My 7 year lad currently has a 6 speed gripshift set up which even I struggle to change gear with, and he really struggles. Can anyone recommend me a set up I can fit for him? I'm thinking a road rear mech shortcage with some kind of rapid fire front shifter... help!
Stick a seven-speed cassette/freewheel on there and use a standard MTB mech and shifter? I'm sure you can pick up Alivio (or Tourney) stuff quite cheap secondhand or new. That's what I've done on my lad's 20 inch bike and while the mech hangs quite low, it hasn't caused any real problems and he's had no trouble with shifting.
+1 for the 7spd MTB shifter/mech combo. Renovated an old Trek 24" frame for my youngest with Alivio shifters and mech, replacing the sticky old GripShift which was on there (and which I also struggled to change on).
Smooth shifting since then, front and rear. All cheap to buy and easy to set up too.
I've recently swiched my 6 year old's Isla bike from gripshift to trigger shifters, he thinks it's great, and he actualy changes the gears properly now.
Yeah looking at the tourney 6 and 7 speed shifters, I think I'll try that first and then go for the whole 7 speed upgrade if it doesn't work.
my kids found going from cehap grip shift to even the most basic trigger a big improvement.
Also worth looking at the cables. Replaced inner and outer on a couple of bikes with cheap grip shift and it makes a world of difference.