Say hello to the Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero. The Kiwi company has launched Magura-equipped, off-road balance bike that can be fitted with 12in or 14in wheels. Looks rad!

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By ben_haworth

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Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero off-road balance bike

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Not sure a disk brake is the sensible choice for a very young kids bike, sliced/chopped fingers, burns etc

Not sure a disk brake is the sensible choice for a very young kids bike, sliced/chopped fingers, burns etc

The middle section is shrouded so you cant poke things like fingers through, and there’s a pretty slim chance these’ll be ridden in a manner that would generate that much heat

And it’s optional too! You can start them without it and once they’re ready, can put it back on!

Is it for the kid, or for the parents to be seen with the kid?

rim brakes on kids bikes are pretty rubbish. little, weak hands, not much lever throw, small rims so less leverage/moment. Discs might look like overkill, but there’s much more of an advantage over rim brakes for little hands on little wheels.

If your little one can stop better or just as well by dragging their feet, they’re going to rely on them, want to keep their feet on the ground more of the time which is going to hold back proper riding position until they’ve got real confidence in their brakes.

@harry_the_spider

Very much the latter! 🤣

Given that the 14 inch wheeled IslaBike is over a kg lighter the weight is the real deal breaker. Every parent knows that you will end up carrying the thing or balancing it on a pushchair a lot so lighter is worth much more to most of us.
The fact that on offer the Isla is less than half the price will certainly help too!
Does look the business though.

We moved to a 14 Isla, took the pedals off & zip tied the crank to the chainstay for a month till they’d got the hang of the bigger bike then worked on pedaling.