So sweajnr (9) is rapidly outgrowing his 24" Norco Fluid bike and I'm starting to think about his next bike. It's going to be another full suspension bike because we're in Canada and do a mixture of bike park and trail riding.
Putting aside the probably crucial factor of availability there's a variety of potential options in both 26" and 27.5" options. Whilst I can see advantages to going straight from 24" to 27.5" in terms of component availability and the like I also worry that it's a pretty big jump. Conversely 26" is pretty limited in some respects and that's only likely to get worse...
I'm currently leaning 26" but wondering what the bigger brain thinks...
Beaker Jr has recently gone from 24 inch wheels to 27.5 with no real issue that I can see. Although he's only ridden light trails he seemed to get on fine. He completed Bikeability last week, one day of which was pretty much all day in the saddle. I think Sweaman jr will be fine on 27.5.
26 for sure.
We went from a Fluid 24 to a XS 27.5 frame with 26" wheels and 142mm cranks
After about a year he used 27.5 on XC type stuff and mullet on DH and 6mo to a year later he was on 27.5 full time.
Bit of look he'll stick with that a bit longer and maybe do a mullet 29/27.5 next
And the first two responses indicate the conundrum :o)
Fazzini jnr went 24" straight to 27.5. Too big to begin with possibly but he grew at such a rate it was a non-issue quite quickly. In fact he outgrew that bike sharpish.
@fazzini. Yeah - that's pretty much a given on any bike currently. I'm lucky to get two summers out of a bike. Luckily the resale potential of these bikes is pretty strong in Canada.
my son went from 24" (transition ripcord) straight to an XS 27.5 frame (if you can find one!) worked great for him (found a 2nd hand canyon spectral in XS). No issues with wheel size and in fact he only got 18 months out of it before he was then up to a modern geo adults small.
My 9 year old is currently on a 24 inch vitus and ok on it for now . But we were at the EWS a couple of months ago a few he sat on a hup cc enduro frame built up with 27.5 wheels ( hard tail so not what your after ) and he rode fine on it other than the stand over being a bit much for him .
I’d assumed his next bike would be 26 but maybe 27.5 is the way to go , would certainly be able to get spares easier . Flip side is I think the lighter a kids bike is the more fun they can have on it .
are there any frames that are designed to take both the way some kids bikes take 24 and 26 ?
I also worry that it’s a pretty big jump.
Try bike, if bike fits buy it. Doesn't matter how big you think the jump is - if it fits, it fits.
My youngest went from 24 to 27.5 (at ten years old) but she grew a lot during one winter where she didn't ride. My eldest went from 20 to 26 to 27.5 - but that 26 was the size of a 24 but with big wheels.
PS anyone want to buy a cheap but good 24?
"Try bike, if bike fits buy it. Doesn’t matter how big you think the jump is – if it fits, it fits."
Well kind of but a 27.5 is going to handle a little different to a 26 and that's my main concern to be honest. Things like leaning over the bike and in the air.... On paper bikes with 26 and 27.5 have very similar fits. It's noticeable how much more confident sweajnr is jumping his second year on this 24" compared to last year..
I'll break it down further if you like.
#1
24" ripcord (130mm cranks)
26/24" Mullet ripcord
26" vpace Moritz (390mm reach, 135mm cranks)
27.5 XS BMC speedfox trail crew (395mm reach /2.0 slackset, 140mm cranks)
+27.5 Spark XS future pro (375mm reach, 140mm cranks)
Currently 12yo
27.5 M Felt compulsion (145mm cranks)
+27.5 S Glory (160mm cranks)
#2
24" ripcord
26/24 Mullet ripcord
26" vpace Moritz
Currently 10yo
26" XS bmc speedfor trail crew
+27.5 spark
#2 is a little small for the spark with 27.5s even though it's reach is shorter on paper than the BMC. Its fine with leggy low tech xc rides but downsizing the XS BMC to 26" wheels and it is perfect for him when stuff gets rowdy. 27.5 on the BMC and it'd be a little cumbersome fit wise
You may have noticed I'm not shy on investing in equipment to fit the progression properly. However with less funds, the one place I wouldn't compromise spending money is crank length. He's only on 160 on the DH because of the 83mm BB.
PS anyone want to buy a cheap but good 24?
@molgrips what have you got? Eldest might be on a 24 around Christmas time.
My eldest went from a 24" Saracen Mantra to a 27.5" XS sized Spesh Rockhopper at aged 8.5 and weighing in at 135cm tall, he's now 145cm tall, has reached max extension on the stock seat post and smacks his knees on the bars when climbing, there's as much post out as there is seatube and it looks plain stupid.
Personally I wouldn't bother with a 26", just get a S or XS adults 27.5 and you're laughing for a couple of years - maybe, they're really not as big as you might think they are!
FWIW I'm picking up a small adults 29er for him this evening, it'll need a shorter stem, but that's it.
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I'm mulling this problem over myself at the moment myself.
No.1 son is on the upper size limit for his Islabikes Creig 24 (seatpost at full extension), well within the inside leg measurement lower limit of the 26 and 3 inches short of the lower inside leg measurement for the 27.5.
His 24 is looking way to small for him now but would a 27.5 be way to big for him?
And the first two responses indicate the conundrum :o)
Hence stick some 26 wheels on a 27.5 frame and decent length cranks
I’d assumed his next bike would be 26 but maybe 27.5 is the way to go , would certainly be able to get spares easier . Flip side is I think the lighter a kids bike is the more fun they can have on it
Swings and roundabouts ... for about 6mo he kept both the 24 and the 26er/27.5...
He could definitely do better whips on the 24 ... but he could take way bigger hits and was much faster on the bigger bike racing DH's.
He’s only on 160 on the DH because of the 83mm BB.
If you get some longer (175mm) Zee's you can cut down to about 155mm or a little below.
If any of you do decide to go 26", and are mid country then make me an offer
https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/trek-fuel-ex-jnr/1413153131
My 10 y/o went from a Vitus 24 to a Whyte 806 (size small, 27.5" wheels, and designed for smaller people) with no problems at all.
Hopefully it'll last him a few years!
Reeksy2 went from 24” to XS27.5 no problems. A year on and I think we’ll be needing a bigger frame soon. He’s already borrowed some other dads’ small frame FS bikes and looked comfortable on them too.
In fact Reeksy3 can do bigger jumps on the 27.5 than on his 24” and he’s 2.5 years younger.
And for reference here's son No.1 on his freshly acquired Scott Scale 950 29er in a small, he's 145cm tall.
I didn't even need to change the stem as it came with a properly sized 60mm one, I slammed and flipped it, but other than that nowt, top of seat tube / collar to center of saddle rails is 155mm as he's sat on it, hopefully he'll get more than 18 months out of this one!!
The back end seems shorter than his Spesh Rockhopper too and he's well happy that it's easier to wheelie.
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Thanks all. Good conversation. Now to see what's actually available....
I went 27.5" bike with 26" wheels for my daughter. Just changed her over to 27.5" wheels.
Gonna have some nice 26" wheels for sale now. Hope pro 2 front pro 2 Evo rear both with WTB KOM i23 rims. Hans dampf front Nobby nic rear. Set up tubeless.
Iv a small 26" wheel carbon hardtail frame and some fox 80mm forks for sale if anyone is interested, would build into a great light XC bike
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