Baby Bike Seats should be sturdy, comfortable, and offer a smooth ride. My favorite best baby bike seat is the Thule RideAlong rear frame-mounted baby bike seat. This is my favorite because it is made with the comfort of your baby in mind.
One of the best ways to spend time together as a family is in the great outdoors. I don’t know why, but something about being in nature seems to bring people together in a way that being in front of a screen (whether at home or the theatre).
I think it has something to with the serenity of nature. There is a peacefulness about it that connects people. It makes sense really; we spent millennia being one with nature. It wasn’t until recently when we started to separate ourselves from it.
My favorite way to be outside with my loved ones is riding trails together. Unfortunately, once my spouse and I had a baby, we found it difficult to take place in our favorite outdoor activity.
Well, until we found a baby seat to mount on our bikes.
My Favorite Children’s Bike Seat: Thule Ride Along
The Thule RideAlong is a rear frame-mounted seat that gives your baby or toddler the best ride possible. If I had to summarize this bike seat in a couple of words, it would have to be “maximum comfort.”
Of course, as an adult, I can’t tell you how comfortable it is from personal experience, but let’s go over some of its best attributes.
Fully adjustable shoulder strap harness (padded) providing your child with a custom fit for comfort and security. It also has a dual-beam suspension system that consumes all the bumps you are bound to hit when you take your bike on the trails. This bike seat gives the smoothest ride possible for your child.
You’ll probably fall in love with the one-hand tilt function that lets you recline the seat up to 20° and in five different reclining positions.
When it comes to ease of use, it doesn’t get much better than the Thule RideAlong either. It utilizes a quick-release bracket that lets you attach and remove the seat in a breeze.
The Cons
I don’t have much bad to say, but some Thule can improve this baby bike seat. The most obvious downside is the price of this seat, it is somewhat expensive – although, it is a great investment for your child.
My biggest gripe with the Thule RideAlong is that the headrest offers very little support. And when your precious little one inevitably dozes off during your ride, she’ll look desperately uncomfortable.
Best Rear Rack Mounted Seat: Topeak Baby Seat
This is a rear-mounted seat that attaches to the rear rack of your bike (keep in mind to make sure that your bike can accommodate a rear rack). This baby seat from Topeak is unbelievably sturdy, and its cacoon style keeps your baby encompassed by the seat at all times. It resembles a car seat.
I like this seat because of its sturdy nature, constructed from T6 aluminum makes it among the sturdiest baby bike seats around, so you can be sure your cargo is safe and secure behind you.
The rear rack comes with the seat and utilizes a preposterously simple three-step system to secure and remove the seat from the rear rack.
Maybe its best feature is the ability to adjust the seat to the size of your child. You can adjust the footrests and straps providing some extra comfort and better still; it has a suspension system to provide some cushion for the ride.
Overal the Topeak Baby Seat 2 is a very good buy and extremely cost-efficient.
The Cons
Again, every seat is going to have its shortcomings, and the Topeak is no different. The biggest complaint I see with these baby bike seats is that the bracket is pretty difficult to mount. The mechanically inclined probably won’t have an issue. If you aren’t, I’d recommend going to YouTube to watch an instructional video or two.
Best Front Mounted Baby Bike Seat: WeeRide Kangaroo
The front-mounted WeeRide Kangaroo uses quite a unique design. They clearly had young children in mind when it making it. These guys took special care to make sure that your baby would be as comfy as possible while sitting in this seat.
Many people love having their baby sitting in front of them while riding. While that is a tad too uncomfortable for me, I can understand why. There is nothing quite as amazing as being able to see the pure, unbridled, joy in your child’s face and that is exactly what you see when taking them for a bike ride.
What I love most about the WeeRide Kangaroo (and so does almost everyone who has used it) is that they put a headrest on the front so your baby can take a nice comfy nap during your trips together.
This is a seat for smaller children though. The WeeRide works for one to three-year-olds and has a maximum weight limit of 33-lbs.
The Cons
Front-mounted baby bike seats are a very good option for some people. But for those of us with longer legs, they don’t do much other than making pedaling a chore and almost makes me not even want to take the bike out at all. But if this isn’t a problem you have, then you’ll probably love the WeeRide Kangaroo. And it’s a guarantee that your little one will.
Honorable Mention: InStep Take 2 Double Bicycle Trailer
One of my absolute favorite ways to enjoy biking with the children is riding the trails (the scenic ones, not the challenging ones), and the best way to do that is with one of these trailers.
The InStep trailer attaches to the back of your bike and provides the perfect place for children to relax and take in the sights surrounding you. It’s also a two-seater, so if you’ve got two little ones, then this may very well be your best option.
FAQ – Best Baby Bike Seat
Why baby bike seats are awesome
Biking along the tranquil terrain, with birds chirping a crisp breeze, and the rest of the sights and sounds nature has to offer is a great way to introduce your child to the miracle that is the circle of life.
Not only is an excellent exercise for you (the grown-up) it also, has a wealth of benefits for children. The sights and vibrant colors in nature mesmerize children, it helps keep them calm, and best of all, being outdoors gets them exhausted. Any veteran parent can appreciate an exhausted child.
What type of bike seat should you get?
There are a few different types of bike seats to choose from (my favorite is the rear frame-mounted seat) and which seat is best for you depends on what type of bike you have. For instance, if you want to let your child ride in the front, your bike has to have the ability to mount a front seat.
This is pretty straightforward I know, but trust us, if it isn’t specified then somebody out there WILL get a seat that isn’t compatible with their bike. Let’s check out some different types of seats.
Front-mounted seats
These baby bike seats are well suited for children 9 to 24 months. These seats sit between you and the handles and are a great way to let your newest family member get a front-row seat to the greatest things cycling has to offer.
Rear frame-mounted seats
You’ll probably start to see a pattern here. These seats are for children as young as 9-months and can fit kids up to 45 pounds. These are typically larger than front-mounted seats, mostly because there is more room in the back of the bike.
As the name suggests, they mount to the frame of your bike and have the ability to recline back a bit. But what I really love about the rear frame-mounted seats is they can be purchased with its own suspension keeping the ride as smooth as possible.
Rear rack-mounted seats
These bike seats are attached to a rack that you secure to the rear tire of your bike. You can only use these seats if your bike model has the proper eyelets needed to attach the rack to your bike.
So we’ve gone over the three most common ways to transport your baby with you on your bike; now let’s look at the best baby bike seats on today’s market.
Keep in mind
As we age become more coordinated and confident on our bikes, we start taking liberties and risks we probably shouldn’t. Things like riding without the proper protective gear on. Or not checking your bike for any potential malfunctions before you ride.
When you’ve got your kids onboard your bike, you’ve got precious cargo on-board your bike. Make sure you keep them properly buckled in, and of course, put helmets on them. Let’s make sure we keep our family rides from resulting in a terrifying ordeal.
Conclusion – Three different options for three different styles
The best baby bike seat for you and your child is a personal decision for you to make. Some people love the bonding experience of riding next to your child in the park.
Others want to have the option to stretch out when they ride. Me personally, I like to have plenty of legroom, so I opt for the rear-mounted seats.
Whatever your preference is, make sure you have a bike that can accommodate your baby bike seat of choice.
Above all, be safe and enjoy the bonding that comes with taking your favorite person for a ride.
