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With road congestion levels rising in our cities it has become a chore in itself going anywhere in a car, having to battle with traffic and the inconvenience of finding and paying for car parking. Particularly for those with children, it can seem like just getting them in the car can take more time than the actual task at hand!
For this reason many families are turning to cargo bikes and kids bike seats to get around the neighbourhood happy and hassle free. Children cannot get enough of riding with you on your bicycle. There is no need to drag them kicking and screaming into the car, when they will be begging you to take them with you on your bike.
There are many options of dutch cargo bikes and long tail bikes or more simply you can adapt your own bicycle. This can be achieved by installing a kids bike seat (like the Do Little bike seat) where the child sits in front of the rider, leaving you free to use your back carrier or back pack for items you may need to take you’re your or collect along the way. This system may not have the large carrying capacity of the cargo bikes but it is a cheap and simple way to enable you to undertake most of your day-to-day tasks by bicycle with your child. And I am telling you now your children will love you for it, and you will love seeing the huge smiles and excitement on their faces as you ride around your local neighbourhood with them. I see this everyday from our office, fathers and mothers taking their kids to school not by car but by bike, it is life changing.
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With the whole concept now firmly in the minds of parents in all cities and small towns, the question now is what type of kids bicycle seat is the most practical and suitable?
As far as designs are concerned, a parent has the choice of carting their child in a seat that sits forward of the handlebars above the front wheel, behind them directly above the rear wheel or between themselves and the handlebars.
Since late 2013, Do Little, a Tauranga based kids bike seat manufacturer, has seen a noticeable surge in sales from retailers and bike stores throughout New Zealand, suggesting that parents have finally settled on a child bike seat design of choice. The Do Little kids bike seat was first launched in 1998. Their mid-mounted design caters to the outdoor lifestyle of mountain biking and family bicycle riding. They are suitable for children from 18 months up to 7 years of age.
So why is the Do Little kids bicycle seat the preferred choice among parents?
Front Suspension Comfort
The majority of bicycles today are equipped with front suspension meaning Do Little’s mid-mounted seat provides a more comfortable ride for kids than if they were behind the parent. Children will feel all of the bumps on the road unless the bicycle has full suspension.
Unobstructed View & Interaction
With the Do Little mid-mounted kids bike seat, your child can enjoy having a fully unobstructed view, which in turn creates an interactive experience being your platform from which to coach your budding cycle enthusiast, such as when to lean forward or lean back and when to lift their weight off the saddle. Before you know it your child will be reading the terrain like a pro and their balance is set for when they do it alone. With a rear carrier seat you have no idea what your child is doing, if they haven’t fallen asleep from boredom as a result of having a view of your backside.
Centre of Gravity Safety
With the Do Little toddler bicycle seat the centre of gravity is slightly forward but still inside the design perimeters of mountain bikes. In comparison, a rear carrier seat changes the centre of gravity of the bike and the majority of weight is directly over the rear tire, which in turn makes the bike more difficult to handle. X]]>