New bike day – Sophie age 6

Perfect style for that jump, wow!

Her form over that jump is better than 90% of forum members…myself included.

As a non parent, loving this thread. The jump and the hand shoving down the slope especially.

Haha, well done on that jump!

Nicely done!

Jump very stylishly executed. I look forward to a future Friday fail appearance when Sophie is pushing her limits.

Wow – literally flawless form and technique, its like a slo-mo from one of those coaching videos on Youtube by GMBN or Brian Lopes or something! Bravo!

Very impressed!

On a relate note – has anybody got any ideas for really, teeny tiny gloves?

My (small) 2.5 year old has been whzzing about the street on his Kokua balance bike, he is getting faster and I am conscious there is going to be a fall at some point. I bought some Wulf Sport (because they have a Wolf on them, duh!) gloves in their smallest XXXS kids size and they are still way way too big. I know how awful it is to tear your hands up on a fall, I’d like to get him something thats fits and are proper ‘bike gloves’ not the wooly mits on a stretchy string he is currently using.

@snotrag The Madison Tracker mitts in YS (youth small) are the smallest I could find. Not found any full finger gloves of that smallness. I got some Woom winter full finger gloves for my boy but even their small size is quite big.

Best thread ever. That jump is superb. <Applauds>

Dare I say it, but get him a balance bike with a brake?

In all the time my 3 were learning and crashing, I think the number of hurty hands could be counted on the fingers of one, er, hand. Brakes teach new skills and also steady them in the corners. Plus skidz.

Orbea make fantastic kids bikes.

Yeah. Someone on here recommended the 24inch Orbea I bought my daughter for her 7th. First class bike that’s currently in the loft waiting for her brother to grown into.

Eternally grateful to STW for that one.

@snotrag kiddimoto mits and Tigo tech gloves are the smallest we have found.

Fitted some proper MTB tyres. DHR II and DHR – got them from Alltricks. Gone up tubeless as well although the DHR took some convincing.

Gnnnaarrrly.

That DHR didn’t go up because valve alignment, modern tyres are sentient now!

That DHR didn’t go up because valve alignment,

I ain’t got time for that shit.

20″ Minions!?!

Are those pedals old style nanos.

Pedals are chromag radar youth

20 inch minions

Got Sophie a new crank so I could fit a smaller front ring. Ordered from alibaba 127mm SRAM fitment DM crank. Had to change the ring as it was the wrong offset and the new ring needed a little file to make it fit but that only took 5mins. The change from a square taper to the HT allowed the fitment of an ISCG-05 mount so I could mount the purple bash from unite components.

This is just bloody ridiculous (in a good way), I’m in awe!
Also massive props on the colour coding, my Aether 7 has purple accents so I’m a huge fan of your daughters bike.

I try every week to get my son riding his bike and he’s got no desire at all, daughter can ride but doesn’t fancy it often. You’re a lucky man!

Great to see more girls riding 🙂 our biggest problem is finding other girls to ride with, my daughters 8 now, we were riding with her 11 year old friends, but they are too far behind her in skill and ability. Gentle rides are cool but we need to find other people to ride with for fun stuff! Roll on summer as we can head out straight after school again 🙂

Amber on her Hellion, age 6.

Amber on her current Process 24 age 8.

@poah whereabouts in the country are you?

@steamtb West of Scotland. Don’t see a lack of girls to ride with being an issue. She rides with her brothers and they provide something to aim for. I’d like to have her ride with kids her own age rather than me. That is an issue.

@pimpingimp she wants to ride more than me. Just getting out is important.

I was gonna comment that the only thing left to upgrade was the cranks but didn’t think you could get decent short ones, nice find, I’m guessing a decent weight saving as well as keeping the blingability going strong with good bb and ring options. Although, it’s becoming an obsession now, but we’re all loving it. 😀
I can see some silver and purple Hope tech4’s in the near future to match the rotors, but that might be a step too far, or not. 😁

I didn’t weigh them but the old crank and BB were 800g – so maybe 100-150g lighter

not a chance with the hope brakes

Nice bike! I have ordered a Laufey 20 H30 for my soon to be 5 year old, but unfortunately there has been delays caused by a trucker’s strike in Spain.. while waiting I came across this thread, and I’m curious what upgrades you think have made the biggest difference? Upgrading is tempting, but the more expensive upgrades, like a new fork, are out of the question for now. So, what upgrades do you think are “must have” on this bike?

I’m interested in @poah ‘s response to this, but my son also has one of these, and…

what upgrades do you think are “must have” on this bike?

“Nothing” is my answer. It all works really well, I’m really pleased with it. I’m occasionally tempted to put a sus fork on it, just because my son would think that was cool. But I’m not sure it’s really needed for the type of riding he can do, and it’d probably add a bit of weight.

P.S. I got some new bars sent (bar/stem combo) since ours were the subject of a recall. The new ones look just the same. Winstanley’s alerted me to this, so perhaps they have emailed anyone who is affected, but if you have this bike, maybe worth checking the serial number here:

https://cloud.coms.orbea.com/kids-support-centre?type=0&la=en

So, what upgrades do you think are “must have” on this bike?

Totally depends on how they get in with the bike. I changed out the bars, grips and stem at the start for SDG kids stuff (thiner bars and grips). Then I put a dropper on it then forks (junit). A wider range cassette would make a biggest difference on the climbs. Got one off eBay and it was light enough 11-40 I think. Let them ride the bike and go from there. I also put a load of purple bits on it and fancy discs I got from china.

Thanks for your replies! Upgrading is always fun, but I guess I should wait until i get the bike tested first. I’ve ordered some pedals at least and then we will see what is needed/wanted in the future. I think new cranks with 28 tooth chainring is what I consider first. The ones you got from china look decent, poah.

Sophie hasn’t been out for a while but we went to the pump track and knightswood for a play.

I just looked at the jump vid.  I am in awe, embarrassed at my lack of skill and depressed that she is a better rider than me already.  I shall hang up my bikes and go to the pub for the rest of my life 🙂

You’re one growth spurt away from spending thousands 😁

This is awesome. My daughter is also 6 and I’m keeping a look out for a 20” wheel plus bike too – probably a Vitus 20+ but waiting for a sale / bargain secondhand deal. Currently ok on her cnoc 14 pedalling smooth stuff but having taken her on one trail at Ashton Court it looked mega bumpy on the small wheels and tyres.

Love the suspension forks and dropper + minions 👌

Fantastic. I remember this thread from ages ago. Great to see her still at it. Good for you matey, she’ll love you forever.

Our Hannah, aged 6. 

Kids on bikes rock. 🤘🤘🤘

Kids on bikes are awesome, guaranteed to make me smile.

My eldest 2 were never that interested, my youngest can’t get enough of it and at 10 he’s already great fun to be out on the trails with.

Carlsberg dont make dads, but….

Great bike, I’m hoping my new Cotic Cascade is half as cool.