Kids bikes...

[CDollarsign]

Reaching out to the brain trust for an over analyzed solution. I am in the market for a larger bike for my son, moving to 20" from 16" wheel size. I think I am sold on the Cleary Owl with a 3 speed internally geared hub. I read that you can't shift under load with these hubs and am worried he will destroy it prematurely. On the contrary, I don't think having a RD on a kids bike makes a lot of sense, especially something with 6-8 speeds.

We ride around some hilly areas, so I would like to go geared. Thoughts?

[pdmtong]

Why don't you think a RD makes sense?

The bike is a training platform. In our case the 16" my daughter was on had both coaster and f/r v-brakes. So when she moved to a 20" she had the hand brakes dialed and now it was time to learn shifting. The 20" was used to learn how to single track and yes, she really used the gears.

On the very steepest uphills I would jump off, and hold my bike with my left hand and help push her up with my right hand. that was quite a workout.

[trener1]

Not a direct answer, but I am shopping for a new bike for my 6 year old as well, and I am pretty sure I am going to get a Cleary just don't know which one yet, just as an fyi, they are doing 20% off until the 15th and they never have sales, so this is a good time to get one.

[CDollarsign]

Whoa, where are you seeing 20% off?

[KVN]

Picked up a Kona Makena recently for our 6 year old. We live in a hilly area and he really uses all the gears for climbing. He stepped up from a 16" Cleary SS which could barely grind up the hills.

[trener1]

There was a code I saw on Facebook and I emailed them to confirm that it is legit.
I will PM it to you later

[hokoman]

I really wish Isla was still selling bikes here. The ones I did order are pretty amazing (light) and my kids were able to ride it pretty easily.

[Red Tornado]

Why don't you think a RD makes sense?

The bike is a training platform. In our case the 16" my daughter was on had both coaster and f/r v-brakes. So when she moved to a 20" she had the hand brakes dialed and now it was time to learn shifting. The 20" was used to learn how to single track and yes, she really used the gears.

On the very steepest uphills I would jump off, and hold my bike with my left hand and help push her up with my right hand. that was quite a workout.

+1
If he's going to keep riding, he needs to learn how to use it. No time like the present. My boys had RD's on their 20" bikes, either 6 or 7 speed, can't remember which, and with no FD. Those came into the picture with 24". We spent the first several rides on pavement so they could get the hang of shifting, then it was off to dirt. Not sure if that's the goal for you, or in how much time, but that's how we did it and it worked. They were pumped to have bikes that looked, and operated, more like dad's.

[jb_11]

I've been pleased with Woom bikes. Had a 4 and still have a Supra 5 (no longer made). Both were much lighter and much better geo than Spesh Hotrocks.

My kids had no issues learning the gearing. They have kickstands, but kids are kids, right? It's going to end up on it's side from time to time. I just showed them how the rear derailleur works, and that it can be bent or damaged easily. Teach them to lay it down on the left side, if they must. Knock on wood, but it hasn't been a problem yet.

I also swapped out the 8sp drivetrain on the 5 to 10sp so they can Zwift on my trainer without a cassette change.

[alexihnen]

I really wish Isla was still selling bikes here. The ones I did order are pretty amazing (light) and my kids were able to ride it pretty easily.

I found two used Islabikes over the past couple months. They're several pounds lighter than the comparable Giant or Cannondale for kids, and the components actually fit them (handlebars, brake levers, saddle).

[CDollarsign]

I was easily swayed by the 20% off code. Will report back when I get it.

[soupless]

I love our Owl SS.
When I saw they did internals for the kids bikes I actually thought it was a great idea. Less stuff to get knocked out of place.

[trener1]

I'm curious how old your kid is that you are going for the 20?.
I am on the fence between a 20 or 24, I figure if I get a 24 my son can use it for a solid 5 years, if I get the 20 I might only get a year of use out of it, but I am not sure if he is big enough yet and I can't go to a shop now to test ride.
He is on a 16 now which is definitely too small.

[jchasse]

I really wish Isla was still selling bikes here. The ones I did order are pretty amazing (light) and my kids were able to ride it pretty easily.

Wow, that's a real bummer. My daughter's last 2 bikes were Isla, and they were a big step up from similarly priced options (particularly re: weight)

[EDS]

Wow, that's a real bummer. My daughter's last 2 bikes were Isla, and they were a big step up from similarly priced options (particularly re: weight)

Cleary and Woom are similar to Isla in terms of offering high quality lightweight childrens bikes in different sizes.

[pdmtong]

I'm curious how old your kid is that you are going for the 20?. I am on the fence between a 20 or 24, I figure if I get a 24 my son can use it for a solid 5 years, if I get the 20 I might only get a year of use out of it, but I am not sure if he is big enough yet and I can't go to a shop now to test ride. He is on a 16 now which is definitely too small.

Around here it's easy to buy/sell used kids bike. So any purchase is more like a rental, where you can get at least half or more back upon resale.

IMHO if you want your kid to really learn to ride, they have to be on the right size bike. this is also why I often bought the next size bike before my daughter was ready to ride that size. In your case get the 20" if you are going to be riding together a lot.

My daughters 12" was a toys'r'us bike. Her 16" was a schwinn with f/r v-brakes and a coaster. her 20" was a 6speed specialized hardtail

and then the fun really started.

age ~ 8.5
24" she had trek kdr1000 road, a 1x7 big hit grom DH rig and two full suspension specialized hot rock FSR. At 9 we were going to lift-assisted Northstar at Tahoe ridng the single black diamonds and she could do a 30/2500' ride with me stopping once going up our signature 3.3/1300 climb

age 11ish
26" - specialized dolce womens road 44cm with 700c wheels, santa cruz juliana full-suspension

I think she has had perhaps 15 bikes life to date and after all the buy/sell I am up about $400. It's like a little game.

more importantly, she has great bike skills (road, single track, DH and cross) and a motor to go with it. this didn't happen overnight. I spent a lot of time riding with her (at the expense of my own time) but that's what parents do, right?! no regrets at all on my end and lots of great memories

[CDollarsign]

My son just turned 5. He’s at the min inseam cleary recommended. I’m hoping to get 2 years out of it and then sell it for half price. 24” seemed like too much of a jump...

[th_boone]

I have boy/girl twins that are turning 6yr old in a few weeks. They ripped through Clearly Hedgehogs for 2yr (got them for Xmas when they were ~3.5yr old) and now are on Clearly Owl Single-speeds. Those ironically came from a friend with older boy/girl twins. Cleary stuff is great.. know lots of friends that have had them. Our kids ride all the time, so we are really trying to let them push their own limits.. which they are doing every day now, it's awesome.

[ebaker205]

Prevelo is another option. Cool concept.

https://prevelobikes.com/pages/bike

[oldpotatoe]

I'm curious how old your kid is that you are going for the 20?.
I am on the fence between a 20 or 24, I figure if I get a 24 my son can use it for a solid 5 years, if I get the 20 I might only get a year of use out of it, but I am not sure if he is big enough yet and I can't go to a shop now to test ride.
He is on a 16 now which is definitely too small.

My grand daughters only got about 18 months out of their Cleary's, size wise..
7yo(just had a birthday) has a 20inch Owl, already too small..8yo(birthday in May), has outgrown her 24 inch Meerkat..She's getting a 26inch Cleary Scout next week and younger is getting a resprayed to her favorite color, sister's Meerkat....I have been VERY pleased with all the Cleary's I have gotten them.
Owl, Meerkat and Scout..

[benb]

My son is 7 and unusually tall, he’s had a 20” Trek Superfly for about 16 months now.

They don’t call it the Superfly anymore but the bike he has is similar to the Cleary in that it has the higher quality aluminum frame and a non suspension fork which keeps the weight down by 5-7lbs or more compared to the cheaper bike with suspension forks. His bike is like 17lbs.

Anyway his bike has a 6-speed drivetrain and he has very little trouble operating it. I adjusted cable tension once since we got the bike. It’s modern 6 speed. Shifters and derailleurs are so good now that 6-speed is very easy to make well compared to 10-11-12. It’s bulletproof.

I wouldn’t be afraid of a derailleur. A hub geared bike weighs more and costs more.

[binouye]

I'll add Trailcraft cyles to the thread. Nice light kids bikes. I bought a frame (and a few compenents) from them and built the rest up with spare parts from my old mtb stash instead of getting a complete bike, and they were very nice to deal with. Prior to that we had a KHS Alite that I stripped down and rebuilt with light parts, including a wheelset I built with 24" Crest rims. The 24" size lasted a few years, and now a different neighborhood kid is rocking it.

[ultraman6970]

I was in the same boat than many... bikes will come and go... IME probably the best is just go to wallmart and spend 100 bucks in something you arent going to miss too much if scratched or if it goes to the curve, just spend time to get the bike right with the brakes and the shifting.

My kids jumped from a bmx to a 700C 45 or 47 size ridley I got for good price... they used it maybe 4 times and sold the frame here. With kids you never know if they will like long rides aswell. So upon those questions sometimes better just hold the pockets and see what happens or see how well they take care of the stuff, there's even colnagos for little kids... buy that to the kid that leaves the bike out under the rain for months and guess what will happen with the investment.

The other thing, always try to pass along the bike, because sure the other guy knows he will be in the same position than you today, meaning that the bike will be used little before being swapped for something larger.

My kids had easy like 6 bikes each up to day, and the last ones are good street freebies I rescued because where just mint (got lucky finally) and are big enough that I can use them. So they will have bikes for a few years, besides they dont like to ride so...