24” kiddo bike recommendations

[kgreene10]

My kiddo is just about tall enough for a 24” bike. We want something for mostly street riding but some mixed use. Light is good b/c my guy weighs just 49lbs currently.

I have narrowed it down to Woom 5 and Prevelo Alpha Four. The former is more upright, the latter cooler looking and more aggressive. The Woom uses grip shifters and is lighter by 3lbs. The Prevelo uses rapid fire shifters.

Any experiences? Happy to consider other bikes if I’ve overlooked a gem.

[Dired]

I recently picked up a Trek Precaliber for my 7yo who's about 60 lbs. Went through the same research and while the woom does look better on paper, the Trek came out to be cheaper and included a ton of accessories that the shop threw in for free (kick stand, water bottle, tshirts, etc). We were coming from a 30 lb hand me down bike and my take-away was that as long as the bike is fairly light and you gets the color and the accessories that they want, you have buy-in. After weighting all the options, the brick and mortar route of selection and picking up the bike in person made a lot more sense than just getting a box, with my kid in mind. And that's also how I ended up with a Domane.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by kgreene10

My kiddo is just about tall enough for a 24” bike. We want something for mostly street riding but some mixed use. Light is good b/c my guy weighs just 49lbs currently.

I have narrowed it down to Woom 5 and Prevelo Alpha Four. The former is more upright, the latter cooler looking and more aggressive. The Woom uses grip shifters and is lighter by 3lbs. The Prevelo uses rapid fire shifters.

Any experiences? Happy to consider other bikes if I’ve overlooked a gem.

Buy your kid the bike they want not the one you want.

[joosttx]

Cleary is great.

[AngryScientist]

i've said this before, but if you're near a bigger REI go over and take a look at the COOP line of in-house bikes. surprisingly good quality using real parts, etc for very reasonable prices.

just another option.

my son has one and loves it.

[old fat man]

My son loves the woom 5, 24 inch wheels. He did 30 mile rides, we put mtb tires on and he did some legit trails and even raced it in sloppy CX conditions.

I have some other 24 inch wheeled bikes and the woom 5 is such an obviously natural and comfortable fit. And the lighter weight is so helpful. Some 24 inch wheeled mtbs weigh almost half as much as the kid. Imagine riding a 70+ lb bike yourself...

The woom will hold its resale value too.

[texbike]

My 11 year old is taking a MTB class with a local club and is currently on a 24" wheeled Specialized HotRock. It's a nice little bike. Unfortunately, it's a bit small for him, but a 26" wheeled bike is still too large. Tough spot. We'll eventually transition him to a 26" FSR that we have, but he isn't ready for it yet.

On a related note, it's crazy the MTB bikes that the other kids have been showing up with for the class/club events - Yeti, Santa Cruz, high-end Treks and Specialized. Crazy! I've been helping out with the classes and using my old MonoCog 29r that's older than most of the kids in the class.

Originally Posted by charliedid

Buy your kid the bike they want not the one you want.

Good point! It helps to be in love with your bike.

Texbike

[kgreene10]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Buy your kid the bike they want not the one you want.

Yes! I will show him the options and discuss the pros and cons. I just want to get a clear sense of them first.

[kgreene10]

Originally Posted by joosttx

Cleary is great.

Agree. We have a Cleary 20” and it’s superb. The 24” Meerkat is $100 more than the other two I mentioned and weighs 28lbs - a full 10lbs more than the Woom.

[kgreene10]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i've said this before, but if you're near a bigger REI go over and take a look at the COOP line of in-house bikes. surprisingly good quality using real parts, etc for very reasonable prices.

just another option.

my son has one and loves it.

Looks really good but at 28.2lbs for the 24”, it’s 50% of my son’s weight.

[exapkib]

We stumbled into a used Fuji Absolute that has been just wonderful for our oldest. Good range of gears, rock-solid performance, great red color.

Every time we ride up to his school, he gets lots of comments from the other kids because the bike is so different from the others on the bike rack. He loves it.

[vqdriver]

we went with cdale trail 24s from our lbs which are good for weekend tooling about the hood and have even seen some lifted downhill. but could just as easily troll the local craigs or rei coop.

[p nut]

My daughter is around 60lbs. 1.5 years ago, bought her a used 24” Spec Hotrock hardtail (she was probably 50lbs then). Weighs 26.6lbs with pedals, bottle cage and kick stand. She still loves it. We’re not doing 30 mile rides. Mostly 3-4 miles with some dirt mixed in.

I’ll wait till she goes 26” before getting her a nicer lightweight bike.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by kgreene10

Yes! I will show him the options and discuss the pros and cons. I just want to get a clear sense of them first.

[marsh]

Got my kid a previous years Hotrock for less than half of the price of new from an LBS for his birthday a few weeks ago.
It's been a hit so far!