The newly updated Thule Yepp 2 Mini is the perfect front-mounted baby bike seat to get you and your little one started on your biking adventures. Crafted with the littlest riders in mind, its child-sized handlebar and easily-adjustable footrests ensure comfort and safety on every adventure.
Constructed with durable foam and metal, this seat is built to last. But unlike its predecessors, the Yepp 2 Mini is only compatible with bikes that have threaded headsets (quill stems). This means it won’t work with mountain bikes, e-bikes, and some hybrid bikes.
So is the Yepp 2 Mini the best seat for you? As seasoned bike moms who have tested over 50 child bike seats on our kids and with our friends’ kids, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about the Yepp Mini.
Thule Yepp 2 Mini Overview
RATING: Exceptional
BEST FOR: Families with city-style bikes with a quill stem (not compatible with mountain bikes and ebikes)
MOUNT TYPE: Front frame mount. Bracket only fits on threaded headsets (quill stems). Threadless adaptor not offered.
AGE RANGE: 12 mo. to 33 lbs.
PROS:
- Soft, shock-absorbing foam seat to help smooth out bumps along the way
- Great venting along the back of the seat
- 5-point harness with an easy-to-use buckle
- Rubberized shoulder pads help keep straps up
- U-shaped handlebar provides a sense of safety for child
- A better fit for older toddlers compared to other front-mounted seats
- Tool-free, height-adjustable footrests
- Drainage on seat bottom and foot rests to prevent water from pooling
- Seat quickly and easily snaps on and off the mounting bracket
- Included lock and key allow you to lock the seat to the bike
CONS:
- Fits on a limited range of bikes – only on bikes with threaded headsets with a 22-28mm diameter
- Rubber shoulder strap pads can make it difficult to adjust the straps
- Ventilation holes only on the upper back of the seat
Thule Yepp 2 Mini Review – Results of our Test Rides
The Thule Yepp 2 mini nails the trifecta of comfort for adult, comfort for child, and overall ease-of-use.
I admit, using a front-mounted seat for the first-time can be nerve-racking (especially when riding with someone else’s kid!), but from the first pedal stroke, the Yepp 2 Mini’s secure build put my worries to rest. The seat didn’t impede my personal space too much (more about this below), while my friend’s son was all smiles as he experienced his first ride on a front-mounted seat.
Unlike cheaper front-mounted seats that are harder to use or feel wobbly when riding, the Yepp 2 Mini’s higher price was felt and appreciated as it was so easy to load the child rider, easy to adjust, and felt solid and secure while riding.
Will the Thule Yepp 2 Mini Fit on Your Bike?
Before jumping into the details of the Yepp 2 Mini, it’s important to first establish if it will fit on your bike!
The Yepp 2 Mini (as well as the Yepp Nexxt 2 Mini) are only compatible with threaded headsets, also known as quill stems. To determine if your bike has this type of headset, check for a locknut at the bottom of the stem next to the bike’s frame.
Most cruiser bikes, along with some lower-end city bikes, have threaded headsets, making them compatible with the Yepp 2 Mini.
The bracket, shown below, requires about an inch of space on the quill stem to mount. If you don’t have an inch, essentially all quill stems allow you to raise the handlebars to accommodate the bracket.
Are you sure it won’t work on my mountain bike?
If you think you can just “make it work” on your mountain bike, I promise you it won’t fit; the inner cup of the mounting bracket only accommodates 22-28mm diameter headsets.
Attempting to locate an older version of the Yepp Mini with the ahead adapter also isn’t a viable solution. First, the ahead adapter only works on stems with really long necks. Second, when installed on our trail bike with modern geometry, the seat’s leg rests collided with the fork’s crown, severely restricting our steering radius. In our tests, the ahead adapter was only compatible with a 20-year-old XC bike and a city hybrid bike.
The MacRide or Kids Ride ShotGun are much better options for any bike with a threadless headset.
What’s it like riding with a front-mounted seat?
If you haven’t experienced riding with your child in front of you yet, trust me, give it a try! Most kids will outgrow the Yepp 2 Mini (as well as most traditional front-mounted seats) before they are 3, so your window of opportunity is pretty small!
We love front-mounted bike seats because they provide a distinctly joyful riding experience for both parent and child. With your toddler in front of you, conversation and singing is easy and natural, which is not possible with rear-mounted seats.
They also allow for a feeling of cradling your child as you ride, and ensure their safety with a secure harness, footrests, and a safe place to put their hands.
If you don’t have the best sense of balance, front-mounted seats are much easier to feel comfortable riding with than rear-mounted seats. Front-mounted seats center the child’s weight much closer to the center of the bike compared to rear-mounted seats, making the added weight significantly easier for the adult rider to balance.
Challenges with Shorter Adult Rider Height
Front-mounted seats are so enjoyable, but be aware that they can be problematic for shorter adult riders. The smaller the adult rider and the smaller the bike, the less room the adult has in front of them for the seat and their child. This is true for all front-mounted seats, not just the Yepp 2 Mini.
For example, my 5’1″ friend was originally planning on riding with her son, but on this bike, the seat and her son blocked her line of sight too much for her to feel comfortable to ride.
If we had a smaller bike to mount the seat to (her bike had a threadless headset so it wasn’t compatible), the baby bike seat would sit lower on the bike and would impede her vision less. But for me at 5’10”, I had no issues with line of sight (as shown in a couple of images up – I’m in the pink helmet).
Riding the same bike with the older version of the Yepp Mini, our 5’4″ mom tester Lauren had less room than I did, but more than our 5’1″ friend.
The size of your bike frame can make a difference. The BTWIN bike used in this review is a medium frame designed to fit riders 5’5″ – 5’8″. So it only makes sense why at 5’10”, I had plenty of room while my 5’1″ friend had none!
For our 5’4″ mom, a smaller frame would have allowed the seat to be slightly lower (the headset on the bike is typically lower on smaller framed bikes).
One benefit of the Yepp 2 Mini is that the top edge of the seat is made of medium-density, yet slightly squish-able foam, so there are no hard edges to be concerned with if your chest were to bump into the seat. The cheaper Peg Pergo Orion does have stiff edges as does the similar Thule Yepp Nexxt 2 Mini.
Does the Yepp 2 Mini get in the way while riding?
In addition to potentially hitting your chest, front-mounted bike seats can also interfere with your pedal stroke – the top of your knees can hit the bottom of the seat during your stride. To compensate, it’s pretty easy to widen your legs as you ride so you don’t hit the seat.
With long legs (34″ inseam), my legs did hit the seat just a bit, but bowing my knees out slightly as I rode made all the difference.
Our 5’4″ tester also had to slightly bow her legs out to ride, but it didn’t bother her.
Smaller Turning Radius
It is also worth noting that the leg rests of the seat do hit the top tube of the bike’s frame when making a really sharp turn. We never experienced this while riding (you want to stick to casual rides when using this seat), but it’s very apparent when moving the bike around while the seat is attached.
Size and Age of Child
The Thule Yepp 2 Mini is designed to fit babies and toddlers from 9 months and up to 33 pounds, BUT we highly recommend waiting until your baby is at least 12 months before riding with them.
Many young babies don’t have the neck strength to wear a helmet, and the bumps and jolts you may encounter on a bike ride are also not the best for them. It is against the law in some states to ride with a child under 12 months.
Our test rider for this seat is 28 pounds, 2-years-old, and wears 2T clothes.
Features of the Thule Yepp 2 Mini
Just like a stroller or car seat, an easy-to-use buckle and plenty of adjustability are essential on child bike seats. Since you may have to balance the bike as you load your child up, child bike seats that are quick and easy to load are a must-have in my book!
5-Point Harness and Buckle
For greater security, the Yepp 2 Mini has a 5-point harness (some only have a three) with an easy-to-use and easy-to-reach buckle. Each strap has its own side of the buckle that easily snaps into place. I love the ability to lock in one shoulder strap at a time as it allows me to keep one hand free for steadying the bike or moving little hands and arms out of the way 🤪.
I also love a separated strap design as it prevents you from having to pull the connected straps over the head, like on the Peg Perego Orion (shown below).
While the Peg Perego is fabulous for its low price point, the shoulder strap and harness system is one of the major reasons we would upgrade to the Yepp 2 Mini if your budget allows.
Shoulder Pads and Adjusting the Straps
Shoulder straps on child bike seats are notorious for falling off (I’m looking at you iBert!), but the rubber shoulder pads on the Yepp 2 Mini do a great job of holding them in place.
The sticky nature of the rubber pads, however, can make it a bit tricky to adjust the length of the strap. The rubber makes it hard for the strap’s webbing to slide through, so it can take two hands to properly adjust the shoulder straps. Luckily the straps rarely need to be adjusted, so loading up your little one is still quick and easy on a daily basis.
Quick Release Bracket
If you want a seat that quickly and easily mounts and un-mounts on your bike, the Yepp 2 Mini has you covered. Once the mounting bracket is installed on the bike’s stem, the seat snaps and unsnaps to the bracket via a lever on the bottom of the seat.
Pulling on the lever retracts the plastic pin, allowing you to slide the seat over the mounting bracket. Once released the pin locks the seat into place.
To ensure you have properly mounted the seat, the seat has a mounting indicator. If you can see the red line on the seat (as shown below on the left), that means the seat is not installed properly and needs to be pushed down deeper into the bracket.
For security while out and about, the Yepp 2 Mini comes with a lock and key. Once locked, the lever on the bottom of the seat is locked in place, thereby preventing the seat from being removed from the bike.
Seat Material and Venting
The Yepp 2 Mini is made with a hard, black, plastic base topped by a medium-density foam material. The softer foam material surrounds the child on the seat. The slight give of the foam increases the comfort of the seat as well as absorbs some bumps along the way.
The foam portion of the seat has 20 larger holes in the back to allow for good air flow. While we wish there were more throughout the seat like the older Yepp Mini, the Yepp 2 still provides more airflow than other seats.
For those in wet climates, the seat and the footrests have drainage holes in the bottom to prevent rain from pooling up.
Handlebar
As all parents of toddlers have experienced, toddler’s hands can be fidgety, so having a place for them on the bike is super helpful. The “u” shaped bar on the Yepp 2 Mini (also on the Yepp Nexxt 2 Mini) is by far my favorite design for small front-mounted seats.
With a place for the hands all to themselves, the handlebars keep toddlers from playing with your gears or your handlebar.
Footstraps and Footrests
Little feet can also get into trouble (toddlers often want to rest their feet on your handlebar), so being able to strap their feet in is a win for the adult rider.
For maximum comfort of the child, the footrests easily adjust up and down. By pulling out on the gray lever (seen above), the footrest is unlocked and can be slid up or down the bar, even if your child’s foot is in it.
Thick plastic straps are then pulled down over the foot to keep them secure. As a heads up, even on the tightest setting, kids can pull their bare feet out of the straps, so make sure they have shoes on!
Storage
Upon getting your seat, you’ll notice a small plastic ring on the back of the seat that easily comes off. This ring is designed to be thrown away, but I recommend hanging onto it as it makes it much easier to hang the seat for storage.
Bottom Line on the Thule Yepp 2 Mini
From impressive ease-of-use to exceptional durability, the Yepp 2 Mini is hands-down one of the best front-mounted baby and toddler bike seats on the market. Its one handed buckle and adjustable footrests allow for easy loading up, while the handlebar and bump-absorbing foam material provide a comfortable ride.
As long as your bike has a quill stem and is compatible with the Yepp 2 Mini , it will be sure to bring hours of shared memories to you and your little one.
If you’re interested in how the Yepp 2 Mini is different from the Yepp Nexxt 2 Mini, we cover that fully in our Thule Yepp Nexxt 2 Mini review.
FTC Disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this review. No monetary compensation was provided for this review, however, the reviewed product was supplied by the manufacturer or distributor to help facilitate this review. All opinions and images are that of Two Wheeling Tots LLC. All content and images are copyrighted and should not be used or replicated in any way. View our Terms of Use.
