Riding Shotgun!
Review of the Shotgun Kids Mountain Bike Seat
by Kevin Pinkerton
All in all it took me 20 mins to assemble, now that I know what I’m doing I don’t think it would take as long next time, it’s really quite simple. It is really well made and when secured to the bike feels totally safe, and looks good too.
My little boy Spencer turns 5 in June, so I think he is almost too big for the shotgun seat already. I have been using a tag a long bike over the last year and he loves that, the only issue is, my heart is in my mouth when I take him on longer rides as I can’t see what he’s doing. It’s also quite difficult to talk to him when using the tag along.
The key difference for me with the shotgun seat is that we were chatting the whole time and I wasn’t worried if he was okay, as he was right in front of me.
Initially it took a bit of getting used to, as the saddle from the shotgun did hit my thighs in my normal riding position and I couldn’t adjust it to avoid this. Despite that, this wasn’t really an issue as I soon got used to pedaling with my legs a little wider than normal.
There didn’t seem to be any balance issues, which there are with the tag along and it did feel like I was in much more control and therefore it felt safer.
I can see this being very useful when going on holiday in the UK. The tag along is a bit too difficult to pack and it doesn’t fit on a bike roof rack. The shotgun could be left attached to the bike and would easily fit on the roof carrier without taking up luggage space.
All in all I was really impressed with the shotgun seat and would recommend this, especially for kids from age 2-4.
I wouldn’t say it would replace Spencer’s tag along bike, however, If I had known about it last year, I would definitely have used it instead of the tag along. The good news is Spencer has a little brother who is 1 in April, I’m sure this is something I will use with him as soon as he is big enough to hold on (which I’m sure he will be before 2 years old).
https://www.thebikebarn.co.uk/product-page/shotgun-2-5yr-old-front-mounted-mtb-seat-black