I’m looking for a 20” wheel bike and struggling to find anything available and suitable. Ebay seems to be either daft money or unwilling to post (which is tricky with various local lockdowns in force), and of course Christmas on the horizon and general 2020 buying insanity means new stock is in short supply.

Ideally, I’d like:
20” wheel
Sensible geometry & weight for off road about and longer rides on/off road
Decent tyres rather than suspension
Discs would be a plus

I love the look of the Vitus 20 + and Orbea Laufey 20 and I’ve been looking at all the usual suspects too but stock sells out everywhere immediately. Budget would ideally be up to £350 new price or £200 for a second hand example. So has anyone seen anything fitting that description anywhere?

As ever…

Raleigh Performance 20.

Light, fast, really well put together bit of kit. This one will be for sale in a while!

Wouldn’t worry about discs, Vs are more than adequate for that sort of age/weight/speed.

The Commencal Ramones 20 looks great for the money, sadly my daughter had her heart set on the chrome and white one that’s sold out until Sept 2021!

There’s a nice Orange and White 2020 left that’s about on budget for you.

Sadly I’ve spent more on a brand I’ve never heard of (Serious TrailKid) because she wanted Silver and Orange…. I hope it’s good, it’ll take 2 weeks to arrive from Germany.

@CaptainFlashheart – thanks, I found your enthusiasm for the raleigh on earlier thread searches and I’ve set up a few searches for them.

@P-Jay – They look great, but in the flesh I thought there a few bits fairly low rent and heavy compared to the less shred oriented offerings out there. A bit like their adult bikes really I guess – I always like the look of them too but maybe too hardcore. I also found the Serious ones on some german site last week (now forgotten) – be interested to see what you make of them.

@bajsyckel

Obvs I only checked the spec after I ordered in a a feverish wave of buyers remorse. I’ve picked up that the bars are steel so I’ll get them changed and that’ll shift a decent amount of weight… I might get some frog cranks if the standard ones are steel too.

I wish she’d liked the Commencal, but she took one look at the Orange one and hated it. I’ve no idea way.

I feel your pain. I’ve been trying to find a Cannondale Cujo 20 for my son. All local Cannondale dealers have sold all 2020 / 2021 stock, but seem reasonably confident of getting deliveries in February 2022!

Hiya

I had issues posting the ad on here a few weeks back but I’ve got a red frog 52 (20″ wheels) kicking about that needs a home. Was going to try again shortly but if you want some details drop me a PM with an email address and I can send you some pic/more info. Would be well within your budget.

It’s done a fair few days in the South Downs under my two but been well cared for.

@Marin_Maketh_The_Man – yeah, one was on ebay down on the Cumbria coast this week and looked decent. In normal times could have excused a trip to ride in the lakes en-route. Now sold by the look of things but they look fun.

@garage-dweller – We’ve had a frog and they are good, but not sure if we might be after something a bit more off road oriented. I’ll keep it in mind though and may be in touch later this weekend, thanks.

I have a 20″ wheel Raleigh Performance 20 you can have for £180 posted. It has Suntour XCR Jr forks and a disc wheel with a Shimano cable disk fitted. It will also come with the original forks and front wheel, plus a brand new spare rear wheel.

The frame etc has scuffs, as it has been used by my clumsiest boy, but it is in perfect working order. I will try to get some photos to you tomorrow if you are interested. Drop me a PM.

A little over budget but the whyte is an amazing bike. Just a shame our 5 yr old is just slightly too small for it at the moment

I bought a Squish 20” – if you’re looking for new, you might find stock as they’re a fairly off the radar brand (owned by whoever runs Claud Butler/Dawes). Spec is good, weight’s about par for a Alu rigid frame. I was going to buy the Orbea but my mate sells Squish in her shop, not disappointed at all.

I’d question the usefulness of disc brakes though?

@grahamt1980 – yeah I saw one of those for sale in Bearsden recently, looked better than my bikes.

@bob_summers – Will check them out too, thanks for the idea. Not sold on disc brakes, but after yesterday’s ride in the filth it did get me back to how much better they are in rubbish conditions.

https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/hoy

The Hoy Bonaly gets great reviews and is good for the price. Its lighter than the frog, but slightly heavier than the Islabike Beinn.

I ordered a 24″ Beinn last week because the Hoy’s were out of stock and the savings for going second hand were tiny. Just looked now to post here and they are back in! £100 cheaper then the Beinn, and a bit more MTB orientated.

£350 and in stock. I dont think you’ll do any better. Helicopter tape it from new and you’ll get most of your money back secondhand.

The Whyte 303 looks amazing, but its £500 and no stock til May!

I’d just suck it up and spend silly money on a Frog or Islabike second hand.

Then sell in a year for silly money and repeat.

^ RE secondhand, I agree as we’ve done second hand every time before and would prefer to do it this time. Trouble is finding anything with local collection. Everything seems to be 100s of miles away or in a restricted tier for travel currently, and sellers on eBay unwilling to post as they want cash on collection. Still, I’m building up a comprehensive list of potential bikes to look out for…

I think we paid less than £200 for a used Beinn 20. Keep persevering with local FB groups, Gumtree etc.