Nearly all have maximum weight limits of 40 pounds.
Usually made of moulded plastic and fastened to a metal frame that bolts to a bicycle frame.
May fasten or slide onto various rear carrier racks (that are additionally usable without the baby seat) for easy removal from bikes.
Should have multi-point seat belts.
Make “throwing your leg” over the back of a man’s bike very difficult. It’s easier to get onto a woman’s frame style bike with a baby seat on it.
Can make bicycle handling MUCH more difficult due to:
Child weight much over 25 pounds!
Weight placement (unavoidably, back and high over the rear wheel).
A lightened front-end on bikes affecting steering.
Braking capabilities of the bike.
The “fishtailing” effect (like a small car towing a large trailer).
Inadequate rider strength.
Handlebar style - wider hand-placement on handlebars uses more upper body strength to increase your front-end control, whereas narrower hand placement relies more on wrist strength, making control more difficult
- Front, top tube mounted child seats for youngsters ages 2 to 5 (depending on size and weight).
Will ONLY mount on a man’s, triangular style frame.
Consist of a small plastic seat that bolts-on to the bike’s top tube (where the child sits), and a clamp-on pair of fold-up foot peg “stirrups” that mount to the slanted, down tube (and hold the child’s feet).
Are more stable than rear mount baby seats for larger, heavier children.
Distribute the child’s weight between the bike’s wheels.
Seat the child inside the “circle” of your arms while riding, letting you hold-onto and “cushion” the child in the event of a fall.
Help teach children balance since they hold the handlebars with the parent.
Allow for more parent-child conversation and interaction.
Carts and child trailers are the best, safest, most efficient way to transport children, large pets, or bulkier, heavier loads.
Various models have either one or two wheels and easily attach to a bike’s seat post or to the rear of the bike’s frame near the rear axle.
Let you haul (otherwise) impossibly large loads of 50 to 300 pounds. (NOT the weight limit for children. See below.)
Are surprisingly easy to pull because of load placement over axles, but ARE harder to pull up hills! (Of course!)
Carts weigh from the mid-teens to thirty pounds.
Most collapse, fold, or disassemble for easier transporting.
Rarely “flip” or turnover if the bicycle falls.
One-wheeled cargo carts have open pack-able load areas, and bags, or (cooler-like) plastic cargo boxes to carry gear.
Two-wheeled trailers are usually designed to carry children, but can be used to haul anything (including PETS!).
Trailers can be either open-topped, or fully enclosed.
Converts a regular bicycle into a tandem (A “bicycle built for two.”).
Look like the seat, pedals, and rear wheel of a 20” or 24” diameter wheel-sized bicycle that’s connected by a long “wagon handle” or “wagon tongue” to the seat post of a bicycle that pulls or tows it.
Great for children ages 3 or older (depending on child and bike size.).
Minimises the lead rider “hauling” the trailer by letting the kids pedal their trailer-bike too.