Kids bike comparison...thoughts?

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, OVERDRIVE said:

I delayed the move from 16 to 20 and regretted it. But does one now wait for a 24 or a 26? Especially when they do grow like that…

 

We switched early each time, got the maximum benefit out of the next size.  

 

This also means I was selling a good bike every 13 to 15 months ....

 

 

The annual cost of ownership was actually not that bad.  And the benefit of him constantly having the correct size bike was such a pleasure.

 

[The Ouzo]

12 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

We switched early each time, got the maximum benefit out of the next size.  

 

This also means I was selling a good bike every 13 to 15 months ....

 

 

The annual cost of ownership was actually not that bad.  And the benefit of him constantly having the correct size bike was such a pleasure.

 

but you also had someone that was very enthusiastic to ride. That does help.

[hayleyearth]

1 hour ago, ouzo said:

but you also had someone that was very enthusiastic to ride. That does help.

What I've seen thus far with my daughter (4 years old), she's enjoyed riding because she's been on the right bikes from year 1 till now. 

 

She started riding a pedal bike when she was about 3.5years old, most of her friends (actually all of them) can not ride yet. All of them have been on bikes not well designed for the age I'd say (the one 4 year old boy is actually on a Specialized.....with back pedal brakes! What nonsense!) and side wheels.)

We didn't always go with the most expensive or lightest, just with what I could see made the best sense for her development.

The bike she had before her current one was one of the cheapest balance bikes we could find. What made it great was that it had a much wider handle bar and was actually heavier that the popular Strider etc bikes. Being heavier added to the stability when moving so she didn't get a fright and was thrown off balance when going over the smallest opstical.

 

Now she has an expensive bike, purely because there isn't many 16" with no back pedal, 6kg and nice looking ... Prevelo!! 

I could have paid even more if I wanted a fork and disk brakes, but as this was her 1st pedal bike we went 'entry level's and it was about R10k (landed).

 

If I gave her the choice she would have picked the pink bike in the 1st shop with the front basket, rear seat for her doll and tossels on the handlebars. I asked if she wants to ride with us when we ride or when we walk and she obviously choose the 1st so I said that bike won't get her to do that. She was over the moon when the plain silver bike arrived and wanted to go test it even though it had no pink.

 

As a family we often go on bike tours  (Monkey see monkey do), till now she's just sat on one of our bikes, what makes her keen to ride long term is so she can be independent when we go on tours...what makes her keen to ride daily is the fact that she has a comfortable bike that is easy to ride. She's very proud to always show others her skills on her bike.

Edited September 14, 2022 by hayleyearth

[DJuice]

The bikes gets used every day from walking the dogs and just messing around.

Over weekends on either a Saturday or Sunday we do around 15km with the eldest on his bike and the little one on the Feva seat.

The current 16inch runs out of gearing very quickly, even on straight roads and on the hills, a helping hand from behind is needed. 

Decide we are going to go 20inch. We have the luxury to past down. The development on the youngest child is much faster on 18 months he started to ride the Muna balance bike. He did the 3km dog walk route on his own last night. 

There was a question regarding the weights above:

Titan Hades disc - 11.2kg

Titan Hades SE - 11.4kg - It does have 40mm more front suspension and air fork

Titan Trail - 11.9kg

The current Norco is 8.11kg, not sure were this leaves me.

I generally overthink life and this is just one decision to add.

 

[ChrisF]

25 minutes ago, DJuice said:

The bikes gets used every day from walking the dogs and just messing around.

Over weekends on either a Saturday or Sunday we do around 15km with the eldest on his bike and the little one on the Feva seat.

The current 16inch runs out of gearing very quickly, even on straight roads and on the hills, a helping hand from behind is needed. 

Decide we are going to go 20inch. We have the luxury to past down. The development on the youngest child is much faster on 18 months he started to ride the Muna balance bike. He did the 3km dog walk route on his own last night. 

There was a question regarding the weights above:

Titan Hades disc - 11.2kg

Titan Hades SE - 11.4kg - It does have 40mm more front suspension and air fork

Titan Trail - 11.9kg

The current Norco is 8.11kg, not sure were this leaves me.

I generally overthink life and this is just one decision to add.

 

 

TITAN

 

 

dont over think this one 

[Titan Racing Bikes]

On 9/13/2022 at 12:45 PM, Trashy said:

Now that you're here...

What is the actual weight difference between the 20" Hades and the SE version?

I'm keen on the SE but a 30% price premium is a hard sell.

They weigh about the same. The weight saving is to pull the weight back from the wider, gnarly tires, longer travel fork (40mm vs 80mm), bigger cassette (11-34 vs 12-46) and bigger rotors (140 vs 160mm).

[DJuice]

37 minutes ago, Titan Racing Bikes said:

They weigh about the same. The weight saving is to pull the weight back from the wider, gnarly tires, longer travel fork (40mm vs 80mm), bigger cassette (11-34 vs 12-46) and bigger rotors (140 vs 160mm).

SE gets my vote. The Trail is awesome, but I feel perhaps a bit to much bike for our region, type of riding.

Some upgrades on the SE for weight purposes, back to 140mm rotors, who needs brakes.

 

 

 

[ChrisF]

28 minutes ago, DJuice said:

SE gets my vote. The Trail is awesome, but I feel perhaps a bit to much bike for our region, type of riding.

Some upgrades on the SE for weight purposes, back to 140mm rotors, who needs brakes.

 

 

 

 

Julle HET die agterplaas .... 

 

 

 

jokes aside, keep it simple. 

 

PS - Entries are open for 16 June 2023 .... see you there in 2023.  The kids take over the park !!!  From balance bikes to teenagers shredding the roads.

Edited September 14, 2022 by ChrisF

[Jono]

My sons Merida Matts J 20+ is 9.8kg with 2.4 tyres, stand, bell and sealant in the tubes.

Comes with hydraulic brakes and shimano trigger shifter. Its a great bike and he loves it.

 

[MTBRIDER1234]

20 hours ago, OVERDRIVE said:

Good point, but when the skill gets there maybe the fork a good addition?

Honestly, at a low price point, all the forks are there for is looks. I have yet to see one of those that has lasted over a few months and not made the bike weigh the same (or likely more) than a full size bike. Rigid will also help skills development and a light bike will be a lot easier for a laaitjie to handle and throw around and have a good time on.

I have no problem with Titan, but if you can afford to, that spez kids' bike looks like a really solid bike and like Morne said, it will be much easier to resell. In my experience, as long as you look after kids' bikes and service them properly, you won't loose much money when it comes time to sell.

[DJuice]

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

 

Julle HET die agterplaas .... 

 

 

 

jokes aside, keep it simple. 

 

PS - Entries are open for 16 June 2023 .... see you there in 2023.  The kids take over the park !!!  From balance bikes to teenagers shredding the roads.

Chris ek moet my fiets gaan terug vra by my vriend. My vrou het genoeg gehad dat ek haar fiets leen, die kinders vra al gaan pappa op mamme se fiets ry.

Dit gee my ook 3 maande om fiksheid te vind voor die vakansie, anders klippe kou agter my swaer.

[eala]

Momsen JSL 40 .These are the best .Super light and sram 5 componants

[OVERDRIVE]

22 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

We switched early each time, got the maximum benefit out of the next size.  

 

This also means I was selling a good bike every 13 to 15 months ....

 

 

The annual cost of ownership was actually not that bad.  And the benefit of him constantly having the correct size bike was such a pleasure.

 

You are indeed a wise man, sir. I've always waited too long...

10 hours ago, ouzo said:

but you also had someone that was very enthusiastic to ride. That does help.

Fact.

6 hours ago, DJuice said:

The bikes gets used every day from walking the dogs and just messing around.

Over weekends on either a Saturday or Sunday we do around 15km with the eldest on his bike and the little one on the Feva seat.

The current 16inch runs out of gearing very quickly, even on straight roads and on the hills, a helping hand from behind is needed. 

Decide we are going to go 20inch. We have the luxury to past down. The development on the youngest child is much faster on 18 months he started to ride the Muna balance bike. He did the 3km dog walk route on his own last night. 

There was a question regarding the weights above:

Titan Hades disc - 11.2kg

Titan Hades SE - 11.4kg - It does have 40mm more front suspension and air fork

Titan Trail - 11.9kg

The current Norco is 8.11kg, not sure were this leaves me.

I generally overthink life and this is just one decision to add.

 

I generally overthink life and this is just one decision to add.  

3 hours ago, MTBRIDER1234 said:

Honestly, at a low price point, all the forks are there for is looks. I have yet to see one of those that has lasted over a few months and not made the bike weigh the same (or likely more) than a full size bike. Rigid will also help skills development and a light bike will be a lot easier for a laaitjie to handle and throw around and have a good time on.

I have no problem with Titan, but if you can afford to, that spez kids' bike looks like a really solid bike and like Morne said, it will be much easier to resell. In my experience, as long as you look after kids' bikes and service them properly, you won't loose much money when it comes time to sell.

This also is true...

[figjam_sa]

A while back I saw a Marvel 26" kids bike with hydraulic disc brakes and apparently you can choose between trigger and grip shift for R6-7k at Cycle Lab/CwC...

 

Any reason no one mentions it?

[DJuice]

This is my cycling team now a days.

Route one of three options we do with the dogs in the evenings.

The Norco needs replacing.

 

[Shebeen]

16 hours ago, MTBRIDER1234 said:

Honestly, at a low price point, all the forks are there for is looks. I have yet to see one of those that has lasted over a few months and not made the bike weigh the same (or likely more) than a full size bike. Rigid will also help skills development and a light bike will be a lot easier for a laaitjie to handle and throw around and have a good time on.

I have no problem with Titan, but if you can afford to, that spez kids' bike looks like a really solid bike and like Morne said, it will be much easier to resell. In my experience, as long as you look after kids' bikes and service them properly, you won't loose much money when it comes time to sell.

I can't agree with that statement in bold one bit!

this is not a straight comparison, but let's say the Titan at R9k and the spesh at R14k get bought by twin kids and cared for identically. (go put the extra R5k in satrix shares)

two years down the line the titan will sell for ~R5k and the spesh will sell for ~R8k

.kid A has R5k from his bike and R7k from shares to buy a new ride

kid B has R8k and now likes fancy spesh bikes that he can't afford.

I have over the last 10 years bought and sold about 8 kids bikes as they grow up. A new kids bike is cool, but a financial loser. The only way to stay with the game if money is tight is to buy decent 2nd hand bikes and look after them. The second buyer of the spesh will get a decent deal.

case in point

MINT spesh riprock RRS R5500,, here on da hub for R2600

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/kids-bikes/577244/specialized-riprock-16