The Best Bike Seats for Babies, Toddlers, and Kids
Cycling can be a fast-paced way to commute and explore the city, but taking to the streets with your child demands care, attention, and planning. In order to show your child the joy of active life on two wheels, whilst keeping them safe, we’ve compiled a list of the best bike seats for kids!
- Thule RideAlong – overall best child bike seat
- Thule Yepp Maxi – runner-up
- Thule RideAlong Mini – best front-mount seat
- Thule Yepp Mini – runner-up front seat
- Hamax Caress – universal seat with both frame and rack mounts
- Bellelli Bicycle Baby Carrier – best budget option
- Shotgun Kids Bike Seat – great seat if you need more freedom
- UrRider Seat with Handrail – best for innovation
Thule RideAlong
From The DualBeam suspension technology, engineered to absorb shocks and bumps in the road, to the protective wings that shield your child’s hands when you need to lean your bike against a wall, the design of the Thule RideAlong has the safety and comfort of your child in mind at every turn.
Additionally, the RideAlong is designed and tested for children from 9 months to 6 years old. Due to Thule’s credentials as a quality producer of outdoor and adventure products, this means this bike seat has the potential to be of great value for the money.
The RideAlong has five reclining options so your child can nap on the way to your destination and the padding is water repellent, detachable, machine washable and reversible with a selection of two colors.
Thule Yepp Maxi
Thule’s other frame-mounted bike seat option is the Yepp Maxi, which features some important differences from the RideAlong. Safety is the main one of those, with the Yepp featuring a five-point safety harness as opposed to the RideAlong’s three-point fitting. A childproof buckle and soft shoulder pads, as you would expect with a leading bike seat like this, ensures comfort as well as safety.
Like all of Thule’s bike seats, the Yepp Maxi can accommodate any child up to a 48.5lbs weight limit. It is designed to grow with your kid thanks to adjustable footrests and foot straps. The harness is also adjustable, and the design has been tested on children within that weight limit from nine months and up to six years.
The rubber-foam seat construction is shock-absorbing, lightweight and anti-bacterial as well as being easy to clean. An integrated rear reflector is a further useful touch.
Thule RideAlong Mini
Alongside the full-size version, Thule offer the RideAlong in a Mini version too. The Mini is for children up to three years old, or 33 lbs, and is stem-mounted as opposed to on the frame. Other differences include a quick-release bracket for easy mounting and dismounting with a safety indicator to ensure a secure fit before your ride. Thule have designed it to fit both normal and ahead stems too.
Unlike the full RideAlong, the Mini also features a full five-point harness and child-proof safety buckle. Similarities, however, include its single-hand adjustable footrests and foot straps as well as the detachable, machine-washable, reversible, water-repellent padding.
The stem-mounted position means the RideAlong Mini can not be reclined, but an integrated child handlebar – a fixture of all of Thule’s Mini seats – is a nice little extra.
Thule Yepp Mini
As with the RideAlong, Thule also have a Mini version of the Yepp. Again, it features the same soft, shock-absorbing rubber construction so there should be no need for extra padding. The rubber material is also easy to clean, as well as boasting good insulating properties and water resistance. Your child should, therefore, be able to stay warm and comfortable throughout.
Like the Yepp Maxi, the Mini comes with a five-point-harness and soft shoulder pads for further safety and comfort. It is designed for quick and easy attaching and detaching and won awards several years running for innovation. Even now, a decade on (and after Thule has purchased the original Yepp brand), it remains one of the Swedish manufacturer’s top bike seats.
Adjustable footrests and an integrated handlebar complete the Yepp Mini, which, as with the entire Thule Mini range, can accommodate children up to three years old or 33 lbs.
Hamax Caress
Norwegian specialists Hamax launched their first child bike seat in 1981 and the Caress is a long-serving, modern-day favourite from one of Europe’s top brands. The rear-mounted bike seat has been attracting rave reviews since it first launched in 2014, with its ease of use a central reason for that.
Designed for children from nine months old through to 48.5 lb, the Caress justifies its costs thanks to its excellent longevity. It is sturdy and adjustable with up to ten height options on the foot rests, for example.
Onto that ease of use, Hamax boast the Caress is the only rear child bike seat in which every feature can be adjusted single-handedly. From the childproof safety buckle, through to the straps, backrest, footrests and straps, and its impressive 20-degree recline. The polypropylene seat is built to be ultra-shock absorbing, while safety is looked after by an adjustable three-point mount.
Bellelli Bicycle Baby Carrier
The Bellelli Bicycle Baby Carrier is available in stem, seatpost or rack-mounted designs but the latter is perhaps the most impressive. Despite weighing in at a low weight of 7.25 lbs, it can hold a maximum weight of 50 lbs. Both weight stats put the Bellelli right up there with the best on the market.
It is not just impressively strong for its lightweight either, as the Italian-crafted seat comes with a whole host of smart, safety and comfort-focused design flares. High sideboards, for example, offer increased support and containment. There is also ergonomic shoulder support and a reclined angle for neck support too.
At the other end, meanwhile, wider leg protection and deep feet side protection is not only more comfortable, but safer too. A three-point safety harness and quick-release push button are both childproof and parent-friendly.
Shotgun Kids Bike Seat
If you are looking for something a little freer for older children, the Shotgun Kids Bike Seat could be your answer. An adjustable child seat is great but realistically the older your infant gets, the less they want to be confined to a harnessed seat. Shotgun have solved that problem with their frame-mounted mountain bike seat.
Adjustable width and angle means the Shotgun should fit all mountain bikes, so bringing your little one along for the ride is easy. The seat is designed for children aged from two to five and is a relatively simple design.
A Shotgun seat is paired with two foot straps, which attaches to your top tube, with rubber protection to keep your frame scratch-free. Quick-release fitting makes for easy installation and removal so all you need to worry about is that your kid keeps hold of the handlebars.
UrRider Seat with Handrail
For more casual riding, UrRider’s foldable child bike saddle with integrated handrail is an excellent option. Tool-free installation and the fact it is foldable and comes complete with its own bag means you can carry the UrRider wherever you go and simply attach when you need it. For commuters and school pick-ups then, it is ideal.
Where a normal bike seat means carrying extra bulk, even when no child is on board, the UrRider is just 2 lbs and can be slipped into its bag with ease. Furthermore, the tool-free, quick-release handle, and a rear seat post clamp that fits anything up to 1.4 inches mean it is ideal for bike rentals too.
Perhaps the most striking feature, the u-shaped handrail frame is crafted from durable 6061-grade aluminum and wrapped in a soft, anti-slip tube. The saddle, meanwhile, is also anti-slip and breathable.