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Having gone through a complete revamp of the family bikes this year, from road, mountain, fat, my wife's first road bike and my daughters first proper Islabike (which in itself was an amazing thing), I have just taken delivery of my sons new bike - a Cannondale Trail 20. Absolutely stunning bike, lovely finish, extremely cool little machine for a soon to be 7 year old.
He won't get it until his birthday so it will be squirrelled away for now, but having seen him tackle the climbs over the Wyre Forest today on his 16" Islabike with amazing ability he is going to get great use from it. For a tiny lad, he has the ability to climb with such skil and seeing him grow in confidence is brilliantl. Have a 2 day ride organised along the High Peak Trail in July which we can't wait for.
Riding with the family is great 🙂
Proud dad/mum posts are great 🙂
Now get a photo up so we can critique patio and valve to tyre logo alignment.
Wyre Forest is a great place for kids as there are some really nice flowy woodsy single track.
Oh and we need pictures if I am to be truly envious of the Cannnondale!
Not a great picture, and not quite complete as the front brake cable needs sorting.
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I know nothing about such things.... but are those wheels not a bit overkill for a 7 year old? They look like they have serious amounts of spokes.
I'm looking for the next bike for 8yo and given that the next IB (mtb) costs around £650 I've decided to widen the net a bit and see what other options there may be.
cheers
32 spokes on a 20" wheel. What's that all about then?
Why do they always stick cranks that are too long on kids bikes?
Cool kids bike. 🙂
I think they use the same wheels for 20" BMXs so they just have a lotta spokes.
Makes no difference to the kids who ride them, just the nerds on the internet who notice these things 😉
I think designing a kids bike is a really hard balance of getting proportions and geometry right. His Islabike choc 16 has been great but the short cranks but high bb necessary to make a small bike is really limiting. Crank length looks fine to me and the wheels are pretty light.
Kit is much the same as the Specialized equivalent, but the frame is much nicer in my opinion. Cables are internally routed on the top tube which is neat and Cannondale paint finish is always very nice. Fork is also very nice. Wouldn't necessarily have opted for a suspension fork (you can get the 24" version with a rigid Lefty) but it is plush and he will like it, which is the most important thing.
How much does it weigh?
This seems to be where islabikes win.
Looking at getting a Islabikes Beinn 20 for big lads next bike and then getting suspension fork to suit. (If you can fine a 1in steerer suspension fork for a 20in wheel...)
Not sure of the weight at the moment, but needless to say the fork adds a fair bit. I would doubt there is much difference between a Beinn 20 with a suspension fork and the 'Dale though. Don't forget, the Islabikes have steel forks which I have always thought strange as I doubt it makes much difference to the feel on such a short length.
One thing my son continually complains about is numb fingers, so I think the fork will be good for him.
All of this means that at some point in the near future we will be selling his Islabike Cnoc 16 (blue) and my daughters Specialized Hotwalk (pink), so keep your eyes peeled on the classifieds if you're interested 🙂