My six-year-old is outgrowing his Isla Cnoc 16. The Cnoc has been amazing. Fine for transport, easy single-track, dirt jumps, BMX track, local cyclo-cross club and skate park.

Next up is a Benin 20. It’s way heavier. It has gears, which seems unnecessary for most of the above.

I rode single-speed for a decade. Loved it and didn’t find it limiting.

Could a racing mini BMX be the answer? Light, simple, fast. Can fit front brake.

What have I missed?

What are the alternatives?

Thank you.

Martin

Hi Martin, I’ve just gone through this upgrade with my (almost) 5yo daughter, from a Cnoc14 to a Beinn20 small. It really doesn’t feel like a heavy bike in the hand, she’s so much more confident on it already, the bigger wheels really help. She’s almost got the hang of the gears already, needing a prompt when to change but has expanded the terrain that can be handled so very little pushing or towing required. Plus the metallic blue of hers is stunning.
Looking back I should have put her on a bigger bike sooner!
I’d say don’t over think it, kids will battle on regardless, colour is more important!!😃
Alternatives, I’d look at the Frog models, I think they’re a bit lighter.
Hth.

Could a racing mini BMX be the answer? Light, simple, fast. Can fit front brake.

Can it fit decent sized (e.g. over 2.0) tyres? And, more importantly, is the headangle as incredibly steep as I’m imagining? IME BMX’s dont make for good off road machines, even if the terrain is seemingly gentle

FWIW, my 5 y/o is on an Orbea MX20 and loving life. Get a Sure Shift on it and away you/they go

Thank you both very much. That’s really helpful.
Maybe I’ll stick with the Benin then.

You’re dead right about the head tube on a BMX: 75 degrees!

A kids race BMX will be 1 1/8 inch wide tyres, so the wheels pretzel easily on anything other than a smooth BMX track. They are a funny diameter too, so you can’t just stick wider tyres on.

Head angles can be ‘normal’ at around 72 degrees and the wheels are standard 20inch although have narrower tyres. If I was a kid I would rather have the mini BMX if I wanted a single speed but then I loved BMX as a kid and still like it now 45 years later.

Agree that BMXs are not the best off road machine having ridden one off road for a while but that is down to the 20″ wheel size more than anything as the wheels just don’t roll over stuff as well and feel like they slow down much more quickly making it harder work.

I did exactly this with my son. Kids are amazing!  The light weight meant he could ride anything and he rode down just as fast as before. I bought him a proper Mountainbike at 9.

Excellent @gkeeffe! Thank you. I knew there must be something in my idea.

So it was a racing-type mini BMX with 20inch wheels? That’s what makes sense to me.

MTB just doesn’t seem worthwhile when he only weighs 19 kilos.

I think a racing BMX will be a hoot on single-track.

@ceept Noted about the limited tyre choice, thank you.

Thank you @kerkey. That’s also very helpful. He’s stuck with little 20inch wheels for a while now anyway so they might as well be on a light bike. I think some BMX actually have 24inch wheels.

You’ve all been excellent as usual. Thank you.

My two, eight and nine, go everywhere including school everyday, on racing BMX s. It’s worked out really well, they absolutely love them and the lightness makes most things possible.
Not great in slop as the thinner tyres don’t have deep grip, but they fly every where else.
Got the first one two years ago this month for my younger boys sixth birthday. He (and she) loved it, and the daughter wanted one for her eighth birthday the following Jan. Haven’t looked back.
Sizes are called micro, mini, junior, expert, expert XL, pro in ascending order. The top tubes get longer, handlebars higher, and wheels thicker, but stsndover stays low. You can get longer seatposts for off the track.
Mini was about right for the lad at 6, daughter started on a junior at eight and has just moved up to expert after growth spurt, the junior is now about right for the lad but he loves his bike so much he’s stayed on it. Haro and gt are good makes. They now race and spend most rides shouting “squish – pop!” At me trying to teach me to jump.

24″ wheels is known as a cruiser, dad size, and is what you be looking for for you a bit later.
All the rest are 20″, except some of the smallest micros which can use 18″ wheels.

Yeah, my wee man has an MTB and a racing BMX. I wouldn’t let him offroad on the racing BMX, totally wrong for it. Look for a decent 2nd hand MTB, then look after it and sell it for the same price in a year again.

I bought a second hand kuwahawa Nova racing bmx from eBay –  I think it was a junior size one with 20″ wheels.  It was brilliant… he was super-fast and could ride a blue trail easily on it.

Thank you very much @loum. I’m sold.

Just need to work out which of my own bikes to sell to finance their bikes.

Did you fit a front brake?

Thank you for the seat post tip. I had wondered. Standard diameter?

There are nice DK bikes at Source BMX with a hefty discount.

@martinwilly

Dk are good light bikes and source is a decent shop with good reputation.
I’ve had good luck on eBay getting them second hand but didn’t see much on there at the mo.
If you do go new from source, MOORE10 gives ten percent off everything Inc sale this weekend from an email they sent me.
New should come with a front brake, but they’re not much good.