[Closed] kids 20" bike

Suspension forks on small kids bikes are usually heavy and pretty useless - mainly for cosmetic effect. You're better off fitting a good fat tyre I'd say. Disc brakes nice but not necessary.

The main things for confidence off road are good standover and general fit and a low enough bottom gear. Some kids bikes are still over geared and small legs get tired pumping up hills.

Yeah biggest problem with his mx16 is any sort of hill/slope off road he can't get up and gets frustrated as his brother can

so the cube has rigid forks but v brakes but the kona has suspension but disc brakes, I assume good quality v brakes will do the job fine for his weight? Will disc brakes help with his confidence if he feels he'll stop better? his brother has 24" bike and v brakes but wa agoing tonupgrade to disc for him.

V brakes should be fine if they are well set up and have a light action. There's a lot of push for kids bikes to have all the mod cons but at that age I just don't think they need them.

Both our kids have disc brakes on their 24" bikes as I prefer them having brakes that work when they ride through every puddle they can find, but the lighter weight of a 5yo on a 20" means rims are fine.

Unless you spent all the money, suspension will be heavy and useless: even a light air fork is 1.6kg.  If he goes off-road just get the biggest tyres you can fit.

Just bought an Orbea mx24 team disc

They do an mx20 version which looks like a great little bike too

@rossburton thanks, I've read through your carrera bike thread and bike looks great, would love to do that sort of thing but don't have the now how although our oldest is wanting to change a few basic things on his bike (Merida Dakar 624) such as grips bar stem etc maybe at some stage I can do a build for my youngest. think I may look out for something with a rigid fork try keep the weight down

@cloudnine yeah I've seen that bike looks great, the mx24 good? My youngest actually had an orbea mx16 but arrived with a faulty back wheel so sent it back and a friend lent us the mx16 short term but he loved it so bought it off them

I bought the Orbea on the back of what ive read on STW and this thread

http://forums.mtbr.com/families-riding-kids/2017-orbea-mx24-team-disc-1032109.html

It hasnt actually turned up yet but paid £369 for it and just couldnt find another bike which came anywhere near to it spec and weight wise.  It was the little things like the length of the rear stays, tubeless ready rims, 10 speed and hydraulic brakes.. I'll maybe put some tubeless rocket rons on it to drop a bit more weight.

My eldest is currently riding a 20" frog bike.. but given a choice would probably get an MX20 rather than the frog.  Depends if you are willing to spend £300 on a kids bike if buying new..

@cloudnine thanks I'll give that a read, if I was buying it then I assume I'll need to buy it new as won't be many coming up used yet I don't think although there is one up eBay at the moment.

he's at the small end of the size scale so I'd hope he'd get 2 years or so out of the bike so don't mind spending the money to make sure I get the right thing,

I bought a (quite old) second hand Islabike Beinn20 off Ebay (£217). It is a well designed bike with proper (and therefore serviceable) components. I spent about £50 to install a new cassette, chain, jockey wheels, pedals and quick release seat clamp and gave it a good service. My 5 year old loves it - it's light enough that he can ride all day we've done some quite long rides (for a 5 year old), including sections of some of the easy routes at Grizedale and bridleways around the lake district. He also loves taking it to the 'bumps' at the local park and just generally mucking about in the street. It's been pretty good for all these, as well as learning gearing. He has struggled a bit to get the hang of the gears - he always ends up in 7th and after 6 months is just getting the knack of changing down before going up a hill (with the twist grip, changing down is the harder direction). It's also easy to drop the front wheel off this bike and chuck it in the back of the car.

Fundamentally though it's a light bike and the weight factor makes a huge difference. Agree with previous comments - suspension not worth the hassle.

@northernsoul thanks for the info, I'd never considered the islabikes as thought they were more for path riding, good to hear they cope well on trails as wel

Bikes like Islas and Frogs are fine off-road. Here's my lad's Frog 52 with a few additions - riser bar, short stem, schwalbe tyres and a wide range cassette.

I got a used  20" hotrock for £50 a while back and raided the spares bin for other parts, it's about to be handed down to our youngest I think, as she might be a bit big for her ridgeback 'melody' (girly mx16).

I really rate the hotrock frames and some of the later versions do have disc mounts (not sure if you really need them on 20" kids bike) but yeah, most of them seem to come with junk suspension forks, go rigid FTW if you can...

@keeno187 we have knobblies to put on for the winter. The geometry of this bike is pretty good for trail riding though.

@cookeaa thanks, that's another to consider, his first bike was the hotrock 12 and he loved that.

was thinking my options were relatively limited but was wrong so plenty to think about and keep an eye out for, thanks for all advice

Oh yeah, I have just got my eldest a charge cooker 24" but there is also a 20" version both are aluminium frames to keep the weight manageable.

It's worth keeping an eye on fleabay because they pop up on there and not being an obvious brand for kids bikes seem to go for peanuts...

@cookeaa thanks I'll have a look, didn't realise they did a 20" bike

My kids have frog 14" and 16" bikes but the budget for the 20" is smaller this time and I managed to pick up a giant xtc 20 for £40 2nd hand rigid forks and lightish swapped to some new tyres and brake pads and it's like new and should still be worth £40 when they are finished definitely some bargains about

And there is of course a 20" carerra Blast/luna

Have just picked up one of these for Little Miss CFH.

Mudguard removed, Spesh Zee cage fitted. Might put some carbon risers on there as she grows a bit in to the bike, as well as a pimp 7 spd rear mech maybe. Overall, it's light. Very light in fact. A great looking bike, too, I think.

Islabike beinn 20L here, two in fact, one for each kid. They're excellent, no regrets and kids love them

Check out the vitus twenty on chain or wiggle, got one for my daughter and great bike for the money, proper direct rear mech and Altus thumb shifter under 200 quid

I'm about to sell a 20" Pinnacle. Easily as good as Islabike or Frog but significantly cheaper. Better in some respects in that you get fat tyres instead of skinny like you do on Islabike. Which means low pressures to help the 20" wheels roll. Also well designed with a long wheelbase for stability.

I'm in Cardiff if you want a look.

I’m in Cardiff if you want a look.

One in Surrey as well if anyone's interested.... lots of spares from a back wheel and freewheels etc.

It's just sat in the shed at the moment...

Bought my lad a Wiggins Chartres 20" bike.  Aluminium frame & forks & decent components.  Not more than 1kg heavier than an equivalent Isla & only cost me £180 out of Halfords when they had their sale on

@molgrips thanks but I'm up in Scotland so a little bit too far to travel.

with all the options everyone's suggested I'm no further forward now as now deciding wether I should spend the extra cash on something like the orbea mx20 or just keep costs down by buying local & 2nd hand which I don't have a problem with

his birhday isn't for another month yet so may keep a look out locally and if nothing comes up will by new.

only problem with buying new is I know his big brother will start moaning about why his younger brother has a better bike than him 🙈

Beinn 20 better than the Frog equiv IMO (we have both from two older kids and saving the Beinn for #3 who's just started on a Cnoc - first time pedalling at the weekend!). Hoy Bonaly looks great too.

@keeno1875 I have a Ridgeback mx20 here going cheap if youre interested, v.good condition near the Scottish border.

PM if you're interested.

My two had Isla Beinn 20in with Schwalbe black jack tyres as their bikes and they served them reasonably well.

However I think there are better options out there now such as the aforementioned Orbea, Canyon or Saracen.

if I was buying it then I assume I’ll need to buy it new as won’t be many coming up used yet I don’t think although there is one up eBay at the moment.

They come up ... just need finding.  My mate got a MX24... for £80 (but only wanted the frame)

with all the options everyone’s suggested I’m no further forward now as now deciding wether I should spend the extra cash on something like the orbea mx20 or just keep costs down by buying local & 2nd hand which I don’t have a problem with

What are they going to need in the time they use it?

My kid went from only just fitting on the 20" to a 24" in 9mo....

He could have got more use out of the 20 - but it just want worth spending money on it.  He's now had 2yrs from his 24 and will get a further year unless I sell it (which isn't really worth it as the components are worth more than the bike).

@stevextc that's a good point, he's not quite 5 yet but just at the smallest end size wise for using a 20"  although he's very confident & capable on his bike, his brother is 9 and just into his 24" bike as he's not the biggest either so would figure that the youngest may get a good 2-3yrs out of  his 20" so I suppose I may get a certain degree of 'value for money' from it,

i cant see my eldest being onto a 26" bike or bigger in the next few years as his bike looks big on him as it is so just can't see them being on the same size bike at the same time when there's nearly 5 yrs between them if you see what I mean?

I’ve got 2 frog 55 20 inch wheel I’m about to sell, located in Greenock if either are of interest to you

I,ahem ,I mean my son ,has his heart set on an Orbea mx 20disc. I tried him for size on a ridgeback 20 and he’s still a few months off(v nearly6).

If money was growing on trees I wouldn’t hesitate to get another early rider tbh.

But it isn’t.

Apologies for resurrecting a slightly old thread but a quick update on the bike front, no bike bought yet although have been given an old Merida Dakar 620 from a friend to use, it's been left outside and been well used but going to use it short term until the right bike pops up,

the main thing at the moment is my son loves it, the main issue I'm having Is that he is struggling to pull the brake levers, he can reach them ok but they are tight to pull which I'm assuming is due to being left outside so what are everyone's opinions on decent affordable v brakes? Could i just swap them for a relatively cheap shimano set just to get him going or stopping I suppose in this case? Don't want to spend a lot on it as it's just temporary or certainly that's the the plan.

New levers should make a difference. Check they have decent reach adjust. It may be worth putting new cables (inner and outer) on too.

If.you are still looking for a bike, I have a Hoy Bonaly with 20" wheels in excellent condition for sale. Located Central Belt of Scotland. See the classifieds.

Hoy bonally 20 for my 7 year old son

its brilliant, as good as the islabike he was on before

Yeah I’m on the look out for our 5year olds first proper bike. Already got a few parts ready from the spares box (ti bars, short stem, hope brakes, 1x10 zee/xt mech/shifter) I’m really liking the canondale cujo 20+ Because it’s 1 of very few to have disc mounts on a 20” wheeled bike,Just waiting to see if it has a proper free hub or short 7 speed. I know it’s a bit expensive to start with (but comparable to other premium brand kids bikes) but is should do both our boys ( and possibly a third) so should end up value for money.

Thanks

tim

Hi all, bit of a thread resurrection but was wondering if people had any experience of the 20 inch bikes with plus tyres like the trek and the vitus. The boy is currently on an isla bikes 16 and it's way to small for him now after his last growth spurt. We were at glentress at the weekend and I saw the trek hire bikes with big fat tyres and I thought they looked really smart and way better than a heavy suspension fork. Just not sure about those big tyres on trips round the park, cycle paths etc etc. Would a better balance be a normal isla /frog/hoy with some meatier tyres for comfort and grip for when he goes mtbing?

Ha just realised I was last to post on this thread so as it’s quite relevant to moon. I ended up buying a genesis caribou.

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So first thing I did was swap out the brakes for some 140/160 hope mono mini brakes with floating rotors (just cos I had them spare), swapped the grip shift for a Shimano trigger, short stem, flat bars and new grips. 6 year old loves the big chunky tyres. It’s still a tiny bit big but will last him until his 3 year old brother can use it. Next up will be building some new wheels (got some hope bulbs in the spares box) which will shed a load of weight and allow me to go to 10 speed zee. Just a word of caution. If you see maxxis creepy crawlers 20x2.5 they are actually for 19” wheels.

Wow that's pretty awesome. I assume he's mainly off road on that? Would love to get the boy something like that but most of his riding is to the shops or the park and a bmx track with a trip to a trail center every now and then so I don't want something that is going to be too hard to pedal on tarmac type stuff.

He's had a great week riding his bike and we've made some great progress with his confidence so I am keen to keep him going but don't want something that is to hard to pedal on flat easy stuff. Looking at the stuff mentioned that orbea looks pretty smart.

Yeah we live in the Forest of Dean so off road wherever you look. All I would say is look at the back wheel, some of the cheaper wheels are 130mm axle which is quite limited upgrades wise.

My 4 year old recently went from a frog 52 to and Isla beinn 20 . The saddle height goes very low on the Isla bike. Very impressed with it.

Also worth checking out squish bikes. They have a few MTB offerings