Industry News

The Little Wing kids’ bicycle seat launches in South Africa

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· By Press Office · 12 comments

Introducing the LITTLE WING, an on-bike platform for children, now available for order in South Africa. The LITTLE WING has been designed and manufactured in Cape Town, South Africa by mountain biker Doug Bird, who decided to develop the bicycle seat when he could not find something similar that was locally produced.

Little Wing1_1.jpg

“I am passionate about local products and wanted to create something Proudly South African that would enable parents to have a great time with their kids,” says Doug.

The LITTLE WING has been tested by global sportive icons like Conrad Stoltz, who has multiple XTERRA world championships to his name, amongst other accolades.  He says: “Sharing my lifelong passion of riding bikes in cool places with my 3 kids feels more significant and rewarding than chasing professional sportive dreams, taking names and winning world titles. The LITTLE WING system has enabled me to share the passion effortlessly with my kids aged 2, 4 and  6.”

With the LITTLE WING, you can disconnect from the digital world and connect with your family, spending time doing the things you love. Nothing beats the shared excitement of gearing up for an adventure on the bike, and the LITTLE WING makes it easy and fun to do with kids.

Doug explains: “There are few things as rewarding as hearing the words “faster Daddy faster” and “woohooo this is so much fun” whilst flowing down a trail with my little girl. To share in the experience of adventure, the great outdoors and to expose her to all of the wonderful lessons that Mother Nature brings, are the foundations I hope to lay for her. The LITTLE WING has been a great tool in helping me get her out there in a fun and exciting way.”

Little Wing 2_1.jpg

The LITTLE WING is simple and easy to use. With its no-touch mounting, it floats above your frame, like your child! A front clamp fastens onto a headset spacer, while the rear clamp fastens onto the seatpost. The child holds the handlebar and slips their feet into comfortable, non-slip and adjustable stirrups.

Doug adds: “There were several important considerations when developing the LITTLE WING, most notably durability, adjustability, comfort, as well as ease of use without compromising the bike’s frame. To achieve this, we tested 5 prototypes over a period of 14 months, on all kinds of terrain and with little co-pilots of different ages, sizes and weights.”

The LITTLE WING is compatible with most modern mountain bikes with a medium frame or larger, including e-bikes. The seat is dropper-post friendly and, thanks to its no-contact design, is safe for use with carbon frames. For bikes with non-standard headsets, compatible headset spacers are available.

The seat is easily adjustable and can be moved into place for maximum ride comfort. The seat can be moved backwards and forwards or angled up and down to find the perfect fit. There are no clunky or unwieldy strappings; once installed, the LITTLE WING clips in and out with ease. 

All fastening, tightening and loosening is done with allen keys, so no special equipment is needed to get you set up with the LITTLE WING.

Little Wing 3_1.jpg

Another key aspect to the LITTLE WING is the fact that all parts are easily replaceable which speaks to its longevity. “As a dad with two kids, I wanted to ensure that the LITTLE WING could be passed down from one child to the other. To achieve this, we needed to develop a product that was easy to maintain, with parts that are easy to replace.” 

The LITTLE WING is for children between the ages of 2 and 5 year old and a maximum weight of 22kg.

Pre-orders for the LITTLE WING are now open with delivery being in mid-January 2022. It retails for R 3,650.00 incl VAT and shipping and is available for delivery around South Africa, via the website: ridelittlewing.com

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Comments

Shebeen

Dec 15, 2021, 8:40 AM

my kids have outgrown this stage.

 

I used the behind the seatpost rackmounted seat, that worked ok, it's an old design.

Then borrowed an imported front seat that clipped on and off for kid#2, this is way better in my mind than them being behind.

When we had to give it back i went and got the foam top tube mounted one as #2 was still small enough to come jol.

 

So yes this is a great innovation, I think the price might be a limiter here. I understand it's hard building things locally but I'm not sure what the market is for this at that point (does it need an SWorks logo?!). 

Rolf Hansen

Dec 15, 2021, 9:01 AM

19 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

my kids have outgrown this stage.

 

I used the behind the seatpost rackmounted seat, that worked ok, it's an old design.

Then borrowed an imported front seat that clipped on and off for kid#2, this is way better in my mind than them being behind.

When we had to give it back i went and got the foam top tube mounted one as #2 was still small enough to come jol.

 

So yes this is a great innovation, I think the price might be a limiter here. I understand it's hard building things locally but I'm not sure what the market is for this at that point (does it need an SWorks logo?!). 

Agreed on the pricing. If I still had small kids they would have had to stay home for that price.

Jbr

Dec 15, 2021, 10:34 AM

I wonder what this brings that the FEVA seat doesn't have ? As much as I like Doug and his team at wild air TV, I don't really see the value added by this product, especially not justifying the massive price difference between it and the FEVA. 

It seems quick to fit and remove, that's one plus, but it doesn't justify the R3000 extra in my opinion. Maybe the fact that it's contactless so won't mark the frame on your brand new s-works ?

Jewbacca

Dec 15, 2021, 11:11 AM

32 minutes ago, Jbr said:

I wonder what this brings that the FEVA seat doesn't have ? As much as I like Doug and his team at wild air TV, I don't really see the value added by this product, especially not justifying the massive price difference between it and the FEVA. 

It seems quick to fit and remove, that's one plus, but it doesn't justify the R3000 extra in my opinion. Maybe the fact that it's contactless so won't mark the frame on your brand new s-works ?

This is the whole point of the product.

It allows you to attach it to your fancy 200k bike without damaging the paintwork. If you don't own a 200k bike and you don't care about damaging your paintwork, you probably aren't the target market.

I think it's super easy to poke holes in things these days and weirdly, people seem happy to.

It looks like a fantastic product for what it is. Well done Doug and team. Luckily my little dude is going to be on his 1st pedal bike soon, but if I was rich I definitely would have purchased and used one of these for the last 2 years.

SwissVan

Dec 15, 2021, 12:37 PM

Judging by the amount of mtb's i see around here with kiddie trailers attached, i imagine this could do well in Europe.

Alltho, if i was dad using one of these.... I'd be worried about my front teeth

 

PhilipV

Dec 15, 2021, 8:12 PM

We use a Feva seat, a giant seat (behind saddle, on a bike rack) and lately a Giant Halfwheeler. 

The Little Wing is definitely better executed than the FEVA seat. They serve the same purpose, but that is akin to comparing a Polo Vivo to a Audi A1. 

If I had a new showpony bike, then the Little Wing would have been the answer for us. 

Heinrich Hattingh

Dec 24, 2021, 3:10 AM

Great to see a SA made product that's on par with the Ride Shotgun products. 

I've used the FEVA seat and it worked but it's sooo not elegant. This is well designed, looks great and if my little one was a two years younger I would buy this in a heartbeat. Pricing is right as well, as you cannot compare this to a clunky foam cutout product. It's pretty much a grand a year for you to ride with your little one, that's nothing. 

Good luck to Doug and team, think this will do well. 

 

cadenceblur

Dec 24, 2021, 8:01 AM

I recall seeing a similar product available for R960. Great concept but I have to agree - the price prohibitive

https://www.takealot.com/front-row-kids-bike-seat-and-handle-bar-combo/PLID73694773

Jewbacca

Dec 24, 2021, 8:20 AM

15 minutes ago, cadenceblur said:

I recall seeing a similar product available for R960. Great concept but I have to agree - the price prohibitive

https://www.takealot.com/front-row-kids-bike-seat-and-handle-bar-combo/PLID73694773

Isn't the concept of the Little Wing that it doesn't touch your bike frame and scratch the paint work etc?

That bolts straight to the tubing, so IMHO is just a metal version of the yellow foam thing we use.

There are definitely cheaper options, but none of them are quite as elegant

Trashy

Dec 24, 2021, 9:35 AM

1 hour ago, Jewbacca said:

Isn't the concept of the Little Wing that it doesn't touch your bike frame and scratch the paint work etc?

That bolts straight to the tubing, so IMHO is just a metal version of the yellow foam thing we use.

There are definitely cheaper options, but none of them are quite as elegant

My only criticism of this compared to the Macride is the height of the seat. Higher centre of gravity, less accessible for short riders (this is only compatible with medium frames and larger).

It's also difficult to see how adjustable it is from the pictures. Both the Macride and shotgun pro have great adjustability.

Mamil

Dec 30, 2021, 4:34 PM

If i had a sprog that size I'd spring for this no hesitation. 

#emptynest 

hxnk

Dec 30, 2021, 5:13 PM

Can't wait to hit the double black diamonds with my 6 month old! 🥰

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