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Time for the eldest to move up from his 24" Isla bike. Looking at 26" kids bikes and so far the Vitus Nucleus is the front runner. Anyone with this bike that could recommend it or any other bikes that I should be looking for would be much appreciated.
Have a look at Saracen and Commencal.
Check the spec on the Vitus but I think the seatpost is 27.2mm which makes dropper post upgrade slightly more problematic.
Saracen Mantra 2.6 https://www.saracen.co.uk/bike/mantra-26
Commencal Meta HT Junior https://www.commencal-store.co.uk/meta-ht-junior-2019-c2x26307506
The Commencal looks mint but way out of budget. Like the Saracen too but an extra £200 over the Vitus and similar spec really. Both good looking bikes though cheers Billoddie.
Whyte 403 is a lot of bike for the money, more so in the flesh .
Frog do a good MTB range as well...about same price as the Saracen though.
up from his 24″ Isla bike.
Curses, I was going to suggest a lovely green 24" Islabike Craig.
Hmph
I've got a fs Trek Fuel in the Classifieds which might be of interest?
My littl'un went from a 24" Islabike up to a 26" Frog 69 MTB when he was about 8 1/2... his riding was pretty good before but it really helped him improve... plus he'd been nagging for ages to get s'pension forks!
Anyway, the Frog has been brilliant, so would definitely recommend, although as pointed out above, it is 27.2 seat post and 1 1/8th straight head tube if you are planning on doing any serious upgrading...
But by 'eck is he growing up fast... it's only been about 9 months since we bought it, and it was a teensy bit too big for him then, but it already looks like he's got about half the seat post showing... I can see the questions starting soon about a new one already!!!
As for any other bikes, just thinking about what bikes turn up at the kids bike skills... the Whyte kids bikes are really nice in the flesh... not seen the Saracen or Virus... a couple of the kids are on nice Orbea bikes, but they might be 24" now I think about it...
Also have the Frog 69 MTB...I'm going to change the chainset as the 140mm cranks aren't long enough. Long legs and I can see a struggle where others are sailing up stuff (shorter kids with longer cranks and same gearing).
Also stuck a dropper on that I had not being used...that also transformed the stuff being tackled.
It'll be a fs next but hopefully in another 2 years!
I'm pretty sure the Nucleus 26 has the same internal cable routing as the adult Nucleus and the Sentier (looks like it from the pics), so you can fit one of these:
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/brand-x-ascend-cx-85mm-105mm-dropper-seatpost/
I'm about to hit the order button on a Voodoo Nzumbi for my 9 year old. He's not quite ready for 27.5in wheels yet as slightly small for his age. I don't want to spend a fortune as he will need to move bikes again within a couple of years. Halfords doing 20% trade in at the moment on scooters or bikes so I have dug out an old scooter from behind the shed and that will bring price down to £320. Seems a bargain to me
Drop me a line in a week or so if you have no luck as I’m looking to move on my lad’s small spesh. Another forumite is possibly interested but if it goes nowhere then it might do for you.
*risks trying to post a photo.
The Vitus is a beautiful looking bike though, very tempted to go for that just on looks... You might struggle to find stock though, showing as out of stock everywhere
Nope, can’t get it to work.
I've just got a Hoy Bonaly 26", it doesn't have suspension but as he's quite light I'm not convinced that my son needs it. The lack of suspension keeps the weight down - 10.2kg including pedals
https://www.evanscycles.com/hoy-bonaly-26-inch-wheel-disc-2019-kids-bike-EV306435
To some extent it depends on what type of riding they do.
The suspension thing can be tricky... in the end it really depends on what sort of trails they are riding...
I resisted getting my littl'un suspension for as long as I could... but considering some of the stuff he was able to ride at the time I decided that it would be worthwhile. Which is how we ended up with the Frog, as their forks are able to be set up for kids weights.
And it's actually made a huge difference in his ability and confidence in what he can ride now...
Re: 27.2 dropper posts: