How to Bike with your Kids: Child Seats, Trailers, Balance & Pedal Bikes (We Tested Them All!)

Throughout the years we’ve learned a great deal about how to ride bikes with your kids, and are sharing all we know in this video.

We talk about all the various ways you can bring your kids on the bike with you, from Front Child Mounts, Rear Rack Seats, Ride-a-long Trailabikes, Bike Trailers, and even explore the best way to get your kids biking themselves using Baby Balance Bikes, Toddler Pedal Bicycle and getting them ready for epic rides using the FollowMe-Tandem.

Mounts Tested:

Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini ($176)
Max Age: 4 Years Old
Max Weight: 33 Lbs
Similar Products: iBert Child Seat
Pros: Lightweight, Leg Clearance, Easily Removable, Easy 2-Bolt Install, Harness
Cons: Expensive, Only for young kids, Kids Helmet can hit your Chin, Hard for kids to Nap

WeeRide Front Child Seat Mount($70)
Max Age: 4 Years Old
Max Weight: 40 Lbs
Similar Products: Shotgun Bike Seat, Kazam,
Pros: Cheaper, Harness, Good Child Position, Seat is Removable with one Bolt
Cons: Need Wider Leg Position, A little Heavy, Moderate Installation, Hard for kids to Nap

WeeRide CoPilot ($200):
Max Age: 4-9 Years Old
Max Weight: 77 Lbs
Similar Products: Burley Kazoo, Kazam Link, Weehoo, Trail Gator
Pros: Made for older kids, Kids Can Help Pedal
Cons: Heavy, Can’t make Tight Turns, Cannot See Child

MamaChari eBike (Rear Rack) $200:
Max Age: 1 Years Old - 8 Years Old
Max Weight: 48.5 Lbs
Similar Products: Thule Yepp Maxi Rack, Burley Dash, Topeak Babyseat, Bell Cocoon
Pros: Very Secure, Great Harness, Can take older Kids, Great for Napping
Cons: Bulky, Heavy, Costly, Cannot See Child

Rear Bench Seat ($36):
Max Age: 4 Years Old – 9 Years Old
Max Weight: 48.5 Lbs
Pros: Cheap, Universal Fit on Racks, Lightweight
Cons: No Harness, Weight is Rack Dependent, No Naps, Only older kids (4+), Cannot See Child

Burley Bee Trailer ($250):
Max Age: 6 Month Old – 9 Years Old
Max Weight: 100 Lbs
Similar Products: Thule Chariot, Schwin Trailblazer, InStep Quick-N-EZ, Allen Sports deluxe,
Pros: Rainproof, Storage, Can fit Two Kids, Good turning radius, Good for Naps, Can take infants with Snuggler or Car Seat
Cons: Wide, Expensive, Child is far back (Hard to see and talk), Takes up a lot of Space

Follow-me Tandem ($350):
Max Age: 4 Years Old – 9 Years Old
Max Weight: 100 Lbs
Max Child Tire Size: 20”
Similar Products:
Pros: Very Versatile, Easily tucks away when not in use, Good turning radius, Fast Loading and Unloading
Cons: Expensive, Slightly heavy, Moderately difficult install, Need Hardware for each Bike

Child Bikes Shown:

Allobebe Baby Balance Bike ($55):
Max Age: 12 Month Old – 3 Years Old
Max Weight: 55 Lbs
Similar Brands: Sereed, Ancaixin, YGJT, Retrospec
Pros: Added Stability from 3 wheels, Low Seat Height, Lightweight, Easy Assembly
Cons: Gets Dirty Easy, Limited to Small Toddlers

Toddler Balance Bike ($65)
Age: 18 Month Old – 4 Years Old
Max Weight: 77 Lbs
Similar Brands: Strider, Chillafish, Banana, Joystar
Pros: Develop Balance-Sense, Toddler can use for Years, Lightweight, Small Wheels
Cons: Not as fast as Pedals, Takes lots of Practice to be Proficient

12” Pedal Bike ($250)
Age: 24 Month Old – 4 Years Old
Max Weight: 77 Lbs
Similar Brands: Strider, Chillafish, Banana, Joystar
Pros: Faster than a Balance Bike,
Cons: For some reason they are heavy relative to their tiny size, expensive

RadWagon 4 ($1800)
Age for Bench Seat: 3 Years Old – 15 Years Old
Max Weight:120 Lbs
Similar Brands: Yuba Spicy Curry, Tern GSD, Bunch Cargo Bike,
Pros: Powerful E-Bike with Throttle (No Pedaling required), Can Carry Many and Heavy Kids, Safe
Cons: Very heavy, Very long, Expensive,

[herickson]

Great video!! Good job!! So inspiring to get our kiddos out enjoying riding!! Thank you!

[AG-flkl]

What a cool video! Exactly what I wanted to know. I’m a mother of 10 and I’m always trying to find ways to travel with the kids safely. This was perfect as I’m trying to decide which seat to buy for my 3 year old.
Congratulations on your beautiful family.

[spllash]

Super helpful video thank you!

We are wrestling with how our set up needs to change now that our six month old is getting ready to go to nursery and I still need to be able to ferry our 3 1/2 year year-old, who will be 4 by then to his nursery, which is a separate nursery. Both are short journeys, but we live in the UK which is super rainy and the roads aren’t great in our city of Birmingham, so I had been leaning towards an e-cargo bike where they could have shelter from the rain. But recently thought about trailers as a cheaper alternative which wouldn’t require redoing access and entry points for our garden… And now I’m thinking about some of the other options you have here for when the weather is nicer. Oh and you’ve also given me inspiration to do a family cycle trip next summer!

[christopherwilson]

Lol as soon as I look at the screen to see what the breathing was about I saw your message.

[suliemanreehani]

Love the video. What model is the Bridgestone bike that had the Thule Yupp Nexxt Mini?

[kenmenpiano]

Very thorough! Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience.

[OfHayes]

Ehhh a mamachari
We don't have them here in Australia on marketplace unless someome has invested to get it imported, but lots of great reviews on it.
I'm going for a taga, closest towards it :) great video!
Might consider a front and back seat for My regular daily bike

[blitzcrusher]

Thanks for all the info. With the rear rack bench seat, are you worried that your child might get their feet caught in the spokes of the wheel?

It looks like a good option to me for my 3 1/2 year-old boy, but I’m pretty sure he would stick his feet right into the wheel spokes.

[AnthonyHarris-lw]

I have a 5 year old daughter and a 1 year old son what’s the best set up for them and the cheapest route please advise thanks so much

[Not_Manuel_]

Does WeeRide Front Child Seat Mount($70) work with the ebike Lectric XPedition?