Took our (nearly) 8 year old out to Ruapuna for the Chch round of Grid Kids (http://www.gridkids.co.nz and his first event. Not so flash on the run, but passed many and was un-passed on the bike (1 lap of the circuit). Pretty stoked to be able to ride around on the race track. Then they got to stand out on the grid when the V8's came out as well. A good event and a couple of adult tickets to the racing included. If you're anywhere near Invercargill, Timaru, Manfield or Taupo next year once the series resumes, it's well worth getting your kids to give it a go.

Racing was pretty good, particularly the Historic Touring cars, Bastos SD1, Walkinshaw XJ-S, 635's, M3's, Cossie Sierras etc. And we got home well before the weather clagged out again.

Nice wonder how the young ones would go around Hampton Down if they do something like that.

phunk wrote:

thorg wrote:

ThingOne wrote:Anyone discussed Buggy Tyres yet?. Tubeless or Tube?, Freeride or DH etc?

ettiquite of bottles vs. camelback?

btw - before you ask - NO, I am NOT a dad!

Yet

Actually we are finding the 500ml Camelbak bottle fantastic as a water bottle for Lily - doesn't leak like heaps of the kids bottles, no lid to mess with/lose, on sale at Bivouac they are cheaper than some of the kids bottles and it means she'll seamlessly transition to drinking from my Camelbak when we ride.

We're on a roll! He's going to do the kids criterium (5-7) on Sunday. The slicks I ordered from T7 last week turned up on Monday, so they're all fitted and deemed to be "much faster".

Needs a bigger bike looking at the photo. Though I'm not the best at bike fits

My daughter had a great ride in the "mini Bays" today. Found this memory stick on the ground and then by the time I looked up 10kids had got in front of me between my daughter. Anyway took awhile to catch her up and I see her pedalling furiously in this tiny gear Gave her a few tips on gear selection and she was away. Passed heaps of kids on her 2 laps starting quite a bit back, and ended up coming 6th in the girls and 19th out of 90kids! She was pretty buggered at the end but had a great time

Datsane wrote:Needs a bigger bike looking at the photo. Though I'm not the best at bike fits

Yes, have had that thought recently. Unfortunately for him, his birthday (next week) and Xmas presents are all sorted, so he'll just have to pretend he's riding a mini-bike

Longer axle to crown forks, a smaller front wheel and you can tell him its a chopper.

He had a good ride at the kids criterium yesterday. Good to see that the school system hasn't completely knocked the "it's not about the winning" out of him. There were 4-5 of them at the front going for it. Would have been a great race if they hadn't had to stop for the tram & pedestrians on the back straight on the last lap! He got beaten by a friend of his "but he's on a bigger bike with 21 gears". Was good to watch.

com'n dad, It's not about the bike
My lad won a hilly 1 hr+ MTB race on a 20" stock standard BMX with all his competition on full blown mtb's

I know it's not about his bike, but it is quite often all about my bikes

I picked up the boys first proper bike (well half bike). Wont be till late next year that Chris will be able to ride it on track, once I've given it the once over it will be practise on the back lawn

We need to try for another "Kids and Skids day at Vegas" maybe I'll make it to this one

cruiser wrote:com'n dad, It's not about the bike
My lad won a hilly 1 hr+ MTB race on a 20" stock standard BMX with all his competition on full blown mtb's

Eden would've won if he had square wheels, he's just special (are you sure he's your son? Are you sure you didn't find him in a space capsule with a note from someone called Jor-El?)

I know Lance said it's not about the bike, but when someone swiped his $10,000 Trek it WAS all about the bike!!

So what are the best kid's seats to buy to go on a MTB? The ones that sit in front or the ones that sit behind? (and why?).

Any other general thoughts or advice about them? I'm thinking of getting one for my two-year-old for Christmas. I figure he is still too young for a proper bike.

UnimatrixZero wrote:So what are the best kid's seats to buy to go on a MTB? The ones that sit in front or the ones that sit behind? (and why?).

I think the front seats are better because (1) the child's weight is closer to the bike's centre of mass so they affect the handling much less than putting lots of weight over the rear wheel - I could easily take Marti up and down Koru and Snakecharmer (to the summit!!) sitting in front of me; and (2) they get a great view of where they are going - unless your kid wants to be an astronomer, they won't enjoy staring at Uranus for hours!

Various options I've tried: