Hi everybody.
I use this Decathlon Elops Speed for my commuting.
Since now I’ve a baby (9 months), i’d like to mount a rear child seat.
Do you think is it possible on this sort of bike? Any suggestion/reccomendation?
Thank you all
by gabrielkhm
Hi everybody.
I use this Decathlon Elops Speed for my commuting.
Since now I’ve a baby (9 months), i’d like to mount a rear child seat.
Do you think is it possible on this sort of bike? Any suggestion/reccomendation?
Thank you all
by gabrielkhm
9 Comments
[Decathlon sell a bike seat designed to go on the rack](https://support.decathlon.co.uk/100-pannier-rack-child-bike-seat). I have it and I think it’s far superior to the Thule one my wife has which attaches to the seat tube.
There are both front and rear seats available for kids. But they are both the upright style and would require your baby to hold its head up. Your little one might be a little young for that just yet.
You might want to consider looking into a bicycle trailer. Most trailers on the market today will be compatible with your bike.
You can use whatever travel seat you normally use for the trailer. Just strap the seat down. Or do like my parents did when I was a kid, and just pack so much cargo around the kid that it’s like a grocery airbag.
The only real disadvantage of the trailer is width. You will have a learn to be mindful of the extra width of the tires.
You will also need to get an extra cable lock for the trailer.
Hi, just popping my head in to say; check the weight limits of your rack. Some are not suitable for kids seats, which is why some use the seat post attachment.
I have a Thule seat for ages 5-12, and bought the Thule rack for that, which has a high weight limit. It’s a good rack too, so now the seat is on my cargo bike, I still have the rack on my smaller bike.
A lot of seats also recommended waiting till children are at least one year old. After riding my daughter around for the last few years, I would also recommend waiting till your kiddo is 1 year old too.
A baby needs really strong neck control before going in a bike seat, 9 months is on the young side so you’ll have to use your own judgement to see if you think they’re ready. Probably best to wait a month or 2.
Especially with such a young child I would favour a seat that you can recline when they fall asleep, which little kids often do on bike rides. I went for a hamax siesta other brands also make reclining seats.
If you go for a rack mounted seat try and get one with suspension to isolate your child somewhat from bumps and vibration.
The child seat will block your rack for panniers so you may want to get a front rack or basket. I found a wald 1392 was great for carrying amy backpack full of baby stuff.
Holding his head up with a helmet is harder than without.
I’v biked with my then 3 year old on the back and when he fell asleep, which he almost always did, he would lean forward too much. It was not comfortable or safe.
Unless you can find a seat that reclines a lot I would go for the trailer. True that it can a bit bulky, but we’ve used one for a year now and being able to carry groceries and everything the kid needs for daycare turned out to be a must for us.
We’ve only stopped using the trailer now when he’s 4, after buying a cargo bike last week, but will keep the trailer to go camping and such.
I opted for a front seat, found a used yepp mini. if you get the older version you’ll have to also buy the ahead adapter for your bike. its super easy to install, take out a spacer below your stem and replace it with the ahead adapter.
The front seats are rated to lower weights usually, I think mine is only good until 3 years old, but my daughter loves it and literally everyone who sees us biking smiles as she’s holding on to the seat like she’s driving the bike. it also comes on and off the bike super easily so I just pop in on when she’s coming with. 10/10 would reccomend.
I’m not sure where you’re located, but there seems to be a lot of bike trailers for kids on Facebook Marketplace for a good bargain. I saw a million on there when I was looking for a cargo trailer for getting groceries.
A trailer will probably be more comfortable for you and the baby.
Your chain is too slack, you should adjust your tensioner.
I use the Thule rear child seat on my rear rack and it works great for easy on off. My baby is an ultra light baby so I’ve gotten extra time out of the child seat.
My stock rear rack only works up to 35 lbs but it’s also integrated with the fender so I need to see what the bike shop says my options are. If I can switch for an old man mountain rack I think those go up to 70 lbs.
For my 2nd born I’m on the fence about getting a trailer or a 6 grand extended cargo bike that fits 2 babies.
The other issue with the cargo bikes is they are harder to move by car and I’m still needing to apply pressure to my city to improve safe bike routes.