FAQ 
and does it fit around their shoulders and how tightly can he be strapped in?
The straps are similar to a car seat - and you can do them up pretty
tight. We've just come back from a 4 hr ride with our daughter (3 yr
3month - 16Kilo) and she's the master escapologist of her car seat now
- to the extent that she's worked out not only how to shrug the
shoulder straps off but also undo the seat-buckle!
She hasn't been able to do the same in the WeeRide - partly I
think because she's sitting immediately under my view - so she doesn't
feel she can try and because the buckle sits higher up, on
her chest (on a car seat it's right down at her groin) there's actually
less space to move the straps around and slip a hand through!
Does that make sense? - I fear I'm not describing it very
well. Finally of course - there's the fact that your arms and body
would be around him - so by it's very nature - it's secure!
There are NO Australian standards in existence for centre mounted child bicycle seats. The only Australian standard is 12 years old and specifically relates to rear mounted seats.
A respected cycling-specific engineering firm performed an independent analysis of the WeeRide and concluded that the WeeRide (or centric-safe haven as it was called) is far safer than a rear-mounted seat.
Here's why a center-mounted seat is safer...
1.) Better balance – the weight of the child is between the two
wheels of the bike.
2.) More control over the random behaviour of a toddler – with a
WeeRide the child is in front of you in your normal line of sight so you can
control/prevent/proactively take action.
3.) The child is more engaged in the ride – unlike in a
rear-mounted seat, the child does not have to sway in their rear-mounted seat
to see past you. The child is less bored and less tempted to cause trouble by accidentally
dropping or even throwing things.
4.) It is virtually impossible for the child to put feet, hands, shoes,
dolls into a wheel - since they can't reach and you'd see it happening!
5.) No “car-seat syndrome” – with a read-mounted seat
the child is close to you but out of reach - and they know it – that’s
why things get thrown, put in wheels and so on
6.) In a rear-mounted seat you spend a large amount of your time
worrying about what is happening behind you rather than concentrating on what
is happening in front of you - that cannot be safe.
There is a bone of contention is around what actually would happen in an accident, with pro-rear-mounters saying the child would take the first impact in a WeeRide - whereas you, the rider, can be a crumple zone for a rear-seat - and the pro-WeeRides saying, well at least I can get my arms around them....all speculation, no data exists! Safe to say with either type of seat in an accident there will be no winners and since prevention is far more effective the WeeRide wins hands down.
Let me explain my personal position. I rode today (Jan 2008) and dropped my 40 month old daughter at childcare. I've ridden with both rear & front mounted seats. If I felt a rear-mounted seat was better, I would use it. This isn't a commercial line - I started out using the WeeRide as a customer just like you. I did 18 months of riding with my daughter in a WeeRide and thought it was such a great design that I obtained the rights to import them.
More information on Australian Standards....
There
are two legally mandated standards that apply to
bicycles in Australia being "AS/NZS 1927:1996 Pedal
Bicycles – Safety Requirements" and "AS/NZS
2063:1996 Pedal cycle helmets" (detailed here - http://www.rcta.org.au/index
Alongside mandatory standards, there are also legally
enforced state-specific Road Traffic Acts which often include bicycle child
carriers - for example in WA, section 14 of the Road Traffic
(Bicycles) Regulations 2002 states...
14. Child-carrying seats
Any child-carrying seat on a bicycle -
(a) must be securely attached to the frame of the bicycle;
(b) must be soundly constructed without sharp edges or protrusions;
(c) must not be located forward of or on the handlebars;
Obviously a WeeRide is not located forward of or on the handlebars - so is in
compliance with this too and we can not find any state-specific legislation
that WeeRides break.
There are also voluntary standards, created for
commercial reasons by the privately owned company Standards
Australia and this is where the confusion seems to arise. There is one for bicycle
child carriers ... AS/NZS 4287:1995 Child carrier seats for
pedal bicycles—Safety requirements .
This was formulated in 1995 well before the WeeRide was invented and is only for rear-mounted seats. The WeeRide complies with all of the voluntary requirements such as quality of build, strength of attachment to the bicycle and so on ..... but a Weeride is not rear mounted and therefore cannot claim to fully comply.
It's interesting to us that many bicycle stores that don't stock WeeRides will often mention this Standards issue as if WeeRides are some how illegal (obviously they are not) or death-traps (WeeRide is the biggest selling Baby Bike Seat on Amazon.com - does anyone imagine for a second Americans wouldn't have sued somebody into oblivion if the seat was in the slightest bit unsafe?) and yet the store will sell Trailers or Tagalongs - for which NO standard exists..... go figure!
We have spent hours trying to engage with the privately owned/run Standards Australia to have their outdated standard updated - by their own guidelines and admissions this should have happened when the standard was 10 years old. They admit that the subject of child seats is on their list of things to do, but it is a very low priority. And the reason for this -- is that WeeRides , Tag Alongs, etc are not the source of problems -- so they concentrate their efforts on more dangerous things.
..one with a cross through is and some writing in French? Obviously roughly it says, "don't leave a child unattended in a bicycle seat" but why is it a picture of a rear-mounted seat - and why in French?
This from the manufacturer,
"Well, it is very funny. We have had that marking on the child seat for years and no one ever asked why. The correct reply is that it should not be there at all and it will be eliminated completely. "
The seat fits bicycles with 610mm and 640mm wheels and almost all styles - including Ladys Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Hybrids.
Bikes a WeeRide certianly won't fit on include serious downhill/free-riding mountain bikes - with enormous front suspension - very very unlikely you'd want to a put a WeeRide on one anyway...
Bikes you probably shouldn't fit a WeeRide on include Racers with drop handle bars - the riding position is more aggresive, bars are narrower and getting to the 'drops' where the brakes/gears are is difficult.
For quality reasons the WeeRide seat is currently made in Portugal and the support bar in Taiwan, the box and labels are printed in China and then the whole lot assembled in America and Australia! Of course this may change in the future.
The WeeRide itself is a Canadian patented invention.
One day about 20 years ago a father took his young son with him for a ride on his bicycle. He had purchased a rear mounted bicycle child carrier and secured his son into the seat and pedalled off. Within ten minutes his son was screaming complaining he couldn't see anything and he was bored and wanted to stop. Once removed from the seat he refused to go back in. The father was forced to carry home his son and push the bicycle. He then concluded that their must be a better way to introduce his son to cycling something he desperately wanted to share with him.
Being a carpenter by trade he quickly created a wooden child seat carrier that mounted in the centre of the bicycle, in front of the rider and over the bicycle's centre of gravity. His son loved
it and so did everyone else who saw it.
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