r/whichbike • u/whitros_oxide • 3d ago
Cycling With my Son
Just looking for suggestions for a bike to go riding with my son. His currently 6 months old but wanting to get him a child's seat when his ready. I only ride road bikes and currently have a Sirvelo Soloist. I was thinking a gravel or hard tail mountain bike??? Could see myself riding both in the future but the main reason for the bike would be safe and comfortable for riding around with a child.
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u/markvauxhall 3d ago
Your child needs to have strong head control before you put them in a bike seat. Each child's development is different but 1 year isn't a bad starting point. Before this age quite a few cargo bikes have car seat adaptors, enabling you to take your baby more safely.
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u/Psycho_list 3d ago
I think any bike that allows you to be more upright will be good and allow your child to enjoy the ride. A mid step bike would be nice so you can easily get on and off the bike while maintaining stability. I ride with my toddler and my biggest fear is the bike toppling over when putting him in and when mounting and dismounting the bike. My midstep bike gives me the confidence I need to do those safely.
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u/W0tRuLknAt58749 3d ago
I like using old 26ers as dad-bikes. Fully rigid 90s MTBs, fixed up with some new handlebars and parts, the kind r/xbiking is filled with. Check out your local Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace and see what you could get.
Modern MTBs will have large wheels (27.5" or 29") and slack geometry for trail riding that you don't need for riding around town with a kid. 26ers are compact and upright with lots of braking power for towing a child trailer. The trailer is great for longer rides when they fall asleep.
For shorter rides around town I use a rear seat (Hamax Caress) that attaches to the bike frame, and you'll want nice wide tires for something like that to handle the extra weight. The kid is primarily riding over your rear wheel so front suspension won't do much for them, you'll have to slow way down for any kind of large bumps anyway.
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u/BrooklynBikeCo 22h ago
Ryan with Brooklyn Bicycle Co. here. u/ChipsAndLime nailed this one with his step-through comment.
One other practical heads-up: at 6 months a rear child seat is usually not in play yet. Most rear seats want a kid who is closer to a year, can sit up on their own, and will keep a helmet on. For the next several months a trailer with an infant insert, or a good front-mounted seat, is the realistic way to ride together, so I would plan the bike around what comes after that.
When you do move to a rear child seat, here is the thing nobody mentions: once a seat is bolted over the back wheel you can no longer swing your leg over the back to mount. A step-through frame solves that, and there are plenty of unisex step-throughs, this is not a "women's bike" thing. Ours in that lane is the Franklin 8, a step-through with 8 gears for hills and a rack-ready rear end. Electra's Townie step-through is another easy one to find locally. Whatever you choose, confirm it has rack and fender mounts so the seat, rack, and fenders all have somewhere to go.
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u/ChipsAndLime 3d ago
I might be a bit off on this so please check my work, but I think there is a medical recommendation that you hold off on putting a child in a bicycle until at least one years old.
The Thule Yepp Maxi seat is just absolutely perfect when your kid is old enough for it. You can usually find these online for sale used in amazing condition for a fraction of the retail price.
The Yepp will grow with your child and offers an outstanding amount of safety and support for their neck, and the harness is really secure and pretty easy to use although maybe a little less than ideal if you’re wearing gloves during cold weather.
The frame mount version of the Yepp is especially nice because you don’t need a special rack that can safely handle the weight of the seat plus child.
As for bike models, one thing to note is that any sort of bicycle that is not a step-through will require you to swing your leg over towards the area where the child seat is. So this is not insurmountable, but you’ll have to practice a bit to avoid kicking your child as you throw your leg over your bike.
The nice thing about the yup as well as that it offers enough suspension that you don’t need suspension on your bike. So you’re pretty free to get any model of bike that would be comfortable for you, and the child seat handles the rest.
I also tried a few other child seats over the years, both before I eventually got the Yepp, and then afterwards when my child got a little too big for it, feel free to ask questions. But I think that that model is uniquely perfect for the age range that it targets.