Buying bikes for the whole family

[Famous Amos]

42 minutes ago, jjinsa said:

Scott scale 20 rigid fork, great condition used for 3999? Is that decent ?  Bonus - it’s his favourite colour. 

Cant go wrong with Scott, really solid bike and solid brand.

Scott does carry a premium for its name which is why its more expensive than most kiddies bikes currently available. If I'm not mistaken, their kiddies frames are also more geared towards being lightweight which lends to the higher price

[jjinsa]

1 minute ago, Bl4d3 said:

Cant go wrong with Scott, really solid bike and solid brand.

Scott does carry a premium for its name which is why its more expensive than most kiddies bikes currently available. If I'm not mistaken, their kiddies frames are also more geared towards being lightweight which lends to the higher price

Only thing I don’t understand is from a components point of view, it isn’t amazing. Cheaper bikes with better.  And on some of those bikes people “don’t recommend” and say the ABC components aren’t great. But on the Scott they are fine ?  As a previously non biker it’s hard to understand 😂

[ChrisF]

1 minute ago, jjinsa said:

Only thing I don’t understand is from a components point of view, it isn’t amazing. Cheaper bikes with better.  And on some of those bikes people “don’t recommend” and say the ABC components aren’t great. But on the Scott they are fine ?  As a previously non biker it’s hard to understand 😂

 

Scott's price is based on better quality and lighter frame

 

Thus they get to use slightly lower spec parts.

 

Literally just a few hundred rand to add trigger shifters later (if it comes with grip shift).  The rest is much of a muchness on these bikes.  Kids will benefit much more from the lighter frame than from the components.

 

 

The Nino factor comes at a cost .... 😉

[jjinsa]

2 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Scott's price is based on better quality and lighter frame

 

Thus they get to use slightly lower spec parts.

 

Literally just a few hundred rand to add trigger shifters later (if it comes with grip shift).  The rest is much of a muchness on these bikes.  Kids will benefit much more from the lighter frame than from the components.

 

 

The Nino factor comes at a cost .... 😉

Haha... thank you.  At least someone can answer.

I just went to a bike shop and had a look at something I can find no info about - Sprocket kids bikes.  The guy said the same agent who does Titan for them does Sprocket, and they are a new brand.  Internal gears and seem to be well priced and good quality.  Know anything about them?

[Famous Amos]

3 minutes ago, jjinsa said:

Only thing I don’t understand is from a components point of view, it isn’t amazing. Cheaper bikes with better.  And on some of those bikes people “don’t recommend” and say the ABC components aren’t great. But on the Scott they are fine ?  As a previously non biker it’s hard to understand 😂

So on Scott, the bulk of the money you're paying is going to that name on the downtube and that the frame is a lightweight design.

Other brands that are good options are Silverback, Marvel, Titan, Zini and Avalanche, at least those I have experience with. Silverback and Marvel are backed by Cycle Lab as they're the importers. Zini is an in house brand of Omnico and locally backed, and Avalanche is also local through Dragons.

On all of these 'cheapie' brands, you cant really go wrong

Personally, I prefer Marvel due to spec and price point, the frame is however heavier.

Silverback and Titan are slightly lower spec in terms of brakes, but the frames are flippen cool. Check the new Titan Players that recently hit South Africa. Silverback has also started to push a planet earth pledge where they are going eco-friendly which I know is a deciding factor for many people.

Zini's new bikes also look nice and premium, with the bikes being designed with kids in mind. Check the 16" that has different colour brake levers purely to help teach the little ones what brakes to pull.

[Famous Amos]

1 minute ago, jjinsa said:

Haha... thank you.  At least someone can answer.

I just went to a bike shop and had a look at something I can find no info about - Sprocket kids bikes.  The guy said the same agent who does Titan for them does Sprocket, and they are a new brand.  Internal gears and seem to be well priced and good quality.  Know anything about them?

Sprocket is a sub brand of Titan. Good bike and backed by the awesome Titan team.

Only thing I have against it is Im not a fan of internal gearing components as these can be expensive to maintain, if I recall correctly, I stand to be corrected.

[jjinsa]

8 minutes ago, Bl4d3 said:

Sprocket is a sub brand of Titan. Good bike and backed by the awesome Titan team.

Only thing I have against it is Im not a fan of internal gearing components as these can be expensive to maintain, if I recall correctly, I stand to be corrected.

So for me, the reason I like them - 1. is they were lighter than the avalanche counterpart (at least to my feeling)... 2. Titan are known for their service. 3.  only have 3 gears seems good for a kid coming from a 16" single speed... where his biggest challenge (well mine) were having to adjust the brakes so often as they are really bad.  And secondly his issue was up hills the gear was too heavy.   How much easier will it be for him to go uphill on a 3 speed?  Like was his raleigh single gear 16" equivalent to the middle gear on the sprocket?  Or more equivalent to the heaviest gear>?

Edited August 20, 2025 by jjinsa

[Shebeen]

4 minutes ago, Bl4d3 said:

So on Scott, the bulk of the money you're paying is going to that name on the downtube and that the frame is a lightweight design.

Other brands that are good options are Silverback, Marvel, Titan, Zini and Avalanche, at least those I have experience with. Silverback and Marvel are backed by Cycle Lab as they're the importers. Zini is an in house brand of Omnico and locally backed, and Avalanche is also local through Dragons.

On all of these 'cheapie' brands, you cant really go wrong

Personally, I prefer Marvel due to spec and price point, the frame is however heavier.

Silverback and Titan are slightly lower spec in terms of brakes, but the frames are flippen cool. Check the new Titan Players that recently hit South Africa. Silverback has also started to push a planet earth pledge where they are going eco-friendly which I know is a deciding factor for many people.

Zini's new bikes also look nice and premium, with the bikes being designed with kids in mind. Check the 16" that has different colour brake levers purely to help teach the little ones what brakes to pull.

I'd put a car analogy and ask you what it was like to be the first Chana owner in the country, but bikes is way different.

You can literally compare components, the only thing that is directly from the manufacturer is the frame itself.

If the Scott has own lable fittings (synchros, right?) then you don't really know from model to model. but if it is shimano branded stuff then easy enough to compare.

 

but i do agree on your general point, Titan is killing it in the kids range because they got the pricepoints right. Avalanche are regaining share here too with a good focus

[Famous Amos]

Having never ridden a 3spd, I cant really comment.

@ChrisF perhaps you can comment in your experience?

[RobynE 🚵‍♀️]

Your kids are going to outgrow the 16” and 20” in no time. Literally any 2nd hand big name bike will serve them. The extra money you’ll spend could go towards their first proper bikes which will likely be a 24” and 26”. A second hand Scott/Norco/Marvel/Silverback is miles and miles and miles ahead of a Raleigh. 

My kid could barely ride her first Raleigh (16”). Got her a second hand BMX and she flew around the place, could do any hill. At 8 she got a 26” Titan Calypso, had it for 2 years and outgrew it, got a medium 650b last year for Christmas and easily rides my medium 29” hardtail now. She’s 11 next month. She’s tall for her age but it was having a decent, reliable, rideable bike (the BMX) that got her skills up - not drivetrain spec.

1x7 or 8 is really all they need. I have no idea about internal gearing but in my mind’s eye I’d think the jumps between gears would be a little excessive. Maybe I’m wrong though. 

[jjinsa]

8 minutes ago, RobynE 🚵‍♀️ said:

Your kids are going to outgrow the 16” and 20” in no time. Literally any 2nd hand big name bike will serve them. The extra money you’ll spend could go towards their first proper bikes which will likely be a 24” and 26”. A second hand Scott/Norco/Marvel/Silverback is miles and miles and miles ahead of a Raleigh. 

My kid could barely ride her first Raleigh (16”). Got her a second hand BMX and she flew around the place, could do any hill. At 8 she got a 26” Titan Calypso, had it for 2 years and outgrew it, got a medium 650b last year for Christmas and easily rides my medium 29” hardtail now. She’s 11 next month. She’s tall for her age but it was having a decent, reliable, rideable bike (the BMX) that got her skills up - not drivetrain spec.

1x7 or 8 is really all they need. I have no idea about internal gearing but in my mind’s eye I’d think the jumps between gears would be a little excessive. Maybe I’m wrong though. 

Thanks - the 16 for sure we arent worried about, but the 20" will go to the smaller kid who is getting a 16 now, so will be in the family 4-5 years, so I want it to be decent.

As for the internal gears, either they are too big of a jump per gear, or don't ever get up to any really benefit if the jumps arent big.  But not sure, never heard much about them

[RobynE 🚵‍♀️]

34 minutes ago, jjinsa said:

Thanks - the 16 for sure we arent worried about, but the 20" will go to the smaller kid who is getting a 16 now, so will be in the family 4-5 years, so I want it to be decent.

As for the internal gears, either they are too big of a jump per gear, or don't ever get up to any really benefit if the jumps arent big.  But not sure, never heard much about them

Well my daughter went from the BMX to a Norco Storm 20” (birthday present) with gears (grip shift and I think 7 speed) and had the gears down in like a minute on her 8th birthday 😂 I truly believed she would struggle but nope. That little Norco had stupendously good hydraulic brakes where the BMX certainly did not. 

As I watched her a few minutes after she got on the bike I realised I’d bought the entirely wrong size bike, and two days later sold it again and bought the 26” Titan. In those two days she did all the hills without even blinking, using her gears and hydraulic brakes. She learnt to skid (on purpose) during those two days. It was actually a little mental 😂 

The Titan had a 1x8 Microshift mezzo, which served her well for the first 8 months or so, but we kept having a chain drop issue, which was really annoying, and eventually @RobertWhitehead changed her drivetrain to a SRAM GX 1x10 and she absolutely flew.

I think it was @droo who said the chain drop issue was because the mezzo derailleur didn’t have a clutch. We tried various fixes at the bike shop including new chain, shorter chain, different chain, derailleur adjustment and chain guide, but every time she did a bumpy descent at whatever pace her chain would drop off the chain ring. It knocked confidence and eroded joy. The change to GX made the gearing absolutely flawless, and on her 650b (which is an ex-2x11 now 1x11 Shimano XT) she’s never had a chain drop. Chain drops on kids bikes are so much worse than chain drops on your own! 

I really have no idea about 3 speed bikes. I’m sure they’re better than single speed bikes and from reading online I can’t seem to see anything comparing them to bikes with derailleurs and more gears.

I saw a little dude (maybe 5yo) trying out bikes at LBS the other day, had to he lifted up to get on the bike which was a Signal 20”, fell over before he got pedalling, and when I looked again little bro was riding around like he’d ridden that bike all his life, changing gears and doing turns 😯 

 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, jjinsa said:

Haha... thank you.  At least someone can answer.

I just went to a bike shop and had a look at something I can find no info about - Sprocket kids bikes.  The guy said the same agent who does Titan for them does Sprocket, and they are a new brand.  Internal gears and seem to be well priced and good quality.  Know anything about them?

 

@Titan Racing Bikes can certainly provide feedback on any link between Sprocket and Titan.  As well as any info we can possibly ask.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Bl4d3 said:

Having never ridden a 3spd, I cant really comment.

@ChrisF perhaps you can comment in your experience?

 

Hiehie .... my experience with 3-speed dates back some 50 years to the good old Chopper.

 

[Irvin85]

I recently had to do a similar exercise, My advice is go second hand and do not worry about the name on the frame, as for the use you have described it will not make a difference if you have a Scott/Titan or Raleigh. The one thing that I would suggest is buy the second hand bike with the best components available, nothing is going to frustrate you or your wife more than gears miss shifting or jumping while you have a sore behind of a uncomfortable seat. Brakes/gears and then also invest in a good quality saddle for you and your wife. 

[Titan Racing Bikes]

On 8/20/2025 at 3:48 PM, ChrisF said:

 

@Titan Racing Bikes can certainly provide feedback on any link between Sprocket and Titan.  As well as any info we can possibly ask.

Hi, Sprocket Bikes is a new brand which shares an importer and distributor with us (and Merida).

The friendly folk at Cyctek Cycle Distribution will be able to assist with any questions and queries any potential buyer may have that the established Sprocket Bikes dealer network can't assist with.