Hi,

As above!

Today he stood up unexpectedly, i almost took a chunk out of my tongue.

Saturday I ducked for a branch as he stood up for a bump. Proper head rattle moment.

And so on for the last few rides.

Should I be moving the seat forward, back or what?

It’s amazing fun, I’m worried about my teeth and his head!

Suggestions welcome

You’ll get used to it.

I remember it well.

Where was he born?
Glasgow?

😂😁 he’s noo wedigie bam likes, Pal!

Despite sticking the heid on me, he was born in England and will probably sound as received pronunciation as his Mum!

The most threatening thing that’s ever been said to me was out side a chippy in Glasgow. “Are ye alright, PAL?” I made my excuses and left at pace🙂

My nearly three year old does pretty much the same to me, though lately she has taken to standing up about 90% of the time we’re out which is “fun”. I seem to have mostly adapted by just tending to lean to one side when she’s riding with me now so she has room to stand up and I’ve got somewhere to put my head. Not ideal riding posture but we’re not normally going over anything too demanding and if I ask nicely she’ll normally sit down if needed for something.

I have also found that if I drop my saddle quite a bit this tends to help the issue as I’m sitting further back and behind her but my knees don’t like me doing this for too long.

It’ll only get worse as he grows taller!

He is essentially learning the attack/ready/standing up riding position and all that comes with it, so definitely a bonus.

For me, it’s about predicting when the wee one will stand up and getting out the way. I did try moving the mac ride forward but it only really put her in an awkward shape.

You’ll get used to it. I’ve been chinned a few times by my kids (less so on a hired Ebike that had a much longer Reach). I came to the conclusion that I probably should be going a little slower over the pumps and jumps with them onboard 🤦🏼‍♂️

I think Shotgun is worse than MacRide for this due to higher stack height. Have any friends got a MacRide you could borrow to see if that resolves it?

I found a shorter stem and more spacers under it helped slightly… High rise bars where they would hold the lower part and not the shotgun handlebars is another idea I had but she had outgrown it by then and it was the turn of her little sister to get about on it

Obviously a bit of a pain if its your main bike.

I think Shotgun is worse than MacRide for this due to higher stack height. Have any friends got a MacRide you could borrow to see if that resolves it?

One of the key points of the MacRide is the low ‘stack’ height of the saddle. The Shotgun seats – both the original and the pro one – have a normal-style saddle with rails etc, and by nature adds a significant bit of height.

But yeah, you’ll still get the occasional Glesga kiss no matter what. More upright riding position (for the adult) helped me – changing my hardtail from a medium 26er with short reach to an XL 29er with 510mm reach made things worse for me in that aspect, but it meant I could pedal more easily without a John Wayne pedalling stance.

Full face helmet? And if you’re feeling generous – some padding on the bottom of the chin bar to make it softer for the little one :).

Follow me tandem? Just got one of these and it’s blooming brilliant. Weighs a ton Mind but you can attach and detach their bike at leisure. I’ve not ridden anything massively gnarley but will do fairly uneven rooty terrain – they can even help you by pedalling when they feel like it or hinder if they want too (brakes)!

It does make you very long though which can be tricky when crossing roads and we can’t use islands in the middle as the littleun is overhanging into road if you stop!

Not quite the same thing as the shot gun seat I know. The other thing for the Mac Ride is you can move the seat forward/back easily and also lengthen the foot resets so when they stand up they aren’t so high.

Thanks for the suggestions! It is great fun riding with him, but my teeth still hurt from yesterday’s chinning.

It’s not my main bike. It has a super long steerer tube I’ve never got round to cutting down and 50mm riser bars. He’s probably tall enough to hold the bars, but he’s now got the idea of brakes and has been poking at the gear shifter.

It’s got a ,480mm reach and a 70mm stem. The other hardtail has a 530 reach and 35mm stem. I’m not sure that would make much difference, it might be worth a try.

The bike has a dropper. I’ve been clattered with the seat up and down.

The saddle is all the way forward as it keeps my knees happy on long rides. There aren’t any long rides with the wee one on board, perhaps putting that back will help.

I’ve got a full face, I think he’d just smack the chin bar up in the process of chinning me!

The follow me tandem is on the list for when he migrates to a pedal bike when he gets a bit bigger. I’m not convinced it is a super idea with his current balance bike.