Recommend my kid a 24" trail bike

[river59]

My 7 year old has suddenly become very interested in MTB. He has been ripping around on a 20" aluminum Fuji BMX. The single speed and lack of front brake is holding him back IMO, and he starting to get pretty pissed on climbs watching geezers shift into granny gear zip right past him.

I have been looking for a 24" hardtail or rigid bike with disc brakes. Does he really need a suspension fork? Coil forks seem too heavy while air forks are big $. Would a lightish rigid frame on 2.8s be cushy enough? At the moment he likes to keep his wheels on the ground and ride flow trails, pump tracks, and XC.
In an ideal world I would like to get him something with an air fork and hydraulic brakes, but I don't really want to shell out a grand! Especially, when I am riding an older specialized hard rock with a coil fork and 26" wheels...

Anybody care to recommend a bike or have something that might fit the bill?

[stapes]

Some discussion here that might be useful:

quality single track bike for kid
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...d.php?t=291291

[carlh]

Spend a grand sell it 2 years for $800 or spend $200 and give it away in 2 years cost is the same. My son is on a woom off 24 with the fork and it has been great for him. They have a rigid version for less money as well. The prevelo, spawn and trailcrafts are great as well but more money. You can also troll pinkbike for a deal but used good kids bikes sell very fast.

[Dantheman]

Suspension fork is not required but certainly makes a difference on real trails. Unless it's high quality don't bother, it will just be dead weight.

Unfortunately whether they're for adults or kids quality bikes that are real machines and not toys start at $1,000 these days. For kids that are taking a real interest in the sport good lightweight bikes really do make a huge difference in performance and enjoyment. Try to work it if you can, as noted you'll recoup well over half the cost when you sell it in two years.

If you can afford to be patient, keep a close eye on pinkbike and pounce if something comes up.

[Ottime]

Thought I just posted this but...

I have a Spawn Yama Jama 26" up for sale.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/bik...859752955.html

Air Fork. Dropper Post. Tubeless. Sub 27# if I remember correctly.

Great bike with upgrades a loads of new components.

This was an awesome bike for my kids progression.

Located in Santa Cruz CA. Asking $1050 on CL. Willing to ship but I'm on the road for the next two weeks.


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[river59]

Thanks for all the advice. I have been trolling PB, FB, and CL for awhile waiting for the right bike. Got sick of waiting for a good deal to pop up. Ended up buying a trek wahoo trail 24 today. It's rigid, with hydraulic brakes, and a 9 speed. Just weighed it at 24#. The kid is fuckin stoked and we went for a 3 hour ride in post canyon today! Probably going to upgrade components like fork, dropper, tubeless eventually. Of course, that will be after I buy a new used bike to replace my POS.

[chaka]

"The kid is fuckin stoked and we went for a 3 hour ride in post canyon today!" that's what its all about. Congrats.

[jhyatt]

I went through this. I got some light narrow carbon bars that are too narrow for an adult but great for a kid.
You can use stupid light stuff for a kid
Cheap rockbros ti pedals. I might still have those if you want
Get light tires. Made a huge diff

[VTskibum]

Agreed w jhyatt on old school light/narrow bars being great for kids bikes.

If you do decide to go for a suspension fork, look at 26” forks. Not much change in geo on a 24” bike and far more available. I upgraded my daughters w a Manitou Machette 26 for really reasonable and seemingly could get her sag set decently even with her very low weight. Definitely upped her game through our rooty singletrack and is now on a 27.5 Trailcraft Maxwell racing NICA and riding some pretty challenging terrain.

Riding w kids is awesome


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[Dantheman]

I went through this. I got some light narrow carbon bars that are too narrow for an adult but great for a kid.
You can use stupid light stuff for a kid
Cheap rockbros ti pedals. I might still have those if you want
Get light tires. Made a huge diff

Yes, even stupid light adult parts are plenty strong for most kids.

Thanks for all the advice. I have been trolling PB, FB, and CL for awhile waiting for the right bike. Got sick of waiting for a good deal to pop up. Ended up buying a trek wahoo trail 24 today. It's rigid, with hydraulic brakes, and a 9 speed. Just weighed it at 24#. The kid is fuckin stoked and we went for a 3 hour ride in post canyon today! Probably going to upgrade components like fork, dropper, tubeless eventually. Of course, that will be after I buy a new used bike to replace my POS.

Nice!