Burley Dash RM Review
When your little one wants to ride in style.
With our lives largely revolving around cycling and wanting to share that experience with Otto as much as we possibly can, we’ve slowly outfitted our garage with ways to take him on bike rides. Our latest addition is the Burley Dash RM, a rack-mounted seat, offering a different experience for both Otto and us.
Burley makes three variations of the Dash seat: the Dash FM, which comes with a bracket to mount to your frame; the Dash X FM, which mounts to your frame and offers the option to recline the seat; and the Dash RM, the one which I’ll be talking about today.
You can get just the seat or the combo that includes a seat and the rack. If you already have a rack on your bike, check the dimensions and capacity to ensure that it is sturdy enough to hold the seat and your child. As we didn’t have a rack yet, we opted for the combo that came with the rack.
The included rack is very sturdy, quite a bit sturdier than what you’d typically see on the average commuter bike that is designed to hold panniers. As with any rack that isn’t tailored to your bike, the installation is going to require some confidence with a tape measure and a hacksaw. The rack is height-adjustable without cutting anything, but the struts that connect to your seat stays will need to be measured and trimmed to fit. If you’re worried about doing this yourself, get your local bike shop to give you a hand to ensure that everything fits perfectly.
Once the rack is on your bike, mounting and removing the seat to the rack couldn’t be easier. While great for ease of use, there is no provision to lock the seat to the rack in a fashion that competitors have. I don’t believe that this is a commonly stolen item, but it is something to take note of if you’re locking your bike up in areas outside of your garage. Using the knob on the clamp, you tighten the seat onto the rack, and then it’s rock solid. Making sure the center of mass, as indicated on the seat, is as close to the rear axle as possible is critical in ensuring the bike handles as well as it can with the extra weight. As I was initially using this on my gravel bike, I didn’t nail the placement the first time, and because of that, my heels were clipping the seat at the back of my pedal stroke. Moving the seat back a bit was all it took to remedy this.
Since purchasing the Dash, we have added a Trek Fetch 2 e-cargo bike to our fleet of bikes. This bike has a very robust frame that acts as a rack, to which the seat is mounted with no issues. In fact, there is enough room to have two seats on the back of this bike.
The seating area for your little one is quite comfortable, with the seat being plastic with a padded, removable liner. I do wish that the back of the seat was vented, as on hot days, the passenger is going to get a sweaty back. The seat itself has some flex in it, which softens the jolts if you’re on a rougher trail or road. The harness is very adjustable, much more so than the ones found on competitors. This is because you can adjust the straps from the top, the side and the buckle where they all connect. Not only is this more comfortable, it is also significantly safer as you can optimize the shoulder strap location to eliminate the chance of the shoulder straps sliding off.
The stirrups, for lack of a better word, are also very adjustable, so the seat can grow with your child. The foot straps are where my biggest complaint lies with the entire setup. The rubber used for the straps is very stiff, and the method in which it attaches to the shell to keep the kids feet locked in is finicky. Using a more supple rubber with more stretch and a simple round hole on the strap would easily solve this.
One of the big reasons that I wanted to add the Dash seat to our collection of accessories that allow me to take Otto on rides where a trailer may not be the best option. A big perk of the seat is that it weighs way less than our Burley trailer and has significantly less wind drag as well. Maximizing training time on the bike means that Otto gets to tag along on many longer rides or even our club hill interval night. I’ve done rides approaching three hours, and he has had a smile on his face the entire time, as does everyone else who sees him riding with me. When Otto is in the trailer, there is a 90% chance that he’s going to fall asleep, which, as any parent reading this knows, can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the time of day.
Another big perk of having the rear seat vs the trailer is that you can have a conversation the entire time you’re riding. No birdie or puppy goes unnoticed with Otto riding behind me. He misses nothing, whereas in the trailer, he is more sheltered, which, depending on the day, can be good or bad. If there is a chance of poor weather or I need to carry a bunch of other things with him, the trailer is the right choice. The Dash is definitely the ticket if you’re looking for maximum interaction with your child. Throughout the ride, I can easily chat with Otto which is a big plus over him being 5 feet behind me, in a trailer.
If you’re looking to bring your little one along for the ride, the Dash is definitely worth picking up! You can check out a couple of our adventures with it, below.
Words and media by Nick Croken.