Ride with child seat on faraday?

[Shaun]

Any owners able to comment on the faraday and how it would fare as a trail bike with a child seat on the back? Just wondering how well the motor would keep up while hauling around the extra weight.

Also, how nicely does this ride as a regular bike without the motor turned on?

I'm really on the fence on whether I should get a faraday or some nice hybrid bike. Mostly I'd just be using the bike recreationally for 20-30 mile rides with a few light hills.

Can anybody with kids comment on how well a faraday or any electric bike for that matter works for them vs a traditional bike?

 

[Tara D.]

The Faraday can be ridden on unpaved roads or trails, but it will be a bumpy ride seeing as the bike has no shocks like a mountain bike.
It rides just like a traditional bike without the motor in fact it is designed to be ridden with or without the motor and works well both ways. The bike is a light weight design at only 39 pounds.
Also in October they are releasing an upgraded rear rack which features a Yepp Easy Fit Window. This means you can easily mount any Yepp child seat onto the bike.

I ride comfortably on my traditional bike pulling my 25ish lb toddler plus baby necessities in a trailer(that can carry up to 100lbs), on hills I am definitely wanting that extra help from a motor. Most Rear mounted seats hold between 40-48 pounds and will require a rear rack rated for that much weight or more. For older children, there are seats that can carry up to 77 pounds, such as the Classic Junior made by Bobike.

Here is a review on humonfthecity.com where they actually review the bike with a child seat on the back. (about half way down) They bring up some valid concerns one of them being about the top tube being high making it difficult to mount the bike with a child on the back.

Hope that helps.

 

[Shaun]

Thanks! I actually bit the bullet last week and bought a Faraday Porteur. I'm happy to report that a Thule Ridealong fits nicely on this bike (with or without the rear bike rack on the bike). Additionally, the motor definitely is appreciated when taking on hills! For the most part, though, I had the motor turned off and really only used it whenever I wanted an extra push to go up an extended climb. Either way, I'm really happy with the bike and glad that I got the front and rear racks as well... as of right now I have taken off the rear rack because I won't be using it as much with the Thule Ridealong back there but the front rack is awesome... especially when paired with a nice cargo net.

 

[Shaun]

Also, FWIW, when I took off the rear rack I weight it and it came in at 1lb 14oz. I think the bike itself weight 39lb or so without any racks/etc on it. I haven't weighed the bike with the front rack on it yet but I'd guess that the bike weighs about 42lb (in size medium with the front rack). It's light enough but I get a little scared when putting it on my bike rack, which is only rated for 35lb per bike... The rack is able to fit 3 bikes though so I figure as long as the total weight of the bikes I put on the rack is less than 105lb (35x3) then I'd be ok...

Also, one more thing about dismounting the bike... I'm 5'9" and ride a medium frame Porteur. I don't have any problems at all dismounting the bike with my child on the back. The top tube is a lot lower than some of my old road bikes and significantly easier to dismount... I could see how a step through model would be a lot easier but as is I didn't have any issues getting on and off the bike. The review you linked also had concerns about the power button placement.... given how the Thule Ridealong mounts to the bike and where I placed the connection to the frame, I would find it highly unlikely that my child could reach the power button. Maybe this would be more of a potential problem with the Yepp but I don't see it as being a problem with the Thule as the power button is almost covered by the bike seat and it'd be hard for a child to reach through to turn the bike off. Anyway, as with anything like this if you have any concerns the best bet is to go somewhere and try it out yourself!

 

[Tara D.]

That's great to hear! The Thule ridealong is a nice seat. Yes faradaybikes.com lists the medium size frame as being 39 lbs. I'm glad that with your child seat you don't run into the same issues or have the same concerns that they did. Personally I'd prefer a step through better if I had a rear mounted seat. I believe they are officially announcing the step through Faraday early next year I think it will be a great addition!

 

[Admin]

They've got a new updated rack that's compatible with the Yepp! Child seat, Adam showed me a demo with the new Faraday Cortland step-thru model in this video. Pretty coo! It's actually reinforced to handle greater weight but still comes in different colors to match the different frames. He had to take the wooden slat off the top of the rack to get the quick-connect device to work, felt pretty solid

 

[Ann M.]

The child seat set up clicks into the rack once the bamboo rack top is popped out. A simple twist knob locks the seat into place. Also looks like there's pretty good spacing for little knees and for the rider's pedal stroke! Look at minute 26 of Court's video for specifics of the child seat.

 

[Tara D.]

Ah yes, I love Yepp seats! So great to see the Yepp Easy Fit Window in action! I really do love that they designed the rack to be compatible with this child seat. For those wondering 20 kg is 40 lbs. Also if you have a rear rack that can support the weight but its doesn't happen to have the easy fit window you can install the yepp easyfit carrier onto the rack.

 

[irenewg13]

Very good, helpful conversation. Thanks