If you have been shopping for a kids bike seat, you have probably come across the “Kids Ride Shotgun” bike seat. This company spends a massive amount of money advertising online as seen by the barrage of ads for the company you will see on Google and Facebook weeks after searching for a kids bicycle seat attachment. It is a product I followed for years waiting and watching the price to see if it drops. The Shotgun version is $150 for the seat alone or $185 for the seat plus handlebar combo.
Its not a lot of material, it is a simple fairly obvious design and similar although more bulky products already existed so it wasn’t an engineering feat that cost millions to develop. On top of that the Shotgun never really goes on sale. I think I saw $20-$30 off on a Black Friday once. There is an almost Apple smugness to the brand where they think they deserve 10x markup on their product. Its was so obvious the company was pricing themselves out of the market and knockoffs were soon to show up.
I sat through waiting for a decent price through the first kid and now she is too old, but when the second kid turned 3 I started looking for alternatives to the overpriced Shotgun Kids Bike Seat. Sure enough the Chinese knockoffs were starting to pop up at around $50 for the seat plus handlebars. Essentially there are 10 or more models of the same product all rebranded for these various Chinese resellers. I just needed to pick one and see if it was good enough for the couple years of use this needed to last.
Here are a few options – just pick one in stock at the lowest price:
I installed mine on a Cannondale Five mountain bike. It fits great and I would not know its there except my knees gently brush the edge of the seat sometimes at the top of my pedal stroke. The fit and finish feels sturdy and safe. I have seen a shotgun kids bike seat in person and the quality feels nearly the same. The only difference I noticed was the foot pegs felt a little cheaper on the knockoffs although plenty sturdy feeling still.
Ride quality for my 3 year old has been great. He loves to have his hands turning with me and after the initial “get used to it period” he started leaning into corners with me like he should. I like that I can level out my pedals and squeeze with my knees to help stabilize him when needed. He really likes that he can stand when I stand.
Setup took me 15 minutes. The instructions use photos and work well. Using a spray bottle with dish soap and water makes pushing the grips on easy as well. Below is a video of the finished installed product:
In this video a 6 year old is riding on board. She is too big – I think this seat fits a 2.5 to 5 year old best.
