Darth Lefty 

I had high hopes for this thing and have been steadily disappointed, but today's experience has taken me past disappointment to issuing this fatwa. (Not that I have any such authority vested in me by anyone!)

Today's travesty was that the buckle failed. That's really unforgivable on a kid's seat of any kind. The Thule's buckle is not the familiar 3-prong kind used by everyone else for everything (shopping carts, high chairs, etc). It looks cooler, and in theory requires two buttons to be pressed with some strength to release. Kiddo was able to press one of the two buttons, then work the other one loose easily just by pulling on it. He's 19mo, not particularly strong or dextrous; it will be a long time before he can undo the usual buckles, much less the seat-belt style one on his car seat.

Let me list the other problems. They fall into basically three classes: fitment, rideability, and security of the seat. In summary, you need to use it with a bike that sits bolt upright and you need to do cowboy stops, and your kid can squirm out of it. I wouldn't give it a gold star in any category.

This thing was designed for tall threaded stems. Putting it on a threadless steerer is probably going to replace all your spacers... if you have enough of them. If you put it on a MTB with brake cable guides on top of the top tube, it might be even worse, as the mount may not clear the guide; and even if you think it does, it might still not be, since as you turn it you'll find new low points, and then when the kid is in it bending it lower, you will find more low points. By the time I was done adding enough spacers to my MTB that I could steer with a loaded seat, I had my stem hanging on the steerer by one pinch bolt. I'm pretty sure that with a level quill stem you will have a similar result.

Once the seat is installed, good luck riding your bike. It's very unlikely you are going to be able to stand in front of your seat. So it's a cowboy start - and stop. Remember this when you need to stop. Even panic stops! And if you have a coaster brake, good luck with that while you're scootering. Up and away? Good! See if you can reach the handlebars with the baby seat stuck in your sternum, which it will be unless your bike has a bolt-upright riding position and is size large. You'll be knocking kiddo's helmet down onto his nose, too. You can even see this in Thule's ad photos, it's just that everyone is smiling and it looks cozy. Did you get the seat mounted as high as it will go? Good! If you're lucky you'll be able to pedal without your knees hitting the bucket.

Meanwhile let's talk about what the kid is doing in his straps. Perhaps the worst is the buckle problem I listed above but second is that, since the straps come up over his shoulders, he can shrug out of them. He's dangling his arms over the side of the seat so your knees will pinch his wrists. The foot straps are too big for toddler shoes so he'll be sticking his feet into your brake levers. Unless you are watching him like a hawk you are either going to hurt him or he's going to roll out any second.

Kiddo loves the whole thing, of course!

mighty_mess

Thanks for sharing! I'm looking for a front seat and this one was on my list. Not anymore It's in the higher price range so I don't want to risk it.

andr0id

I got a trailer for my daughter when she was young.

While I am a very good rider and almost never crash, I was not willing to have her hurt if I went down for any reason.

mel2012

Some of the issues he describes are "par for the course" with any front-mounted seat. They all work best with a bike that has a long effective top tube and swept back handlebars (aka upright ride, city bike whatever you want to call it), ideally with a long quill stem so you can mount the seat high and still have knee clearance. Some are worse than others. I've tried the Bobike Mini, ibert, and Yepp Mini. The iBert is best for parent comfort because it has a smooth bottom (less pain on the knees if you whack it) and low back, so it's easier to bend over, but I think it's less comfortable for kids and doesn't offer much back support. The Yepp Mini back was too angled (sounds similar to the RideAlong) and really made it hard to mount and dismount. Bobike Mini hit the sweet spot for me.

Darth Lefty 

We started with a trailer. A cheapie, and it had some small issues of quality and durability. I think doing it over again I'd like to have a better quality trailer, with a real seat. Other than that we had no functional issues, it definitely had a minimum impact on the handling. But also, a trailer is a lot of work to tow! And it makes you a very large thing on the road compared to a bike alone, or even a tandem.

Right now I've started using a Co-Pilot brand rear seat which I chose because it quick-releases from its rack, and the rack is a standard Blackburn model, allowing the seat to be swapped quickly between bikes. The sides are high for safety and the buckle is utterly conventional. It has no more effect on handling than a basket on a rack.

The problems specific to the Thule that made me give up on it were the ones having to do with the kid squirming out. That's just unsafe and inexcusable. I think that Bobike would be a good one to try in front but right now I'm happy with what I've got, finally.