My 6yr old son loves his riding & is active with BMX racing.

He also has a 20″ wheel 7 speed mountainbike (Cube) but this is pretty heavy (probably heavier than my 26″ Trek with solid fork), especially for a 6yr old…
In comparison to a race BMX this feels like riding a tank!

Has anyone bought or built a lightweight mini-mountainbike?
I’m still thinking to stick with 20″ wheels & no suspension / V brakes.

Any suggestions gratefully received…

My standard answer to this is Islabikes. Had both 20 and 24 inch wheel versions, and they are light and robust. When we go camping, the acid test is that the other kids want to ride the Islabikes because they’re so fast. V-brakes (correctly sized for smaller hands, so much safer than adult brakes on a kid’s bike), no suspension or front mech. My son is currently riding the 24 inch wheel version with knobbly tyres.

They also keep their value extremely well when you sell them on.

+1 Islabikes are great… Not the cheapest, but a fab bike for the little ones.

Thanks for the suggestions
I took a look on the website & I see the 20″ is around 9kg and the 24″ is just over 10kg.
My Trek 1×9 winter mudbike is lighter than both of those…

I am thinking of ‘very’ lightweight to try & minimise the difference between race BMX (featherweight) and mountainbike….

Perhaps I am being silly but I thought it doesn’t hurt to ask…. 😉

Impressive that your winterbike, even 1×9 (XT shifter/fr mech+ 2 rings = 120g+140g+30g+40g = 330g=less than 3/4lb in weight saving) is less than 21lbs. I assume its carbon forked rigid?

The short answer is unless you move to using very high spec parts (xtr/x0)you have little or no chance of getting under 21lbs. and then you would need to go carbon rigid or high end/spec 80mm xc fork (SID/Magura Durin)and use light wheels.

The Islabikes have a light frame already so its component choice that will bring it down further on any comparable bike, and given frames on an adult bike account for less than 14% of bike weight on a 21lb bike its always the components that will make the difference.

Not much on a bmx to add weight!

So if you want a sub 9kg childs bike its going to cost you much the same as an adult bike.

Having looked myself there isn’t much out there that will fit with highend componentry. if he’s tall you could look at a more traditional trials/street trials bike 26″ or 24″ (Curtis T1 but preferably lighter) with a rear mech hanger as even with a 20T front the gearing is fine for kids; 20/11 gearing being similar to 32/16 SS.

I should also have said if you do find the answer to this question that isnt $$$ I ould love to hear it!! I have singularly failed and generally gone back to Isla bikes for my kids.

There must be some market out there for it…

There must be some market out there for it.

You would think so.

Trouble is ,that even little kids still want the cool looking FS made of boilerplate. 😉