a rack on a full-suspension mountain bike are limited to racks that clamp onto the seatpost. In any case, these instructions (http://www.bikedock.com/custom/pdf/08/CoPilot/Co-Pilot_Taxi_manual.pdf) for the Co-Pilot Limo installation specify that it must be used with either the Blackburn CSR-1 or Expedition Plus racks (I'm pretty sure your rack is a version of the latter). To use it safely, you will likely need to mount it on another bike.

Thanks so much @irclean, I really apprecaite it. I hadn't thought about the suspension characteristics until you brouht it up, so many thanks for bringing that to my attention.

I've searched online and there are some that suggest that locking down/disabling the rear suspension would make it better, but the overall consensus is that child bicycle seats = unsafe in general, and that trailers are the way to go given their relatively low to ground stance.

Wish I had read these before I purchased a now useless child bike seat,... :(

You're welcome... but I wouldn't go so far as to consider your purchase useless. My son spent two seasons in his bike seat before graduating to a Trail-a-Bike. You might be able to find a cheap, used rigid (non-suspended) MTB in your area that would make a great platform for the child seat. I did just that, gave it a tune-up, added a set of riser bars and some slick tires, and presto... family commuter!

I didn't find that using the bike seat affected my balance too much, although I was aware of a difference. I noticed a bigger difference in wind resistance; the seat back there acted like a little parachute. Nothing I couldn't overcome, but it was very noticeable when riding into a headwind.

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