Calling on other cargo bikerists that transport kids around for ideas…

The little one is currently enjoying being carted around in a seat in the front of our cargo bike (Rodford long-john style) and at the moment the weather is pretty forgiving but trying to plan for later in the year.

I know there are rain tents for Babboe and others that you can buy but they seem quite specific to the bikes they’re intended for and too expensive to take a punt on in the hope of modifying them to fit.

Has anyone done a DIY solution? thinking something with tent poles and a canopy (made of what?) might be possible but looking for inspiration!

On the other hand I’m not sure it’s totally necessary to have a full tent at all, I could just stick him in a waterproof puddle-suit and make have a small wind/rain deflector type thing at the front or a half tent maybe?

Inspire me!

I stuck my twins in puddle suits on the Yuba Mundo.
I also made little rain visors (think motorbike style) for the front of their helmets. Just some coke bottle platic gaffer taped on, to keep the rain out of their eyes.
To be fair, they really didn’t like it, and were always trying to move them away.

I had a Bakfiets when my kids were younger, with the rain canopy shown here (not my photo):

It is a really well thought out design, keeping passengers completely dry even in heavy rain, and has a loose rear flap you can roll up to allow plenty of ventilation. It’s a lot nicer than sitting in a downpour for young kids, and can be popped up in seconds if the rain starts.

The canopy is based around flexible plastic rods, running along the spine and forming a hoop at the rear. You simply pop the rear hoop into the corners of the box and attach the front with press studs. The canopy is made of a heavy duty, vinyl coated canvas type material and thick, flexible transparent plastic. It folds flat, so you can easily lash it to the side of the box when not in use.

As you say, it might be difficult to adapt unless your cargo box has similar dimensions, because it is the tension from being clipped tightly around the box that makes everything stand up and gives the canopy its shape. You might be lucky, and there are long and short wheelbase versions of the Bakfiets, so there are a couple of different canopy sizes to choose from. If you were going to try and make your own version, I’m guessing that sailing/boating suppliers might provide that sort of material, but it wouldn’t be easy to put together without an industrial sewing machine.