Making Gear Push (under bar) easier to operate on kids bike.

[Ajax Bay]

Fit Gripshift shifters.

I was not brave enough to suggest this, on this thread.

They're intuitive and great for smaller or weaker hands.

Yup. I would never ask a child to operate trigger shifters. Their ergonomics are not designed for immature hands and thumbs that are not strong enough to push with enough force through sufficient distance.
I am rebuilding an Islabike (son of OP @Tom B 's size) at present with an excellent 7sp SRAM twist grip.
I assume the Frog people did some market research and found that parents thought that trigger shifters were an 'upgrade' on twist shift.

 

[C R]

They're intuitive and great for smaller or weaker hands.

I just replaced the grip shifters of our son's bike with trigger shifters and he has gone from not caring much about riding because shifting was tricky to spending the whole weekend going round the neighbourhood on his bike. It is as if it was a completely different bicycle.

 

[Tom B]

Some cables have a plastic liner that might react with oil or grease, I don't think they're designed to be lubricated. I would suggest that the OP lubricates the derailleur pivots, and take the brake arms off and clean/grease the pivots too.

This weekend I spent a couple of hours replacing the rear brake cable and servicing the rear hub/axle.

As I threaded the new cable into the new noodle, grease was pushed out, it seems they're pre greased.

Or at least these noodles are............. not sure what that adds to the argument

I was not brave enough to suggest this, on this thread.

Yup. I would never ask a child to operate trigger shifters. Their ergonomics are not designed for immature hands and thumbs that are not strong enough to push with enough force through sufficient distance.
I am rebuilding an Islabike (son of OP @Tom B 's size) at present with an excellent 7sp SRAM twist grip.
I assume the Frog people did some market research and found that parents thought that trigger shifters were an 'upgrade' on twist shift.

I just replaced the grip shifters of our son's bike with trigger shifters and he has gone from not caring much about riding because shifting was tricky to spending the whole weekend going round the neighbourhood on his bike. It is as if it was a completely different bicycle.

I suppose that just goes to show it's horses for courses and personal preference. My personal preference is for 90s double thumb Shimano ST-M020. :-)

My lad has understood "got" the hand go thumb for easier, finger for harder, easier for up hills, harder for faster.
The new cable and cleaning out has made it much easier for him and he seems to be able to shift without issue now.