Hi all,
Looking for a kids MTB, not looking for a bike that looks like an MTB, want a decent 24" wheel for use at Woburn Sands, Chicksands etc for XC.
Been looking at the Kona, Specialized, Trek and Giant. All around the £250 - £300 mark.
Can anyone offer a recommendation offer advice, or maybe a better bike in that price range?
Thanks
Everyone raves about Islabikes, Carrera do some decent ones at that price. Or just look at Xsmall 26" wheel bikes, they'd be like the 650b of the 24" wheel world!! 😀
Kona shred 24 or Scott voltage 24, especially if he is going to ride the more jumpy stuff.
Islabike .......
my daughter has decided she quite likes the [url= http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/kids/kid-240/kid-240-blue-lime/ ]Cube 240[/url]
I ended up building my own using a GF precaliber frame, hydro discs, custom wheels, shokpost, the world's only (?) 24" specific on-one carbon forks (shortened 29ers), isoflow cranks shortened to 145mm.
Toying with buying the 24" specific air forks from one of the german online retailers.
No need to get 24" specific forks. Just put some normal ones on, they work fine and will last till the next bike.
I like the Kona Shred but thats coming in at circa £450.
I can get a good deal on the Kona Hula 24, the Giant XTC 1 or the Specialized Hotrock.
All for £250, or I can get the Cube 240 for £300.
Where would you put your money?
There was a shred on pb for £150 the other day. It seems to have gone now but they seem to come up regularly second hand.
The voltage jr is 350 and is a good bike, geometry like a mini chameleon and tough. The spesh is tough but a bit longer and less agile. Of your options above, I would go with the spesh but would be tempted to spend the bit more on a Scott or a Kona.
Merida Dakar
and Spesh Hotrock in my house, nothing between them.
It seems like the spesh is coming out best. I would love to go for the Knoa Shred or Scott Voltage but £300 is the limit and the only Kona for that money is the Hula 24.
Orbea MX24 team is a superb bike, may be slightly over budget though. There are lower spec models which would be under budget though.
If I was buying again I'd go straight here: [url= http://www.frogbikes.com/ ]http://www.frogbikes.com/[/url]
Pedal & Spoke in Peaslake stock them.
We bought a used Kona Hula for £120 seven years ago. It regularly went round Swinley (all of it), despite poor forks and V brakes and was handed down to Son2. Any of the brands you list will be good. Now, with disk brakes, I might think about a 14" frame 26" wheeled bike and extra 24" wheels instead for longevity if handing down isn't going to happen. The Kona is still going strong with my nephew.
Interesting point; we went 16/20/24/26" and the bikes did not get heavier 😉
Add ORBEA into the mix. Bought my eldest their 24inch dirt model. Excellent quality, fantastic bike. Solid forks though which means less to go wrong.
My daughter has a 24" wheeled specialized which is very well made and far beyond anything i had as a childs bike.
They seem to hold their 2nd hand value as well.
Thanks for all the inputs. Going to purchase tomorrow so if anyone else has another opinion then please share.
Thanks
My lad's got the Kona Hula - it's... alright.
Same choice again, I'd probably go with the Spesh - his previous bike was the smaller Hotrock (20" wheels) and that's a lovely bike.
ianv - MemberNo need to get 24" specific forks. Just put some normal ones on, they work fine and will last till the next bike.
Nah, everyones says that but I tried it and (my opinion) its b*****s, screws up the geometry - albeit I found that the GF forks were a lot shorter (and heavier) than the ones on a hotrock.
Both my sons 24" bikes have std forks and both work way better than they would with 24" ones. If anything, they improve the geometry as they slacken the bikes a bit.
Get a Charge Blender, saw a mint one on ebay go for £350, change the wheels out for 24", XC no problem then your kid can ride DH, FR, Duel and 4X as well, when kid grows change wheels out for 26" happy days 🙂
So by that logic everyone could now buy 29er forks to put on our 26er XC bikes and it wouldn't ruin the geometry at all, because that is exactly the same as what you are suggesting. Really?
I tried the bike myself with 26er forks and I could tell the difference, and it wasn't good difference.
Maybe for boys who are doing more gnarly faster following gravity type sure (i.e. not XC), but not for XC in and out of trees and stuff.
So by that logic everyone could now buy 29er forks to put on our 26er XC bikes and it wouldn't ruin the geometry at all, because that is exactly the same as what you are suggesting. Really?
You don't need to put 29" forks on a 26" because there are plenty of decent 26" forks out there - the same cannot be said for 24" forks (it should be noted that there are a number of forks which will work for 650b and 26" wheels, which is possibly a fairer comparison). Additionally many 24" bikes have a very steep head angle, running a 26" slackens this off slightly, yes it changes the geometry, but often in a good way, if you want a 26" bike with a slacker head angle, you simply buy one, you do not have that depth of choice with a 24" bike.
The vast majority of 24" bikes run something like a coil RST or Suntour up front with little to no adjustment and minimal travel that is often ineffective as the spring used simply requires too much weight to compress it which means they are pointless on a kids bike. A 26" air SID fork for example will lose around 400g in weight from the front of the bike, will slacken the head angle slightly and will give a useable amount of travel if your child wants to do more then ride fire roads. You can go with a 24" air fork (ie. RST First Air or Suntour XCR) but these are low level forks that still carry a fair amount of weight compared to a SID and cannot be transferred o to a 26" bike. I would say an air fork is virtually essential on any kids bike - in fact I even managed to source one for the 20" wheeled bike I've just built for my son 😀
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If it was me I would buy a second hand Carrera Luna/blast, stick a 2nd hand 80mm SID on the front, replace the brakes with Deore 615s and bin the bars and replace with a wider ali bar and trigger shifters rather then grip shifters. Will cost around £300 and you'll end up with a bike infinitely better then anything new that's around the same price.