Kidsrideshotgun - any good??
Discussion
Would love to take my 2.5 year old daughter out for rides as soon as I can, but she's to young to ride a bike obviously, so thought the below looks a good way to take her out, and hopefully fall in love with cycling like me! Plus seen a few other dads with these on their MTB's, but not had chance to ask how they got on with them
https://kidsrideshotgun.co.uk/products/shotgun-kid...
Anyone had / have one, and any advice?
Only thing I would be worried about is if she might topple off as you seem to sit quite high?
https://kidsrideshotgun.co.uk/products/shotgun-kid...
Anyone had / have one, and any advice?
Only thing I would be worried about is if she might topple off as you seem to sit quite high?
I just had an Evo pro arrive today, for my 8 month old. First short outing will be tomorrow.
Quality seems good, certainly with the bucket seat (which you shouldn't need) the cockpit is restricted. You certainly won't be hooning down trails, but doing more leisurely rides.
The Evo pro is great in terms of being able to get it mounted, once the headset spacer is in, takes about 30 seconds to mount.
However I have had to raise the stem on my mondraker eeb, due to the hateful headset routed cables and super short stem.
Zero change to stem height on my analogue norco.
The standard shotgun I would be a bit concerned about damage to the frame, and if you have a carbon frame consider it a no go.
As I say the pro can be mounted in about 30 seconds, which is ideal.
Quality seems good, certainly with the bucket seat (which you shouldn't need) the cockpit is restricted. You certainly won't be hooning down trails, but doing more leisurely rides.
The Evo pro is great in terms of being able to get it mounted, once the headset spacer is in, takes about 30 seconds to mount.
However I have had to raise the stem on my mondraker eeb, due to the hateful headset routed cables and super short stem.
Zero change to stem height on my analogue norco.
The standard shotgun I would be a bit concerned about damage to the frame, and if you have a carbon frame consider it a no go.
As I say the pro can be mounted in about 30 seconds, which is ideal.
Edited by Cats_pyjamas on Tuesday 23 September 16:39
I used one... or three with my now 5yr old. One was a genuine Shotgun bought used for £20, the others were Amazon esque non branded also bought used. I couldn't see any difference between the three examples. I concluded the mark up on a new Shotgun must be mental.
My little girl coped fine. The toe straps aren't tight, which is what you want and assuming they can hold on and not try and throw themselves off, then it's pretty secure more so as you're pretty much cuddling them. Granted I wouldn't want to crash with my kid on the cross bar.
No damaged to bikes but if you're paranoid, wrap some tape round any venerable areas / contact points.
My little girl coped fine. The toe straps aren't tight, which is what you want and assuming they can hold on and not try and throw themselves off, then it's pretty secure more so as you're pretty much cuddling them. Granted I wouldn't want to crash with my kid on the cross bar.
No damaged to bikes but if you're paranoid, wrap some tape round any venerable areas / contact points.
We ve used one for my son. He s now four, five early next year, and I d say he s getting too big for it now.
Used it from around 2-2.5 and he was fine, built it up slowly so did lots of local rides then but more off road. Never done anything more than a blue trail center route with him though and always take it steady.
Fitting can be a bit of a pain, no matter how well you follow the instructions I always ended up with some play that needed adjustment mid ride on longer or bumpier routes. Also fitted to my new bike and it slipped and the fixing bolt below the down tube ended up rubbing putting a nice gouge in my new frame!
There are lots of newer designs from shotgun though which suit more modern frame geometry and designs better. It worked best on my older whyte with a pretty horizontal top tube, my new one has a very sloped top tube and it doesn t really fit and doubt I will attempt it again. But it s been great til then and he s know fully into biking largely because of it, he always hated being sat on the traditional rear seats.
He s always been fairly stable, the way you sit your arms also end up round them in some form so can tell if they start to wobble. We had the handlebars but found them almost impossible to fit without rotating, and ended up stripping the fixing thread so most of the time my son has just held on to the centre area of my bars. Wrapped a bit of bar tape round there to make it less cold and more grippy for him.
If possible take your bike to where you are going to buy it from to do a trial fit, or get one with easy returns.
Oh and just watch out - once your child works out where the gear trigger is they will startt playing with it, much to their hilarity, iusually just as you are going up hill!,
Used it from around 2-2.5 and he was fine, built it up slowly so did lots of local rides then but more off road. Never done anything more than a blue trail center route with him though and always take it steady.
Fitting can be a bit of a pain, no matter how well you follow the instructions I always ended up with some play that needed adjustment mid ride on longer or bumpier routes. Also fitted to my new bike and it slipped and the fixing bolt below the down tube ended up rubbing putting a nice gouge in my new frame!
There are lots of newer designs from shotgun though which suit more modern frame geometry and designs better. It worked best on my older whyte with a pretty horizontal top tube, my new one has a very sloped top tube and it doesn t really fit and doubt I will attempt it again. But it s been great til then and he s know fully into biking largely because of it, he always hated being sat on the traditional rear seats.
He s always been fairly stable, the way you sit your arms also end up round them in some form so can tell if they start to wobble. We had the handlebars but found them almost impossible to fit without rotating, and ended up stripping the fixing thread so most of the time my son has just held on to the centre area of my bars. Wrapped a bit of bar tape round there to make it less cold and more grippy for him.
If possible take your bike to where you are going to buy it from to do a trial fit, or get one with easy returns.
Oh and just watch out - once your child works out where the gear trigger is they will startt playing with it, much to their hilarity, iusually just as you are going up hill!,
Edited by designndrive62 on Tuesday 23 September 22:20
They are very good in my experience. Whilst they only have a life span of 2-c4.5yrs, they do seem to give kids a good understanding of what it feels like to ride/steer.
I used one on a carbon road bike for short journeys. It was the version with a bar between the seat post and stem which the seat and paddles mount to. It’s easy to remove an put in a backpack after drop offs.
I used one on a carbon road bike for short journeys. It was the version with a bar between the seat post and stem which the seat and paddles mount to. It’s easy to remove an put in a backpack after drop offs.
I had a mac-ride which I believe was the original idea. absolutely brilliant bit of kit. This was on child no.2 after no.1 had used a trailer, and a bulky looking seat up front. The Mac ride meant we could both enjoy the ride and they're safe as long as you are. Much easier to get on and off too.
First little outing this morning, yes the weight distribution changes, we just bumbled around the woods and nearby field. A dropper post does make it easier to mount the bike and change your riding position. It's much more comfy to ride with the post fully up.
I would consider getting the version mounted on it's own bar, either Mac ride or shotgun. Very easy to install and remove - doesn't touch the frame.
I would personally look at second hand, the only reason I bought new was because the Evo pro (bucket seat one), only got released in the past week or so!
I would consider getting the version mounted on it's own bar, either Mac ride or shotgun. Very easy to install and remove - doesn't touch the frame.
I would personally look at second hand, the only reason I bought new was because the Evo pro (bucket seat one), only got released in the past week or so!
I used the Pro version of the Shotgun. Dead easy to fit and swap between bikes and it doesn’t touch the frame anywhere so you don t have to worry about paint damage. The young un loved it but he’s sadly outgrown it now.
Essential sticker:
Essential sticker:
Edited by demic on Wednesday 24th September 12:39
I've used Mac-ride on a full suspension Whyte e-bike with my daughter since she was about 3.5, currently 5.5 and I suspect that by next summer she'll be too tall. The combination of electric assistance and 160mm travel both ends mean there's very few trails I'd want to ride with her that it can't manage.
I can't recommend it enough, it's comfortably the best thing we do together and she enjoys it just as much as me. I think it was also pretty helpful in getting her riding her own bike solo, not only in terms of balance but also she could practice modulating brakes on it.
I can't recommend it enough, it's comfortably the best thing we do together and she enjoys it just as much as me. I think it was also pretty helpful in getting her riding her own bike solo, not only in terms of balance but also she could practice modulating brakes on it.
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