Kid seat and panniers

[flydhest]

So ... I have a kid seat on my Soma Double Cross I got a front rack with panniers. The fork was drilled already, it was simple, it seemed like it would balance the weight reasonably well.

My wife (besides her Goodrich road bike) has a Giant hybrid. The fork is carbon, pretty wide, not drilled for a rack. I might be able to jury-rig something, but am wary. Is there a rear mounted kid seat that can work simultaneously with panniers?

[cromo900]

If I were looking to cart one kid around it would be with one of these. http://rideweehoo.com/ (http://rideweehoo.com/)

More expensive than most rear mounted seats (although our Yepp was close) and it comes with panniers for the kid stuff and definitely no issues with panniers on the wife's bike.

[xlbs]

mounted up high on the bike.

I can't remember where or when I saw the article/study confirming my contention for many years that child seats were inherently dangerous for the child, but the danger of serious whiplash from a crash is indeed proven to be likely for a child in a child seat.

If the child is wearing a helmet, the extra weight of the helmet creates enough extra momentum in a crash (one of those laws of unintended consequences) that it increases the natural "snapping" motion of a child's head, creating a whiplash, upon impact with the ground or pavement.

Trailers are far safer, and they have a much higher resale value once your child outgrows them.

When we sold trailers at my store we offered a half-back pricing deal on trade-ins because we had a ready market for used trailers. In fact, we couldn't keep up with the demand...

I refused to install a child seat on my brother's bike when he purchased one "elsewhere" because I held that it was just too dangerous. He was really annoyed with me, but he later thanked me when he thought it through...