# 208 Cannondale Cujo 20 vs. 2017 Trail 20



## Bones01 (Jun 6, 2007)

Ok I have been riding bikes for 15 years and am spending more time agonizing over my 7 yr old's first geared bike than anything ever, lol. 

So my 7 y.o. is a little guy, 3'11" and a lightweight. He's been riding a SS 20" Spez Hotrock (coaster hub + front hand brake) for a few years, but can't handle the climbs on the local kids races on one gear. I'm a C'dale lifer so that is what the next one will be for him. We picked up a sweet looking 2017 20" C'dale Trail last week and it's really slick for a kids bike. Great paint job and just looks overall sweet. Has front suspension (surprisingly not too bad) and 6sp grip shift which works well. The brakes are rim, and as expected, the rear is bit of a hard squeeze for the his fingers (even though it's INTERNAL routing, wow). So overall, love this bike. The downer are the brakes and the WEIGHT. It's 25 lbs, ugh. His ss Spez is about 22. 

Enter the 2018 Cujo Kids 20. The shop did not have one to try, but dismissed it as being too heavy due to the plus tires, so I didn't even consider it further (they were obviously trying to move old inventory). I did some digging later on and come to find out it is listed as 21/22 lbs .. that's pushing 3-4 lbs LIGHTER than the Trail. Wow! And it is a PLUS bike with 2.6" tires, disc breaks (have to be easier to squeeze for him for sure, even if mech), and 7sp vs. 6 for the Trail. It's $100 more than the Trail but looks to have more name-brand component parts (tires, headset, etc) vs. the Trail's generic stuff. The only downer is it is a rigid fork. I understand the suspension fork is what's probably giving the Trail much of it's extra weight. I'm thinking those 2.6ers run low psi will give him plenty of front cush.

HELP! What do you guys think? Should we take back the 2017 Trail and order the 2018 Cujo?


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Rigid all day over the crappy, heavy spring forks. I'm all for dropping cash on a kids bike. Since your kid is racing you should probably consider for XC style 20" bikes instead of the CDale stuff. I do like that Cujo plus bike for the price as an all around fun bike. It's one of the very few good ones. I'm pretty skeptical of the weight tho.


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## skyak (Sep 21, 2008)

This is an easy choice, Cujo all the way.


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## Bones01 (Jun 6, 2007)

Although C'dale did not have the weight on the spec page (as they never do), I found it on the site of two different bike shops and it was about the same. As I recall, 21 high or 22 low. I am a bit skeptical as well since it's got those 2.6ers on it plus an extra cog on the cassette, but then gain, those cheap spring forks they use on kids bikes are pretty heavy, so I guess I can believe it's 3/4 pounds lighter ... which is pretty big deal for a little 3'11" guy. The fact that he has difficulty squeezing the rim brakes vs. the mech discs is also another big thing. Plus of course kids love fat tires. But I gotta say they did a real good job on the 2017 Trail with the paint, etc. The 2018 Trail version looks like crap compared to the outgoing model year, and it appears to be cheaper as well, so they must've cut spec to push the Cujo or something.


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## cicot (Sep 5, 2008)

I bought the cujo for my son. the bike weight is 9.8kg without pedals (10.1kg with stock pedals). 
It has a good gear ratios, and my son pedals 99% of uphill now, and his confidence on rocky and sandy conditions has increased a lot. he weights 16kg and runs tyres at 5psi front and 8psi rear.
We had to change the gripshift with the trigger shift as he did not have the strength to rotate it on the bigger cogs. I don't know whether it was a faulty one or just the way it operates, but he has no problem with the trigger. 
Consequently we needed to change the grips.
And I put a strip of velcro on the chainstay as the rear derailleur-spring was pretty loose.


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## Bones01 (Jun 6, 2007)

Thanks for the validation on weight. I called the shop and ordered one and told them we are going to exchange the Trail 20. They are still skeptical that a plus size would be lighter. I told them they are underestimating the weight of the spring fork as well as some of the generic components on the Trail. I'm also hoping those mech disc brakes are going to be an easier squeeze than the rim brakes .. pretty sure they will be. We'll see about the grip shift thing. He was able get through all the gears fine on the Trail 20, and it is the same Shimano grip shift, just one 6sp instead of 7. Thanks1


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