New Specialized Jett kids bikes focus on fit and adjustability

[Bike Hub Features]

Making kids’ bikes is about supporting and nurturing the spirit of riding from the first moment a kid’s feet hit the pedals. Kick-starting their passion for riding by delivering a great first ride means kids are more likely to keep riding for years to come.

View full article

[ChrisF]

Some interesting and WEIRD stats in their article ....

 

At 9 years and 9 months Maritz is already at 142cm.  And about 15% of his class mates are taller than him !!  

 

A rigid for the trails we ride ?  Uhm jaaaa, no thanks.  Maybe this is meant for trail parks with pump tracks.  Okay, the weight saving is a big plus.

 

V-brakes ...

 

Dont see details on the gears .....

 

 

The very low slung top tube certainly is a BIG plus point.

 

 

Cant find any pricing .....

[Rolf Hansen]

So the only thing that is more adjustable on it than any other kids bike is the pedal position on the crank arms ie. crank arm length?

The light weight is awesome but it looks more like an urban cruiser than a mountain bike. Why the V-brakes? With my kids I specifically bought them new bikes with the only real requirement being disc brakes. 

[Rolf Hansen]

3 hours ago, ChrisF said:

Some interesting and WEIRD stats in their article ....

 

At 9 years and 9 months Maritz is already at 142cm.  And about 15% of his class mates are taller than him !!  

 

A rigid for the trails we ride ?  Uhm jaaaa, no thanks.  Maybe this is meant for trail parks with pump tracks.  Okay, the weight saving is a big plus.

 

V-brakes ...

 

Dont see details on the gears .....

 

 

The very low slung top tube certainly is a BIG plus point.

 

 

Cant find any pricing .....

9 Speed MicroShift from what I can tell.

 

Many other kids bikes have a low top tube so I don't see anything new here?

[ChrisF]

Jip, over the last 5 years most manufacturers lowered the top tube on their kids bikes.

 

Truly nothing new ....

[Rolf Hansen]

My son has a Titan Hades. One downside is the weight but it has a low top tube,  disc brakes and a basic shock. 

I took this photo off the web but my son's is identical. 

[ChrisF]

1 minute ago, Rolf Hansen said:

My son has a Titan Hades. One downside is the weight but it has a low top tube,  disc brakes and a basic shock. 

I took this photo off the web but my son's is identical. 

Very nice bikes these Titans.

 

Maritz had the 24", been on the 24-9er for the last 18 months.

 

Only issue thus far ... bearing on the pedal ... Giant pedal.

 

Seriously impressed with these bikes.  Nice and rugged for kids, but as you said, it IS heavy ...

[MORNE]

Mine will have a bmx when he outgrows a balance bike...and when he gets to a point where he fits a or wants a mtb, i’ll build him one on a DJ/slopestyle frame first.Their low slung frames are perfect for that, and he’ll have his priorities in order ????

[bertusras]

So after reading this and the article about the Kenovo SL I've come to the conclusion that Specialized pays their marketing department exactly the right amount of money.

 

[Rolf Hansen]

3 hours ago, MORNE said:

Mine will have a bmx when he outgrows a balance bike...and when he gets to a point where he fits a or wants a mtb, i’ll build him one on a DJ/slopestyle frame first.Their low slung frames are perfect for that, and he’ll have his priorities in order ????

That soundsike a good idea. Most off the shelf kids bikes are terrible. 

My sons both had BMXes first. They loved them but we do trails every weekend and a BMX is not the ideal trail weapon. 

The Titan Hades 24D is great for my 8 year old. Anything bigger will be too hard for him to manage. Once he gets a little bigger I will put my 26" RockShox Reba Team fork on the front with the light American Classic wheels and see how it turns out as a mullet.  

My 12 year old has a small frame 26er which at this point is slightly too big for him but he should grow into it in a few months. 

[ChrisF]

Rolf you are spot on.

 

Kids bikes falls in two basic groups:

- Affordable bikes.....  Does the job okay, but very basic specs, and heavy.

- Then there are a few bikes with slightly better specs, still heavy, and insanely expensive !!

 

When we bought the 24-9er (26" with a small frame), I had three options:

- very entry level ....

- 1x9 bike with basic components.

- 1x11 with SRAM NX (if I recall correctly) for R15k.

 

We went with the 1x9, and bought 1x11 Shimano SLX components.  He has a VERY nice bike, and still a lot less than their off the shelf 1x11 with NX components.

 

 

Building the green Mongoose was the BEST money we ever spent ... not on a bike, but on his learning curve and his understanding of what bicycle maintenance is actually about.  He already rides around the yard, but needs about 2cm on the inseam to safely ride it on trails ....  Looking forward to when he can start using the super light frame ...

[Shebeen]

17 hours ago, Rolf Hansen said:

So the only thing that is more adjustable on it than any other kids bike is the pedal position on the crank arms ie. crank arm length?

The light weight is awesome but it looks more like an urban cruiser than a mountain bike. Why the V-brakes? With my kids I specifically bought them new bikes with the only real requirement being disc brakes. 

I'm assuming they have adjusted geometry to handle a shift on stem/seat post as the bike grows.

 

Maybe no one has really done this properly before, but it should be easy to measure.

 

If the jett 24 looks the same as a hotrock24 then we know it's just marketing

[Rolf Hansen]

10 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

I'm assuming they have adjusted geometry to handle a shift on stem/seat post as the bike grows.

 

Maybe no one has really done this properly before, but it should be easy to measure.

 

If the jett 24 looks the same as a hotrock24 then we know it's just marketing

Yes I have done a fit for them. My eldest son can do with a slightly shorter stem which I will get in the near future.