quality single track bike for kid

[lotsarocks]

So my son is 7.5 yo and is 53" and weighs 76#'s. He currently has a trek mt 220. At first this bike seemed like a solid bike and for 6 months of road/gravel and walking trails it was. Now he is doing some smooth single track with me and the bike has become an utter failure after a few 6 mile rides. The problems are 1. the threaded stem will no longer tighten so the bars move, 2. the fork has seized, 3. rear hub has play and freewheel is near toast level. I always keep the bike clean,maintained, and indoors. With that said i brought the bike to dealer who is a friend and they were like oh you are actually mountain biking with this! I thought we would have this until he was into a 26". Not sure what to do looking for advice. I have two kids so any bike i buy will be used again 4 years later, so spending good money does not hurt as much.
1. fix bike up with a rigid fork and threadless stem and just keep fixing problems that come up
2. fix bike under warranty and sell to get a better bike that will make it until he needs 26"
better bikes scott scale rc 24, giant xtc sl jr 24 other suggestions?
3. what size typically can a kid get into a long term 26" build
Thanks all

[Tech Tonics]

I have two girls, 7.5 and 10.5.

The 10year old is about the same size as your son, and she rips on a 26" Specialized Myka. It's a fully custom build (XTR 2x9, crossmax, king, hydraulic brakes). It weighs nothing and her riding has really improved. The wheel size is one thing--low standover is more important though



That says, my 7.5 year old rides on a 24" (spech hotrock) and even though it's heavy and has crappy parts on it and a hardly functional fork...she still rides the shit outta it.

Our kids are on their bikes a lot...and we've found that the more we challenge them--the more they rise to meet those challenges. Chocolate helps.

[lotsarocks]

Thanks for the reply, that is what i am looking for, a different perspective. If possible i would rather put him on a 26 and have it long term.

[lotsarocks]

What size frame on the myka?

[dcpnz]

My 8.5 yo will be on her 24" spec hotrock again this year. Its heavy as hell so I'm looking at some inexpensive ways to lighten it up (bar, stem, seatpost) and I'm not thrilled with the fork (heavy and poor performance) but shes had a lot of fun riding it on real MTB trails both around home and on vacations (Fruita, Sedona etc.) and its holding up reliably. Both she and my 6yo are tackling singletrack trails that while not really challenging for me they are super fun to ride with now.

Shes 55" tall and no way is she ready to fit even an XS 26" bike. Ive also been considering getting a better 24" ( xtc sl, hotrock disc, rocky mtn vertex) but not sure if the price is worthwhile or if i should upgrade what she already has.

Tons of threads on MTBR forums where dads go way overboard spending thousands to build custom rigs for their kids.

[Dee Hubbs]

Tons of threads on MTBR forums where dads go way overboard spending thousands to build custom rigs for their kids.

What, $3500 for a kids 24" bike seems reasonable. http://lilshredder.com/lil-shredder-phenom.
Whistler is full of these bikes with kids that are just itching to out grow them. Fits kids 51" to 63". I had a growth spurt as an 11 year and grew 7 inches in 6 months. I went from a size 6 hockey skate in April to a size 9.5 in September. When I stepped on the ice in September I felt like a baby giraffe learning to walk. There were kids trying out for my hockey team that were 12" and 50lbs smaller that me.

Seriously at 55" they are close to fitting a 26" bike, especially a women's extra small, with a lower stand over. We use to sell some 26" bikes with a stand over as low as 680mm.
55" tall with a 50% inseam ration is 27.5" or 698.5mm. If they are competent with bike skills, and can flat foot over the top bar, put a short bar, no spaces, short stem cockpit on the bike and let them ride it.

[detrusor]

http://islabikes.com/us/bike_pages/creig24.html

1100 bucks is a lot but it is a light functional kids mtb.


Killing it with the 4-5 year old crowd!

[Dantheman]

Chocolate helps.

And band-aids, always have band-aids handy.

If possible i would rather put him on a 26 and have it long term.

Kids are way better off on a bike that is the right size for them that they will outgrow, rather than a bike that is too big that they can grow into. Better to have a confident kid on a too-small bike than a tippy scared kid on a too-big bike.

Check out what this guy did with the same bike: http://forums.mtbr.com/families-ridi...ld-943727.html

The general agreement seems to be that the MT220 is a quality frame spec'd with bad components. If it were me, I'd price out what it would take to get it safe and functional, and if that's too much than go the warranty route.

Tons of threads on MTBR forums where dads go way overboard spending thousands to build custom rigs for their kids.

As much as I loathe MTBR, the "Families and Riding with Kids" forum is a great resource for this stuff.

[milestogo]

If you go with a new 24", I highly recommend KHS Alite 24". I replaced the outer ring with a bash ring, and my son rode it hard for 2 years. There will always be a market for a good used kids bike. I had his sold a year ago before he was even done using it.

[dcpnz]

Seriously at 55" they are close to fitting a 26" bike, especially a women's extra small, with a lower stand over. We use to sell some 26" bikes with a stand over as low as 680mm.

Yeah maybe close now but at least last year it wasn't a viable option for us.
Difference between a hotrock (11") and myka xs is 490 -> 525 ETT and 608 ->650 standover. Thats a pretty significant difference for a kid.

[ienjoydrinkingbeer]

Scott makes pretty decent kids bikes, as well. My 8 y/o is on a Scott Contessa 20". Replaced seat post, stem and a couple other things to drop a couple of pounds. Durable and pretty decent build kit for the $$. My 11y/o is on a 24" 220 with a few upgrades: She got my old Thomson seat post, new bars/stem, and a new saddle. Fairly light for a kids' bike. But seriously, why can't someone make a sub-25 pound 20/24" kids bike for $600 or so?

[Dantheman]

But seriously, why can't someone make a sub-25 pound 20/24" kids bike for $600 or so?

There are quite a few bikes that meet that criteria in each wheel size, though admittedly even the good ones typically have some absurdly stupid component choices*. In 20" there are several sub-20 lb options if you're OK with a rigid fork. The problem is few people outside of the TGRverse/MTBRverse consider a $600 bike "cheap" and balk at the idea of spending that much on a bike that will get outgrown in a few years. A lot of the frames are quite decent and even some very modest component upgrades vastly improve them, but there's no motivation for the OEMs to spec better parts and upgrading yourself can get expensive fast.

* - The worst offenders are very heavy suspension forks that offer little or no usable travel. That is followed closely by facepalm drivetrains that pair 6sp 14-28 cassettes (7sp if you're lucky, those hubs will at least take a 9sp cassette and are thus easily upgradeable) paired with 36t or larger chainrings that largely defeat the point of having gears at all. Cranks are generally way to long too.

[oftpiste]

Mine rode a specialized bighit grom for a while and it seemed perfect, but he's too big for it now. it's for sale!

[lotsarocks]

Thanks. There are lots of options of quite similar bikes. If i didnt mind blowing 2k the trek fuel ex jr looks great. I think i will replace the front fork with a rigid thread less and tighten up the cock pit with bars/stem. I would love for him to have less reach for the brake levers too. Then i will pick away at the other junky bits. He is pretty rough on gear so spending big money will be a waste at this stage. He is learning how to use his pump track so plenty of crashes to come.

[Tech Tonics]

I don't know where you live, but our local craigslist has lots of turnover on kids bikes. I paid $350 for my daughter's bike, and it's sub-20lbs

If you're close to SWCO, this weekend is the DEVO Bike Swap. It's a fundraiser for our youth-mountain bike development program (it's awesome). There are usually great deals as devo families upgrade.

[lotsarocks]

Mass, so the turn over on good kids bikes is short. Its pretty much rare to see kids outdoors here other than school sports.

[LightRanger]

http://reviews.mtbr.com/sea-otter-ma...nto-kids-bikes

[lotsarocks]

Its real nice to see them developing kids better bikes. That trek ex jr looks awesome.

[waxman]

try and find an Opus Fever, its 24" wheel and frikkinn awesome
http://opusbike.com/en/bikes/kids/ag...-24/fever-2015
my son rode one from 8 years old to 10.5 years old, all over Fernie and southern Alberta he's now on 26" Marin CXR 15" frame but judging from Pinkbike, stores i deal with and parents with capable kid riders finding god 26" bikes is getting harder

[lotsarocks]

Thats a real nice bike for the price.

[bodywhomper]

[moving and revising my post to this possible more appropriate thread]

I'm looking for a starting point to start figuring shit out for him.

my 5-foot tall, 10yo is needing something new (for him). currently, he's on a 20"-wheeled bmx frame. primarily he wants/needs something trail-worthy and geared. He'd be able to get into it if we made the time. Trail access is pretty easy where we live.

at the LBS, a specialized dealer, the boy tried two 24" bikes, one with fat tires, and two low pricepoint 650B bikes. He liked the fat tire bike the most. I'm a little weary that he'd outgrow the frame super fast and about the gear range. Regarding the small adult frames, how tunable are those forks to tall skinny groms?

Any thoughts and guidance would be appreciated. I often buy used, but ain't sure if I'm going to find much that works.

I'm still shocked about the lack of 26" wheel bikes. I had always assumed that 26" would make more sense for frame geometry on the small adult frames over 650b or larger wheels. Am I missing something?

Cheers

[justcuz]

I'm building a ragley Marley for a short female friend at about 5'2". Frame was 250 and parts vary but easily under 800 total and it'll be a sweet ride. Would pretty easily fit a 55" child with 26" wheels.

[bodywhomper]

Thanks. That's a good idea.

I think that it's interesting that when I googled ragley Marley, the first hit was the older 26" model that is still on their website.....

[Dantheman]

The DB Sync'r 24 deal on Amazon is hard to beat, though it seems the exact build it will come with is a bit of a crapshoot.

Commencal has some pretty well spec'd hardtail offerings for kids that size
http://www.commencalusa.com/meta-ht-...16-c2x17825568
http://www.commencalusa.com/meta-ht-...17-c2x21027583
http://www.commencalusa.com/meta-ht-...17-c2x21027604

Spawn Shojo has really nice build for the price too, especially the Axon fork
http://spawncycles.com/bikes/spawn-cycles-shojo

How tall are you compared to your son, and do you recall any major growth spurts around that age? That's going to be your best indicator of how quickly he might outgrow the frame. I think those are all a bit more than you were originally looking to spend, but one thing to consider is that resale on quality kids bikes is pretty good and you'll get more money back later. Example, Lil Shredders may cost $3k, but used ones pop up on Pinkbike periodically for $2k and sell within a week.

[creaky fossil]

Jesus, the DDS squad really does control in Dunfeeland.

Some of us never had any bikes worth more than $100 (present dollars) when we were tykes, and learned just fine on such things.

Trails in 2016 are about 1,000% tamer than they were back in the dark days of my childhood.

But please consider the Children, as they are our Future, and be sure to lavish upon them every trinket of grandiosity after which you yourself pined in your own terrifying, horribly insufficient childhood.