Just put the saddle up on my 7yo's bike and it's apparent that a bigger replacement is needed. Had Google last night on options.
Had ebay isla bikes each time so far and nearly covered costs selling the old one after. The Creig looks good, far too ££ new and limited 2nd hand options, but still tempted. Else, finding it difficult to look past a vitus nucleus as disk brakes and suspension would make their day.
Any other stand out options? Seems vary variable from mainstream companies, what you get for your cash and how much of a boat anchor it is.
Our two got on very well with the Hoy Bonaly bikes, no suspension but very light. Good enough for Swinley type trails.
The suspension at that level is boat anchor heavy. I'd be looking at rigid. The other issue with the 26" version of the nucleus was that the cranks were way too long at 165mm. If there same applies to the 24 you made need to factor changing those.
My son (10) has a Cannondale Cujo he’s been riding since around 7, I really rate it. Pretty light, around 24lbs, and is really a mini fat bike, I’ve got him down some of the trickier stuff at Minley on it. Frame is a really nice piece of work and I think no suspension with big tyres is better and the tyres offer quite a bit of grip and comfort. They seem to pop up discounted at around the £400 mark.
What is your budget?
The suspension at that level is boat anchor heavy. I’d be looking at rigid
I see that opinion a lot and I understand the logic in a lot of situations, however my lads have had air forks on 20, 24 and 26 inch bikes and for MTB they've actually been a plus.
If you are planning actual Mountain Biking with them, just get the Vitus. We've had a couple and you will not beat them for value. They are proper bikes, just a bit smaller.
As above I would go rigid.
I got my daughter a Whyte 303 as local shop had a big 20% sale on, got one for my sisters boy as well. Did need a tyre change. Now on 2.5".
I would be looking at:
Vitus 24+ Kids Bike – Vitus Bikes
HOY Bonaly 24 Inch Wheel Disc Kids Bike | Evans Cycles
Kids Cujo 24 Plus | 7 to 12 Bikes | Cannondale
factor tyre changes and other little changes. I also fitted SDG Junior finishing ket to get 19mm bars and also fitted lighter action trigger shifter.
Also well worth looking at BB height for 24" wheels bike - many (especially Frog - Frog geometry generally is rubbish) are far to high and this means getting foot on ground vs decent saddle height is often impossible to sort out.
of the above the Cannondale as lowest BB. My nephew has a 20" Cujo - ace little bike and can run the fat tyres are super low pressures.
if you want to go for front suspension then
Vitus Nucleus 24 Youth Hardtail Bike – Vitus Bikes
seems amazing value and well thought out, air suspension, short cranks etc and def lots better than the Frog equiv.
also if you get the Vitus etc, then some cash over if you want to go:
SDG Junior Pro Kit | Silverfish UK (silverfish-uk.com)
seen the full kit for less £100.
Full kit, or can just buy bits individually. Key bits are grippy pedals and small diameter bars and gripes
Nukeproof cub scouts are massively reduced just now on chain reaction. My kids love them.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nukeproof-cub-scout-24-race-mountain-bike/rp-prod202633
grippy pedals on a kids bike make we wince - my 7 year old consistently smacks his shins with pedals on his frog. If that were to happen with pins there would be a right mess
my finger keeps hoovering over the button to buy the nukeproof. However I think we may stretch another 6 months out of the frog 55, and he isn't asking for a new bike yet.
If you're handy with a spanner then there's some threads on here (including two of my own) where bikes have been built from parts. My kids both had used Carrera Blast frames (you'll easily find a knackered one on facebook for <£50) which we built up with used Zee drivechain, Deore brakes, carbon forks, etc. Good fun 🙂
recently sold my lads Orbea MX24 and replaced it with an MX27
excellent bike, mix of specs froom rigid to forked, very light in rigid form, although the bike is very much xc territory
re pedals, swapped pedals to some with blunt pins.. lad moaned like f... his feet were continuously slipping, replaced domed pins with m screws and no slipping, although a bit more moaning when clipping himself mounting and pushing...lesson learned it was better to grip at risk of blood, than slip
<<grippy pedals on a kids bike make we wince – my 7 year old consistently smacks his shins with pedals on his frog.>>
The SDG Junior Pedal have none sharp pins and are large flat headed things (can be swapped to sharp proper ones if needed though!).
see here
those are the stlye of pins that turned my lads pedals into blocks of ice (wearing flat dc's)
i tested them out and thought them pretty good and certainly better than std crappy kids pedals and the main thing is that my daughter no does not complain out her foot slipping off.
only other none sharp pin kids pedals that seems to work where some that had grip tape on them.
Saracen Mantra 2.4 was brilliant. Go for around 300 on the bay. Light, hydro brakes, air forks.
Latest one I built was along the lines of Ross's mentioned above. A Carrera Luna completely rejigged for my littlest.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/another-girls-bike-project-7-year-old-content/
I toyed for ages with the idea of building something up, and had/have various parts, but had a rethink and bought the Nukeproof Cub Scout Race 24 above just before my lad's 9th bday. It absolutely rocks. He's buzzing on it. Fork properly works despite his 25kg weight, geometry is bang on, tyres are great (thought we'd want something faster but he needs all the grip he can get). It's not cheap but I'd say at that price it is excellent value. I paid about £200 more, don't regret it and wish we'd got it 6 months earlier.
Grippy shoes(cheap Vans) and pedals stop them smacking their shins. You can buy some cheat metal ones with melded pins or the NukeProof Urchin pedals look nice. Hope and Chromag kids pedal are great but £££££
I toyed for ages with the idea of building something up, and had/have various parts, but had a rethink and bought the Nukeproof Cub Scout Race 24
Just bought my eldest one too. Originally bought the frame heavily reduced then realised I couldn't get close in price or spec building it so sent the frame back.
We had a Creig for 4 years. Was pretty good. Did a variety of trails in various bits of the alps. No idea why people on a mtb forum are suggesting getting a fully rigid bike tbh but I guess it depends what you ride.
https://flic.kr/p/2o4ZBjL
It's getting very close to new bike time in this house & can't decide what to do. I don't have a massive stock of spares so even going second hand it's near impossible to get close to the Nukeproof & Vitus prices.
As for suspension, it's not exactly great quality but the 10-20mm on the front of the current Carerra Blast gets used a lot.
Hoy bonally were great for us in 24, got on ebay, sold on ebay for what we paid
Schwalbe Black Jack were great up front too
I built up a NS bikes Clash JR for middle son, eldest had a carerra blast then moved onto transition ripcord. Blast geo limited the fork though.
I've got a Scott Scale 24 Plus for sale.
Rigid with 24 ×2.6 tyres.
The plus tyres make a huge difference if you're not running a air fork.
My thread when I was in your situation (though a major factor at that time was that bog all was actually available);
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/what-24-wheel-bike-for-an-8-yr-old-and-how-to-find-one/
Went with the Creig in the end. No regrets.
Stealth ad. Those looking at 26" kit I've got the wheels, forks and drive chain from the 26 Vitus they were removed from new. Makes a nice build kit for the money (I was lucky enough to have better spares). Was planning to advertise in the new year but would be happy to nice it in sooner.
I've got both a 24" nucleus and a 24" voodoo bakka sitting in the shed as my boys outgrew them during Covid and I've not got them sold yet. One is probably listed on here on an old ad but didn't sell.
The Vitus is really nice but ours has a minor issue with the forks that would merit sorting. We used the longer fork out of the Bakka on it and it was even better. We also put a wide (11/42) range cassette on it to help with climbing. It managed the blues and easier reds at CYB like that last year and was regularly ridden in the South downs.
If either of interest I could do with getting some space back so just pm me and happy to move them at a sensible/competitive price.
Early rider! the 24 is a light bike, well equipped and comes with decent pedals and fantastic customer support, cannot praise them highly enough. We have 2 boys that ride every day and the bike has been very well used and they have supported with finding replacement components and even helping with replacement frame when my 8yo snapped the top tube!
We have the seeker with air fork but they have changed the lineup recently to add a hardtail option with the hellion. they sometimes have outlet bikes too which is great.
whichever way you go it's worth the investment, my boy's friends struggle so much with their Walmart (or insert other BSO here) bikes (we live in the US now), but doesn't sound like I need to persuade you of that 🙂
helping with replacement frame when my 8yo snapped the top tube!
At the risk of sounding amazed, er... what?
Just bookmarking thread as I think my soon to be 9 year old has outgrown her 20" Kona. That had pretty slack geometry, I think the school has had them out on 24" bikes for Bike4Health.
Do many retailers have a decent selection of 24/26 to try out for size? Was wondering about Decathlon, as it looks like I'm hoping to shop at the sub £300 level
I couldn’t get a Cujo 24 two years ago, so went with a Commencal instead. There seems to be stock in most things if anyone was looking for Christmas.
It’ll be for sale soon as she’s moving on to a Trek 27.5.
Excellent info, many thanks all. Took the decision not to rush it and will pick something up in the new year. Currently between a number of rigid options and a s/H Creig, as its circa 10kg with forks and hydraulic brakes.
Also spotted quite a few manufacturers only do cable disk on 24ers.
Well I literally just hit buy on the vitus 24 for my 7 year old. Its down to £289 if you use the CLEAR2022 code.
I can't see getting a better bike for cheaper - it does have 8 speed box which kind of put me off, but I have plenty of used stuff lying around if the gears turn out to be rubbish
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-nucleus-24-youth-hardtail-bike/rp-prod206065
He isn't getting it until his birthday in May though, so will have to smuggle it into the loft whilst they are out!
This is now serving duties for my youngest who's probably going to grow out of it in the next year or so, it had Reba's on it for a while when my eldest owned it but younger child preferred it rigid.
Cheap 1x8 SRAM (they don't need fancier gears), old deore brakes, square taper cranks shortened to 143mm (IIRC), think I got the rims from condor cycles of all places... Oh and it has a kids specific saddle too now
From a pedal perspective, we went through several options with blunter pins including the SDGs, lots of slipping off and shin strikes, so I hesitated. We should have got the urchins with sharp pins a lot earlier. Combined with five tens, she hasnt slipped off the pedals in several hundred miles of riding in all conditions 🙂
Ooops just brought 7YO Mini me one of those Nukeproofs - Hes looking a little small on his Orbea 20" also will have to be smuggled in the loft/basement for end of March birthday.
Missed the vitus at the end - now have a twinge of buyers regret - but that Cub Scout looks a great bike !
The only thing missing from the cub scout is a dropper, any recommendations? Eldest is bottom of the size range so minimum stack height and adjustable pressure would be good.
Edit - 27.2
I just got the shortest Brand x one for my middlest.
This one https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/brand-x-ascend-kids-mtb-dropper-seatpost-70mm-/rp-prod200308
Only went for 70mm cos that's the smallest one he could fit on (i.e., at his current size the seatpost is slammed and at max extension, anything longer was a no-go). There are 85 and 105 CX versions as well, but they come with the horrid over bar lever. And I'd presume are set for adult weight as well.
If you get the 70mm one, it is possibly *the* cutest bit of kit ever.
Been out to Halfords to let my eldest sit on a few bikes and gauge size.
She's at the top of their 24" bike height list, there was a boardman 26" but the reach looked a bit awkward. Not sure how much the geometry changes between the two, one lad at the till had no clue and the other said it's likely all top tube length (which would explain the reach)
Curious to see how you get on alchiltern as I think we're going to try and wait until March to see if she is big enough for the 26" bikes.
We have been on Islabikes since Solarider Jnr was on a balance bike.
At the age of 7 he was ready for his first MTB (sounds much like your dilemma) and despite the good residuals it was really hard to justify Islabikes prices. Yes they are good, but to me the rest have caught them.
We went for a Vitus Nucleus which was well priced, well equipped (decent forks, disc brakes, 1x drive) and has been fantastic. I can highly recommend them.
Went through this a few months back and ended up with the rigid plus tyre Vitus for a ridiculously bargain price thanks to advice on here. It’s a fantastic bit of kit and the tyres do a great job of replacing a boat anchor fork. Plenty of squish for a light eight year old.
