Sunday 18 January 2009

Winter Warmer Piccies


Mike in bike Muff. In Five more minutes his eyes will be closing.....

A rear view:


And the whole thing open on the bike. Notice how the straps go through really easily and how it zips up at the front:



Friday 16 January 2009

Winter warmers

I'd been wondering what to do about moving Mike around in the winter and I'd been reviewing his winter gear. I'm now fairly settled on what it is:
  • His Benetton coat. Its like wearing a duvet! Thanks random Italian relative! He's worn it since he was born and now at nearly 2 yrs old he's going to need a new one. Time to start saving!
  • A helmet chube from (£12 from muddypuddles), its a thick fleece neck muff, with a thin balaclava top. Designed for helmet use!
  • A pushchair warmer/muff/sleeping bag/blanket thing (£19.99 from Tchibo)

The pushchair muff thing is genius! Its a small sleeping bag with slots in the rear to take straps that suit pushchairs. The same slots will work for a bike seat. I cut a slit thru the bottom half of the back of mine and blanket stitched the edges , so that it splits either side of the seat.

It fits directly onto the bike seat and has a front mounted zip\velcro. This means that i can put Mike on bike as normal, strap him in and then fold the 'pushchair muff thing' over him and zip and\or velcro it. Mike hates being constrained, but he can get his arms out so he's ok with it. Also it stops him kicking me in the back so bonus!

The nice thing about the muff vs a big winter warmer suit. Is that it can be left on the bike and theres no complex dressing\undressing when we stop.

My next plan is to make a rain\sun cover. I have one for my vaude backpack child carrier that i plan to re-use.

Thanks to longwalkonthegreen for the inspiration to customise the bike seat. Will some bike manufacturer please sack their design teams and just employ this guy?