My youngest is coming ti the end of her time on her 20" Orange Zest so I've started looking at what to replace it with. When my oldest moved up to a 24" bike it didn't last very long before she out grew it so I've been looking at frames that take a 24 and 26 inch wheel. I liked the look of the Scott Ransom 400 but that seems to be sold out everywhere. The Marin Rift zone looks good too but possibly a little heavy.
Is there any other bikes that I should be looking at with 24/26 inch comparability?
Cheers.
I looked at those bikes, but a second hand vitus mythique 24 turned up at the right time.
It's quite a big step from 20 to 24, but I suspect an xs 650b frame with 26" wheels or 650b might be an ok transition from a 24.
My daughter has just moved on from her 24+ vitus. I need to give it a good clean then it'll be ready for selling on....... 😉
What would be the next decent step from a 16 inch bike for my daughter?
I've got an Orbea MX24 in baby blue and pink with the SDG Grom kit on (bars/grips/saddle/pedals) if you'd be interested. £160 + postage.
In terms of sizes, ours have gone balance bike (Specialized) - 16" (Frog) - 20+" (Vitus) - 24" (Vitus) - 27.5" (Whyte). 20+" to 26"/27.5" would have been too much of a leap and the progression made on the 24" Vitus has been pretty remarkable.
We've normally had a look second hand and always looked out for the small Orbeas, Vitus, and Nukeproof as being decent spec, well thought out proper mountain bikes and reasonable value. On the bigger ones I'd add Whyte and Marin (not owned but lots of the cool kids down the jumps have one) to the list.
And if we're doing stealth ads we'll have the 20+ Vitus and the mini Specialized balance bike up for sale on the classifieds as soon as I pull my finger out.
I’m not convinced by the 24/26 frames. I’ve known a few people that had them. Only one of them bothered to move to the 26 wheels and he found it expensive.
My kids went through to an XS 27.5.
Double up
Kids bikes should be treated like kids shoes... Fit properly and changed frequently.
20 to 26, even with 24 wheels, would be a massive jump in size, would they even be able to reach the bars?
If you insist on it though, you could go mullet
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/weston-lukens-joins-frameworks-with-custom-26-bike.html
This was something we considered, but in the end didn’t make much sense to us (as we would have moved to a bigger bike instead of just 26 wheels) so we went to a Kona Process 24, which was perfect and given the geometry, actually lasted a while. From that, it was then an easy transition to a Canyon Neuron Young Hero 2XS with 27.5 wheels, again, absolutely perfect from a size perspective and our daughter still rides that as well as a small Merida eOne Sixty… in that journey, the sizing has always felt really comfortable for my daughter and brilliant to ride. 🙂
Once she got to 12, size does seem less important as long as it’s not too small; she can even jump on mine or my wife’s bike and ride it like she stole it 🤣
I've got a brand new in box 24 Inch Vitus Mythique that I was planning on putting up for sale soon. It still has the packaging and protection on it.
Drop me a message if interested.
cant imagine going from 20 - 26.
My 6 yo daughter is beyond too big for her 20inch isla Beinn - seat right up and still her knees are round her lugs but her merida matts jnr 24 is too long in the top tube to ride comfortably.
Cheers for all the replies.
plenty food for thought, she still has a little while left on her 20" so plenty time to make a decision.
One of the kids from the kids mtb club I help run has a propain that's she's had from 24" then to 26" that has lasted ages so that's what has kind of put me on that path.
I have a Forme Kinder 24" for sale that has very little use (in red). The odd mark on it but the child really didn't use it more than 5 or 6 times...
