Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero kids bike review

The Dirt Hero is a rad little bike. Even with the recent price drop, which is significant, you are going to need deep pockets, but as an investment into your little one’s love for riding on two wheels downhill, it is totally worth it. 

• Buyer’s guide to kid’s mountain bike helmets: how to choose the best lid for your racer-in-waiting
• DMR Sidekick balance bike review
• Bikepacking with the kids just got easy on the Go East Lothian Trail in Scotland

Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero – Technical details

Kids Ride Shotgun says this offroad balance bike is a scaled-down enduro machine designed specifically for MTB kids who want to take to the trails with off-road pneumatic tyres, 12-14-inch convertibility, MTB geometry, and a rear hydraulic disc brake that inspires confidence and progression in mini mountain bikers who want to get off the driveway and onto the dirt.

2024 krs dirt hero top tube 2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

More and more mountain bike brands are now starting to produce little bikes inspired by their big ones, but very few are targeting riders as young as 2-3 with 12-inch wheels. 

The Dirt Hero is versatile, with clearance and geometry to take 12- and 14-inch wheel sizes, it can grow with your child. Our tester, Etta, is a very short, just-turned-three-year-old, so she’s testing the 12-inch (with the brake). With an inseam of 330mm, she’s right at the minimum suggested inseam for the 12-inch. The minimum for the 14-inch is 367mm, but having been riding the DMR Sidekick before, which is a mullet 12/14 setup she has loads of confidence on this smaller bike. 

Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero – Performance

The Dirt Hero is just that – confidence inspiring – at a lightweight 4.4kg (with brake) it’s easy for a young child to independently manoeuvre it around. The thick 2.25in Vee Tire Crown Gem pneumatic tyres are grippy and eat up anything in their way – and the easy-reach brake lever and powerful Magura brake give the rider heaps of control.

2024 krs dirt hero rear.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Speaking of the brake, I reviewed the DMR Sidekick balance bike back in April and loved it but my main bone of contention was the lack of a brake. If you’re building a bike for little ones to build their confidence and bike skills on the trails, surely being able to stop is a pretty important factor. DMR advised me that you could get everything you needed to add the disc brake to the Sidekick for around £70, and that is exactly the difference here to upgrade your Dirt hero to include the Magura MT4 disc brake without any of the faff of making sure you buy all the right bits. 

2024 krs dirt hero foot plate.jpg, by Liam Mercer

At 4.4kg (with brake) for the 12-inch and 4.6kg for the 14-inch Dirt Hero, it’s only marginally heavier than some other well-known, lightweight 14-inch bikes such as the Frog Tadpole Plus, Hornit Airo 14 and also the DMR Sidekick.  

Out of the box you have everything you need, including a five-year warranty, and using the booklet and video tutorial online I was able to build the bike up in around 20 minutes on the side of the pump track whilst Etta ‘helped’ a little, but mainly read Shred Til Bed (sold separately) and played with the stickers that came in the box. 

2024 krs dirt hero brake lever.jpg, by Liam Mercer

One of the most important things I find to get kids excited about a bike is the way it looks, and Etta loves that it looks like Daddy’s mountain bike, but more importantly, as it’s only available in white, it comes with three frame skins (featuring the animals from Shred Til Bed) and Etta, of course, loves the pink Unicorn skin! She immediately spotted it in the book, and she was stoked when we got her the matching unicorn jersey. I feel like Kids Ride Shotgun has got its branding and messaging right when building bikes to inspire little shredders. 
Value

So to the cost, with the recent price drop the 12-inch with brake is £290 (down from £360) and the 14-inch is just £10 more and the brakeless options are £70 less. There are not many 12-inch balance bikes with brakes on the market – the Kokua LIKEaBIKE Jumper 12 with 2.0in Schwalbe Big Apple tyres is £185 with an option to add a V-brake for just £23, and the Frog Tadpole is £230 with 1.75in Kenda tyres and a Tekto v-brake. At 14-inch, you have the option of the Hornit Aero 14 with brake for £169. But the stand-out comparable bike is probably the Early Rider Big Foot 12 with the same 2.25in Vee Tire Crown Gem tyres and Tektro v-brakes, which weighs just 3.75kg and costs just £209. The main difference is that this has a much shorter frame. 

Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero – Verdict

So as you can see, at £290 the Dirt Hero is considerably more expensive than the other options here, but the reality is there is nothing quite like it in the market. A long wheelbase balance bike, with a powerful break, designed specifically for little riders desperate to follow their parents down the trail. So yes, it is something of an investment (and for a further £110 you can buy a Dirt Hero Wheel Kit with which you can grow the bike from 12- to 14-inch) but well-built balance bikes do tend to hold their resale value and in my opinion, it’s money well spent as an investment into your child’s love for mountain biking.

If money isn’t a concern and your little rider is at the bigger end of the Dirt Hero limits it is worth considering the Black Mountain Pinto. This is another great option that converts from a balance bike into a pedal bike with an extendable frame, so you get a very capable bike for that transition from gaining confidence and learning skills on the trail to pedalling around the bike park.

• kidsrideshotgun.co.uk
• The reader’s guide to off-road.cc’s review scoring system

You might also like:

• Specialized launch the new Hotwalk – A carbon balance bikes especially for kids
• 7 of the best balance bikes — push-alongs for kids that get them ready to pedal

• Seven of the best kids bikes