AgentFlash

Constantia Greenbelts with the kids. What a lovely day for a bike ride!

A lovely day out with the kids at Meerendal.

Not sure where you are based. I saw some Signal kids bikes (think the 24" models) at Bridge Cycles in Southern Suburbs, Cape Town. Maybe give them a call. Otherwise, Yes, Titan Racing make great kids bikes. I would suggest try and avoid the grip shift if possible. Avalanche have just released a new range of bikes that look pretty good and are a big upgrade over the previous ranges. No personal experience, but they look quite nice. Hope you are able to find what you are looking for.

- A lovely ride around Bloemendal with the kids!

Thank you for the route suggestions. We tried out Bloemendal and it was fantastic! My son asks me everyday now when we are going back! My son's words, "We went on an amazing adventure!" We were not entirely sure how the kids would handle the trails. We originally planned on doing the Green Loop and B Spot. We ended up doing the entire Blue Route. I was blown away at how both the kids handled it. The climbing was a lot more than we have previously done, however it was conquered. I have to say big 'thank you's' to the various friendly bikers who gave us words of encouragement. It gives the kids such a boost! I think I need to work on my fitness levels! The downhills were amazing! We even managed Lombard's Terra, at a very slow pace. We did walk one rather gnarly corner. My son's favourite trail was BloemenNice. We picked up quite some pace. He even wanted to climb back up to the top to do it again. My daughter (on her bike seat) had very clear instructions, "Faster daddy, faster!" on the downhills. On the uphills, "Power, power!" while tucking her head down into an aerodynamic position. She was also our navigator in finding the blue bicycle route signs along the way and whenever we hit a bump, excited laughter would erupt! What an amazing day out and certainly won't be the last.

Found this today. New SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing members. Lots of young talent coming to Scott! Going to be an exciting season!

Thanks all. I will be sure to gives these a go!

Any suggestions welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance.

We are only at the 20" stage of the bicycle journey, however, whenever I start the new bike search Titan Racing always comes out tops in the end. Have really fallen in love with the brand. The quality of the bikes we have had has been superb and very good attention to detail is given. We have had a Titan Hades 16" and now 20". We opted for their lite model, which comes with a rigid fork and does a lot to keep the weight done and so far he has yet to be in need of a suspension fork. Only upgrade I would look into would be some trigger shifters for the gears. The grip shift works perfectly fine, but just isn't as nice. Next bike along will very likely be a Titan Racing too. Have a good look around, as there are often specials floating around on the Titan Racing Hades bikes.

My son (5) and daughter (2 - rides with me on a Feva seat) have been loving, doing some "proper mountain biking", as my son says, riding the lower Constantia Greenbelt trails. Looking for any suggestions on other places we can go and ride. I have mainly ridden at Tokai, but don't think he is ready for that yet. His time will come. Based in the southern suburbs, but don't mind making a trip, if it is worthwhile. Looking for something that isn't technical and not too steep. He has a good 10 - 15km in him. The Constantia Greenbelt is exactly the type of riding we enjoy, however, interested to see if other trails would be worth looking at. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.

I know that Bridge Cycles had air forks for a 20' Titan Racing bikes. I don't know anymore details, but could be worth giving them a call.

In short - dating back to 1818 the the land was given to Andries Bruins on condition that he did not sell liquor. This by-law was in effect up to 2018, when the 1st bottle store in Fish Hoek was opened.

Today we decided to upgrade to some proper mountain bike trails. A big upgrade over the trips around the neighbourhood. We took on some of the Constantia Greenbelt mountain bike trails. We conquered the Keysers River Trail, the Sillery Walk and the Silverhurst Trail. It was also officially our longest ride at just over 11km. My son felt like a "proper" mountain biker. He even had his 1st real crash. He unfortunately fell victim to a nasty root and then found out what an OTB was. He was a real champion and after some "magic spray" (wound spray) dusted himself off and carried on as if nothing had happened. He struck up a conversation with another biker. Turns out he too had fallen on his ride today. So according to him all bikers fall, so therefore my son is now a "proper mountain biker". Thank you to the mountain biker who took the time to chat to my son. My daughter rode with me on her yellow Feva seat and loved every minute of it. Lots of wohoo's and singing of head, shoulders, knees and toes. Continuously pointing to the way forward and saying go faster! We found a lovely spot to cool our feet off in the river and have a little snack. My son's words sum up todays adventure perfectly, "This ride is like a dream come true!"

I would say avoid coaster brakes. Haven't seen anything positive come out of them.

My son got a 20' for his 5th birthday. I would say he is on the taller side. The 20' fitted him perfectly. Almost a year on now, it still fits him perfectly with plenty room left for growth. He tried the 24' too, (Thought I may be able to skip a size) however it was much to big and heavy for him to handle with confidence. I would say get the correct size (fit) over all other factors. However, I was under the impression that most 20' bikes came with some sort of gearing. Looking at the Trek website it seems the 20' precaliber should come with gears. If you have the option for gears, I would go for it. Has made a fair improvement to his riding coming from a 16'. My son doesn't change his gears often, but rather sets them before a stretch of riding and then leaves it there. Does seem to make finding the correct gear ratio easier. Has also allowed him to go faster at the top end without his legs spinning round like crazy. Happy shopping.

Having gears really does make quite a difference. My son is still learning to use them and tends to choose a gear at the start of a piece of trail / hill etc, and then leave it there. However it is much easier to find a good gear ratio for that stretch of trail and it has definitely increased his pace and ability to climb.

My son has a Titan Racing 20' (which he absolutely loves) that has a rigid fork. I purposely looked for a rigid fork. The weight savings far outweigh what the suspension fork does. He previously had a 16' bike with a coil fork and honestly it did next to nothing. Only thing it did do was look the part. Having less weight on the front has really helped his confidence and he is now working towards getting the front wheel off the ground. Tires play a far greater role in the quality of the ride comfort. My son has never complained not having the suspension or that the trail is too "bumpy" for him to ride. When we were looking for his 20' bike, I looked at the Scott Roxter (being a long time Scott fan) and it is a beautiful bike. Would have happily purchased it, however sadly it was just too far out of budget. I have seen some other children really shredding them on the trails. Happy riding ahead!

My son started out on a Muna Balance Bike and you are 100% going in the right direction. He transitioned over to a pedal bike with little difficulty. My almost 2 year old daughter has now taken it over and is loving riding her bike. A couple of things we looked at: - Try to get some proper rubber tyres, This made a massive difference when venturing off road. The plastic type 1's really don't provide much grip. The inner tubes also help to provide a little cushioning. - Make sure to get an adjustable seat post with as much adjustment as possible. - Brakes aren't necessary, a good shoe will do the trick. The levers don't really make them very efficient. However, my son did like to use it (A drum type brake) and it did slow him down a little. One huge benefit that we only realised once on a pedal bike was that he always goes straight for the back brake now, as he only has a rear brake on his balance bike. No OTB's for him yet! - Try to get as light a bike as you can afford. His balance bike had a steel frame, which he did find a little on the heavy side at 1st, however the finances were not there for aluminum, however lighter definitely is better. I believe Specialized even do a carbon balance bike. - I think 12 inch wheels is a good place to start for a a balance bike. Hope this helps and I hope that many happy miles on the bike lie ahead.

Will do for sure. Just gave his bike some TLC this past weekend, after a rather muddy adventure. All still working great and the Microshift gearing seems to be holding up well!

Not mine, but rather my sons. Titan Racing Hades 20" Lite. Such a fabulous bike and he absolutely loves it! It is light and it is his 1st bike with gears, which have been an absolute game changer. Could not recommend it enough! Many happy miles and smiles ahead!