Well, it does exist: Islabikes make a 24″ and 26″ version of the Creig mountain bike but they are £700!

I work at an outdoor centre where we take children offroad cycling. Usually year 5-6 (9-11 year olds) for half day sessions.

At the moment we have Kona Firemountains for the 26″ wheels and Saracen Tufftraxs for the 24″ bikes. The Konas have done 2 years with minimal maintenance. The Saracens have needed more time but they have v-brakes and cheapy gripshift so need more fettling.

Here’s what I’d like to replace them with:

…Hardtail frame and forks…the Kona RockShox forks have been ok, the Suntours on the Saracens are a waste of time…happy with cheap bouncy forks if necessary.
…Single chainrings like Islabikes…no need for 3 chainrings here and they cause hassle, maintenance and confusion.
…7 speed is enough, 8 or 9 doesn’t hurt though,
…disc brakes, ideally hydraulic but would consider cables…no rim brakes please.
..the rest I’m not bothered about, the above points are the basis of a bike that would work for us.

Is there anything out there beyond Islabikes? We need to get them for no more than £350 each…maybe nowt exists and I need to email Brant?

Cheers for any help…

Do they have to have suspension?
What about pinnacle aspens??

Oooh, that’s the closest thing I’ve seen that I didn’t know existed…shame there isn’t a disc version for £50 more…is Jameso the man I need to speak to?

Yep

http://spawncycles.com/ might be a bit pricy but we have kids riding the shore on these things!

Have you looked at the Specialized range? Our local trail centre uses them from balance bikes upwards, the kids bikes have been so good they’re not needing to replace them until the end of next season….

Felt Q24 Disc 24w 2015 ?
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Felt-Q24-Disc-24w-2015-Junior-Bike_74254.htm

The Genesis Core 24 would meet your requirements for a decent 24″ fork and disks, reasonable gears but it is 3×8 though and £100 over budget.

Pinnacle Ramin must be close too then.

Frog?

We just got a Pinnacle 20″ for our oldest. It’s remarkably good and £70 less than the Islabike. It’s heavier but I suspect much of that is in the tyres which are 2.0 instead of the particularly skinny ones that Islabike come with. Impressed with the quality, has bottle cage bosses and even downtube crudcatcher bosses. Rigid fork too.

So I currentl have confidence in the brand 🙂

Lister, PM me if it’s of interest, also have something in the pipeline that may fit dependent on timing

Cheers Jameso, YHM.

Dawes Academy 24″ is 1×8 w/140mm cranks, rigid & light, not disk though.

I upgraded my lads Pinnacle Disk 24 to Hydros, stuck a better but still cheap 26″ 80mm fork on, and converted to 1x with a 28T 140mm crankset off ebay and chain device. I’m sure it’s still heavier than my Anthem though!

Having worked at outdoor centres, and maintained fleets of bikes for many a year, you need:

26er, rigid with Alfine and Deore hydro discs. (Genesis did one in 26 and 29 a couple of years back)
24″ of same brand, rigid with single front ring and grip shift.

Suspension is a waste f time – cheap ones seize solid in a month, posh ones the kids faff with the controls so the rebound doesn’t work and the spring rate is never right. Heavy, more maintenance and more cost.

I do thnk there is a small market for a company to make these models, at a great price and shift volume orders each year to centres.

Matt, you’re right. There are centre/group specific buoyancy aids, harnesses, helmets, waterproofs etc etc out there but nowt for biking.

Simple, light bikes with few moving parts and good geometry would sell on word of mouth alone.
If there was a small but useful range of customismation available for tyres, wheel sizes etc then we’d be laughing.

Fancy going into business? 😉

I was hoping Jameso would be listening…

Me too…or at a push PACT/Brant??

I’d be tempted to get in touch with Frog. They’re a British company who only deal in kids bikes and I’m sure they’d be interested to hear an idea like this.

How many do you need?

IGH kids bike

650B XS/S/M-framed rigid MTB with disc mounts

Adaptations can be made for a bulk order and there’s more on the way in this area. The hub-gear Aspens are really appreciated by parents who understand why it’s a good idea. The discs were left off as the bike starts to get heavy and pricey, the Hoy Bonaly 24″ has proven that people do appreciate lighter, quality bikes though so a disc version is an obvious next step.

brant – Member

How many do you need?

Each outdoor centre varies, but most have a fleet of 30-60 odd bikes, and most change them every year or two. My old place had 130 bikes across three centres, all changed yearly. All bought trade at usual prices, sometimes hoovering up end of year stock from suppliers.

Maintenence is *the* issue of outdoor centre bikes – they get a battering, and many staff are not good at looking after them, even if Cytech or similar.

In addition, most centres dont go on *that* challenging terrain, or want groups to go fast. So low gears and low spread of gears is great. Suspension is a faff and hassle – and although groups (and instructors) think it is cool, I think it hinders most rides with groups.

It wouldn’t be a big order from all – you would need to go to individual centres, but I suspect hire places may also have interest.

Jameso – those two are getting there….

Brant, I’ve emailed you on the help@PACT address.

Seems there are bikes out there that are near my (and others) ideal…just got to persuade them to get the details right!

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/youth/mountain-/core-24

Boom. 2015 Genesis Core in 24 and 26″ flavours. Looking good…

Also found the Marin Bayview Disc 24 and something in the Merida range who’s name escapes me.

Yep – was going to recommend the Core 24 and 26 but lister beat me to it. They’ll be making an appearance in our hire fleet next season for sure.