Shifters for kids bikes

Just wondering if anyone's got experience with what, if at all necessary, gear shifters work best on a kids bike?
Grip shift?
Rapid fire?
Thumb shifters?

Or, no gears at all.....

Our boy didn't like twist type as they were difficult to turn while riding. I see his point, but he managed. I thought about swapping in an old set of rapid fire as I thought that would be easier but never got around to it.
I think all of the kids bikes we looked at with gears used twisty shifters so it must be a good idea!

Re:

^^^^ or possibly cost? Im betting there is not a huge demand for full xtr equiped bike for 5 year olds that are outgrown in a couple of years.

Re:

The SRAM 3.0 Comp (and sram mech) work really nicely (aged 7+ islabike).

If you want Shimano the long Attack SRAM shifter and a 737 are really easy to turn and use.


Younger may find gripshift harder but then my son didn't mind on his 20L Islabike either.
younger than that and just don't bother with any.

If going rapid fire, don't use the old one like m900 as they are crap compared to say 750's but then throw on a shift is probably to long on either of these.

Look for the Touring/Commuting/Ebike style push puch button that shimano make.

Of course the SRAM X3 trigger may work for your kid. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sram ... -prod41153

(I don't rate the X3 rear mech though, it's stiffer than it should be and seems to have a lot of friction on the cable routing bit, which may be the problem for a lot of gripshift users?)

Re:

my young 'un couldn't shift down quick enough on some of the steep undulations on our hills ... i bought an £8 Shimano revo shift as a larf and he loves it. It enables him to 'ride' over the mid cogs if needed trying to find a low enough gear to keep turning.
It's been on the bike problem free now for more than 18 months.

The current Acera (basically old Deore) and M570 LX seem to be good with kids aged 9-15, so far..
Nice & reliable, and easy to 'fix' cable stretch/half shifts at the shifter when out.

Shimano Revo shift are good. Simple to understand and have a nice light action (unlike a lot of SRAM's offerings)

I probably have some revo shift shifters if you want to try them. PM me your address etc.

Bullpup":1kd3xw3a said:

I probably have some revo shift shifters if you want to try them. PM me your address etc.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer! Need to get him the bike first - I just like to consider these things while I speculate/research the crap out of it before I decide what to build him, he's only 5, and he hasn't shifted the stabilisers yet.....:s

Most kids seem to struggle with gears (as a concept) until around 8. I found that a thumbie was easiest to grip and use for my sons. Grip shift seemed to require a larger hand while the other rapidfire types needed too much finger travel.