The iBert Safe-T-Seat
Looking for a cool way to carry your infant on your bike? You might want to check out the iBert Safe-T-Seat. As some of you may know, I have a bike crazed baby in the house…and if you’d like to see how much he loves bikes, check out this video from last year’s TdF. So any system that allows him to jump on a bike is worth trying out to me. Find out what this Daddy has to say about using the Safe-T-Seat with his baby boy.
We don’t do a whole lot of reviews over here at Loving the Bike as we’d like to leave those up to the sites that specialize in reviewing bikes and equipment. We also tend to give one of the products away when we do a review, which unfortunately wasn’t possible this time around. So why then did I jump on the chance to review the iBert Safe-T-Seat?. I’ve been pulling my Son behind me in our Chariot up until now, but being the wild and adventurous kid that he is, I knew he would like to try something like the Safe-T-Seat.
I’m not much of a mechanic or tool inclined handyman, but when I went to mount the seat on my urban bike, it all went quite smoothly. The set up was actually a lot easier than I was expecting it to be, and the only hang up for me was getting the safety ring pin in place. Once it was together I took a good look at it before tossing my baby boy up there because being the over-protective Daddy that I am, I wanted to make sure it was totally safe for him to ride on. There really isn’t too much to this system and to be honest, I felt a little unsure of the fact that this one little safety pin was holding everything together. After shaking it around and putting some pressure on the seat, we were ready to give it try.
When I asked River if he’d like to go for a bike ride with Daddy, his eyes immediately lit up, his beautiful smile filled up his face, and lifted his arms in the air for me to grab him. Getting him set up on the seat and strapped in was quite simple as well. I just leaned the bike against the wall, supported it with my body, and got him into place. It was so cool to be riding and have River right there with me. I could talk to him, hear what he had to say, and still watch the road at the same time. I was a little cautious on the turns as I wasn’t sure how the extra weight over the handlebars would affect things.
I have a few minor non-positive comments to make on the Safe-T-Seat, and one big one. When the seat isn’t secured onto the “stinger system” (see picture to right), it’s a bit of a pain to take it on and off the bike. The bike can still be ridden with it on, but when turning is can scratch up and rub against your legs. Getting off the bike with River up on the seat was a little difficult as well. Because the seat takes up most of the space over the cross bar, you can’t straddle the bar and place your foot on the ground when stopping…..I had to jump right off the bike.
The big comment, is about safety. I feel that the Safe-T-Seat is a cool toy to ride around the neighborhood with my Son, but would never take him onto a busy road or on a longer ride with it. Even as an experienced rider, I don’t feel completely in control with him up there.
Here’s a few facts about the iBert Safe-T-Seat for you, and be sure to contact me if you have any questions or would like to know more about our experiences with it. The Safe-T-Seat from iBert retails at $109.95 and is available at quite a few retailers including REI. For a list of retailer, you can check out their list right here. The seat is made for children aged 1 to 4, to a maximum of 38 lbs or 44 inches in height.
Will it fit your bike?
“It fits more bikes than any other front mounted seat. A minimum of 3/4 inch is needed on the handle bar stem to accommodate the stinger assembly.”
Does the safe-T-seat meet ASTM 1625-00 standards?
“Yes and no. The safe-T-seat is designed to meet all 1625-00 standards, which it does. But ASTM 1625-00 is written for rear child carriers so front mounted seats do not apply at this time. One of our goals at iBert Inc. is to petition and work with the ASTM to create a new ASTM standard for all front mounted seats that is above ASTM 1625-00.”
Final Word
I would say that short rides are best for the iBert system and you probably won’t want to use it on a long ride. Think of it more as a fun way to ride around with your child in the neighborhood, but when going on a longer journey stick with a trailer or possibly some other carrier. Although having my Son right there with me in the front is very cool, I personally prefer using a trailer for carrying him. It just feels so much safer to me.
We have been using the ibert for around a year and a half now, I agree it’s not a perfect seat but what is? Every seat compromises your bike in some way, and as long as you the rider is confident there shouldn’t be a problem.
As for stopping and not being able to slide forward, just drop your seat half an inch and you will be fine.
We have been using the ibert for around a year and a hslf now, I agree it’s not a perfect seat but what is? Every seat compromises your bike in some way, and as long as you the rider is confident there shouldn’t be a problem.
As for stopping and not being able to slide forward, just drop your seat half an inch and you will be fine.
Thanks for the feedback, Vaughn. It was a brand new product when I tried it out so I was a little concerned with the safety of it. Now that it’s been out for a while it looks like there aren’t any issues with it.
I don’t think I’ll try one of these seats for my son but I am interested in learning about more products suitable for kids. Do you have any more kid friendly bike products to recommend?
I’m hoping to do some more kid friendly posts as well, Franklin. One of the products I’m hoping to review soon is the Strider bike for kids. Keep your eyes peeled for more kid stuff.
Looking forward to a review of the Strider bike. I have been looking into these for my son.
Same here, Jonathan. I’ve been talking to the company and hope to have one sent over here soon. My Rockstar Son is going to love it.
I appreciate your honest review on this. It sounds like a fun toy, but maybe not that practical. I would give it a try with my daughter but not interested in putting up the money for something I’ll only use marginally.
Probably a good idea, Jackson. I do enjoy riding around the neighborhood with him, but I did get to try it out for free.
As a person who worked at a shop that attempted to sell these things, I must protest. They are unsafe. 1)the weight the front end of your bike to the point where lesser experienced/comfortable cyclists may not feel comfortable controlling the bike. 2) they restrict the movement of the rider by taking up the entire cockpit space of the bike, handlebars, chest area of rider, most shifter/brake reach, especially if the rider is smaller and the child is wearing a helmet. 3) if u do have to come to a stop, or hit something head on, your child is the first one who’ll take the impact. 4) when stopping, you CANNOT under any circumstance use a kickstand or lean the bike with the child in the seat, as it will topple over.
I totally hear where you’re coming from, Chandler. Although I think it is super cool having my Son right there with me to talk to while riding, my personal choice is using a trailer for him instead. I feel so much more relaxed and I believe it to be much safer so that is my first choice. The iBert is great for a little fun around the neighborhood, but on a longer ride it’s the trailer for me.
As a person who worked at a shop that attempted to sell these things, I must protest. They are unsafe. 1)the weight the front end of your bike to the point where lesser experienced/comfortable cyclists may not feel comfortable controlling the bike. 2) they restrict the movement of the rider by taking up the entire cockpit space of the bike, handlebars, chest area of rider, most shifter/brake reach, especially if the rider is smaller and the child is wearing a helmet. 3) if u do have to come to a stop, or hit something head on, your child is the first one who’ll take the impact. 4) when stopping, you CANNOT under any circumstance use a kickstand or lean the bike with the child in the seat, as it will topple over.
those are just few reasons we found while trying to sell them. word spread quickly from customer feedback to the owner and he pulled them from sale and returned them to the company. We found that people felt more comfortable spending more money for a trailer that has a safety flag, 5 point harness, windscreens, and moved independently of the bike in cases when the rider had to stop suddenly or when parking the bike, no topple-over effect.
I know I sound like a killjoy, but im a father of 2, soon to be 3 and I feel this strongly about them.
We have been using the iBert for most of this season now. We are a carfree family, and someone gave us one. To be honest, up until recently, it has been a breeze to use. It is very stable, easy to load and unload. I’ve never had to lean it against a wall, but I use the kickstand and support it with my body. I’ve never had a topple, and I’m a fairly clumsy person, but a comfortable though slightly awkward rider.
These are the things I DON’T like about it though:
1) Baby can grab at my hands and arms while I’m riding. She doesn’t do it often, but she does sometimes.
2) With the low seat back,she can crane/bend all the way backward to look up into my eyes. This presses her helmet against my arms and makes control difficult. A higher backed seat would probably not have that problem.
3)TWICE THIS HAS HAPPENED WITH NO BABY IN THE SEAT, so I think the baby in the seat mitigates this effect, which I think is caused by the wobble inherent in the probuct. TWICE while riding over some rough area in the road (there are LOTS in the city), the safety bar has come flying completely off. Thankfully one was in a cross walk, so it was easy, but embarrassing to retrieve. The second time was in the street and could have turned out very badly. I had pulled into the main lane of traffic to make a left-hand turn, and was going into the turn to cross the lane when the thing flew off and landed in the path of my turn. I braked abruptly and swerved back into the lane I was in to avoid hitting the bar, in the process throwing myself forward into the seat. BAD. Very bad. The backward lip on the ibert is right below the level of my ribs, and I had surgery there last year. If I had been going any faster, or hit a car or been doored by someone (if I was in the bike lane going full speed), that backward lip and the height of it, very bad. Other front seats seem to have higher tops and have not quite the same backward lip, so one would hit the seat flat-on and not hit the lip.
Someone also gave us a Yepp mini, and we will be switching over to that. We have never owned a trailer, do not have space to store one, and my husband has always felt that having the kids that low to the ground would be a huge liability. The flags on those can barely be seen over the tops of cars. We will see about the trailer. Each sort of bike with kids has its drawbacks. The Yuba, which we rode for a few years with older kids, has the kids high off the ground, and that high center of gravity caused me to dump them on a few occasions, only when going slow into a turn or stopped though.
Thanks for all the great information. We appreciate you adding to this article. Enjoy Your Ride.
Seeing the recent comment by Vaughn brought me back here. I used the Yepp for many years and LOVE it. It is very stable and better leg room/body contact than the ibert. I am also convinced that it helped protect my daughter when we were doored by a vehicle (it clipped my handlebar), which laid the bike out flat in the road. No part of my daughter’s body hit the pavement, even though the seat did. Her helmet did hit the road, and thankfully protected from any injury from that. I wish the Yepp Mini had just a bit higher weight limit on it.
Good to see you coming back to comment on this product again and giving us an update. Thanks for the information on the Yepp and so glad it helped you out in that situation. Looks like it is a very safe seat and that is what’s most important.