Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini kids bike seat

Pre-shotgun: The most popular child seats from 9 to 24 months

If you’re raising a mountain bike kid, you’ll wanna get them onto your bike as soon as possible.

We’re obviously big fans of our shotgun seat for kids 2 years and older, but what about before 2 years – say, pre-shotgun?

Whilst there are many restrained baby seats out there for children 9-months and up, unfortunately not many are designed to fit modern, full suspension mountain bikes.

Read on to discover which restrained child seats are the most recommended by our MTB parent community, and learn what to look for to ensure compatibility with your full-sus rig.

Mum and son riding on a mountain bike together using a Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini seat

The most popular child seats from 9 to 24 months

To learn more about the world of restrained seats – we asked our community of mountain bike parents which child seat they prefer pre-shotgun, and the result was overwhelming.

Just a note: For this research, we’ve focused on front (not rear) child seats that’ll work with full suspension setups with standard 1 ⅛ MTB headsets and single crown forks.

And whilst no child seat can offer a guaranteed-fit for all modern full-suss bikes, there’s certainly one brand that seems to fit more often than others.

Whilst some parents mentioned weeride, ibert, bobike and urban ikias their fave – the vast majority mentioned the Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini as their go-to child seat from 9 to 24 months.

Kid riding in a Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini seat

About the Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini:

The Yepp has a 5 point harness with a magnetic buckle, is compact in size, and most importantly – mounts to most modern mountain bikes with a quick-release bracket attaching to spacers on the steerer.

The Yepp certainly seems to be one of the most popular options, before the transition is made to an unrestrained active participation seat, like the shotgun seat.

A Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini kids seat mounted to a Marin mountain bike

But before you pull the trigger on a stem mounted child seat like the Yepp, it pays to take a quick look at your bike to make sure it’ll fit.

3 things to check before fitting a front mounted child seat to your MTB

1. Stack height

The stem on a Marin mountain bike

Check the available space below the stem and above the headtube. Every front mounted child seat is different, but the Yepp needs 21mm of available space to mount.

2. Stem length and drop

The stem on a Marin mountain bike featuring the Thule Yepp Nexxt mini front clamp

Even if you have space available below the stem, you’ll still need to check the child seat bracket or clamp won’t be obstructed by the drop of your stem. Worst case scenario, you’ll need to swap for a longer stem with more rise.

3. Frame size and steering freedom

If you’re clear in terms of stack height and stem clearance, the last check is more to do with your physical height and the geometry of your bike. Many shorter parents with small bikes can find there isn’t enough space to position a child seat in front of them when riding. Another thing to consider when choosing a restrained child seat, is whether the steering is impacted once the seat is fitted. If in doubt, test it out.

Mum mountain biking with son on a Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini seat

Disclaimer: The info above is to help parents, but every child seat is different. Refer to the instructions supplied with the child seat in question for full fitting information.

If your bike ticks the boxes above in terms of accommodating a stem-mounted front child seat like the above, you’re in for a great time as you introduce your child to the joys of riding bikes together. Rad!

What’d we miss?

What other child seats have you found work with your full suspension bike? Drop us a note in the comments below to vote for your fave. And a special thanks to our customers who shared their setups via our Instagram account and Shred Til Bed Facebook community.

Enjoy the trails!

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2 comments

The manual says that the bracket is suitable for steering bar tubes up to 28mm. I assume that on your picture, the rubber inserts are removed from the clamp to make it fit. Any drawbacks using it that way? Or did you get a bracket with a wider hole?

Jaka

Short parent with a Thule Yepp Nexxt Mini here. We matched it with an XC negative rise stem, flipped to give extra height. Then mounted a handlebar with 16 percent backsweep. This brought the handlebars up and back, so I could sit in a much more upright position and have enough space for the seat and child in front of my chest. Finally, we didn’t mount the foot rests because they interfered with the bike steering. If necessary, the kid rests their feet on top of the fork. The seat is a big hit with my kid, and we’re planning to upgrade to a shotgun seat next season.

Mags

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