Recreational & Family - Gel saddle for trail-a-bike for a kid?

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA
sailor2
10-11-12, 09:53 AM
My 3.5 y.o. is finally big enough to ride the TAB (I'm selling Bobike Maxi on Craigslist now :D )
The distance to/from his school is 5 miles (let's say about 30 minutes). He likes the TAB a lot, but complains "my butt hurts when we go over the bumps".
He's probably not going to develop "iron butt", as I can pick him up from school two times a week at most
The seat there is whatever seat came with Adams TAB, some padding, but not too much.
He's still little short for reaching the pedals, so I don't want to add a suspension saddle post, as most of them add extra 1-2 inches to the minimum saddle height.
I'm thinking about Serfas Kids' Gel Saddle: http://www.rei.com/product/752076/serfas-kids-gel-saddle.

Any experience with gel saddles for kids? Any other advice?

Phantoj
10-11-12, 11:09 AM
Check the tire pressure on the t-a-b. Recommended is probably around 30 psi, but with a tot this small, you should be able to go down to 20...?
sailor2
10-11-12, 11:47 AM
Check the tire pressure on the t-a-b. Recommended is probably around 30 psi, but with a tot this small, you should be able to go down to 20...?
Good idea - I'll give it a try on Tuesday.
Normally when I feel it low (probably around 25psi) I pump it up to 35.
I'll try 20, but he's is not as light as you would expect (almost 40 lbs LOL :D ):

sailor2
10-15-12, 06:24 PM
We tried with 25lbs of TAB tire pressure. I think it's better (have you tried to cross examine 3.5 years old recently? ;) ), but not quite there yet, so ordered the gel seat too.
I think he's too young to teach him to stand up on pedals when getting through bumpy patches on the road (and I do try to warn him in advance).

But we must be doing something right, because on Thursday he yelled at my wife, when she came to pick him up in a minivan instead of me on a bicycle :D
sailor2
11-15-12, 12:28 PM
One month update: New seat together with 25psi tire pressure did the trick. No more complains and he loves the new seat, he helped to put on. The only downside (for me not for him) is that I feel noticeable drag difference between 25psi and 40psi with him on. Oh well - I need the workout anyway.