Child seat on road bike

[Scruffmonster]

Hey,

Does anyone have any experience of putting a child seat on a road bike? Most have a weight limit of 22kg's. My daughter currently weighs 13kg's.

Am I asking for buckled wheels and punctures on standard road wheels? The journey I'll be doing is approximately 15 minutes on decentish roads.

I weigh 72kg's and I figure there must be plenty of 95kg folks happily riding road bikes but didnt know if 13-20kg's of mildly bouncing child seat may have a different effect...

Advice welcome.

Cheers.

 

[mcshroom]

I ride a(n old steel)road bike and I'm nearly 120kgs. It would probably be fine, though I'd be a bit wary of using a light weight low spoke rear wheel.

How does the seat attach to the bike?

 

[Scruffmonster]

Well the seat is mounted to a heavy as all hell mountain bike at the moment like this... (Stock photo)

I'm about to buy a new commuter as mine got stolen and I'm hoping to put the seat on it and take my daughter to nursery en route to work.

I dont have a ton of cash so getting a super strong rear wheel for the purpose isnt possible.

 

[mcshroom]

It wouldn't need to be 'super strong'. I use standard cheap 32 spoke ones on my road bike without any worries. It's just the really low spoke count ones (16/20 radial type things) that I would worry about.

Does that attach to the seat tube? If it does then I don't think it would be putting much of a different load on the bike to being a heavier rider in the saddle.

 

[Scruffmonster]

Yes, a clamp on the seat tube and the seat plugs into it. I reckon it'll be fine. Havent bought the new commuter yet so will check back to see if anyones posted any warnings before I mount it.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Many years ago I had a turquoise Hamax child seat. It came with two sets of clamps, so I put the spares on a steel road bike (it was the olden days).

1. It was highly unstable, because of the weight being carried high up and over/behind the rear axle.

2. The clamps scarred the finish (never something I've worried about, but some do).

3. The kids liked me to have a little sprint or two while carrying them. After a few months, the rear triangle was twisted out of line. The littl'uns were near, but not over the weight limit.

4. A road bike with a large weight dangled over the rear is not a fun thing to ride. It rides, corners and stops oddly. Road bikes have a short wheelbase and can be unstable.

In conclusion, by all means put a child seat on a road bike but do not do so if you have an alternative. Plenty of people will tell you it works fine and they may be right. I tried it and (although it was huge fun in all the wrong ways) I paid for my folly.

It may be worth pointing out that there is a difference between having an 85Kg rider plonked on the seatpost and a 10Kg seat and baby trying to act as a pendulum to twist the rear triangle.

I'd probbably do it all over again, but I am a colossal fool and would jump off a cliff for a Mars Bar.

 

[Andy_R]

Many years ago I had a turquoise Hamax child seat. It came with two sets of clamps, so I put the spares on a steel road bike (it was the olden days).

1. It was highly unstable, because of the weight being carried high up and over/behind the rear axle.

2. The clamps scarred the finish (never something I've worried about, but some do).

3. The kids liked me to have a little sprint or two while carrying them. After a few months, the rear triangle was twisted out of line. The littl'uns were near, but not over the weight limit.

4. A road bike with a large weight dangled over the rear is not a fun thing to ride. It rides, corners and stops oddly. Road bikes have a short wheelbase and can be unstable.

In conclusion, by all means put a child seat on a road bike but do not do so if you have an alternative. Plenty of people will tell you it works fine and they may be right. I tried it and (although it was huge fun in all the wrong ways) I paid for my folly.

It may be worth pointing out that there is a difference between having an 85Kg rider plonked on the seatpost and a 10Kg seat and baby trying to act as a pendulum to twist the rear triangle.

I'd probbably do it all over again, but I am a colossal fool and would jump off a cliff for a Mars Bar.

Boris.......do you want a Mars bar........

 

[Scruffmonster]

I'd probbably do it all over again, but I am a colossal fool...

This is the attitude I like. Someone that doesnt read the Daily Mail, speaking from common sense rather than what's most sensible...

As long as she's going to be safe back there, I dont mind running the risk of the sub £100 bike possibly getting a bit twisted. The fun of running her to nursery is worth that. I know it's more sensible to keep the seat on the MTB but I cant take that a further 13 miles into town so it's a bust.

Cheers Boris

 

[alecstilleyedye]

use the mtb. far more user-friendly, especially in traffic, with a child onboard.

if budget permits, a trailer is a far superior solution, and can be used with any bike.

 

[Hicky]

I have a sirrius and have my three year old on a hamax type seat...he's too heavy for it so it now rests on a rear rack and the whole lot is bolted/taped/strapped together.....if it knackers the frame then I'll replace it with a Soma Mixte(wife uses it now).
I dread to think of the weight of him but it works fine....I have RS10's on and I'm 80Kgs.
I'll get him onto a trailagator soon enough.