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Best child's bike seat & trailer setups 2022 — bring your little ones along for the ride10 best bike child seats & trailers April 2022

Best child's bike seat & trailer setups 2022 — bring your little ones along for the ride

Your guide to child carriers to fit all budgets
by John Stevenson
UPDATED Fri, Apr 29, 2022 08:10

First Published May 15, 2021

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Contents

With one of the best child seats or trailers parenthood doesn't have to be the end of cycling. Once your youngster is old enough you can take them along with you on a child seat on your bike or a trailer behind. Based on a wide range of user reviews from around the web, these are the best child seats and trailers you can buy.

You can carry Junior in a child seat as soon as they can support their own head, usually from about six to nine months. Trailers can carry children from even earlier as they can just lie down and doze off.

Front-mounted child seats are less common in the UK, but their fans love being able to easily communicate with their kids.

The biggest child seats — like the Bobike Classic — can carry kids up to 35kg, or around ten years old

The best child seats

Avenir Snug Child Seat

Buy Now for £39.99 from Wiggle

Avenir Snug Child Seat.jpg

This well-reviewed child seat has its own mount that clamps the seat tube, so you don't need anything else, and is considered a bit of a bargain.

Amazon reviewer C. Isherwood said: "My son was very comfortable and very safe and we have had so much fun with this now that the weather is getting better. I can't praise this enough. Don't pay a fortune for a child bike seat. This is brilliant and does everything you need."

There's also a version that mounts on a rack.

Find an Avenir dealer

Thule Yepp Mini

Buy Now for £67.50 (£87.80 with windscreen) from mantel

Yepp Mini.jpg

In a previous version of this guide commenter KiwiMike said: "I'm amazed that the Yepp Mini isn't there. It fits onto both quill and Aheadset-style bikes, fits with one hand - we sometimes took it on/off with a sleeping child still strapped in. It also locks, has the sleep mat, windscreen, your knees are safe and it weighs bugger all. When it's removed the bike is almost totally normal, unlike the WeeRide that still has a stupid heavy steel girder in place.

"Seriously guys, put the Yepp Mini in there. You're doing parents a disservice by omitting it."

Find a Thule Yepp dealer

Bobike Classic Junior

Buy Now for £71.96 from Holland Bike Shop

bobike-junior-classic-rear-child-seat-urban-black-EV191173-8500-1.jpg

In a previous version of this guide commenter Username praised the Bobike Classic: "We upgraded to this when our girl exceeded the weight for her Hamax.

"I must say I had my doubts because it was already a handful riding with her bouncing around in Hamax, upsetting the bike's balance, which meant one had to be a very confident cyclist to cope with it but the Bobike Junior is a revelation because it doesn't bounce.

"It is fixed firmly and despite the fact she is now a few years older, taller, heavier, than before the Bobike makes it easy to cope with her on the back.

"It's rated to 35 kgs, or roughly aged 10, and I can see us still using it for quite a while.

"Fully recommended."

Find a Bobike dealer

Hamax Siesta

Buy Now for £89.99 from Halfords

Hamax Siesta.jpeg

Suitable for children older than 9 months and up to 22kg, this seat can be tilted back 20° so that Junior can have a nap, hence the name Siesta.

It has a tall back and high sides with double buckle system means you can strap your child in quickly and securely.

There are two versions. The one shown above mounts on a bracket that you add to your bike, or you can get a model that mounts on an existing rear rack.

Find a Hamax dealer

WeeRide Safefront

Buy Now for from £89.99 from Amazon

Weeride safe front child seat

The latest front-mounted childseat from WeeRide has its own mounting bar that fits between the seatpost and handlebar stem, so once it's set up the seat itself can be removed quickly.

For year-round kid-carrying, WeeRide also make a windscreen to keep the weather off your young 'un. It might make your bike look like a moped, but a happy passenger is worth looking a bit daft.

Find a WeeRide dealer

Topeak BabySeat II with rack

Buy Now for £115.00 from Wiggle

Topeak babyseat 2.jpg

Another recommendation from a road.cc reader, DaveE128, who says: "I would recommend (from experience) both the Topeak Babysitter II and the Copilot Limo. [The Limo seems to be no longer available in the UK - Ed]

"Both mount onto a rack. My preference between the two is the Topeak. This can be easily fitted to bikes with disk brakes, and although it doesn't have an adjustable recline feature, this isn't great on the Copilot anyway.

"I would warn that when towards the upper end of the weight range though, that with a lighter weight frame (eg my CX/adventure cross/commuter Pinnacle Arkose Two) you don't want to stand up, as it makes the frame flex scarily. It's much better on a mountain bike.

"For either seat, you can keep the rack on the bike and use it for commuting with panniers, or in the case of the Topeak, a rack top back and a rack-mounted rear light/reflector."

Find a Topeak dealer

Hamax Caress

Buy Now for £129.99 from Cycle Store

Hamax-Caress-Bike-Childseat-Child-Seats-White-Black-HAMCAR8B-0.jpg

The deluxe model in Hamax's extensive range, the Caress also has a sleeping position, plus redesigned footrest and harness systems and rear reflectives for visibility.

Find a Hamax dealer

The best trailers

WeeRide Co Pilot Tagalong Trailer Bike

Buy Now for £127.99 from Winstanleys Bikes

WeeRide Co-Pilot Tagalong

This popular single-wheel trailer effectively turns your bike into a tandem; Junior has their own pedals so can contribute or just relax and encourage you to go faster. It attaches to your bike's seat post via a quick-release fitting that makes it easy to remove, and it's hinged in the middle to make it easy to store or pop in a car boot.

It's recommended for riders between four and nine years old, up to 35kg.

Find a WeeRide dealer

Burley Bee

Buy Now for £360.05 from Brilliant Bikes

Burley Bee

With room for two kids, this classic trailer has additional storage space for all their bits and pieces and is reported to be very stable and easy to tow.

Wiggle reviewer NewDadExperiencedRider says: "The Bee is very stable and it gives the impression that the cargo (my daughter) is very secure. It tows easily and is very light, the weight is comparable to a light road bike. It is a well engineered piece of kit and attaching both the trailer and connecting bracket to the bike is less than a 5 minute job. Once the bracket is on your bike you simply clip in and out in seconds."

Find a Burley dealer

Thule Chariot Cross

Buy Now for £809.99 from Wiggle

thule_chariot_lite.jpg

Babies don't come cheap, and forking out £800 on a bike trailer may not be your number one priority, but the Thule Chariot Cross looks like a wise investment. Suitable for children up to about 30kg (roughly 6 months to around 5 years), and even younger with the Infant Sling (around £70) designed for babies 1 to 10 months, this trailer is robust and nimble enough for both town and track, making it ideal for keeping the family mobile when there is a little one in tow.

It's also a favourite of road.cc readers, one of whom called it "the Rolls Royce of Thule's Chariot range of child carriers". With a lightweight aluminium alloy frame, it'll take up to 34kg of kid and kit.

At heart, the Cross 1 is a stroller on steroids, and comes with the bike attachment it's shown with above. It can be converted into a three-wheeled jogging stroller, a round-town four-wheeler and even a ski trailer.

There's also a two-child version, the Cross 2 for £1,099.99, and there's a vast range of accessories.

Read our review of the very similar Thule Chariot Cougar 1
Find a Thule Chariot dealer

Tout Terrain Singletrailer

Buy Now for £1,495 from Kinetics

Tout Terrain Singletrailer.jpg

Reader wstephenson describes this as "the only trailer that doesn't feel like you're hauling a wheelbarrow full of bricks using a bungee cord as soon as you put the power on, and it's great with a road bike or MTB. Has lots of happy daddy daughter miles with ours."

With a chromoly steel frame and just one wheel, it's light at a claimed 9.5kg and a built-in air shock helps keep Junior comfortable if you want to take it off road.

The Singletrailer famously co-starred in this classic Danny Macaskill video.

Find a Tout Terrain dealer

Things to know about child seats and trailers

To take a young child along on your bike you have three main options: a seat behind your saddle; a seat on the top tube; or a trailer.

The classic behind-the-saddle child seat either sits on a rack or has its own mounting system to attach it to the bike. It will usually cradle your kid, with a high back and sides so they can fall asleep without falling out, leg guards and a harness. It should be designed so that your sprog shouldn't be able to get their feet or fingers into the spokes.

Once a child gets a bit bigger and heavier, they can make a bike with a rear-mounted child seat a bit top-heavy, and affect the handling.

Your child needs to be able to hold their head up on their own to be comfortable in a child seat. That's usually from six to nine months old, but check out what each seat says about the minimum age it supports and follow that guidance.

The front-mounted seat, that sits on the top tube so the child is between your arms, is the least common option in the UK, but more often seen in Europe. It has the advantage that your child is very close to you, so communication is easy, and kids enjoy being able to see where they're going.

A trailer can accommodate very young children, as they can just lie down and doze off. Your child sits in their own little carriage behind the bike, which is very comfortable, but you may worry that you're a bit out of touch with the child.

Junior probably won't be very bothered as they're enclosed in a spacious bubble and protected from the elements. If you need to transport a child by bike all year round, this is the way to go.

Trailers are the most expensive option, but they hold decent resale values if looked after and you can use them for much more than just carrying children; a trailer is perhaps the best way of carrying shopping too.

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John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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