The Mac Ride kid’s seat was a true Kickstarter success story, the first seat that really opened up the potential for enjoyable trail-riding with your toddler. The innovative design can now be upgraded for use with an eMTB, improving the versatility and fun.
For an overview of the test fleet head to the group test: The Best Mountain Bike Child Seats in Review – a Guide to Kid’s MTB Seats
Age range 2-5 years or 27 kg
Weight 2.4 kg
Price €230
Fitting Requires a minimum of 25 mm of space under you stem
When the design of the Mac Ride was first sketched out, we hope the designer gave themself a crisp high-five. The design is ingenious; rather than attempt to integrate with the frame tubes, the Mac Ride floats above the top tube on a telescopic arm that bridges from the steerer tube to the dropper (or seat) post. This means that the Mac Ride is able to integrate with odd frame shapes and wider frame tubes. When first installing the Mac Ride you need to fit a channelled ‘fit and forget’ spacer on your steerer tube below the stem, so you will need around 25 mm of space under your stem.
Once the spacer is fitted, the Mac Ride clamps around this spacer and also to the seat post (below the dropper collar) using tool-free quick-release clamps. Once the spacer is on, it takes just seconds to install and remove the Mac Ride and leaves no trace on your bike after removal (with the exception of the low profile spacer). The Mac Ride folds down to a size that is portable in a rucksack if your toddler wants to have a spin on their own balance bike. Extra spacers can be purchased (two are provided) for different bikes allowing the seat to be quickly moved between bikes mid-ride to share parenting duties, making everyone’s ride more fun!
On the trail, the silicone seat is comfortable, tough and slim enough to maximise knee room, though is not quite a low-profile as the Shotgun child’s seat. We liked the scooped design of the seat, which holds your child more securely in position and gives support on steep climbs. Once on, and with their feet in the soft adjustable silicone straps, our mini-testers loved it. The seating position is naturally very secure and they never felt precarious, even when they took their hands off the bars to wave enthusiastically at passing riders. Anyone used to fixed plastic seats will find trail riding with a Mac Ride a revelation. The Mac Ride encourages a safe, dynamic riding position, teaching your child to lean into turns, stand up in the saddle and use their arms to absorb shocks, all bike riding basics. All this fun means that your kid will tire quicker at the beginning, especially on bumpy terrain but they will love every second – and so will you!
The only negative with the design is that if your kid has a meltdown and doesn’t want to be in the seat, or falls asleep, there are no straps to keep them on there, so you’re walking. The seat comes with foam grips that can be attached to your own bar, but it does mean removing the controls to fit. We found a pairing with the Shotgun Handlebar (click for review) was the ultimate solution. For those with eMTBs, Mac Ride now offers a €40 Mac Ride e-Bike Adapter that opens up the gap between the legs to accommodate frame tubes up to 90 mm wide (60 mm as standard). We found that Mac Ride fitted 99% of the bikes we tried, the only slight fitting issues we found was a bike with a tall stack and very low seat tube with a 200 mm dropper, this left the Mac Ride sloping downwards a little, but the scooped seat still made the seat usable. On every other bike, the Mac Ride turned it into a riotous fun machine, allowing us to share amazing trails with our most precious co-pilots
Conclusion
The Mac Ride is the perfect way to introduce your toddler to fun trail riding, helping you build some amazing memories. Quick to change between bikes and leaving no trace when removed, the Mac Ride is expensive, but when it comes to family fun it’s worth its weight in gold, taking our Best In Test.
Tops
- Very easy to fit and remove (once spacer has been installed)
- Secure and stable
- Works with eMTB
- Teaches your child essential riding skills
Flops
- Expensive (but worth it)
- To install hand grips you need to remove controls on your handlebar
For more information head to uk.mac-ride.com
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