Early Rider as a brand has been around since 2005. I seem to recall that it started out initially with wooden balance bikes. Wooden balance bikes that had a keen eye for subtle, but stylish aesthetics with frame sizing and geometry that looked to be a bit more capable than most. Yes, we’re talking about balance bikes, but a stable bike is a good bike.
- Price: £675.00
- From: earlyrider.com
- Tested by: Olive
Soon after the balance bikes, Early Rider came out with metal frame bikes with pedals. And they looked super cool. And they still do; the brushed metal look remains on pretty much all Early Rider bikes.
Early Rider has never seemingly been a brand to cut corners. Its Belter series of singlespeed and hub-gear bikes – with belt drives instead of chains – is a good example of not doing the easy or obvious thing.
This Early Rider Seeker 20 featured here is its 20in wheel size kid’s mountain bike with gears, designed for kids aged 6 to 8 (or 118 to 135cm approx.). And, as you can see, it looks flipping well cool. Like a cartoon bike drawn by a cyborg.
The Bike
Both of my kids had an Early Rider Belter 16 as their first post-balance pedal bike (the same bike passed down from sibling to sibling). That was a great bike that really helped them get into proper self-propelled cycling. Good parts, good geometry (standover, head angle, BB height essentially), and it didn’t need much maintenance. And it took all kinds of abuse and not-so-careful treatment.
With this in mind, I had high expectations from this Early Rider Seeker 20. Before we delve into how the bike behaved, let’s have a deep dive into the parts list.
It’s the components on a kid’s bike that can make or break the experience. Much more so than even on an adult bike. A duff parts choice on a kid’s bike can be hard to spot (your kid probably isn’t going to be able to tell you there’s an issue, for example).
There isn’t a single duff component on the Early Rider Seeker 20. Actually, I tell a lie. The chainstay protector isn’t the right size. It’s a bit too long and/or thick, which causes it to rub on the voluminous rear tyre. Not the end of the world, and solvable with a pair of scissors and a lighter, but I think it’s fair game to nitpick on a kid’s bike costing £675.
As for spec highlights, it’s hard to know where to start because it is all really exceptionally well chosen stuff. The stem is nice and short (35mm). The bars are a nice width (560mm) and rise (18mm) for the intended size of rider.
The contact points are really nice – skinny, tacky grips and crisply made flat pedals of a good size (not too massive, but generous). The saddle is a suitable size to avoid excessive John Wayne-ing of young legs. A quick word about QR seat clamps: they are absolutely essentially on a kid’s bike. I am forever raising and lowering saddle heights depending on the terrain and (more significantly) the child’s mood on any particular day.
The drivetrain was very pleasing: 127mm cranks with narrow Q-factor, 30T chainring and a 11–42T 8-speed gearing from Box. A wide range equally suited to cycle path blasting and some steeper, off-road ascending. It required zero maintenance throughout the test period. By the way, kids can operate Smart TVs and tablets these days so they are more than capable of understanding a trigger shifter. Kudos to Early Rider for not speccing twistshift or those shifters that a have thumb lever underneath and button-release on the top (ugh).
All that said, the most important items were the brakes and tyres. Just like on any bike. Powerful brakes that little hands find easier. Fat tyres that roll just fine and grip like stink when they have to. The Promax hydraulic disc brakes with 160mm rotors and 2.25in Vee tyres are a superb combo.
The Ride
Although components can make or break a bike, there’s no hiding inappropriate geometry with fancy parts. If a kid’s bike has geometry that is lacking, it’s not going to inspire any confidence or increase in confidence and ability.
Thankfully, geometry is one area that the Early Rider Seeker 20 has totally dialled. The reach and wheelbase of the bike put the rider in a really nicely balanced place. Not too far over the front and sketchy, nor too far over-the-back and wandery or vague. There’s room to move about without the rider suddenly finding themselves too far one way or another (and a crash/bail ensuing).
The top tube is nicely low slung, affording good standover which really helps loads in a child’s level of commitment and confidence in trying new things. The bottom bracket height is a really tricky thing to get right on smaller wheel kids’ bikes. So too is crank length. There’s a whole load of guff spouted about crank lengths for kids. Suffice to say, the proof is in the riding (bikes are a very complex system of many interacting variables) and the 127mm cranks and BB height on the Early Rider Seeker 20 are both bob-on in our opinion. Similarly, the handling of the bike was as good as it gets on 20in wheel mountain bike.
In terms of the controls, the rider just got on with it. The brakes weren’t OTT jerking skidfests. Coming from a V-brake bike, the rider was noticeably smoother and less panicky.
The gears took a little bit of learning but after a parent-child system of instructions was established (“top lever” or “bottom lever”) things progressed swimmingly and just having to use a thumb to change gear – while retaining a constant grip on the bar – was clearly better than systems that require a hand to be removed from the bar or a twistgrip that requires an undesirably significant amount of wrist-throw and hand repositioning.
A quick word about bearings. Everything that has a bearing in it on the Seeker 20 spins really nicely. There are no tight spots or rumblings. Everything feels just-so and well put together.
Finally, the tyres are really impressive. If this were a pure tarmac-going machine, it wouldn’t really worth it to have decent tyres specced. But seeing as this is very much intended to be My First Mountain Bike, the tyres are a crucial component. The Vee Crown Gem tyres basically reminded me of a Schwalbe Nobby Nic. Not mud tyres by any means, but absolutely capable of 90% of all conditions they’re ever likely to be subjected to. Not draggy or rumbly on the road either. Supple enough to deform for traction/suspension under low rider weights. The supple casing also helps them have impressive rolling resistance on all surfaces.
Overall
With kids, you’re not supposed to have favourites, but what about kids’ bikes? This, for what it’s worth, was by far our favourite bike in this test. Sure, we’re kind of comparing 20 inch apples with 26 inch oranges, but the Early Rider Seeker 20 was the bike that seemed to be the best all-round mountain bike for kids. No glaring weaknesses anywhere, just capability and confidence in abundance.
Like the best aspects of adult mountain bikes, the good stuff about this bike was simply not even thought about by the rider. The kid just got on with riding the trail and the parts and the geometry silently helped them to do so. The intuitive nature of the controls and the bike handling cannot be over praised. Well done Early Rider!
Specification Early Rider Seeker 20
- Frame // 6061 aluminium
- Fork // 6061 aluminium
- Wheels // CNC 6061 hubs w/ 28H double-wall rims
- Front tyre // Vee Crown Gem 20 x 2.25in
- Rear tyre // Vee Crown Gem 20 x 2.25in
- Chainset // Samox 127mm w/ 30T
- Drivetrain // Box 4 P8 8-speed w/ 11-40T
- Brakes // Promax DSK926 hydraulic disc w/ 160/160mm rotors
- Stem // Ritchey OS Forged, 35mm length
- Bars // Ritchey OS, 560 x 18mm
- Grips // ER Lock-On
- Seatpost // Ritchey 6061, 27 x 250mm
- Saddle // ER Winged
- Bottom Bracket // Samo 24mm external
- Size tested // 20in wheel
- Sizes available // 14in, 16in, 20in, 24in wheel
- Weight // 9.39kg
Geometry Early Rider Seeker 20
- Head angle // 68.5°
- Effective seat angle // 73°
- Seat tube length // 280mm
- Head tube length // 90mm
- Chainstay // 330mm
- Wheelbase // 860mm
- Effective top tube // 440mm
- BB height // 240mm
- Reach // N/A
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Review Info
| Brand: | Early Rider |
| Product: | Seeker 20 |
| From: | Early Rider |
| Price: | £675.00 |
| Tested: | by Olive for Issue 145 |
