Junior bicycles 24/26” wheel

[robertfleckney]

Looking to get some advice on junior bikes for my twin boys. We have visited Halfords and they have the usual offerings. I know Apollo are not the last word in quality, so I wondered if anyone could recommend any other brands.

My daughter rides a British made Bobbin Gingersnap, which she loves. Is there anything similar for mountain bikes? I’d rather buy some decent! They’re turning 9 and we are looking at 26” wheels, so they can use them for 2/3 years.

Thanks in advance

[Ian-27xza]

I am biased but I can recommend looking at a used Orbea 24/26.

Do a search on Orbea MX or Orbea Laufey. Both my children have recently moved up from Frog bikes to these and both are super happy. They make different variants too - v-brake/disc/suspension etc, so make sure you know what you want.

[BUG4LIFE]

I was just about to post a similar question...my 6.5 year old needs a new bike [out grown his current one]. I think he needs 20" wheels?! I haven't got a clue about bike brands so hoping to get some recommendations. Budget wise, not a huge amount, is £250-300 doable?

[Davie]

My little boy has just turned 7 and has been on a 24" MTB for a good few months. He had a 20" Voodoo Sobo initially then moved on to a 24" Voodoo Bakka which was made a big improvement to his riding and the terrain he could tackle. Whilst the latter had cable operated disc brakes, which were a marked improvement over the v-brakes, they just weren't up to the task. I picked up a Vitus Nucleus with hydraulic brakes and the difference they made is significant, so that sling roth the lighter weight and better drivetrain has really improved his riding.

I've bought all his bikes second hand, used them and sold them on for what I paid... if not a bit more so bike wise (he's on his 7th bike!) they haven't really cost me anything aside for minor fixes / a couple of inner tubes etc.

[dave123456]

Do they want mountain bikes?

[malks222]

BUG4LIFE]I was just about to post a similar question...my 6.5 year old needs a new bike [out grown his current one said:

. I think he needs 20" wheels?! I haven't got a clue about bike brands so hoping to get some recommendations. Budget wise, not a huge amount, is £250-300 doable?

rightly or wrongly, I’d get down to some bike shops and have a look at ‘frog’ bikes (or isla bikes too) and then once you know what size you need, get on gumtree/ facebook marketplace……. and keep looking until you find the size/ colour you want.

so far we’re on our third ‘frog’ bike for my daughter (nearly 5yrs) gone from a tadpole balance bike, to frog 40 and now on frog 48. I think between buying/ selling, I’ve lost about £20-30 on the 2 previous bikes.

[sleepezy]

Frog are a great bike for youngsters.

We moved ours 'up' to a Dawes Bullet when at the same stage. We were also specifically looking for a larger wheel size on an appropriate frame. Back then (I think about 13 years ago!) the choice was very limited, to one option... It's a great thing to do, they are much better to ride with the larger wheel.

I'd offer you my sons old bike but we only have one and you have a need for two!

[Simon_GH]

I’d take to eBay and hunt down a pair of Isla Bike Beinn bikes. I was chatting to the mum of a supremely talented primary school kid and she said you can’t beat Isla Bikes - every component is adult quality but child-specific in size. No other bike manufacturer (in her opinion) offered this and she was pretty hot on the detail.

[PomBstard]

I know boys grow later than girls but my daughter was on an older, second hand, Trek FS mtb size M with 26’ wheels when she was 10. Her younger brother is now 10 and can’t quite use that same bike - but he’s not far off.

Would suggest trying a few different brands and sizes in shops then going second hand - at that age as long as they can operate and ride safely, whatever works will work.

For ref, the young bloke has been riding a Polygon with 24” wheels since he was 7 and it gets a proper mtb workout - so can recommend…

[Dunclane]

I got my then 9 year old son a 26" Vitus Nucleus on a 16" frame. He got and still gets on fine with it 18 months later. Hopefully no need to change for a few years.
He's a Shade over 5ft now.

[BUG4LIFE]

Sorry for jumping on your thread OP! You guys have convinced me to go second hand with my £250-300 budget. I've now joined a few used bike groups on Facebook We will pop to a local bike shop to figure out if my 6.5 year old needs a bike with 20" or 24" wheels [he's just over 120cm I believe].

Edited by BUG4LIFE on Friday 27th September 17:25

[BUG4LIFE]

Simon_GH said:

I’d take to eBay and hunt down a pair of Isla Bike Beinn bikes. I was chatting to the mum of a supremely talented primary school kid and she said you can’t beat Isla Bikes - every component is adult quality but child-specific in size. No other bike manufacturer (in her opinion) offered this and she was pretty hot on the detail.

I'll certainly keep an eye out for Islabike's...seems they no long sell new bikes?

Edited by BUG4LIFE on Friday 27th September 17:25

[Davie]

BUG4LIFE said:

Sorry for jumping on your thread OP! You guys have convinced me to go second hand with my £250-300 budget. I've now joined a few used bike groups on Facebook We will pop to a local bike shop to figure out if my 6.5 year old needs a bike with 20" or 24" wheels [he's just over 120cm I believe].

Edited by BUG4LIFE on Friday 27th September 17:25

I can't remember how tall mine was when he switched from a 20" wheel to a 24" but he's quite tall and the 20" got short very quickly, hence he was sat very high above the bars which made the bike quite nosey heavy / unstable which started to creat big issues on trails / drop offs etc. He's now 135cm tall on a 24" Vitus and is far far more comfortable and confident. For reference, said bike has a 65cm stand over height on the frame. I'd go to a 24" as soon as you can, if it's just a bit too big just now then prepared for him to be on the 20" for a relatively short period of time. I would let him get too big for the 20" whilst trying to stretch out how long he has it as that can be counter productive to his riding / confidence.

[BUG4LIFE]

Anyone have any experience of Squish bikes?