Kids bike comparison...thoughts?

[OVERDRIVE]

Which one is the better? Thoughts. 

Titan Racing Junior Hades 24 SE | 5 Year Multi-User Warranty (titanracingbikes.com)

vs

Riprock 24 | Specialized.com

[Rolf Hansen]

I cannot imagine that they are similarly priced?

I am in two minds about the fork (suspension or not) but I found with my youngest the weight of the bikes was by far the most limiting factor. He had a Titan Hades 24D and it was a very solid bike but ridiculously heavy for such a small bike. I would imagine there would be a significant weight difference between the two forks.

I'd go for the one that is the lightest if there is a significant difference.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Rolf Hansen

[ChrisF]

 

8 hours ago, OVERDRIVE said:

Which one is the better? Thoughts. 

Titan Racing Junior Hades 24 SE | 5 Year Multi-User Warranty (titanracingbikes.com)

vs

Riprock 24 | Specialized.com

 

Both have trigger shift gears ... GOOD !

 

The photos suggest the Riprock has a lower standover height .... this may be important for the first month

 

 

Would be interesting to compare the weights ....

 

 

Ultimately it comes down to cost.  Our Titan 24" was used for 12 months !!!!  They grow through these bikes in record time ....

 

 

Yes, our Titan 24" was replaced by yet another Titan.   

[eala]

9 hours ago, OVERDRIVE said:

Which one is the better? Thoughts. 

Titan Racing Junior Hades 24 SE | 5 Year Multi-User Warranty (titanracingbikes.com)

vs

Riprock 24 | Specialized.com

The one without the fork .My son had one of those momsen JR alu bikes without the fork .Light with proper components is what you want

[Malut]

I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality and light weight of my son's Giant xtc 20". Perhaps worth a look at the 24".

[Grease_Monkey]

Have you considered the Scott Scale 24"? Pretty well specced and priced. 

https://www.thehangerbikeco.co.za/products/scottscale24discblue

 

They also have a Roxter which is the same bike, with a rigid fork and slightly higher volume tyres. 

 

Give me a shout if you are interested  - full disclosure, I work at the shop to which I posted the link. 

[DJuice]

Interested in this topic.

My eldest is 5 and rides a 16inch Norco Samurai.

He loves the bike! Riding every where over any obstacles with little regard.

We have officially run out of renovation funds, so part of our property is undeveloped, so I went and built them a small double figure of 8 slash pump/mtb track, amateur level with clay from the canal, that was hard work...

The bike looks small to me and the seat post is on full extension.

Is the jump from 16 to 24 to much?

I do not mind going to 20,since the youngest is 2 and unfortunately he receives all the hand me downs, currently on the Muna balance bike hand me down. He did not want me to even replace the grips.

The shift to 20 or 24 means gear shifts and front shocks or not.

I am concern that the gear shifts will take the joy out of his riding? He is not very patient in learning new skills especially if it comes from dad.

He calls my bike springs(shocks) and I know he will love shocks since our riding is off-road or on corrugated roads.

I am a bit of a Titan fan although we do not own any of their bikes.

I still need to figure out how to support my LBS and get the bike down to the coast for Christmas holidays.

 

[The Ouzo]

14 minutes ago, DJuice said:

Interested in this topic.

My eldest is 5 and rides a 16inch Norco Samurai.

He loves the bike! Riding every where over any obstacles with little regard.

We have officially run out of renovation funds, so part of our property is undeveloped, so I went and built them a small double figure of 8 slash pump/mtb track, amateur level with clay from the canal, that was hard work...

The bike looks small to me and the seat post is on full extension.

Is the jump from 16 to 24 to much?

I do not mind going to 20,since the youngest is 2 and unfortunately he receives all the hand me downs, currently on the Muna balance bike hand me down. He did not want me to even replace the grips.

The shift to 20 or 24 means gear shifts and front shocks or not.

I am concern that the gear shifts will take the joy out of his riding? He is not very patient in learning new skills especially if it comes from dad.

He calls my bike springs(shocks) and I know he will love shocks since our riding is off-road or on corrugated roads.

I am a bit of a Titan fan although we do not own any of their bikes.

I still need to figure out how to support my LBS and get the bike down to the coast for Christmas holidays.

 

I found with my daughter the jump from 16 - 24 would have been to much, but like you there is a younger child waiting for the hand me downs so going from 16 to 20 we viewed the purchase as serving 2 children.

We did however do the bigger jump when the 20 was to small and went to a small 26". But it was helped by the fact that we left the upgrade a bit late so she had grown substantially.

[Titan Racing Bikes]

9 hours ago, Rolf Hansen said:

I cannot imagine that they are similarly priced?

🥸🍿

[Titan Racing Bikes]

24 minutes ago, DJuice said:

snip

Is the jump from 16 to 24 to much?

snip

 

Probably. Unless you've hung unto the 16" for too long, that is. Weight is a major issue, but an even bigger factor than that is size. Kids are small and not that strong, so to hussle a bike around that is too bike can seriously affect their enjoyment and confidence. Plus with a bigger size comes more weight.

What the TR SE has going for it is an air fork. Being able to set the sag for kids can not be overstated. Depending on the terrain they ride a rigid could of course be a bonus, thanks to the weight saving. But if your kid is riding off road then an air fork will be a BIG plus.

And if they are shredders, then maybe take a look at our Trail Jnr. Air fork with longer travel, wider tires, hydro formed frame... it all comes down to needs.

[Fred van Vlaanderen]

Titan hands down in my opinion.

[ians H2Sport]

I have been through the kids bikes dilemma, in the end it all depends on what they will be doing on the bike. 

Playing around on their bikes and having fun - a bike that fits, is not too heavy and has good brakes

Doing schools races and playing around - same as above but with more focus on reducing weight

Racing competitively, schools races & XCO (nipper & sprog) - bike fit and focus on weight

 

I pretty much made sure my eldest (girl) had the best I could afford at the time, my youngest (boy) got the hand me downs, fortunately fit was good. The result many years later, both are racing nationally and are absolutely loving the sport. It works out super expensive, but hell it is worth it.  

[ChrisF]

35 minutes ago, DJuice said:

Interested in this topic.

My eldest is 5 and rides a 16inch Norco Samurai.

He loves the bike! Riding every where over any obstacles with little regard.

We have officially run out of renovation funds, so part of our property is undeveloped, so I went and built them a small double figure of 8 slash pump/mtb track, amateur level with clay from the canal, that was hard work...

The bike looks small to me and the seat post is on full extension.

Is the jump from 16 to 24 to much?

I do not mind going to 20,since the youngest is 2 and unfortunately he receives all the hand me downs, currently on the Muna balance bike hand me down. He did not want me to even replace the grips.

The shift to 20 or 24 means gear shifts and front shocks or not.

I am concern that the gear shifts will take the joy out of his riding? He is not very patient in learning new skills especially if it comes from dad.

He calls my bike springs(shocks) and I know he will love shocks since our riding is off-road or on corrugated roads.

I am a bit of a Titan fan although we do not own any of their bikes.

I still need to figure out how to support my LBS and get the bike down to the coast for Christmas holidays.

 

 

SIZE - let him sit on a 24" .... when they have to lean forward like superman to reach the bars it is clear this is not a good idea .....  Thankfully a lot of the new 24" bikes have very low standover heights.

 

GEARS on a 20" - I am in two minds on this .... During the SPUR races Maritz NEEDED the gears to keep from spinning out.  So there is a case to be made for this.  BUT, their hands are to small for trigger shifts .... and I have yet to see a grip shift that works after a few months ....  For plotting about ... single speed.  IF the Schools Cycling Series is part of your planning he will need gears, then go for a trigger shift (even though he will have to move his whole hand to actuate the gear change)

 

 

SHOCKS .... YES, the weight is a penalty !  For the tree root ridden trails we did the shock got USED.  For the classic pump track this is obviously not needed ....

 

 

PS - Still have his 6 year old Makro 20" bike at home ... proper strip and rebuild, and it has given us excellent service ....  Rigid, single speed.  And he did Hermanus trails on this before his 6th birthday

[Rolf Hansen]

13 minutes ago, Titan Racing Bikes said:

🥸🍿

So it seem that it is around R9 500 for the Titan and around R14 000 for the Specialized.

This is a significant difference so I don't know if comparing the 2 directly is sensible.

 

[Bub Marley]

4 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

 

Both have trigger shift gears ... GOOD !

 

The photos suggest the Riprock has a lower standover height .... this may be important for the first month

 

 

Would be interesting to compare the weights ....

 

 

Ultimately it comes down to cost.  Our Titan 24" was used for 12 months !!!!  They grow through these bikes in record time ....

 

 

Yes, our Titan 24" was replaced by yet another Titan.   

Agree regarding trigger shifts. 

 

My son has that revoshift nonsense and its so stiff to change gears its riduculous to expect a child to turn that. 

[DJuice]

27 minutes ago, Titan Racing Bikes said:

Probably. Unless you've hung unto the 16" for too long, that is. Weight is a major issue, but an even bigger factor than that is size. Kids are small and not that strong, so to hussle a bike around that is too bike can seriously affect their enjoyment and confidence. Plus with a bigger size comes more weight.

What the TR SE has going for it is an air fork. Being able to set the sag for kids can not be overstated. Depending on the terrain they ride a rigid could of course be a bonus, thanks to the weight saving. But if your kid is riding off road then an air fork will be a BIG plus.

And if they are shredders, then maybe take a look at our Trail Jnr. Air fork with longer travel, wider tires, hydro formed frame... it all comes down to needs.

I showed him this bike one evening. Next day on school run he told my wife he is getting a new bike...which was news to her...