OFF-ROAD CHILD SEATS
A lot of fun can be had on this style of seat which we coined "off road child seats." All of them share the principle of placing the child in front of you, allowing them to balance and anticipate terrain ahead. Leg stirrups or foot pegs allow the child to stand-up and absorb bumps and roots making for a very interactive ride. Restraint straps are not integrated. The thought is you want to get yourself and child way from the bike in the event of an accident. This makes intuitive sense to mountain bikers as they will always say its best to get as far away from the bike as possible if you were to come off. Of note, there currently are no safety standards for front mounted seats. The biggest risk with theses seats in our opinion is a foot being jammed in the front wheel or being wedged in between fork crown and tire. For this reason, we adopted a velcro strap for the tyke toter as it does not offer anything to secure little feet to the foot rest. While we call them off-road seats, they work equally as well on hyrbrid bikes for neighborhood jaunts.
Do Little
A sturdy and great value seat from New Zealand. Although you give up the stirrup adjustments and easy on/off of the mac ride and Shotgun... you do get a robust and comfortable seat with good weight distribution due to the frame mount (lighter steering than a headset mounted seat). The child also sits lower with slopey down tubes which we make a nice ride feel. You can fit the biggie version of seat to most ebike and the regular seat works great as a set and forget seat for hybrid bikes to cruise the neighborhood.
Ages: 2-7 | Max weight: 61 lbs | MSRP: $85-119 USD | Where to buy: Amazon
Mac Ride
This style of seat is loads of fun. A well thought out design allowing for very easy on/off and switching between bikes once a headset spacer is mounted, this seat will even accommodate dropper posts on a mountain bike but you will need to make some space under post collar. The angle of seat does not adjust like the shotgun pro so it can get a nose up riding position depending on the differential between your forward and aft mounting positions (seat post vs stem height). That said, the seat is lower profile so nice for shorter adults to see over kiddo and the concave seat really does keep them them from moving around. Nice telescoping foot stirrups with securing foot straps. We like this seat with carbon bikes as it does not touch the frame at all. Bonus, you can get an e-mtb adapter! OUR FULL REVIEW | OUR INSTALL VIDEO
Ages: 2-6 | Max weight: 60 lbs | MSRP: $229 USD | Where to buy: Mac Ride | Amazon
Shotgun Pro Kids Seat
The newest seat from Kids Ride Shotgun is fantastic. This seat takes the same no contact mounting as the Mac Ride and LOCT seat. Where this seat is different is: ebike compatible out of the box and has adjustable angle of the seat. It does sit a little higher (2-3 inches) than the Mac Ride but that angle adjustment is really nice when you have a super short seat tube and higher stack. Great quick release adjustments including leg length. OUR FULL REVIEW HERE
Ages: 2-5 | Max weight: 60 lbs | MSRP: $275 USD | Where to buy: Kids Ride Shotgun
Shotgun Kids Seat
A great little seat from New Zealand with nice weight distribution making light steering, the ability to level the seat due to angular adjustment and the seat to use if you can't fit the 10mm spacer under your stem as with the Shotgun Pro or Mac Ride. The first install takes a few minutes of fiddling but once on the seat offers a nice mount to MTB frames. The manufacturer does state it is carbon frame compatible. The seat comes with integrated foot straps which we love as it prevents kiddos foot from jamming between fork crown and tire. You can also purchase a riser bar attachment for the kiddos. OUR FULL REVIEW HERE
Ages: 2-5 | Max weight: 48 lbs | MSRP: $150 USD $196 CDN | Riser Bar: $33 USD | Where to buy: Kids Ride Shotgun | Amazon | Jenson USA | Amazon Canada | MEC Canada
Tyke Toter
Not intended for off road or use with a MTB dropper post, this little seat is still really fun on light trails with a conventional seat post bike. Please note the foot rest does not have anything to secure the kids feet which can lead to a catastrophic foot in the front wheel accident. We ALWAYS use a velcro strap to secure the wee ones feet to the foot rest. Our first look here.
Ages: 2-5 | Max weight: 45 lbs | MSRP: $115 USD | Where to buy: Amazon
LOCT
We have not tried this seat but it looks attractive. It pre-dates the Mac Ride and seems to be produced in limited quantities. Fit looks good for any bike with a seat tube of 31.6 or smaller and a regular A headset. There is plenty of movement forward and aft for the seat in addition to plenty of adjustment for the foot stirrup lengths. The one drawback compared to the mac ride is the inability to remove the seat easily. You will have remove your stem every time you want to put the seat on or pull it off.
Ages: 2-6 | Max weight: 60 lbs | MSRP: $170 GPB | Where to buy: LOCT
Thanks for all your advice guys. I ended up getting a Yepp Front Mini for my 29er MTB (large frame size). I needed the Ahead Stem adapter for this (this only comes with the Yepp version, not the newer Thule version). The seat is good and fits my 14 month year old nicely. It has a proper seat and harnesses. The leg extensions just – to 1mm – fit to the tops of the forks. And his legs fit under the bars and cables etc just about ok. I am 180cm so can reach round my 80cm boy to the wide bars. I can’t stand up to pedal though as his head gets in the way – some step ascents (off road) prove impossible! This seat is only rated to 15Kg so I probably will only be able to use it up until he’s 2/2.5yrs. I recommend it but make sure you can easily return one as the tolerances are so very tight.
I wanted to see if I could get a quick opinion on a couple front mounted kids seats. I have a 2020 specialized stumpjumper and was looking at getting the iBert seat or the Thule nexxt mini. I wasn’t sure what would even fit on the headset. If you have other options for a almost 2 y/o girl who is around 26 pounds I would like to hear those as well. Thank you!
She is two, I would suggest going straight to a mac ride or shotgun seat.
Totally agree, we got the Shotgun for my son’s 2nd Bday. It’s been totally fun. Have also used the ibert and the Yepp Mini (old version of the thule basically) but really not great for the trail. I like them better for long city commute type biking because my son used to fall asleep in the seat all the time… but that doesn’t happen on the trail
Do you have to tilt the bike over to set your foot down? Or do you pretty much have to run a dropper post?
No need to run a dropper post…but a low stand over or step thru frame (frame mounted seats) makes it easier to get on/off
Which of these seats is suitable for carbon frames?
Do Little, Shotgun and Mac Ride all state they are safe for Caron frames. The Mac Ride is the only seat that does not touch the frame at all.
Any sense of comparison with these? I want to take my little guy along light mtb with his 6yo sister. Any reason not to go with the Do little or shotgun over the macride since they are les $$? My mountain bike is not high end, so I’m not overly protective of it.
They are all fun! The Mac Ride is easiest on/off once spacer is installed and the seat doesn’t touch your frame which is nice if you have a fancy bike.. We like the ride feel of the shotgun and do little as the weight distribution because of frame mount is good for steering feel. Of these two seats, the Shotgun has more adjust-ability and quicker on/off.
Do they All have the CE mark?
Nope, none of them do. It’s up to you.