Harold, I can ditto most of what Esteban says - we've enjoyed riding with our Bobike mini now for about 2.5 years. Was lucky to score an actual, recent Dutch bike (albeit of the Euro big-box store varietal) that someone had brought over in a move. Included, and the primary draw, were both front and rear Bobike seats - they are (seemingly) well-made and sturdy/safe.
My daughter was first aboard, shortly after she turned 1. Now her brother uses it, starting also at about the same age. Unfortunately it seems as though I did not get the mini-childs, as they are both are the giants among than their peers. So, even though my "little guy" is only a little past 1 1/2 now, he's almost talling-out of the Bobike mini (my daughter on the other hand has been quickly learning the trail-a-bike starting about 3). And now we have us the "school bike", as she calls it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66275...@n00/4446170054 OTOH, for just a short while, I had her on the back in the Bobike Maxi (much like a regular "rear" seat except it does not require a rack) - my daughter's review was it was "too bouncy" and she was less of a fan. Re: bars/stem, yes the Bobike needs something with a bit more height than a road stem. I'm using a bit of a riser with the 'stache bars, these also fit rather well with the knees of my passengers and give me good, strong control over the vehicle. I believe too that the Trek is a low-trail beast, which seems to also ride well with the loaded steering. =- Joe Bunik Walnut Creek, CA On 3/19/10, Esteban <proto...@gmail.com> wrote: > With the little ones, the front seat's got 'em right there if, > somehow, anything bad happens. Our rides sometimes include some city > riding, and I'm not cool with a trailer while out in traffic. Of > course, care is taken in choosing routes that have little or no > traffic. But sometimes, you gotta cross that road. I'd rather have > the kids on the bike... > > Plus, they see everything and you can talk... whispering into their > ear and pointing out sights to be seen. With my daughter in the > Bobike, our rides along the San Diego River are full of conversations > of sea birds, the tides, the moon, salt marsh, fish, favorite colors, > etc. Its truly wonderful. She's right there and can see everything > and feel everything. Eventually, when our 7 month old is ready for > the Mini, the 4 year old will go on the back, likely on a Bobike Jr. > I'll miss her up there! I mean, does it get any better than this? > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/25671...@n02/3956633337/ > > The Bobike Mini threadless mount probably takes the space used by 20mm > of spacers. They have a threaded mount too that will work on most > Rivendells. I have friends with both the Topeak seat and the green one > and they like them very much as well. I've seen a little sidecar > around the internets. That might be cool! > > Just avoid ant hills. Especially the big, red, nasty ants. > > Esteban > San Diego, Calif. > > On Mar 19, 10:08 am, Dustin Sharp <paleo.v...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Gotta say . . . One of my earliest memories--I must have been 3 or so--is >> my >> mom going down on her tenspeed with me on the rear-mounted child seat. >> None >> of us were wearing helmets, of course. >> >> I survived, but happened to fall in an ant pile. That sucked. >> >> Dustin >> >> >> >> > From: William <tapebu...@gmail.com> >> > Reply-To: <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> >> > Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:00:32 -0700 (PDT) >> > To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> >> > Subject: [RBW] Re: Child seat recommendations? >> >> > I think that the US is completely out of synch with the rest of the >> > world in terms of what is considered safe and what is not. The >> > thinking that leads to the trailer recommendation is that the higher >> > you mount your child to the bike, the harder they hit the ground when >> > your bike goes down. Most trailers don't tip over at all when the >> > bike falls, which is certainly nice. The things that have to be >> > balanced against that feature is that trailers are much more >> > expensive, much heavier, much harder to secure when parking, virtually >> > impossible to incorporate with any public transportation. Possibly >> > most importantly, your vehicle is now so massive that riding in >> > traffic is terrifying for many, and it is easy to assume that the risk >> > of being hit by a vehicle is increased. >> >> > If you apply the same logic that Grant uses to rationalize not wearing >> > a helmet, you will claim that riding with your small child on the bike >> > makes you so much more careful that the remote chance of you going DOG >> > (down on ground) is rendered infinitessimally small. If that risk is >> > acceptable, then a smaller, cheaper option that gives you the ability >> > to have your child right there with you, in your view, where you can >> > talk to her, is likely to work fine. >> >> > I used a Burley Solo trailer, partially because my wife was scared of >> > falls, and we kept our kid rides to bike paths only. I have since >> > converted that trailer to cargo, which is a cool conversion that is >> > possible with a nice trailer. The other reason we did that was that >> > all my bikes were lightweight go-fasts when my kids were small that >> > didn't take kidseats well. >> >> > On Mar 19, 9:22 am, Weird Harold <alanpcr...@yahoo.com> wrote: >> >> I just read that the American Association of Pediatrics recommends >> >> trailers instead of bike seats. Any opinions on that? >> >> > -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> > Groups "RBW >> > Owners Bunch" group. >> > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> > For more options, visit this group at >> >http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. 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