Introduction
We will discuss on everything you need to know about Complete Guide For Cycling With Toddlers/Kids in simple and easy to follow guide.
Did you know that taking the right precautions in a bicycle can save your child’s life?
I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about riding a bicycle safely with your children. Me and my wife have vast experience in riding bicycles and I have personally owned a wide range of regular, electric and electric-assister bikes along with a wide range of baby seating and their uses.
There’s was a bunch of lessons learned here that we will cover in this article:
- How to select the right child seat
- How to protect yourself and your child from accidents
- Fun stuff to do and what to avoid when going in trails
- How to properly secure your child in a seat
- How to make the ride more fun for them and you
I have taken up cycling since I was a kid ranging from BMX to mountain to chill rides. As I got older and got children naturally I wanted to experience this fun with them and share the memories for when I get older. However riding a bicycle is no joke and there’s a lot things to consider before you start. Below I’m going to break down everything for you from start to finish so when you get into it, you will be better informed and protected.
As a side note I have been ridding the bike with both of my kids, my younger one has been with me since she was 6 months old (yes that’s right) and I still take her with me (she’s 4 now). Yes I have been able to take her from everything ranging from chill rides around town to really offshore trails where technical skill and endurance is a must.
Please do not assume what I consider fun and can do you can too. Some of the things require extra precautions and a lot of experience which you cannot buy with any tools or accessories. I will make sure to stress them out in this guide as I go through it. Most importantly please be safe and enjoy it.
What Bicycle to Choose when Riding with A Toddler/kids
The core of everything is the bicycle you are going to use. There are approximately 11 types of bicycles that you can use but to keep it simple in this article we will focus only on the ones I believe are good for riding with a Toddler/Kids. If you would like to learn more about all the bike types you can check this link here that describes them all very good.
I’m going to go over some types that I consider to be family friendly.
Ergo/Family bikes
These are bicycle are designed to be ridden by families from day one. A good one that I personally think is very promising is by a joint operation between Cube and BMW together. You can find more information here on it. While this is still a concept bike it has good ergonomics as a built in carry seat at the back and a rotating rear suspension to allow easy turning without hassle.
The best part of it I think is that it’s electric so it gives you some assistance where you need it and the overall design is very cohesive and doesn’t require any add-ons.
Pros
- Robust in terms of breaking
- Safe choice
- No need to customize
- Easy to ride
- No extra costs for accessories (full package)
Cons
- Not all terrain
- Expensive
- Could be heavy
Mountain Bikes
Since mountain bikes are generally very popular they are easy to retrofit and customize as your family bike. I think these more than any other bike have a skeleton which is adaptable has some form of suspension and can go in all types of terrain even if it’s not optimized for it. Furthermore it gives you options on going in places where other bikes can’t go offering a fun ride. This is also the bike type I have and use on a daily basis with my kids.
I will not go in the details of the seating as I will cover this further down. However I can go over some additions I’ve done to the bicycle since I purchased it and some accessories I found make sense to have.
- Front and Rear baby/kid seats (covered below)
- Front/Tail Light
- Backpack attachment
- Electric motor additions
- Survival kit
- Tubeless tire upgrade
- Bafang 1500w electric motor
If you are more interested here’s a 3D view in a video form of my bike setup.
Pros
- All terrain
- Robust in terms of breaking
- Allows more customization
- Well priced
Cons
- Could be heavy
- You need to customize otherwise costs may add up
- Harder to ride especially if using 29′ wheels
Cruiser Bike
This type of bike has been getting very popular again. Back in the 80s it was the goto solution for many people however over the years with the introduction of mountain and other hybrid bikes it lost some traction but now you can see them all over the place again. I won’t lie it has a charm to it and it’s a great looking bike but I personally find it a bit inconvenient to fill in my checklist.
One of the most important factors to me when choosing a bike is to be able to customize it easily and take it in most terrain while still having a good safety standard. Unfortunately while you can customize the cruiser bike due to it’s frame and usually due to the lack of gears there isn’t much you can do. If you like the comfortable riding position then you can still go with it and achieve what you want to carry your children but keep in mind that fitting an electric after-market adapter may be a bit more challenging.
Now lets go over some of the Pron’s and Con’s of these bikes.
Pros
- Very stylish
- Relaxed riding style
- Affordable
- Women friendly (low cut design)
Cons
- Lack of gears (in most of them)
- Lack of disc breaks (in most of them)
- Heavy construction
- Difficult to customize
If you feel safe on it you can easily get a setup where you can carry your children. This alone seaways me into the next section where I’ll go over the types of children/toddler seats I’ve tried over the years.
What Bicycle Seat to Choose When Riding With A Toddler/Child
Riding a Bike with A Kid Trailer
When it comes to convenience the kid trailer is ideal for riding on your bike. Lets go over some pros and cons on this to get a better understanding.
Pros
- Easy to detach
- Can fit more than one child
- Offers protection from the elements Sun, Rain, Heat
- Better protection if you fall off the bike
Cons
- Heavier and more bulky
- Cannot go off-roading easily
- Too close to ground so it makes the child vulnerable to reptiles and snakes
- Expensive
Riding a Bike with A Child Seat
Another great option for riding a bike with your child is getting a child seat. While this is more of a situational item it does share a lot of the advantages of having a trailer.
It really comes in two different types as shown below.
Baby Bike Seat: This is usually for ages up to 12 months old, ideally after 9 months of age and it’s situated in the front of the bicycle.
Child Bike Seat:Â This could go up to 6 years old depending on the construction and strength of the seat and usually is positioned over the real wheel.
Lets break down the pros and cons of each of those and see if they are better for your use case.
Pros
- Lightweight construction
- Elevated from the ground offering protection against snakes/reptiles
- Can take it in any terrain such as off-roading as it relies on the bike suspension system so if you have a mountain bike you are good
- Affordable
Cons
- Difficult to detach
- Can’t fit more than one child
- No protection from elements (front one is particularly bad when it comes to wind)
- No protection in case you fall off the bike, the kid goes down with you.
One neutral point to note is that you can fit 2 of them and carry 2 kids however there has to be a good age gap and this only works up to 1 year of age. After that you won’t be able to take both of your kids with you.
Can You Bike With A Baby
You can bike with a baby that’s over 6 months old. This is as young as I took mine out for a bike ride in the past. While it was a good experience overall I didn’t do it with my second one as I think there’s some risks associated with it. Let me go over them.
- Difficult to find helmets for such a young child and the ones that exist aren’t the greatest
- Most child seats for so young infants are usually at the front which makes the kid absorb all the wind so if the weather isn’t good they may get cold easily.
- If there’s a fall it can be fatal and super dangerous for both you and the child
- Always go out with a company when riding if something happens to you, the child will be in great danger so another person can help you.
Having said that if you take the pre-cautions mentioned above you should be good to go. I recommend a good age to start taking your child out is 12 months old and I wouldn’t go with anything less than 9 months old.
Can You Ride a Bike With A Baby Carrier
You should never ride a bike with a baby carrier. This is a very dangerous practise and could leave at risk both you and your child. I will list below some of the reasons to make you reconsider and do the safe thing and buy a baby seat. I also believe this is in some form negligence on your part as a parent and in some countries it may be illegal.
- In case of a fall or accident from you, you both get injured
- The child has nothing to protect him on the sides if you fall down
- Since the child may move it may influence you while cycling and that may throw off your balance and fall down
- You can’t bundle up the child properly inside a baby carrier
Can You Baby Wear While Riding a Bike
Wearing a baby assumes some for of carrier and that practise is very dangerous. I answer above why this should not be done and list various reasons. You should not wear your baby while riding a bike if you want to be safe even if you are an expert rider.
Can You Ride a Bike With An Infant/baby
Yes, you can ride a bike with a infant if you are very careful and take the precautions I mentioned earlier. Always use a certified baby seat and not a carrier or any other wearing device. Riding with your baby can be a lot of fun if done carefully so take care of yourself and your loved one by doing this the right way.
Bike Riding With A Child Using a Kid Trailer
Using a kid trailer is one of the safest and best ways to carry your child in the bicycle. I describe it above as one of the recommended ways listing the pron’s and con’s of this approach. Generally speaking you want to use a trailer if you have more than one child and you know the whole route is safe without many bumps or dangerous things like snakes/reptiles that can get in the trailer.
Conclusion
If you found my Complete Guide For Cycling With Toddlers/Kids useful and you think it may have helped you please drop me a cheer below I would appreciate it.
If you have any questions, comments please post them below I check periodically and try to answer them in the priority they come in. Also if you have any corrections please do let me know and I’ll update the article with new updates or mistakes I did.
Which is your favorite bicycle ride?
I personally love to go on relaxed trails with my kids and when the weather allows and the stars align I go a bit off-road to mountain cycling.
Here’s some other articles which you may find useful if you have kids: