Speaking of Bobike Mini’s, we just received a new shipment.

Can I confess to loathing the look of just about everything designed for children? You know what I mean, the pastel-y background adorned with cutesy pictures that someone on high has decided must be the fabric of all children items. They even try to do it to bike helmets. The Bobike Mini never participated in this aesthetic too much, but the navy with white puppies left a little to be desired. We asked the US importer to tone it down, and they did. The new shipment is what Bobike calls “urban black.” Looks like what I’d call “black” but maybe there’s a key to a hip urban loft hidden in the padding, dunno. Silly marketing adjectives aside, the new seats are an aesthetic improvement. Less saccharine than than the puppies and black matches just about everything.

Bobike child seats have been selling briskly since we opened the webstore. The last few years have seen a marked interest in family cycling in the US. A short time ago commuting and transportation cycling was generally the province of the solitary male, but our cycling culture has grown up a little bit, and one of the signs of its maturity is that people are increasingly looking for ways to use bicycles as everyday transport. This includes, of course, transporting children and cargo. When we had our first child I tried trailers and a lot of child seats, and we found Bobike seats to be the easiest to use and most enjoyable for parent and child. If you have a young child I can’t more highly recommend the Bobike Mini. My son and I go for a ride every morning before I go to work. Sometimes the ride is short, but those rides are some of the best rides of my life. Being able to talk to and touch your child while you ride can’t be beat, and seeing the tot riding shotgun brings a smile to the people you pass.

The Bobikes are more thought out than the other seats I’ve tried, mostly likely because they’re a product of a cycling culture where bikes are–in the best way–taken for granted and products must function practically without fuss and concern by the user. Need a windscreen to keep the little one from suffering numbing wind chill during  winter? Of course you do, because you ride all year. Need to swap the seat from bike to bike in ten seconds? Who wouldn’t?

Here I am undertaking the arduous task of switching the Mini+ from my wife’s bike to mine.

We had a beautiful, healthy baby girl born at our home during the wee hours of Wednesday morning. After catching up on some sleep and spending time with my family yesterday I’m back in the shop today.

I’m behind on adding new products to the webstore and I will try to get caught up–the new stuff includes  some very nice grocery panniers from Axiom as well as a ton of brackets for dynamo headlights. Headset spacer bell mounts are back in stock as well.

Don’t be shy about calling or placing an order on the webstore folks, we gotta ‘nother mouth to feed.

I’ve gone home for the birth of the new baby so we’ll be shut down for a day or two. I’ll put up a post when I’m back in the shop. Thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes to our family.