[Closed] Kids and Gripshift

Yes, mine never could shift the SRAM grip shift on his Islabike so I swapped it out for a thumb rapidfire shifter.

He found moving up the cassette a little tricky to begin with, requiring a little more strength than was easily available, but managed it 90% of the time. He was seven at the time BTW. but that was a massive improvement on the grip shifters which he couldn't move at all 90% of the time.

It might be worth considering getting rid of the front shifter to begin with? Does she really need 3x up front?

Samuel didn't have any issue with the gripshift on his riprock 20 although I did change the cable for a teflon coated one.

My eldest (almost 10 now) got/gets on better with gripshift, when I imposed (shimano) triggers on her it was not a success.

But I think the major issue for any type of shifter with kids is the force required to operate rather the just the ergonomics of clicky levers vs twisty-twisters.

Mine has had both a Rocket halfpipe (operating a 9speed shimano mech) and an X3 (operating an 8 speed SRAM mech) both she could use, but the X3 definitely won for operability by dinky hands simply because it needs less force.

The problem with Shimano's "Revo-shift" gripshifters (that you seem to find on lots of kids bikes still) or indeed the tourney line, is the cable pull (its older 2:1 type stuff) and hence the force to operate is a wee bit beyond some smaller hands.

My advice is go for cheap SRAM X3/X4 "exact actuation" stuff for its lower cable pull ratio.
It comes in 7 or 8 speed (as required), and gripshift or trigger shifters are available to suit the user's preference (not their parent's)...
Have a poke online it's all pretty cheap (£11-15 for a mech or shifter), you can pick up most of the parts you need from amazon, etc....
Oh and and replace the all the cables while you're at it, just for good measure.

To follow on from Cookeaa, I also think it comes down to the specific shifter in question. The Islabikes use the SRAM grip shifters and they have plastic internals. From comparing to other bikes of his peers (exactly the same model) the difference in the force required to turn them was quite marked. One was very very easy to shift whereas the one we had was really stiff. I suspect tolerances inside the shifter made a big difference to how light the action was/is.

So, as usual, what works for one situation/person/child may not work for others! 🙂

Either was fine. In both cases clean/new cables help and for the gripshift I cleaned out the shifter and ran it on a light oil to reduce the effort needed.

My three have all been OK with the SRAM grip-shift Islabike use on the Beinn (X4 now – not sure what it was a few years ago), but then struggled when they moved up to second hand 24” bikes which have had Shimano Revoshift.

I have switched them over to Altus M310 and with the indexing setup properly they have been able to change gear no problem, quite a nice light action. It might be that part of the problem is old cabling and shifters when buying second hand – but I think £19 for a pair of Altus M310 off ebay is easier than persevere with the Revoshifters - and gets them used to more conventional shifting.

I did consider losing the triple setup(s) for simplicity – but was met with a frosty stare from my then 9 year old and told in no uncertain terms how important it was to have as many gears as possible, (even if some of them never get used)!

Thanks All
SRAM X3 sounds like a good options, I'll give her the triggers vs twist option tonight.
Although her next bike has triggers, so tempted to get her used to those.

I did consider losing the triple setup(s) for simplicity – but was met with a frosty stare from my then 9 year old and told in no uncertain terms how important it was to have as many gears as possible, (even if some of them never get used)!

I have to admit I never even suggested any sort of multi-ring option, she got what she was given and never complained. Operating a rear mech is enough for her to worry about IMO, 1x8 allows sufficient gearing for her current use/ability, she can do 15-ish undulating miles with daddy before we get a meltdown. Extra cogs would probably not prevent a tantrum, they might even cause one...

The next bike might be a bit trickier, I was planning to steal the missus' barely used 26er MTB, lighten it and present it to the eldest. That currently has 3x8 (SRAM again), I'm tempted to replace the whole chainset, go 1x and just give her gripshift again for consistency's sake, but if she then decides she wants a granny ring I'm going to have to comply...

I have to admit I never even suggested any sort of multi-ring option, she got what she was given and never complained. Operating a rear mech is enough for her to worry about IMO, 1×8 allows sufficient gearing for her current use/ability, she can do 15-ish undulating miles with daddy before we get a meltdown. Extra cogs would probably not prevent a tantrum, they might even cause one…

I agree with you (in principle)! My 7 year old daughter is very sensible, she would be more accepting of a simple drive train. The boys are a problem - they seem to have a 'Spinal Tap' approach to gearing - "yes you might have a nice efficient 2x10 but I've got 3x7 - that's one more gear see..." You can imagine the incredulity of my 1x11 setup!

My kids are running Shimano Zee shifters/mechs which have a pretty good action (and let you run nice wide 11-36 chainrings with a short mech).

So, as usual, what works for one situation/person/child may not work for others

This. My boy couldn't get on with the grip shifter he originally had, so I put a rapidfire on there, which he found fine. My girl, however, can't shift down with it. But I've still not got around to changing it for a thumbshifter because…

My 7 year old daughter is very sensible, she would be more accepting of a simple drive train. The boys are a problem – they seem to have a ‘Spinal Tap’ approach to gearing

This. My boy just wants to be in top gear all the time because he thinks it's faster; my girl sticks it in third and gets on with it.

2 things - my kids found rapidfire easier to operate and more intuitive because each lever does a different thing. I converted my daughters current bike to 1x from a triple straight away, my son has only ever had single ring setups and is cool with it because that's what dad's bikes have.

The main obstacle to budget 1x on a kids bike is that many are still using 7/8 speed freewheels and 34 is about as big as you can get with 32 on the front. It's ok on a 20/24" wheel but one more crawler gear would be welcome

I've only got Girls, the main downside to their more 'sensible' nature is a general lack of bravery...
The number of moderate slopes that have either been unnecessarily walked down or had a last second panic-brake to tumble off sideways manoeuvre at the top, is almost depressing.

Thus some rather simple bits of rides can end up taking an age to do... But at least I'm less likely to bring them home significantly damaged.

Gears have no real impact on the above, brakes maybe, suspension might, but fundamentally it's a battle with psychological conditioning and I'm not winning...

My (now 5yo) boy has been able to change the gears on my (trigger shifter) bikes for at least 2 years.

My 7 (nearly 8) year old daughter struggled with the shimano (I think) gripshift on her 20in Hotrock when she first got it almost 2 years ago, but is fine with it now (after a bit of tweaking too, to avoid too much tension being needed to get into 1st.).

So from that point of view, a decent shifter would be superior to the gripshift. I did mean to swap the girl's over to levers, but by the time I'd found an appropriate lever she was coping and I still hadn't found any replacement grips.

Both my girls (7&10) prefer triggers to previous gripshifts of varying types and origins.

Its just easier.

The eldest struggles a bit sometimes on teh front shifter with her thumb pushing to a bigger gear but it may be that she doesnt use it much.

for her the granny front gear is a must for decent hills. (no massive wide range cassette yet!)

Just building up another 26er for the 7yr old and that will be 2x8 and trigger shifters.