What do your kids ride?

geoz

geoz

Likes Bikes
I found that the 26 was too big for my daughter. In fact her 24" still has the seat almost as far down as it will go. She is not too tall though, a mate's son is taller and can ride a small 26 - just. To be honest I would rather have her feel safe and in control than sit on a huge bike and be uncomfortable.
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
geoz said:
I found that the 26 was too big for my daughter. In fact her 24" still has the seat almost as far down as it will go. She is not too tall though, a mate's son is taller and can ride a small 26 - just. To be honest I would rather have her feel safe and in control than sit on a huge bike and be uncomfortable.
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It's about the frame size, nor wheel size, IMHO. My daughters cube is 14" with a 520mm TT length. She's just turned 8, and been on it for coming up a year. She's still only a midget at about 130cm, and was more like 125 when she started on it.
One of her friends is no taller and handles an XS giant lust 27.5 with ease.
 
B

bikeyoulongtime

Likes Dirt
Ok, thanks blokes. I have a 26" DJ, so I'll use that as a size guide. It's heavy as fuck (36mm, cr-mo stanchion forks FTW - I use it for crossfit), so they won't be able to ride it.

Time to start scanning the forums... hopefully it's not too hard to find a light-ish, low standover, slack-ish geo small size HT! (A mini size Honzo would be about perfect). Commencal kids bikes look ace, but I'm a fettler :)
 
Knuckles

Knuckles

Lives under a bridge
bikeyoulongtime said:
Ok, thanks blokes. I have a 26" DJ, so I'll use that as a size guide. It's heavy as fuck (36mm, cr-mo stanchion forks FTW - I use it for crossfit), so they won't be able to ride it.

Time to start scanning the forums... hopefully it's not too hard to find a light-ish, low standover, slack-ish geo small size HT! (A mini size Honzo would be about perfect). Commencal kids bikes look ace, but I'm a fettler :)
Click to expand...
Remember DJ frames tend to have a disproportionately long TT, while it may be to long for them, a XC style frame may still work. Small giants, such as the Boulder, etc, cubes and such tend to have kid friendly geo.
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
bikeyoulongtime said:
Ok, thanks blokes. I have a 26" DJ, so I'll use that as a size guide. It's heavy as fuck (36mm, cr-mo stanchion forks FTW - I use it for crossfit), so they won't be able to ride it.

Time to start scanning the forums... hopefully it's not too hard to find a light-ish, low standover, slack-ish geo small size HT! (A mini size Honzo would be about perfect). Commencal kids bikes look ace, but I'm a fettler :)
Click to expand...
Knuckles said:
Remember DJ frames tend to have a disproportionately long TT, while it may be to long for them, a XC style frame may still work. Small giants, such as the Boulder, etc, cubes and such tend to have kid friendly geo.
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Yep. I considered an STP in a pinch. even the 'short' is 570, which is as long as most medium MTB's. Older bikes tended to be shorter also, it seems, to allow for the long stems.
 
Knuckles

Knuckles

Lives under a bridge
moorey said:
Yep. I considered an STP in a pinch. even the 'short' is 570, which is as long as most medium MTB's. Older bikes tended to be shorter also, it seems, to allow for the long stems.
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Have a 24" fire eye jumper I built up as a intermediate bike for him, but the TT was longer than the 26" DJ. Looked like he was riding a drag bike.
 
M

Matt_V

Likes Bikes
My soon to be seven year old is a mighty 137 cms but I still went for the 24 inch frame. He's right in the middle of the size range provided by commencal. I'm hoping for two years out of it, maybe helped by stem and bar upgrades. Then the little lad will get it, as hand me downs are his lot. TT is a claimed 492.
 
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M

Matt_V

Likes Bikes
So this worked out pretty well (other than braking with middle fingers):

Bent the rear disc on the first ride though!
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
Matt_V said:
So this worked out pretty well (other than braking with middle fingers):

Bent the rear disc on the first ride though!
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caused by a stack, from not being able to brake, as his other fingers stop the levers coming in enough to engage? :behindsofa:
 
Knuckles

Knuckles

Lives under a bridge
Matt_V said:
So this worked out pretty well (other than braking with middle fingers):

Bent the rear disc on the first ride though!
Click to expand...
Move the levers inboard or get BMX grips to keep his hands outboard or tape his fingers together OR break the offending fingers.
 
M

Matt_V

Likes Bikes
moorey said:
caused by a stack, from not being able to brake, as his other fingers stop the levers coming in enough to engage? :behindsofa:
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A miniature stack we think. Disc was properly creased. I've explained the finger problem to him every time I see him do it. No one likes a finger problem.
 
mtboer

mtboer

Likes Dirt
My daughter is 15 and rides a Specialized Fatboy. I've made it tubeless to reduce weight and soften the rigid ride. She is having a ball.
 
H

HamboCairns

Thanks for all the bananas
Trek Precaliber 20. Absolutely loves it!

He's getting used to the gears, how and when to shift them as well as using brakes sparingly. Shame the brake levers don't lend themselves to one finger braking but he's light enough not to get badly hurt if he falls over :D
 
J

Jesusfreak

Squid
Hey guys, new on here, great to see what others have their kids riding :)

Here is what mine are on, neither were new bikes when purchased, however both have been tweaked extensively to give them the best experience Ican on a limited budget.

My 10yo son is on an Apollo Panther 24 running a 26" Disc conversion with Manitou Skareb Forks, x7 groupset, Avid Juicys and a custom rear caliper mount... He's almost grown out of it now, so I'm soon to be in the market for an XS-S dually...






My 8yo daughter is on a Carrera Sol 20 Running a 1x8 X5 drivetrain, 140mm shortened Sugino cranks, Avid BB5 Brakes and Odyssey rims on XT Centrelock hubs. I plan to go Shimano 1x9 with a roadie short cage derailleur to give it a bit more clearance and stop her picking up sticks with it :p



 
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