What 24″ wheel bike for an 8 yr old (and how to find one!)?

Somehow my boy has outgrown his Islabikes Beinn 20 without me really noticing. He’s getting more into “it”, so am looking to step up to a ‘proper’ mountain bike.

Searching today, the candidates I have found are;

Orbea Laufey 24
Marin SAN Quentin 24
Islabikes Creig 24
Nukeproof Cub Scout
Commercal Meta HT 24 (probably over budget)
Frog MTB 62 (not so sure on this one)

Anything else I should be looking at? Budget is up to a grand at a push.

I’m ideally something lightish, but with not-worse-than-useless sus forks, hydro brakes, wide range cassette, maybe even a dropper.

Obviously the major headache here is actually obtaining any of these bikes so any tips welcome!

Obviously consider this very much a stealth wanted ad (though I have posted one in the classifieds!)

We got the Orbea Laufey 27 (Base model) for 10yr old for Christmas, very nice!

I’d give specialized hotrocks a look at, the frames tent to be quite well put together IMO/IME, but the spec can suggest the odd accounting Vito…

Our eldest is just being migrated onto 26 so the youngest is getting her Charge cooker 24, the frame and fork for which I scored for not a lot randomly on eBay, it’s worth keeping an eye out for such unexpected brands (I didn’t even know charge made a kids bike before that)

Pinnacle Did a good 24er for a bit didn’t they? Dunno if that’s still the case…

We’ve just taken delivery of some Orange Zest 24″s (don’t think they’re all pre-sold, but they haven’t made it onto our website yet), very nice bikes with cartridge bearings on just about everything, and a decent fork too. Falls within budget as well, will update on availability once we open in the morning.

https://www.decathlon.se/mtb-rockrider-st-920-9-12-ar-id_8529457.html

Decathlon 920. Change the tyres and the chainring/crankset and its a rad little bike

We’ve gone for the cannondale option. It’s not bad, the forks move and the cable discs seem ok. I’m saving bigger investments until he’s on a 26er in two years or so.

Take a look at the Cube Acid 240 as well. Just took delivery of two for our twins, also hitting 8 next week, and really pleased with them. We got them both for your budget but they do an SL if you’re keen on spending the money. Seem to be reasonable levels of stock around, got mine from Hargroves down south in the end.

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

@coatesy – the Orange sounds very interesting – can you give me details on availability when you find out please?

I also have an 8 year old on a Beinn 20 – I’ve gone for a Vitus Nucleus 24.

Very impressed with the quality & spec for £500 – hydraulic disks, 1×8 drivetrain, plus routing for upgrading to an internal dropper.

It remains to be seen whether I can hold out another two months for his birthday before it comes out of hiding…

Erm the how to find one might be the overriding factor.

How long do you want it to last ?

He’s getting more into “it”, so am looking to step up to a ‘proper’ mountain bike.

At what point/skill/experience do you think they will be by the time you buy the next bike?

We had 24″ from 6th birthday to 9th birthday but the bikes were quite different in sizes.
When he was 6 the weight mattered FAR FAR more than 8-9… and what he was riding was completely different.

I’ve always tried to keep bikes as flexible as possible so bought used etc. and if he’s outgrown/out skilled sold on and bought another.

Not a right or wrong way but worth asking do you want him to outgrow in terms of skill or size???

Unless you’re tied to the idea of suspension forks I’d also look the the Commencal Ramones 24. My boy is just outgrowing his 20″ version and it amazing how capable the bigger tyres make it on rough tracks in the hills. Other brands like Cannondale and Specialized also have models with the big tyres/rigid fork combination and I think it’s ideal at this age.

Another vote for the Vitus here.
I got mine a Vitus Nucleus 24. It was the only thing in stock at the time, but I have been very impressed by it, the spec is great and it isnt too heavy.
He has come on huge amounts on it compared to the Frog 52 he had before.
I think the forks are a bit pointless, he is too light to get much travel out of them, but he lo9ves having real forks like me!
I also got carried away and got a dropper for it which has probably made the biggest difference to his riding.

Got my 8yo son a Cannondale Cujo 24 and it’s been superb for him. 2.6 tyres so a sort of mini fat bike, I think it’s much better than cheap suspension and I’m getting him down some pretty root infested trails no problems. Comes in about 24lbs. One supplier showing stock online at the moment but have no idea how reliable that claim is.

Also have a Cannondale Cujo 24 for my 9 year old daughter. Really impressed. Bought it secondhand from Facebook Marketplace for about £225. I don’t think she’ll be on it for more than a year, as she’ll need something bigger. I’d buy secondhand, given the number of years it will be used (unless you can hand it down to the next oldest).

Santa got my eldest the Ramones but had the Vitus been available, he would have gone for that. The Commencal has a great frame but I was a bit disappointed with the detail, which is a bit BSA’ish in places. The BB is a loose bearing jobby and the rear hub has a screw on freewheel rather than cassette which will limit upgrades. That said, I have enjoyed upgrading it and he loves it, which is by far, the most important thing.

My youngest has a Voodoo Bakka but I’ve added a first air fork, hydraulic brakes updated the drive train to 1×9 but with a 30t at the front and 11-42 and most importantly added green pedals and grips. He loves it and has done Glentress, Dalby, Cannock and llandegla Reds on it. The only shame is that he hasn’t used it as much as I’d have liked as due to lockdown. I’m going to put it on the classifieds once I’ve build up his new bike in the next few weeks

We got the Frog 62 in mint condition of eBay for £100 a year or 2 ago, its definitely more of a hybrid than a MTB.

Not enough pics on this thread 🙂

I was looking 6 months ago for my 8 year old. Gave up on finding a 24″ and went with one of these – https://www.halfords.com/bikes/kids-bikes/voodoo-nzumbi-junior-mountain-bike—26in-wheel-251436.html

He’s happy with it and his mum can’t keep up with him any more, so although it is not the lightest, it doesn’t slow him down too much. Plenty of scope to updgrade bits from the old parts bin too.

Sorry for the late reply, been rushed off my feet in the workshop. We’ve got 5 zest 24″ as stock, they aren’t on our website yet as the sales guys are getting hammered too. Give Andrew or Jason a call at Sunset Cycles (02920 390883), and have a chat re pricing etc. Don’t leave it too long though, the last delivery was sold out pretty quickly.

I’ve just got the Marin San Quentin 24 absolutely fantastic bike. Highly recommend it.

PSA in case it helps anyone. Leisure Lakes Newport have a single Laufey 24 M20 come into stock for click and collect;
https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/kids-bikes/hardtail-mountain-bikes/orbea-laufey-h20-24in-wheel-kids-mountain-bike-2021-blackrainbow__349721

I guess they must have found it behind the sofa in the warehouse as no one else has Laufey 24’s available till November at the earliest.

My two are on Vitus Nucleus (24 for youngest 26 for eldest) – they are very well put together bikes, but never in stock it seems.

Came on here to suggest Vitus Nucleus 24 as @Sui recommends. Great spec for £499 well thought out geometry etc.

More to the point, they came into stock again on Monday evening and both colours still in stock now: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-nucleus-24-youth-hardtail-bike

I’m at the bargain end for my kids. Last one was a Carrera Blast 20″ for £60 off FB, she’s now outgrown so picked up a tatty 24″ Abyss for £15! New wheels, gears & paint job it’ll cost me about £120 all in.
They outgrown them too fast to spend loads and they get handed down to #2 and it doesn’t feel like #1 gets a new bike all the time.

Another vitus here , pretty impressed for the money . Not convinced on how much use the fork is but he thinks it’s cool 😎

Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but my son is 120cm and growing out of his 16″ bike. Is it worth going to 20″ or jump to 24″ and have some growth room?

If 20″ is a good idea then please consider this a not-very-stealth-stealth-advert looking for a cheap 20″ that needs some TLC.

Love some of the 24″ ideas.

These look cool: https://vitusbikes.com/products/vitus-24-plus-kids-bike

Great thread. Loving the look of the Laufey for the slack geometry.

To any Orbea owners, is 135cm a hard minimum size for the 24 or are there a few cm wiggle room?

Cheers!

To bring this full thread full circle, I’ve just ordered a Creig 24.

Had thought the next bike would be a move away from Islabikes, but the current model Creig looks much more of a proper mountain bike than previous generations.

So anyway as another PSA, Creig 24’s are back available for order as of a couple of hours ago.
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/products/creig-24

(can’t believe that single Laufey is still available 4 days down the line!)

They do look amazing. My boy is one bike behind so I may be tapping you up for a resale in a couple of three years!

My boy is one bike behind so I may be tapping you up for a resale in a couple of three years!

He’s got a younger sister so bikes take a good few years to work through both of them I’m afraid! Case in point – finally now ebaying his Rothan after she finished with it a few months ago. Time to see if it’s all true and I’m going to get back more than I paid for it 6 years ago 😉

@cjr61

I’d say 20″ is definitely worth going for. The jump 16-24″ is very very big. And introducing gears at the same time!

Just about to have a birthday here so #1 daughter will be (hopefully) squeezing onto a 24″ Trek as she’s almost outgrown her 20″ Cannondale. It’s gonna be quite a size increase for her – I wouldn’t like to have done it from a 16″. She’s about 128cm and has been on 20″ for over a year.

Thanks @Rich_s appreciate the advice. Think I’ll aim for 20” first off. If you want to sell the ‘dale then let me know!

Haha, you’ll probably get the same cash for the Rothan.

Bikes are getting a triple use here so probs going to go new as well when starting to hit the 24 inch size!