Got a lil kid? TRY THIS! POST YOURS TOO!

[Whiplash]

Hey all, I decided to try letting my daughter ride on the top tube and she LOVED IT! So I came up with a comfortable setup for her! I had an old rear rack laying around so I flipped it over and faced it forward, it was the type that has the remove able rack portion so you can flip it over, but it makes an awesome SEAT! I will cut some foam for it and cover it this week but even just a towel works great! She holds onto the bars too so she feels like she's in control! This is the most exciting thing our 2-1/2 year old has done I think! Its much better than those ridiculous huge plastic seats that hold your kid onto the bike so they drag on the ground if you lay it over! Anyway I like it and I'll post finished pics soon with seat cover in place!

 

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

i can totally mentally picture the ultimate ebike-grin on a little one.
pure undiluted joy.

i've often wondered why there aren't racks pre-made for mounting on the top tube.
with my battery on the rear i've slung the occaional saddlebag there & its works great except for it slowly sliding backwards.

 

[rodney]

Its much better than those ridiculous huge plastic seats that hold your kid onto the bike so they drag on the ground if you lay it over! Anyway I like it and I'll post finished pics soon with seat cover in place!

http://www.ibike.org/education/kanga_3.jpg
Those "ridiculous huge plastic seats" offer at least some kind of protection, and
a child is tied with seat belt. I wonder how far would your 2 years old daughter fly over
the handlebars if you hit something with your front wheel? I sincerely hope we will never find out.

 

[knighty]

my nice is too short to ride my ebike... but she sits on the top tube, right at the front (because controller is mounted there) and she loves it... her feet just touch the ground like that

 

[Sancho's Horse]

Bit too ballsy for my tastes. Have you ever considered the ultimate in hardcore ES ebike looks and incorporated duct tape?

 

[Whiplash]

Lol! It sounds dangerous, but obviously I am not going really fast with her on there, and anytime your child is in/on a vehicle you're driving you take exceptional care to avoid obstacles.

As to the likers of this idea, YES she loves it and I can't hardly pry her off the bike lol!

 

[Whiplash]

Its much better than those ridiculous huge plastic seats that hold your kid onto the bike so they drag on the ground if you lay it over! Anyway I like it and I'll post finished pics soon with seat cover in place!

http://www.ibike.org/education/kanga_3.jpg
Those "ridiculous huge plastic seats" offer at least some kind of protection, and
a child is tied with seat belt. I wonder how far would your 2 years old daughter fly over
the handlebars if you hit something with your front wheel? I sincerely hope we will never find out.

That one is better than most, but think about it, if you hit something big enough to stop the bike, YOU will go over the bars and if they DONT then you could crush them on the way over! IDK, I just think you simply need to be really cautious on a bike with a child and that's about all you can do other than a good helmet!

 

[r3volved]

I purchased a gator-bar in the spring to hook my sons bike to the back of mine. It lifts his front tire about an inch, so his back tire is only contact like a regular trail-a-bike.
I finally got my new lifepo4 battery a few weeks ago and took him out on the trails for the first time this past weekend.
He loved it! We were up and down the ski hill trails for a few hours. My gng handled the extra load with zero issues. Super fun.

 

[Whiplash]

Cool! I have not seen the gator bar. I'll have to check it out, she's getting close to that!

 

[John in CR]

The motorcycle seat on my cargo bike works like Whiplash's add-on seat. I slide back a bit for our little one to be in front of me. I run a length of threaded rod through the steel down tube for his easily removable foot pegs, and he holds onto the handlebars. Between my arms and legs like that there's no safer place a little one could ride with me. Our older boy goes on the back like a normal moto passenger.

After 5 years of that arrangement they're too big for all 3 of us to fit, so I need to come up with something new. I'm thinking some kind of rocket pod shaped front end with in in-line bench to fit too in the bak fiets with a removable aero top shell.

 

[r3volved]

Cool! I have not seen the gator bar. I'll have to check it out, she's getting close to that!

I'll hook it up and take a pic tonight after work

 

[friendly1uk]

The load rating on that rack is about 10kg at best. Is it resting on the top tube for further support?

If some fool pulls out on me, I don't want to kill my kid. I don't even want to run that risk, never mind live with the fact I did it.

I don't mind a proper seat behind me though, and won't loose sleep over scuffing it up a bit. I bet china will sell me a rear carrier with the correct load rating actually designed with this job in mind. I would stick to the big ugly one though, the one that cocoons the child from a lot of the scrapes involved with falling off and sliding on diesel covered roads.

If it was up to me, I would never fall off. Few of us would. It is an odd decision to make. I think in at least half of all falls, the rider didn't actually want to crash at all.

 

[Whiplash]

Yes actually its firmly pressed against the top tube. I agree nobody wants a crash lol!

 

[r3volved]

I already took the bracket off my seat post, but this is it: http://www.trail-gator.com
It actually works very well for distance riding (specially with the ebike) and it disconnects from his bike easy and folds against mine so we can bike together when we get to a trail or wherever.

 

[Thud]

Make sure she has some foot rests for added support. & no reach into a spinning wheel...after that, have fun & be carful with precious cargo.

 

[Whiplash]

Yeah still trying to come up with a easy way to do foot rests thanks Thud! 8)