We had one of these of unknown age and it broke when the bike toppled over - to much leverage on the plastic. We liked it enough to replace it, and now we have the "rack" on both Mom and Dad's bikes and one seat. I've used both front-mounted and rear-mounted seats and neither is ideal - it's a little awkward and wobbly one way, versus the other. But biking with the child is still wonderful. This doesn't hold that big a child, our girl is four, petite, about 30 lbs, and her legs are down at the bottom of the "holsters" for her feet. I think this is a good model, the price is good, and it gives you a "rack" you can use with a bungie cord for carrying this or that instead of the child seat. Easy to mount on and off. CoPilot Taxi Bicycle Child Seat
First the rack. It is light and sturdy. I did have one problem when installing it though. The extenders that connect the rack to the bike frame weren't long enough for my bike (with 700c wheels). Luckily I purchased the seat from a local bike shop and they were able to give me longer extenders. Handling this problem via the mail or UPS would have been annoying. I don't doubt that the extenders would fit well on a more standard 26 inch wheel, though.
The actual seat is great. My son (14 months) likes it so much that every time I lift up the bar to take him out he pulls it back down. The seat is a little difficult to get on and off, but I think that is a good thing. If it were any easier, I would worry about it falling off. As it is, it feels very sturdy and secure when you get it on.
I find the velcro straps on the foot wells awkward to use, but very useful. The slight hassle of getting them secured more than makes up for avoiding the game of "let's kick daddy in the butt for half an hour."
The only real problem that I had is that there is no built-in place to attach a rear light for riding in poor light conditions. I solved that by placing a nylon zip tie through the shoulder strap holes that we're not using, which also provides a nice carrying handle.
Our son (18 mos) loves this child seat -- he cries whenever we take him out of it! I love it because it fastens on and off in a snap but is very secure when attached. The rack was a pain to mount, but I attribute that to my bike more than the rack. It's a pretty standard rack. The child seat is not noticeably top heavy and I don't feel at all unstable with it loaded. I suspect a child actually leans with you a bit as you ride, so it's not like having a lot of dead weight flopping around back there. The seat is easy to load my son into and take him out of. The Y-straps across the shoulders and chest and crotch hold him securely; velcro stirrup straps hold his feet into the little footwells (and keep them out of my brake calipers.) There is a bar that comes down across his lap and snaps into place, like the bar on a carnival ride. I suspect it's more for crash protection than to keep him in place, though. It's padded in case his little head should ever (God forbid) smack into into it. We're going to get some additional racks to mount this seat on our other bicycles as well.
The Good: The harness will definitely keep your child safely in place. This seat will allow you to safely ride with your child.
THe Bad: First of all the seat (mine anyway) does not come off without a wrestling match. I doubt the wife could take it off. Maybe as it is taken on/off over time it will not be sooo tight?
Second, the blackburn rack that comes with this unit costs $50+, so plan for it if you think you might want the ability to move it between bikes. My wife was initially too scared to ride with the boy on the back, but now wishes we had a rack on her bike so she could take him out without me. I let her try to take the rack off...and she said no thanks to a 2nd rack anyway.
Third, kind of a small thing, but there are velcro straps to keep the feet safely in the seat. The velcro straps are mounted so low that the strap wraps around the toe portion of his shoe. He seems to find this uncomfortable and can work his feet free. A simple solution would have been to mount the straps up a couple of inches so that the strap limits the lower leg from getting out but still allowing for free foot movement.
This seat is OK. My only complaint is the locking mechanism, which requires you disengage two levers in both the front and the back. While this certainly reduces the chance that the seat will fall off, there is also makes it very difficult to remove. I actually fractured a finger while trying to remove it, lodging it between the provided rear rack and the front latch of the seat (and I am NOT a clumsy person). had to have surgery, a pin, PT, etc...
To bypass this problem now, I use a flathead screwdriver to press down on the lever so my hands are nowhere near that connection!
The rack was a little tough to install because of the configuration of the rear sprocket on my bike but once I got it on the rack is light and sturdy, useful for other things as well. As far as the seat goes it is light, well balanced, easy to get on and off the bike, oh yeah and my two year old loves it. She was a little scared at first but as soon as we were moving she started to giggle and tell everyone we passed that she was riding on the back of Daddy's bike. Very good vaue for the price! - Child Carrier - Child Bike Seat - Bicycle Child Seats - Baby Bike Seat'
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