Fatherhood anonymous; an open discussion on being a dad.

I had both. The Thule Yepp Mini had so many interference issues on an MTB, which is a bummer because the harness and attachment mechanism are superior to the iBert. When you remove the iBert, what’s left is an 8” long steel death spear coming off the steer tube pointed right at your face, so you also have to remove that before riding sans kid. And the iBert bounces around less securely than the Thule. But the iBert clears most forks a lot better than the Yepp, requires less free stack height on the steer tube, is like half the price, and still works well for basic light duty trail riding. Plus the kids love that cute frog pad on the steering wheel. I advise mounting a long riser stem (like 80mm) and riser bars for the Yepp to get the kids legs in and out under the handlebar more easily.

I still use the Yepp for the city bike.

Also what’s important to note is the limited time windows of each of these solutions. Yepp/iBert is like 9 months to 2.5 years, top tube seat is like 2 to 4 years. Unless you have a pretty tall kid then you can take at least 6 months off of both. If your riding seasons are short and don’t overlap well with the kids development and size you might be SOL.

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Has anyone used one of these weehoos? I picked one up dirt cheap last fall. My daughter’s only 20 months but she’s getting bored in the burley trailer.

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Originally Posted by mcphee

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Has anyone used one of these weehoos? I picked one up dirt cheap last fall. My daughter’s only 20 months but she’s getting bored in the burley trailer.

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I think it would be great for cruising paved bike path. I can see spray from dirt/gravel/wet pavement being an issue unless you beef up the stock mud/sprayguard. I would also have a helluva time trying to wriggle that thing around my local trails with roots, tight turns and thin single track. Also, an underrated thing to look for is how easy it is to get them strapped in by yourself... you arent always going to have a second set of helping hands to strap them in while you hold the bike up- one of the best parts of the Macride/Shotgun is the fact you just pick them up, plop them down basically in your lap and go... no straps or buckles or anything.

Give it a try, what do you have to lose? Take it super slow and easy and if you hate it, just post in on your local FB marketplace/craigslist. I consider all kids things rentals.

^yea, it would be on the beater bike that has a kickstand. Mostly on the paved/gravel trail in town but may get adventurous (lol) on the very easy trails here when she’s a bit older.

Anyone have close family that is vocal about their fairly extreme sociopolitical views? My kid is 20 months and will start getting to an age where hearing this stuff from a close family member he loves can start to rub off on him in (what i believe to be) a harmful way. The family member knows i am not OK with it, but for the sake of keeping the peace it has not really become a BIG issue yet because my kid is too young to really be influenced by it... yet. Not looking forward to dealing with the blowback from putting my foot down.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Anyone have close family that is vocal about their fairly extreme sociopolitical views? My kid is 20 months and will start getting to an age where hearing this stuff from a close family member he loves can start to rub off on him in (what i believe to be) a harmful way. The family member knows i am not OK with it, but for the sake of keeping the peace it has not really become a BIG issue yet because my kid is too young to really be influenced by it... yet. Not looking forward to dealing with the blowback from putting my foot down.

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Maybe buy yourself a tape recorder...

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Anyone have close family that is vocal about their fairly extreme sociopolitical views? My kid is 20 months and will start getting to an age where hearing this stuff from a close family member he loves can start to rub off on him in (what i believe to be) a harmful way. The family member knows i am not OK with it, but for the sake of keeping the peace it has not really become a BIG issue yet because my kid is too young to really be influenced by it... yet. Not looking forward to dealing with the blowback from putting my foot down.

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Make sure your wife is on board.

Seems like this person needs a reality check if they are going to be upset about a parent telling them to check themselves regarding socio-polictical stuff around a 2 yo.

Be prepared to set some boundaries and stick to them. You'll have to think about what comes down the road if your kid is spending one on one time and if this person can restrain themselves.

You also just have to teach your own kid how to treat people and they will probably put two and two together themselves.

Great discussion on the bike carriers, I road with ours in a baby Bjorn front pack until 6 months. Downside is it gets hot. I found older than 6 months the weight got awkward and my knees couldn’t take pedal stokes without bumping her. The nice thing was since this was on my body I could soften any jostling on MTB trails.
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Skipped biking with her last summer for the most part; as others have alluded to they just don’t have the head support for bumpy mountain trails.

She’s 2.5 now and we are in a Macride and she loves it!!

Pics from last weekend.
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Originally Posted by 406

I'm in the ride extra conservative camp and view as a kid activity, not me getting out for a ride(but is good exercise). Got tons of use out of the Kids-ride-shotgun, starting when middle kid was around 2 and during peak lock down. Oldest would ride her bike further than 2 your old could strider, and balancing on my bike really improved her skills when she got back on her bike. I don't put it on my carbon bike, just on the Ti hardtail.

Middle kid and I did a couple overnight bike trips at 3 & 4, if you want to see photos of set up, pretty heavy!:
https://www.strava.com/activities/5362152214
https://www.strava.com/activities/7098768996

This year she is too big for shotgun, so I putting together a seat from amazon that goes on the rack...will see how that works and if I can figure out storage for all the gear.

Youngest loves riding on the shotgun, but middle kid views it as her seat so sometimes a bit of drama there.

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Did you not put it on your carbon bike because it can damage the frame? I thought I was flexing dragging my 17month old to camp and here you are toting a 4 year old! Nice work.

Well I very much appreciate all the kid bike advice. We’ve already got ours a little strider bike which she is obsessed with even though she can’t walk, and can just barely straddle the thing and flap her feet on the ground as we roll her down the sidewalk. The whole thing is adorable.

What I’m picking up on is that no one here likes pulling trailers on rough terrain which is fair. She seems to like it ok but a gravel path seems like the absolute maximum of terrain, and pavement is better.

The mac ride seems like the key transitional ride along device, but I don’t think she will be able to until 2.5, and then it will probably be a slow start on the tamest terrain of course. She’s got a big head for her body size so bobbling is definitely an issue!

One other note on trailers: they can get heavy fast if you're going uphill, or if you're going downhill with less than ideal braking. My opinion is affected by having a double trailer and two kids to put in it, but I'm pretty sure that's only a matter of degree.

My oldest kid turns three in May. She wasn't interested in riding on the Shotgun last year but liked the trailer; in curious to see if she'll take to the Shotgun more this year.

We did introduce both kids to patch skiing last weekend; it was day 39 for them. Most of those days didn't involve a lot of vertical, but they seem to be enjoying skiing more than not. Hopefully they enjoy other stuff in the summer, as it's a long drive to anywhere with toddler-friendly snow.

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Originally Posted by Dromond

Did you not put it on your carbon bike because it can damage the frame? I thought I was flexing dragging my 17month old to camp and here you are toting a 4 year old! Nice work.

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Mostly thinking it might damage the carbon and the hardtail works fine...but lots of people do put them on carbon frames.

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Originally Posted by anotherVTskibum

One other note on trailers: they can get heavy fast if you're going uphill, or if you're going downhill with less than ideal braking. My opinion is affected by having a double trailer and two kids to put in it, but I'm pretty sure that's only a matter of degree.

My oldest kid turns three in May. She wasn't interested in riding on the Shotgun last year but liked the trailer; in curious to see if she'll take to the Shotgun more this year.

We did introduce both kids to patch skiing last weekend; it was day 39 for them. Most of those days didn't involve a lot of vertical, but they seem to be enjoying skiing more than not. Hopefully they enjoy other stuff in the summer, as it's a long drive to anywhere with toddler-friendly snow.

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Zip top boots? What are they?

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Originally Posted by anotherVTskibum

One other note on trailers: they can get heavy fast if you're going uphill, or if you're going downhill with less than ideal braking. My opinion is affected by having a double trailer and two kids to put in it, but I'm pretty sure that's only a matter of degree.

My oldest kid turns three in May. She wasn't interested in riding on the Shotgun last year but liked the trailer; in curious to see if she'll take to the Shotgun more this year.

We did introduce both kids to patch skiing last weekend; it was day 39 for them. Most of those days didn't involve a lot of vertical, but they seem to be enjoying skiing more than not. Hopefully they enjoy other stuff in the summer, as it's a long drive to anywhere with toddler-friendly snow.

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Haha... Love this!

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Originally Posted by johnnyg82

Zip top boots? What are they?

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Fischer One. They kick ass overall, although the zippers are a weak point (you need to be careful that the power strap underneath is tight enough so you don't damage the zipper trying to get it closed). The younger toddler will actually shove his feet into the boots and run around the yard in them, so they win points on use friendliness.

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Originally Posted by Dromond

Did you not put it on your carbon bike because it can damage the frame?

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The original Shotgun touched the toptube of your frame. The Shotgun Pro (the latest version which i have) only touches the headset spacers and your seat post (make sure your dropper isnt slammed all the way down to the seat tube) with plenty of clearance around the toptube. My wife and I both have carbon bikes and neither have a nick from using the seat. And instead of paying $40 for the kids handlebars, i just ordered a clamp-on accessory bar from amazon for $8... Though my kids seems to do fine just holding on to my wife's handlebars.

Same here about no damage issues clamping the original Shotgun to my Santa Cruz carbon frame. The big issue was adjustment/alignment/removal/re-installation. Smaller issue is that the original Shotgun clamp works best on a completely straight top tube, and doesn’t grip quite as well to a tapered tube - so it can start tilting backwards. Really the gen1 Shotgun is a complete PITA, the Pro or MacRide are the way to go.

All that said, the Kids Ride Shotgun Shred til Bed book is fantastic!

https://kidsrideshotgun.com/products/shred-til-bed

I always rode conservatively with kids attached to the bikes. I always considered the situation of what would happen if shit hit the fan and I’m injury and the kid is not. For instance, I always road with a helmet.

I often pulled my toddler twins in a burley trailer to a nearish playground after I got off work. Once, in the fall when the roads were deeply covered with dry leaves, I was slowing down at an intersection going downhill and nearly stopped, my front wheel lost traction and slipped- out from under me, I jumped off the bike as the bike went down, the bike kept going on scrapping on its side due to the momentum of the trailer full of kiddos, I ran after the bike into the intersection (no cars!), grabbed the trailer, and stopped the bike.

My kiddo arrived last Wednesday. Felt like a mission sleeping on the board of a pullout at the hospital for three nights. Long hard labor, luckily a great team of experts kept us safe. So far I’m on diapers and swaddling, my wife focuses on feeding. We’re sleeping okay, 2 hours at a time. My little girl is beautiful and healthy and I just stare at her thinking of how excited I am to get to be her dad.

Congrats lowspark.

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Originally Posted by lowsparkco

My kiddo arrived last Wednesday. Felt like a mission sleeping on the board of a pullout at the hospital for three nights. Long hard labor, luckily a great team of experts kept us safe. So far I’m on diapers and swaddling, my wife focuses on feeding. We’re sleeping okay, 2 hours at a time. My little girl is beautiful and healthy and I just stare at her thinking of how excited I am to get to be her dad.

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Don't be like me. When thing #1 was born, my sis in-law's roommate was the day nurse for the first two. She took great pleasure in instructing me to change diapers and care for the umbilical cord wound while my wife was getting well deserved sleep. I of course then attempted to teach my wife exactly what I had been taught, to the letter.. That didn't go over so well.

Congrats lowspark.
It’s impressive how far a baby without a penis can pee. The trick about opening the diaper, then immediately closing it and waiting 10 seconds before changing it is a good one to try to remember on little to no sleep.

Always keep the business end covered.

Congrats! First few poop diapers are the worst, after that stuff flushes out it is pretty easy if eating only breast milk...until starting eating human food.

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Originally Posted by lowsparkco

My kiddo arrived last Wednesday. Felt like a mission sleeping on the board of a pullout at the hospital for three nights. Long hard labor, luckily a great team of experts kept us safe. So far I’m on diapers and swaddling, my wife focuses on feeding. We’re sleeping okay, 2 hours at a time. My little girl is beautiful and healthy and I just stare at her thinking of how excited I am to get to be her dad.

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Congrats! The first month or two are pretty chill all things considered. Then things ramp up but does the fun.