Full suspension and child seat?

[jimbouk]

About to indulge in a new bike via the cycle to work scheme, too good an offer to pass up on!

However the dilema I have is that I fancy a Specialized FSR XC, however I need to be able to fit a child seat to it for my 18 month old. The child seat fits on the rear down tube, problem is there is not much room on full suspension bikes.

Any one tried mounting a child seat putting the bracket on the saddle tube instead?

Clearly I don't want to put my daughter at risk with a bodge. If I cant find a solution maybe a front suspension rockhopper, or maybe a child trailer....

Look for some PH ingenuity!

[Parrot of Doom]

Stick with a hardtail, the child seat on a full suspension bike will hit the top of the rear wheel.

[jimbouk]

Thanks, I wondered about that, apparently I can lock out the rear suspension to make it almost rigid.

Trying to get the best of both worlds, something suitable to take my daughter out on when going around the local lanes, and something I can throw myself downhill on when she is not on the back!

[snotrag]

I had more than a few customers pose me with the same problem, ad we tried a number of frame styles/seat styles.

Eventually I am of the opinion that technically it could be done - but no, I would not reccomend it at all.

[jimbouk]

Snotrag, would you not recommend it from a safety perspective or from a 'it will be a lousy ride' prespective? I happy to comprise on the later but not the former!

[snotrag]

The only child seats I would use based on both a function and safety perspective are the ones (such as copilot range iirc) which are fitted to a pannier rack, hard mounted to the rear stays of the bike. This is not possible on any suspension frame.

The ones which cantilever off the seatpost/seattune are wobbly, insecure, usually even higher off the ground. I wouldn't use one.plus the fact your seatpost is not designed to have 20+ kg cantilevered off it at a fair distance

[Justayellowbadge]

snotrag said:

The only child seats I would use based on both a function and safety perspective are the ones (such as copilot range iirc) which are fitted to a pannier rack, hard mounted to the rear stays of the bike. This is not possible on any suspension frame.

Not true - my full suss city bike has a pannier rack hard mounted to the stays - the whole rear end is essentially a solid subframe that pivots at the bottom bracket.

[Agent L]

Never used one, don't have kids. No idea if they are good/safe!

http://www.weerideuk.co.uk/Weeride_Kangaroo.asp

Worth a look maybe?

[pdV6]

Justayellowbadge said:

snotrag said:

The only child seats I would use based on both a function and safety perspective are the ones (such as copilot range iirc) which are fitted to a pannier rack, hard mounted to the rear stays of the bike. This is not possible on any suspension frame.

Not true - my full suss city bike has a pannier rack hard mounted to the stays - the whole rear end is essentially a solid subframe that pivots at the bottom bracket.

I'm with snotrag on this.

Can't see jyb's pic, but I'd imagine a child in a seat on a rack attached to a suspended rear end would be in danger of headbutting the seatpost on every bump.

[Amateurish]

Not sure if it would help you, but I have a child seat which mounts in front of me, behind the handlebars.

[PH5121]

I have had my little lad on the back of my Marin Wolf Ridge full suspension bike, with the rear shock locked out.It was okay as I was taking it very steady.

However I am putting my old Trek hardtail back to off road spec so he can go on the back, with the seat on a rear rack, and I can tow my littlest boy along too.

Edited by PH5121 on Friday 28th May 13:58

[anniesdad]

Agent L said:

Never used one, don't have kids. No idea if they are good/safe!

http://www.weerideuk.co.uk/Weeride_Kangaroo.asp

Worth a look maybe?

I've got one and used it quite a bit with my lad. He's old enough to ride on his own now. We've just had another boy 8 months ago so he's too young to use it just now but I'll be installing it on my blur lt when the time is right.

The great advantage is the weight is in the centre of the bike. The kid can hold the bars, see where he's going and get a feel for riding. You can also do a few smaller jumps.

Also if you do crash, as your arms and legs are surrounding your little one, you can afford them added protection.

Disadvantage - i'd say just that you tend to have to pedal with your legs splayed slightly apart but that's about it



I'd recommend it.

Edited by anniesdad on Friday 28th May 20:28

[jimbouk]

Thanks for the replies, looks like I'll be buying the weeride and a full suspension bike!

[anniesdad]

I think you'll like it. All round it just makes much more sense, to me at least, than a rearward carrier or whatever you call it.

One more thing the little head rest is great for little
one to rest and go to sleep on should they feel the need.

[danyeates]

My Cannondale can be completely locked out to make a hard tail or full rigid if required. And it's got a hardtail style downtube.

[anniesdad]

By using propedal I guess? I still wouldn't fancy all that weight over the rear triangle.

[danyeates]

Rear shock has three settings, open, pro-pedal and closed. Closed is completely rigid. The front shock just has open and closed. Never tried putting a childs seat on it though

[anniesdad]

3 settings? I can't see clearly but is it the latest RP23 shock?

[danyeates]

anniesdad said:

3 settings? I can't see clearly but is it the latest RP23 shock?

Don't know if it's the latest, but it's an RP23, yes. Don't really know much about them TBH!

[anniesdad]

If it's got a 3 position propedal switch it must be a later design than mine. Mines got propedal on and off, but propedal has a blowoff valve in case shock travel is required. For this reason I would say riding with propedal alone isn't suffcient but if the shock can be fully locked out fair enough. I still think the weeride is the way forward though