There are a number of options on the market to enable you to bring your kids with you on a bike ride. Most of these options are a more passive experience for the child, be it a trailer or a rear mounted seat. The MacRide seat turns this idea on its head and creates a new experience for both you and your miniature bike passenger. As an avid mountain biker, I saw the MacRide pop-up in the mountain bike community when it was a kick-starter product. Once our first daughter was two, it was something I knew would be a great piece of gear for our family, and Karen bought one for me for my birthday. Here’s a summary of my thoughts and experience with the product:
Seamless integration with your bike for endless smiles
Via @macridemore
The MacRide is designed to easily and seamlessly attach to your mountain bike, creating a saddle style seat above your top-tube for a child to sit on and hold the inner part of the handle bars as you ride. The unit costs $199 on their site. In the realm of child toys, this is expensive, but in the world of bike parts it’s relatively low-priced. I’d argue the value here over any other toy for an under-five-year-old is unmatched. This bike accessory has three great assets: 1) It’s easily and quickly attached or removed from your mountain bike and works well with high-end modern bikes (where other child-accessories fall flat). 2) It creates a fantastic interactive riding experience for both the child and the rider. 3) It’s a simple piece of gear, yet allows for years of progression and development for the child. More on each of these points below.
MacRide Installation
The MacRide is designed to secure to your bikes in two spots: at the headset and at the seatpost. Simply replace one or two headset spacers with the special mounting spacer included with the seat, and the bike is ready to have the MacRide attached. The spacer can stay installed on the bike and has zero effect on performance or comfort during normal use. The rear of the seat has a simple and quick clamp that goes around the seat post and is dropper-post compatible. Once the spacer is installed, the MacRide seat is attached or removed from the bike in under 30 seconds. It’s small and quite pack-able when folded up. The MacRide doesn’t touch the bike anywhere else, and won’t scratch or create wear spots on the bike. It’s a rather flawless design. The MacRide has a saddle-style seat and two stirrup style foot holds. The child is not strapped in other than by the foot straps. They simply sit, hold the handlebars and they’re ready to ride.
Zoe’s first ride at 2 years old.
MacRide Use
Using the MacRide for a child is intuitive. If the child can sit and hold themselves stable, they’re generally ready to go for a ride. Zoe was freshly two years old when we started using it together, and she took to it like a duck to water. I figured we would have to start small and in increments but before long we were going for extended rides down our street and on mellow double track. It’s quite natural and intuitive for kids. Zoe did require some coaching at certain times. Mostly she needed to be reminded to hold on. She would get comfortable sitting and just lift her hands off the bars, presumably because of hand fatigue. The fun factor for her was instant and off the charts. She loved the leaning of the bike, the bumps, coasting downhill and how funny it was when daddy had to pedal uphill. She progressed quickly. After a few rides, I could feel her lean into the turns and try to take over the direction of the bars. She even liked to reach all the way out on the bars and try to use the brake levers or the shifter because she saw me doing it all the time. The most surprising thing for me was how long Zoe would ride. I figured we would be good for 15 minute pedals, but by the end of the summer we were regularly going on hour long trail rides on single track. Our longest ride length was 7 miles. Roots, rocks, off-camber sections, downhill sections… if you can ride it then it’s likely your child can ride it with you (within reason of course). By the fall I even tried with Layla who was only 12 months old at the time! She also took right to it and had a cheese smile ear to ear as we pedaled around the lawn.
Layla riding at 12 Months!
One critique I have is that because the child is seated in between your legs you have to pedal somewhat bowlegged with your knees out. This is fine and manageable for the most part, but can grow tiresome on an extended climb or lengthy ride.
MacRide Progression
It’s great having the child in between your legs for a numbers of reason. First, they can communicate with you the entire time. “Go faster! More bumps! Can we go over there?”. Second, it allows you to be a safety net for the child. You can easily grab them if they start slipping one way or another and you have a great sense of how they’re doing physically because you’re practically connected. The MacRide allows the child to determine much of an active participant they are. They can take a more passive approach and simply sit and ride along with you, or as they get more comfortable they can lean and even stand and absorb bumps. Zoe will be three this summer, and I’m really looking forward to see how much she enjoys riding on the MacRide and how much her riding progresses. The stirrups have the ability to extend so the seat will fit a variety of sizes of children but it can grow with your child over time (or be used for multiple kids, as with us). Many years of fun family bike rides are down the trail.
Bottom line: Get a MacRide and get outside on your bike with your kid!
Quality time together outside. What’s better?