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The little man has recently nailed riding his bike and he's doing a lot more off road stuff now and I'm thinking of replacing his slick road style tyres with something more off road orientated. I've tried lowering the pressure but they still slide about a bit too much on the terrain we're riding. He's not yet at 'riding Dalby Red on a gravel bike' levels yet so I'm thinking something with a bit more volume and tread will open up more routes and be a bit more comfy for him.
I've looked at Kenda 14" Small Block and Vee Tire Co. Crown Gem MPC 14" - which seem to be fitted OEM to a lot of the more MTB oriented kids bikes out there.
Front has plenty of clearance, but the rear looks like it will take a 50mm tyre at most.
Any other suggestions?
https://www.trionic.uk/en/accessories-spare-parts-c-20/tires-12-14-c-14/innova-ia-2004-tire-14-inch-p-151%3Fcountry%3DGB%26currency%3DGBP&id=1&_rcn=19718829483&_rck=&mtm_campaign=&mtm_kwd=&mtm_source=google&mtm_medium=cpc&mtm_placement=&mtm_content=&gclid=CjwKCAjw4P6oBhBsEiwAKYVkq13A_tQ8otSheU-_c8nM384T-Jc6ZIs6KbLdx7S-ph0d2ycqoOZb6BoCPhMQAvD_Bw E">These Innova 14" jobbies do nicely for £15 a pair we ran them on a 14" frog bike no problem
The big has been through 3 brothers, CX and MTB racing and never had a puncture. They grip well and roll well enough.
They look perfect and can't argue at £15 a pair.
Cheers!
Schwalbe black jack
Good thinking on tyre volume. But don’t forget how bumpy the world will feel on 14” wheels. Get him onto bigger wheels as soon as possible and stick to the smooth off-road stuff for now!
No black jacks in 14”; 12, 18 And 20” only, as I was gonna suggest them.
Yeah, 16 or 20inch bike. Conti cross king is good in a 20 and will fit an Beinn 20 small.
Can you get a Maxxis MaxxDaddy in 14”. It rolled well on the road but grips alright on muddy tracks. It also has a cool name. Kenda Small Block 8s are pretty good as well
For reference, he's just turned 4 and although he's tall for his age, it might be a while before he can stand over a 16in or 20in wheeled bike.
He's a machine for his age and has been doing 10-15km flat smooth rides. He has also got the hang of the bungee tow rope and I'd love to get him out for rides on the Moors and Dales, but he'll definitely need a bit more grip and comfort.
Some good suggestions. Thanks all.
Vee Crown Gem in 14x2.25
Can I suggest a macride / KRS seat? It’ll get him used to shifting his weight around and standing up where necessary faster than he will do riding a little wheeled bike over the terrain you want to cover. I used a weeride with H & E up to about age 4, but with Zo went to a macride at around age 3 to 5. Her riding appears to be vastly superior to the other two for the same age.
I just read the OP's most recent message... My youngest also just turned four and is not tall for her age but she's on our 16" Early Rider now, the 14" is too small for when she's going fast - the 16" is much more stable. Seriously consider a bigger bike before you invest in tyres for the next two rides! But good work getting them riding do far - we haven't ridden more than 5 or 6km in a singe "ride".
@hot_fiat - I agree, they're great for getting them interested and used to riding. We've had one for about 2 years. And he was on a Thule Yepp Mini before that.
@Kahurangi - Thanks for the info. I came to a similar conclusion the other day at a pump track. Another kid and Mum were there and they had a 14" Early Rider and it's smaller than his Vitus 14. The Vee Tire Crown Gem plus tyres seemed ideal. I measured his inside leg and he should fit an Early Rider 16", so I'm planning on getting him one for Christmas.
The Vee Crown Gem are bizarrely good, we used them with Amber for years in lots of really manky, slippy conditions and they always exceeded expectations. We only moved onto the Vee Flow Snap when she got onto 24s 🙂