The official Riding with Kids thread

[Shebeen]

this thread continues to deliver!

 

sure i have posts from 10yrs ago here, but this was pre lockdown when 12" was still going strong.

Skipped the bit where he has been punishing a spez 20" for a long time

We got him a 24" momsen superlight that was kickass, but it was rigid and Vbrakes. That got swiped off the car, so it was back to the 20" that is actually still in the garage

 

then recently we upgraded all the way to 26"

kept a filter running on XS26" DS here, and this RM element popped up.

proper bike territory.

he is on his 3rd trip to the Uitsig bike park in 4 days now (school holidays)

This was oak (mud) valley over the weekend. Was hoping to do the full loop including Vissie's magic, but ran out of time so just did 14km. He just sends it, blindly ramping everything that points up.

this was after hitting the decking corner at speed, it was properly wet as you can see from the rooster bumb.

 

 

dad might need to get a FS himself again now!

 

 

[Kuys]

I have 2 sets of 140mm cranks with 28t chainrings for sale. PM me for more info if youre interested. 

[AgentFlash]

6 hours ago, Shebeen said:

this thread continues to deliver!

 

sure i have posts from 10yrs ago here, but this was pre lockdown when 12" was still going strong.

Skipped the bit where he has been punishing a spez 20" for a long time

We got him a 24" momsen superlight that was kickass, but it was rigid and Vbrakes. That got swiped off the car, so it was back to the 20" that is actually still in the garage

 

then recently we upgraded all the way to 26"

kept a filter running on XS26" DS here, and this RM element popped up.

proper bike territory.

he is on his 3rd trip to the Uitsig bike park in 4 days now (school holidays)

This was oak (mud) valley over the weekend. Was hoping to do the full loop including Vissie's magic, but ran out of time so just did 14km. He just sends it, blindly ramping everything that points up.

this was after hitting the decking corner at speed, it was properly wet as you can see from the rooster bumb.

 

 

dad might need to get a FS himself again now!

 

 

Awesome to see how far they come as they grow up!

We are on a 20inch at the moment, however won't be long before my son outgrows it. He is roughly 128cm tall now. Was considering trying to skip over 24inch, as I feel he will out grow it so quickly, and go straight to XS 26 inch. Do you think this is reasonable or do I just take the plunge and go for the 24inch. He does have a younger sister (about to move to the 16inch) so will always get extra value out of all of them. Just was curious whether this was a good idea. Thoughts welcome and thanks in advance.

[Shebeen]

6 minutes ago, AgentFlash said:

Awesome to see how far they come as they grow up!

We are on a 20inch at the moment, however won't be long before my son outgrows it. He is roughly 128cm tall now. Was considering trying to skip over 24inch, as I feel he will out grow it so quickly, and go straight to XS 26 inch. Do you think this is reasonable or do I just take the plunge and go for the 24inch. He does have a younger sister (about to move to the 16inch) so will always get extra value out of all of them. Just was curious whether this was a good idea. Thoughts welcome and thanks in advance.

This move 20" => 26" was by accident (theft), but he was too big for the 20" and while currently comfortable will stay on this bike for a long time (hopefully).

I have mostly bought 2nd hand, sold 2nd hand, so don't think there is too much lost in an extra wheel size. If you're handy with spanners in the garage then working on the bikes is an extra hobby and a learning lesson. 

He also has his older sister's 24" frog bike for the road/shops and back. She will move onto moms old 26(m) soon I think. 

 

 

 

[AgentFlash]

6 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

This move 20" => 26" was by accident (theft), but he was too big for the 20" and while currently comfortable will stay on this bike for a long time (hopefully).

I have mostly bought 2nd hand, sold 2nd hand, so don't think there is too much lost in an extra wheel size. If you're handy with spanners in the garage then working on the bikes is an extra hobby and a learning lesson. 

He also has his older sister's 24" frog bike for the road/shops and back. She will move onto moms old 26(m) soon I think. 

 

 

 

Thanks, that makes sense. Figured that would be the case. Yes, it is always fun working on (and cleaning) the bikes together.

[Pieter1]

Had a lekker sesh at the skatepark today. Riding there and then a forest trail has helped them gain so much confidence on decents. So lekker to see all the pics. Enjoy the rides! 

[ChrisF]

20 hours ago, AgentFlash said:

Awesome to see how far they come as they grow up!

We are on a 20inch at the moment, however won't be long before my son outgrows it. He is roughly 128cm tall now. Was considering trying to skip over 24inch, as I feel he will out grow it so quickly, and go straight to XS 26 inch. Do you think this is reasonable or do I just take the plunge and go for the 24inch. He does have a younger sister (about to move to the 16inch) so will always get extra value out of all of them. Just was curious whether this was a good idea. Thoughts welcome and thanks in advance.

 

No ... please dont.

 

Our experience with this:

16" was less than 1 year

20" lasted all of 13 months

We tried the 26-9er Titan (26" tyres with an XS frame) .... they cant reach far enough to safely turn the bars.

24" for about 14 or 15 months

then the 26-9er ..... for much longer than we expected.  He got stuck this height for about 18 months .... then grew something like 1cm per month .... 1,75m before his 14th birthday.

So he skipped through the 26" medium frame.

And is about to outgrow the 29" medium .....

 

 

As much as we like to skip a size .... always check if they can actually turn the bars to safely handle twisty trails.

 

 

EDIT - Or just keep the smaller bike until they can actually operate the larger size.

Edited July 18, 2025 by ChrisF

[Jono]

21 hours ago, AgentFlash said:

Awesome to see how far they come as they grow up!

We are on a 20inch at the moment, however won't be long before my son outgrows it. He is roughly 128cm tall now. Was considering trying to skip over 24inch, as I feel he will out grow it so quickly, and go straight to XS 26 inch. Do you think this is reasonable or do I just take the plunge and go for the 24inch. He does have a younger sister (about to move to the 16inch) so will always get extra value out of all of them. Just was curious whether this was a good idea. Thoughts welcome and thanks in advance.

We went from 20 to 26.

I was always planning to get my son a 24 inch bike, but then a couple of months before his 9th birthday, his best friend who is the same age got a 26 inch bike. They ride together every week, sometimes twice a week. Bike size is super important, but enjoying riding your bike is even more important. I knew that if we went 24, his friend would be rubbing his bigger wheel size in his face. Because lets face it how many times do you hear kids saying what size is your bike.

Anyway, super happy with what we got him in the end. Its a great bike with 67 degree head angle, found a fox 32 on the hub, a dropper and he absolutely loves it.

He was about 135 cm when he turned 9. I reckon 128 cm is on the lower end of the 26 inch size though.

I took this video last weekend (so about 9 and a half years old), its the first little jump after the berm as you start mamba in Tokai.

[Jono]

If anyone is looking for a bike for their child from 5 to 8 or so. Check this ad out. We got this model bike when my son turned 6, my 5 year old daughter is now riding it. We paid close to R10k and at R3.5k its a really good deal. Its light, clicking gears not the twist shift that the kids can't turn, hydraulic brakes and solid geometry. 

Disclaimer: I don't know this person selling the bike! Just spotted the ad.

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/kids-bikes/823122/merida-matts-j-20-inch

[AgentFlash]

2 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

No ... please dont.

 

Our experience with this:

16" was less than 1 year

20" lasted all of 13 months

We tried the 26-9er Titan (26" tyres with an XS frame) .... they cant reach far enough to safely turn the bars.

24" for about 14 or 15 months

then the 26-9er ..... for much longer than we expected.  He got stuck this height for about 18 months .... then grew something like 1cm per month .... 1,75m before his 14th birthday.

So he skipped through the 26" medium frame.

And is about to outgrow the 29" medium .....

 

 

As much as we like to skip a size .... always check if they can actually turn the bars to safely handle twisty trails.

 

 

EDIT - Or just keep the smaller bike until they can actually operate the larger size.

Thanks for the advice, I hadn't considered this. Think the 24inch will be the way to go for now. His little sister will get use out of it too at a later stage. His birthday is in Jan, so still a little way off, just starting to look at options, of course we will have to see how tall he is by then.

[AgentFlash]

1 hour ago, Jono said:

We went from 20 to 26.

I was always planning to get my son a 24 inch bike, but then a couple of months before his 9th birthday, his best friend who is the same age got a 26 inch bike. They ride together every week, sometimes twice a week. Bike size is super important, but enjoying riding your bike is even more important. I knew that if we went 24, his friend would be rubbing his bigger wheel size in his face. Because lets face it how many times do you hear kids saying what size is your bike.

Anyway, super happy with what we got him in the end. Its a great bike with 67 degree head angle, found a fox 32 on the hub, a dropper and he absolutely loves it.

He was about 135 cm when he turned 9. I reckon 128 cm is on the lower end of the 26 inch size though.

I took this video last weekend (so about 9 and a half years old), its the first little jump after the berm as you start mamba in Tokai.

Awesome, he has some good skills!

[DJuice]

On 7/17/2025 at 8:45 PM, AgentFlash said:

Awesome to see how far they come as they grow up!

We are on a 20inch at the moment, however won't be long before my son outgrows it. He is roughly 128cm tall now. Was considering trying to skip over 24inch, as I feel he will out grow it so quickly, and go straight to XS 26 inch. Do you think this is reasonable or do I just take the plunge and go for the 24inch. He does have a younger sister (about to move to the 16inch) so will always get extra value out of all of them. Just was curious whether this was a good idea. Thoughts welcome and thanks in advance.

@AgentFlashwas going to reply last week and could just not make time. We had our 3rd Northern Cape Schools league, being NC another 800km round trip for the family.

However my advice, changed over the weekend.

We went Titanracing 20inch, Titanracing 24inch. At the the time looking at 26 options, even woman xs size their was a 10cm height difference I felt we could not bridge.

The eldest is now 8 riding the 24 inch since he was 6 1/2, the bike fits nice, he is in control of the bike, brakes, gears and getting on and off. Did the training lap with the boys and there were many boys on 26ers from parents, with saddle as low as possible, that could not get off safely and causing a few falls on the route for other riders as well.

My reply last week was not to skip a size, we have the luxury of three boys, the bike will not go to waste BUT over the weekend shopping for the 4 year old a new 20inch, since the 5 year old is on the hand me down 20inch, I saw this:

 https://giant-bicycles.co.za/products/stp-26-metallic-black?available%20colours=metallic%20black&available%20sizes=regular

Available in two frame sizes, the boys were asleep already to measure and see if it will fit.

For the price, I think it is a good buy, jumping from 20 to 26.

[AgentFlash]

@DJuice Thanks for your reply! That is one really good deal. Our local bike shop suggested the same bike. He is currently just to small for it, however, was almost tempted to buy it and store away until he needs it.

His birthday is at the end of Jan, so will see how much he grows and then look at getting him a bike.

[Shebeen]

JUNIOR HELMETS!

 

Ok I did do a search on this thread, and most of the info/comments are for kids 2-8 and trying to get ones that actually fit/comfy.

 

I'm at the point where HBomb(10yrs) wants a full face helmet, because he hangs out at the bikepark and does massive ramps that scare me. Bit nervous to cave in too soon since there's very much a have the latest and greatest and fit in with the cool crowd that are sometimes there. It appears having the new model Leatt Full face is my 90s equivalent of a V500 Bryan Lara 501 special edition junior cricket bat. Get one and even though you are 11, you will get half centuries and chicks lining up round the corner. I never got one (or the other stuff).

He also does longish trail rides and that begs the question to me.

a)get a Full face with detachable chin bar.

b)horses for courses - have a helmet for bikepark/dirt jumps and a different one for the longer stuff.

Any advice welcome here. (Leatt seem to have some on sale at not ridiculous pricing actually).

[DJuice]

2 hours ago, AgentFlash said:

@DJuice Thanks for your reply! That is one really good deal. Our local bike shop suggested the same bike. He is currently just to small for it, however, was almost tempted to buy it and store away until he needs it.

His birthday is at the end of Jan, so will see how much he grows and then look at getting him a bike.

Is it possible to stretch the 20inch for another 6 months to grow into the 26?

The parts on the Giant, you will not get another bike with that spec for that money.

I`m also tempted, the 8 year old will fit nicely, my problem is the 5 year old wanting to step up to the 24inch... 

[ChrisF]

6 minutes ago, DJuice said:

Is it possible to stretch the 20inch for another 6 months to grow into the 26?

The parts on the Giant, you will not get another bike with that spec for that money.

I`m also tempted, the 8 year old will fit nicely, my problem is the 5 year old wanting to step up to the 24inch... 

 

Speaking for myself .... I was the one wanting Maritz on the next size as soon as he could ride it properly.

 

LOTS of kids ride bikes they have outgrown .....

 

A few months with the saddle maxed out can save a lot of cash if he can then jump a size up.