@elleridestrails on her Cleary Owl 3 Speed

Let’s talk kids and mountain biking. In this article we’ll discuss sizing, brands, suspension, gear, brakes, drivetrain, and weight. In our neighborhood alone we have at least seven little riders, aging from 5 to 9 years old. These kids aren’t just rolling the neighborhood streets either (though that certainly happens), in fact they’re suiting up in knee and elbow pads, sometimes Leatt neck braces, MIPS helmets and riding real adult level trails that include rocky and steep singletrack, park riding at Trestle Bike Park and pinning almost anything an intermediate adult rider would undertake. The parents used as references in this article know their stuff and you can learn from our successes and failures. Let’s get into what works and what doesn’t in the world of kids mountain biking. Strap on your tiny Five Tens over your mismatched socks, grab an ice cream sandwich to power up, put a crooked SDG sticker on your Cleary, Commencal, Woom, or Prevelo and lets roll!

FOR THE LITTLEST OF THE LITTLE’S

Let’s quickly roll right over the very earliest phase of mountain biking for your child, the move from a balance bike to a 16” (maybe even 12”) bike with pedals and hand brakes. Yes, some of you may be transitioning your little one from a very small bike with training wheels, but we’d still highly suggest a balance bike, even if you feel like it’s a step down. In fact we’d go as far as suggesting a balance bike with a handbrake, like this one from Prevelo at $199, if it’s in the budget. We cannot suggest training wheels at any point in the process of teaching young kids to bike. Our oldest had training wheels and was clearly hampered by them vs our youngest who wouldn’t recognize their usefulness if you explained it to her in detail. Go with a balance bike, for sure. We can’t suggest enough that you ask a patient friend for help with the balance bike to pedal bike switch, we’ve done this with the kids in our neighborhood and it really takes the stress and anxiety levels down in a notable way, easing the transition. We’d also highly suggest 16” kids bikes with handbrakes (this is why a balance bike with a handbrake is optimal), though at that size, we’d skip any gearing or suspension. Options like the Commencal Ramones , Cleary Hedgehog, or the very stylish Early Rider Belter are all under $400 and should retain more than half of their value when it’s time to upgrade.

How can you go wrong with chrome and vegan leather?

LET’S TALK 20” AND BEYOND

20 inches, this is where the real fun, and some serious decision making, start happening. At this size, the world really opens up as more serious mountain bikes become available. Suspension, gearing and brakes become factors, skyrocketing costs, and weight, all start playing a significant role. This is the heart of the article, really, as most that can be said about 20” is relevant to the 24” and 26” kids bike realms. We’ll break this down into five categories; Suspension, Brakes, Shifting, Size and Geometry, and Weight.

SUSPENSION

Your child’s needs for suspension will vary based on her/his weight, your budget, and the terrain they like to ride. If your child is particularly small or light for their age (as was the case with our second girl) you may consider forgoing suspension as not only does it tend to increase cost, but also adds noticeable weight. That said, we are currently in the market for a 20” hardtail with a good air fork and hydraulic brakes, but we started her off on a Cleary Owl with no suspension, due to it’s smaller sizing, light weight, forgiving steel frame and tiny hand sized brake levers. One thing that we wouldn’t suggest is cheap, steel spring suspension forks. These are often found on kids bikes from the larger brands and we think you’d be better off with a higher end rigid bike with great tires and proper inflation for your kids weight. That said, there are a host of great kids bikes in 20”-26” sizing with lightweight air forks and even full suspension that we definitely recommend if budget allows. Take a look at the Cleary Owl 3 Speed for a great 20”rigid option that falls into the lighter and smaller end of the category, the Prevelo ZULU 3 Heir for an aggressive hardtail option with a great air fork, or the Commencal Clash full suspension park shredder that comes with the excellent Manitou Junit air fork. In 24” and 26” sizes, look to bikes like the hardtail Cleary Scout (comes in 24” and 26”) that comes with great components and a very good air fork all at a reasonable price point, or the Commencal Clash or YT Jeffsey Primus (comes in 24” or kids 26”) to get amazing full suspension bikes that are ready for the toughest terrain.

BRAKES

For many little rippers V-brakes will work just fine, but this depends on use and terrain. V-brakes can be a weight saver too. Upgrading to disc brakes is a mixed bag. Cable actuated disc brakes work well and carry the benefits of having greater stopping power than V-brakes and not becoming troublesome if a wheel gets out of true, but can be tiring on little hands as the pressure to pull them is typically greater than that of V-brakes and much greater than hydraulically actuated disc brakes. If you can swing it, go with hydraulically actuated disc brakes like on the Woom Off Air 4 20”, it’s 24” version the Woom Off Air 5 and most of the other bikes we’ll link in this article. Do note that a brakes usefulness can often be helped or hindered by it’s location. Getting brakes to an ergonomic position, where they can be controlled by two fingers if they’re V-brakes or cable actuated disc brakes, and by one finger (optimally) if they are hydraulic disc brakes, will greatly increase your child’s braking abilities.

SHIFTING

From first hand experience, we highly suggest index (thumb / finger shifting) versus the grip shifting systems found on far too many kids bikes. Grip shifting is likely fine for stronger, bigger or older kids, and in those situations if availability and budget demand it, that’s fine. That said, avoid grip shifting if possible as it typically has too much resistance for small hands and takes up far too much grip real estate on little grips and bars. Look to bikes with either internal hub shifting like the Cleary Owl linked above or bikes with more than 8 speeds as the derailleurs on low gear count bikes tend to have far less tension and slop around quite readily on trails, leading to higher maintenance requirements, increased noise and potential for chain drops. Don’t forget to adjust your child’s cockpit so that brakes are handled with two fingers and shifters are within easy reach. We find that this can sometimes mean switching the location of the brakes and shifters, depending on brake lever length. For an example of great shifting, look to the Early Rider Hellion 20 for its great 9 speed, clutched gearing and high end specifications.

SIZE AND GEOMETRY

Make sure that you’re hitting that specs / geometry button when viewing bikes online. Sizing and geometry are all over the place with kids bikes. Bikes like the above mentioned Cleary Owl 20” and Scout 24’/26” definitely cater to the smaller and “XCish” end of the spectrum, while bikes like the Spawn Rokkusuta and Commencal Meta HT tend to be a bit larger in frame and more aggressive in geometry for the same wheel sizes. Often times, looking at head tube angle and stand over height will tell the tale for you, look to a slacker head tube (lower numbers are slacker) for more aggressive riding and a lower stand-over height (or top tube length) to fit smaller riders.

WEIGHT

This issue is certainly up for debate. Many will claim that frame geometry, gearing, tires etc are all greater factors than weight. We’d agree that those are all very important, however, physics are physics and weight cannot be disregarded. While a mid sized 6 year old with decent skills might be able to pedal both a Cleary Owl and a Specialized Riprock 20, the Cleary is right at 20lbs and the Specialized is closer to 28lbs. If an average 6 year old girl is 40 - 43lbs, the difference is 20% of the child’s weight. Adding 20% of my 192lbs to my bike would be like adding nearly 40lbs to my bike. We love specialized, but do not recommend the Riprock for this reason, they use steel spring suspension and plus tires, adding significant weight, when other suspension options come in much lighter and roughly the same price and rigid models can be the best options for those smaller riders. We also do not typically recommend plus tires on kids bikes due to weight and rolling resistance issues, though we’re hearing some of the newer plus options from companies like Vee Tires are coming in with some significant weights savings. For higher end kids mountain bikes with a real emphasis on weight savings, check out Trailcraft, though you’ll need to expect to pay premium prices for this premium brand.

CONCLUSIONS

No matter whether your budget is one of the $2,000 park sleds, mid priced $500 rippers or a Walmart bike, getting the process started is the right move. We’d feel very comfortable putting our kids on any of the bikes linked to in this story and many more. The point is to get them riding and in-turn, get you riding with them. A short summation would be that we believe the best bikes are either rigid and light with good tires, or come with quality air suspension, have index shifting and preferably 9 or more gears or hub shifting, have either v-brakes for little and lighter riders or hydraulic disc brakes. Don’t forget about cockpit setup, seat height, geometry, and look to bikes with dropper post compatibility if your going a bit higher end as a dropper can really improve a kids ride if you live somewhere with technical terrain and/or a lot of downhill. Look to companies like SDG Components for great kids cockpit, pedal and saddle options.

Skip things like extra large plus tires and steel spring suspensions. Avoid if possible (budget dependent) things like grip shifting and cable actuated disk brakes.

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