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For a new rider Woom is probably the best bike. Weight matters a lot for a kid, especially when they are starting.
My daughter went from a balance bike to Woom 2 (14") to Prevelo Alpha 2 (16") to REV 20 here to Polygon Relic 24". I'd recommend each and every one of the bike brands I mentioned and steer clear of training wheels and back pedal brakes. They are mandated by law for some kids bikes but swap out a freewheeling rear wheel and teach kids to use handbrakes from the start.
The REV mountain bikes here are very sturdy, fat tires and relatively heavy. My daughter was a very proficient rider at that point and enjoyed riding it on trails and bump tracks. For street use it's unnecessarily heavy and knobby tires will slow them down.
But good to see a sale, quality and value wise these are excellent bikes, just pick the right bike for intended use.
Not here to disagree, but my young daughters can't manipulate the handbrakes on regular bikes. Do these bikes offer easy handbraking? Or do they need to hit the gym first and build up their hand strength?
REI can adjust the reach for you when you pick up, so that your daughter won't have to open her hand as far and has less distance to pull.
Not here to disagree, but my young daughters can't manipulate the handbrakes on regular bikes. Do these bikes offer easy handbraking? Or do they need to hit the gym first and build up their hand strength?
Yeah, I don't understand all the hate for coaster brakes either. It was like this when I was a kid too and I think it's mostly because they're associated with 'cheap' bikes. I learned on coasters. My kids learned on coasters. We all had no trouble transitioning to handbrakes. I honestly don't understand spending $250-$400 on a 'real' bike for a preschooler...
As someone else indicated, handbrakes are adjustable so their little hands can reach around them and properly squeeze the handle.
I bought this bike full price last year for my 6 yr old. The cons are the grip shifter is garbage but you can swap with a 10 dollar microshift very easily. The paint is very soft and the cables rub the paint off the bike very fast. The tires are OK but work fine. I would buy at this price without hesitation.
For a new rider Woom is probably the best bike. Weight matters a lot for a kid, especially when they are starting.
My daughter went from a balance bike to Woom 2 (14") to Prevelo Alpha 2 (16") to REV 20 here to Polygon Relic 24". I'd recommend each and every one of the bike brands I mentioned and steer clear of training wheels and back pedal brakes. They are mandated by law for some kids bikes but swap out a freewheeling rear wheel and teach kids to use handbrakes from the start.
The REV mountain bikes here are very sturdy, fat tires and relatively heavy. My daughter was a very proficient rider at that point and enjoyed riding it on trails and bump tracks. For street use it's unnecessarily heavy and knobby tires will slow them down.
But good to see a sale, quality and value wise these are excellent bikes, just pick the right bike for intended use.
These are twice as heavy as wooms and aren't nearly as designed for a kids body.
These REI bikes are about 25 lbs whereas the Woom equivalent are about 5 lbs less. With that said, fit will be subjective as every child's body and geometry is different.
I'm not seeing sizing, I have a 7.5 year old boy, around 49 inches...guardian says 24 inch bike, is this 20 too small? has has an 18 he can ride, but is outgrowing it- I'm between the 6 speed, or there is a 24 inch woom locally used (1yr) for 400 I could try to grab-
These REI bikes are about 25 lbs whereas the Woom equivalent are about 5 lbs less. With that said, fit will be subjective as every child's body and geometry is different.
And the equiv. Woom is $800 vs $400 MSRP or $250 "now", so...that's that.
Ofc the Rev 20 Plus is not necessarily equivalent point for point with a Woom Off 4 ($800+Tax) or a Specialized Riprock 20 ($650 + tax/shipping etc), just like the above are not as good as a Spawn Yama Jama 20 ($1350+ dressing), but REI did a decent job for the target $.
People need to realize that most things are build to a price $ but also production #s, and the amount of engineering, attention to detail during design, and then manufacturing etc, is a negotiation to make the end $ work with a decent profit.
It is not like one company is run by ignorant apes and the other by geniuses with perfect intentions, black or white crap. This is the way people that can barely ride 20" bikes think (i.e. 5yo).
Also, these are MTBs that cater to MTB infected parents, i.e. people already convinced that big box bikes are not good enough, and most likely have already invested 4 or more figures in cycling equipment, now they have kids and then wish to have them ride along, yada yada, so they buy them the bike they'd wish they had when they were 5 or 6 on "whichever" face their kids are at.
Kids can have perfect fun on any kind of "working" bike, you can learn how to roam the neighborhood or the beach bike path or a flat path on your local state park and whatnot on a $50 bike, you can do it on coaster brakes, you can do it w/o brakes, you don't need gears and complexity and BS. The vast majority of adults will ride those on $100 beach cruisers, so could kids. Same same.
But, if you want your lil ones to ride along on even milder MTB or even urban trails with ups and downs and this and that, it is far, FAR better to have something with decent hand brakes. Much more important than gears and MTB "look". If your kid is just getting into it, a "single lever" solution like those on Guardian bikes might be a better choice. Bikes, like cars, STOP primarily with the front brake(s). Sure, you can "stop" with a coaster brake, just like you can stop with "just" a rear hand brake, but will take some 50-70% extra distance. "You", can have your kids learn the "hard way", kewl, I'd rather have my kid have a better experience and because he will get himself in trouble either way, I'd rather equip him with something that might forgive more mistakes.
Past the BS, a kid's bike is not that different from an adult's bike and it should not cost less, unless you bought your bike by the pound/kg (its actually the inverse, the lighter the bike, the more the ask for it). Kid's bike will have the same amount of welds, same more-or-less components that need the same $ to manufacture and acquire wholesale, etc. The only thing that changes is the length of some tubing here and there, and ofc if anything, far less end-users will buy a 6yo a $400 bike than they'd buy one for themselves, so "serious" kid's bikes have much smaller production runs = will cost more per unit to make. That said, companies evolve and sometimes try new things and have some loss-leaders: the specialized Riprok 20 for example, has 1x9 and hydraulic brakes and thru axles and carbon fork etc, few of which you will not find on their Specialized Rockhopper Comp that retails for $1000+ and uses bottom of the barrel wheel hubs (not thru axles) and fork etc, and I am willing to bet has a lower manufacturing cost (thus much bigger profit margins) than a Riprock 20. But I guess they don't think they could get away selling enough #s of $1000 20" bikes, so...they price it to what the market can bare, while milking adults and selling 100s of their Rockhoppers for every Riprock 20.
Last edited by Dimitris April 22, 2022 at 12:06 AM.
I'm not seeing sizing, I have a 7.5 year old boy, around 49 inches...guardian says 24 inch bike, is this 20 too small? has has an 18 he can ride, but is outgrowing it- I'm between the 6 speed, or there is a 24 inch woom locally used (1yr) for 400 I could try to grab-
Look at the full list, REI has 4 different 24" models on sale. I saw a size guide for REI bikes on another site: the 24" bikes fit 4' 2" to 4' 9", so your son is almost there.
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My daughter went from a balance bike to Woom 2 (14") to Prevelo Alpha 2 (16") to REV 20 here to Polygon Relic 24". I'd recommend each and every one of the bike brands I mentioned and steer clear of training wheels and back pedal brakes. They are mandated by law for some kids bikes but swap out a freewheeling rear wheel and teach kids to use handbrakes from the start.
The REV mountain bikes here are very sturdy, fat tires and relatively heavy. My daughter was a very proficient rider at that point and enjoyed riding it on trails and bump tracks. For street use it's unnecessarily heavy and knobby tires will slow them down.
But good to see a sale, quality and value wise these are excellent bikes, just pick the right bike for intended use.
Freewheel and hand brakes are ideal over rear coaster brakes IMO.
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https://youtu.be/V3nMnr8ZirI?t=6
As someone else indicated, handbrakes are adjustable so their little hands can reach around them and properly squeeze the handle.
JP
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My daughter went from a balance bike to Woom 2 (14") to Prevelo Alpha 2 (16") to REV 20 here to Polygon Relic 24". I'd recommend each and every one of the bike brands I mentioned and steer clear of training wheels and back pedal brakes. They are mandated by law for some kids bikes but swap out a freewheeling rear wheel and teach kids to use handbrakes from the start.
The REV mountain bikes here are very sturdy, fat tires and relatively heavy. My daughter was a very proficient rider at that point and enjoyed riding it on trails and bump tracks. For street use it's unnecessarily heavy and knobby tires will slow them down.
But good to see a sale, quality and value wise these are excellent bikes, just pick the right bike for intended use.
My 9 year old (4' 6" tall) loves the 24" REV CTY for riding around the neighborhood/suburb.
Ofc the Rev 20 Plus is not necessarily equivalent point for point with a Woom Off 4 ($800+Tax) or a Specialized Riprock 20 ($650 + tax/shipping etc), just like the above are not as good as a Spawn Yama Jama 20 ($1350+ dressing), but REI did a decent job for the target $.
People need to realize that most things are build to a price $ but also production #s, and the amount of engineering, attention to detail during design, and then manufacturing etc, is a negotiation to make the end $ work with a decent profit.
It is not like one company is run by ignorant apes and the other by geniuses with perfect intentions, black or white crap. This is the way people that can barely ride 20" bikes think (i.e. 5yo).
Also, these are MTBs that cater to MTB infected parents, i.e. people already convinced that big box bikes are not good enough, and most likely have already invested 4 or more figures in cycling equipment, now they have kids and then wish to have them ride along, yada yada, so they buy them the bike they'd wish they had when they were 5 or 6 on "whichever" face their kids are at.
Kids can have perfect fun on any kind of "working" bike, you can learn how to roam the neighborhood or the beach bike path or a flat path on your local state park and whatnot on a $50 bike, you can do it on coaster brakes, you can do it w/o brakes, you don't need gears and complexity and BS. The vast majority of adults will ride those on $100 beach cruisers, so could kids. Same same.
But, if you want your lil ones to ride along on even milder MTB or even urban trails with ups and downs and this and that, it is far, FAR better to have something with decent hand brakes. Much more important than gears and MTB "look". If your kid is just getting into it, a "single lever" solution like those on Guardian bikes might be a better choice. Bikes, like cars, STOP primarily with the front brake(s). Sure, you can "stop" with a coaster brake, just like you can stop with "just" a rear hand brake, but will take some 50-70% extra distance. "You", can have your kids learn the "hard way", kewl, I'd rather have my kid have a better experience and because he will get himself in trouble either way, I'd rather equip him with something that might forgive more mistakes.
Past the BS, a kid's bike is not that different from an adult's bike and it should not cost less, unless you bought your bike by the pound/kg (its actually the inverse, the lighter the bike, the more the ask for it). Kid's bike will have the same amount of welds, same more-or-less components that need the same $ to manufacture and acquire wholesale, etc. The only thing that changes is the length of some tubing here and there, and ofc if anything, far less end-users will buy a 6yo a $400 bike than they'd buy one for themselves, so "serious" kid's bikes have much smaller production runs = will cost more per unit to make. That said, companies evolve and sometimes try new things and have some loss-leaders: the specialized Riprok 20 for example, has 1x9 and hydraulic brakes and thru axles and carbon fork etc, few of which you will not find on their Specialized Rockhopper Comp that retails for $1000+ and uses bottom of the barrel wheel hubs (not thru axles) and fork etc, and I am willing to bet has a lower manufacturing cost (thus much bigger profit margins) than a Riprock 20. But I guess they don't think they could get away selling enough #s of $1000 20" bikes, so...they price it to what the market can bare, while milking adults and selling 100s of their Rockhoppers for every Riprock 20.
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