Hi everyone!
TL;DR: I just wanted to share my experience with adapting a child seat with a wind screen for my 10 month old baby. I used a Bobike One Mini with a Bobike windscreen, a Bryan adapter and two additional 3D-printed adapters. AMA!
While waiting for a new cargo bike we are ordering, my baby started daycare, and after some weeks of dealing with one hour of public transport I grew impatient and decided to try and adapt a child seat to my Brompton.
A friend had just lent me a Bobike One Mini seat. The manual says NOT to use it on folding bikes, and I had already given up on using it. But I really wanted to be able to ride the bike with my child, so after some research I found out about the Bryan adapter. A quick search in second hand site Wallapop got me one of those for relatively cheap.
Still, with the winter approaching, I wasn't completely happy with the idea of exposing my son to the cold winds when facing forward on a bike. So, after some more research, I discovered that Bobike do sell windscreens that fit this seat model! Cue another second hand purchase, and I got one.
There was still one problem to solve: the standard Bobike mount has two extra holes for inserting the windscreen, but the Bryan adapter doesn't. My solution was to design and 3D-print two small pieces that connect the metal spikes of the seat to the metal spikes of the windscreen. (I can share the files if anyone wants them)
Setup complete!
My impressions so far:
- Cost: As almost everything is borrowed or bought second hand, I spent less than 50 € in total. I wasn't sure I would like the setup, but at that cost it was very much worth the risk.
- Stability: Bromptons are not the most stable bikes, and I was already wary of adding the weight of the seat+windscreen+adapter+baby to the handlebar. And, well, my very first impression was pretty bad. As I started my ride with my very precious cargo, the handlebar started to oscillate quite aggressively until I gained some speed. But I got more used to it after just several hundred meters. The second day I tried it (already a 5 km ride to the daycare, 95% of it along a riverside park), it was much much better, and the third day I was already riding the bike almost as if nothing had changed (except I try to avoid riding one handed).
- Ergonomics: Not bad, but not very good either. The space between the bike saddle and the child seat was very narrow at first, barely allowing me to stay between both. So I moved the saddle backwards as much as possible. This, in turn, changed the riding posture to a slightly more aggressive one, which is fine. But my knees would still hit the back of the child seat, so I have to ride with my knees a bit spread apart. It's not a good posture for efficiency or ergonomics, but I think I will be fine if I ride like this for a few km a day for some months. Time will tell.
- Safety: The Bryan adapter is very sturdy and I'd say it's even safer than the original Bobike mount, as it hangs from the handlebars in addition to being firmly clamped to the "stem". The 3d-printed adapters seem also very sturdy, and they only hold the windscreen, which is much lighter. They don't affect the fastening of the seat, which is still metal to metal.
- Practicality and comfort: First impressions aside, the setup works fantastically. My kid is so happy sitting at the front, looking around (and ringing the bell again and again, sigh), while also being protected from the wind, insects, etc. The bike can be (carefully) "seated" by folding the rear wheel with the child still on it, and it feels stable in that position (just DON'T let go of it). You can take apart the whole setup in seconds: remove the child, unlock and remove the seat, then remove the windscreen with the 3D-printed adapters, and finally just fold the bike as always. The Bryan adapter does protrude from the folded bike, but it's fine for me.
So, that's it for now. I've been using this setup for a week, so my experience may change over time. I might do a follow-up in a couple of months. In the meantime, I hope this is useful to someone. Feel free to ask me anything!
by eldelacajita