# Kids bikes - 26-27.5 wheels



## klauss (Oct 20, 2015)

Looking to upgrade the kids spawn fully rigid bike to a 26 wheel or 27.5 hard tail with front shock. edit: as suggested below looking for a trail bike, but maybe something that is decent at jumping too. The big brands i've looked at so far don't have much in this tweener stage that looks decent.

I am considering:

1. the Spawn Yama Jama 26 but it is at the very top of what I would want to pay.

2. the Commencal Meta HT Junior which has a 27.5 wheel and is a bit heavy, but does come with a dropper and tubeless ready to reduce weight a bit. 

3. Cleary Scout 26. A bit cheaper price point. Doesn't look as jumpable as the two bikes above, but that is some speculation on my part

4. Possibly an XS adult bike if we wait until X-mas and the kid has grown even more and can find the right geo.

The trailcraft bikes are nice too but out of reach spend wise.

Any thoughts or experiences out there? Kid is really liking jumping his bike and a bit concerned the 27.5 wheels may make that even more of a challenge than the 26 wheels. May add a cheap used BMX to the family quiver to solve the jumping thing. He's 4'8" and 8 y.o. now and growing pretty fast.

-Thanks


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

IMO once you're into 26/27.5, there's no reason to stick with 'kid brand' bike companies; usually much better deals out there. 

Definitely get a dedicated jump bike if that's something your kid is into. 
You can score nice a nice BMX or DJ for a great price if you keep your eyes open.


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## SactoGeoff (Aug 11, 2017)

Sounds like you're basically looking for a 26/27.5 "Trail Bike" Hard tail. You might start looking at the other brands like Trek, Specialized etc etc. Although they may or may not be a better value. I've started recently flirting with my twins next bike. And the kids makers when compared to the equivalent "adult bikes" appear to be a better value. Take the YJ 26". Go try to find a similarly equipped bike for the same $$. It's harder than it looks. But you may be able to catch something on sale. Which isn't really possible with the kids bike makers.

Another good example is the Trailcraft 26" Maxwell. 26lbs FS @ $2600. Many of the adult bikes at that price range are 30lbs. At least based upon my searches.

Of the bikes you listed, my vote would be for the Commencal. Based upon your usage goals.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

That Maxwell is cool for a FS. Commencal makes a small meta trail but its similar priced yet 31+ lbs instead of 26lbs from Trail Craft. They also make the Timber 26 hardtail thats like 22.5 pounds and 1699$. Big Mesa is 26+ or 27.5 too. Spawn isn't a bad setup either. You get to pick your chainring with Trail Craft and the touch points will be MUCH better dialed out of the box than anything non-kids specific. I'd do that in a heartbeat...tho Full Suspension is never a bad idea if they are going hard.

I like the Dirt Jumper stuff too...you could get a cheap Norco in the smaller size for well within your budget. The fork might suck on the bottom tier models.


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

> Kid is really liking jumping his bike and a bit concerned the 27.5 wheels may make that even more of a challenge than the 26 wheels. May add a cheap used BMX to the family quiver to solve the jumping thing.


I think this is a good idea....
Jnr currently rides a 24" which he's mid (ideally) suited for for trail riding and Jnr DH races but it's still big enough that the size causes challenges in the air.

He could possibly get away with an adult XS on the trails and the DH but I don't think it would help at all on jumps where he has to move about the bike way further than I do on mine for the same short in balance.

It's not impossible... on of his much smaller mates but really (really into jumping) took his bid on the DJ's but he found it challenging enough not to do the pro-line he does on his smaller bike.


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## stevelim (Jul 23, 2008)

If you don't mind / like to build up from the frame, Spawn has Kotori frames on sale ($275 for the 26"). You can get a derailleur hanger to run gears. In my emails with Spawn several kids are running them as trail bikes.


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## klauss (Oct 20, 2015)

Building up that frame would be pretty fun actually. Not sure I could make it happen cheaply as I don't have enough of a parts bin with compatible stuff. I'd probably end up buying 26 wheels and a fork that aren't compatible too.


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## maleonardphi (May 19, 2006)

Just to add another bike to the list, my son is riding the Trek Superfly 26. He started riding it at 10 and about 4'8". He's 11 now, and close to 4'10". MSRP is $1000, but Trek had it at $900 awhile back. I got a "deal" I couldn't pass up. It's an XC bike, but the X-Fusion fork is adjustable from 80-140 mm, set from the factory at 90 (I bumped my son's to 100). It takes 20-30 minutes to adjust a clip on the air spring shaft to adjust travel. Wheels and tires were boat anchors. I found an older set of Mavic Crossmax SSL wheels for ~$200 on ebay, then new tires set up tubeless. That dropped 3 pounds. The bars and seatpost are also poorly spec'd. The seatpost is ~250 mm (if you look really closely on the Trek website, there is a lot of post showing, and you can see the white min insertion line about 4" up from the seat tube). But, for those of us with parts bins, those are easy things to swap out.

Edit: I just looked at the website, current price is $1050 and it says "NEW 2019." Unless something changed with the frame, no changes have been made in the last 2-3 years. What's lame about the Trek website is that for the 2017/2018 model, there were a lot of answered questions in the FAQ section. Those are all gone now. There are a lot of small details missing in the specs, e.g., crank arm length (165 mm), seatpost length (~250 mm), bar width (580 mm (?)) and stem length (60 mm).

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/mountain-bikes/kids-mountain-bikes/superfly-26/p/17208/


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## dbabuser (Jan 5, 2004)

I just went through this for my daughter. I decided to stick with kid specific bikes, in order to get not too long of a top tube and modern geometry. I was looking at Spawn, Commencal and Trailcraft, but ending up finding a deal on a used Norco 6.2 (full suspension) complete. I had some parts off my wife's old 26" trail bike, so I was able to drop ~3 lbs pounds from the original spec, and that's after adding a dropper post.


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## klauss (Oct 20, 2015)

Box came today and promptly put it together. Someone is stoked even if it's dad.


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## TN29'er (Apr 24, 2004)

That looks great. I am a big fan of commencal and what they are doing with kids bikes. Have you coverted it to tubeless and if so what is the weight after?


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## klauss (Oct 20, 2015)

TN29'er said:


> That looks great. I am a big fan of commencal and what they are doing with kids bikes. Have you coverted it to tubeless and if so what is the weight after?


Not yet.

The kid is just barely tall enough on this thing, but he is ripping on it. The 27.5 wheels are huge looking when he is riding it, but he's jumping it well. We haven't gotten in a proper XC ride yet, but the future looks bright.

He is definitely able to get use out of the shock too. Gears shifter especially and the brakes are easier to use than he had on his Spawn Savage 1.0 and he's already got the hang of the dropper lever.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

klauss said:


> Not yet.
> 
> The kid is just barely tall enough on this thing, but he is ripping on it. The 27.5 wheels are huge looking when he is riding it, but he's jumping it well. We haven't gotten in a proper XC ride yet, but the future looks bright.
> 
> He is definitely able to get use out of the shock too. Gears shifter especially and the brakes are easier to use than he had on his Spawn Savage 1.0 and he's already got the hang of the dropper lever.


Is he able to manual it effectively? Like for slower, huck to flats or off taller log skinnys?


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## thesmokingman (Jan 17, 2009)

You might want to invest into the NX 155mm cranks and swap those in. When he's taller in a few years, you have the 165mm cranks ready. My kid is 5'3 and still riding 155mm NX cranks to give you an idea.


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## klauss (Oct 20, 2015)

svinyard said:


> Is he able to manual it effectively? Like for slower, huck to flats or off taller log skinnys?


He's able to land back tire first off curbs and the jumps going slower so yeah kind of


__
http://instagr.am/p/BoiFJ6YBxeM/



thesmokingman said:


> You might want to invest into the NX 155mm cranks and swap those in. When he's taller in a few years, you have the 165mm cranks ready. My kid is 5'3 and still riding 155mm NX cranks to give you an idea.


That's a good call. I see one available for $99. Do I need a special tool or anything? I've only removed the drive side crank arm on my race face cranks so not sure what's required


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## thesmokingman (Jan 17, 2009)

klauss said:


> That's a good call. I see one available for $99. Do I need a special tool or anything? I've only removed the drive side crank arm on my race face cranks so not sure what's required


Before you buy double check the type of NX crank that is installed on the bike first. It comes in a couple varieties. From your pics I could not see the crank clearly but your frame is BSA, which is a plus (standard english threaded). The crank however looks like a square taper, which is wacky. NX cranks come in GXP or BB30 for retail, which are both holllow, but yours has a bolt on the DS crank. They don't sell a square taper NX crank so it could be an OEM special? Or it could be a silver bolted BB30 crank in a BSA frame but that is doubtful (no conversion cups in your pic)? Take some close up pics so we can see it. Also, an easy way to tell if its square taper is by the crank bolts, it will have the same bolt on both sides. On the GXP type, it will be hollow on the DS and a black 8mm bolt on the NDS, and BB30 is the opposite of GXP.

Dude, there is something whacked about Commencal's specs. It lists the BB as a GXP XR, ie, an external cup BSA unit. But your pictures shows a BB that doesn't look like a GXP XR is installed. Maybe its just the pics, I dunno?


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Impressive BB knowledge Smoke. Glad someone can make sense of this stuff!


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## klauss (Oct 20, 2015)

thesmokingman said:


> Before you buy double check the type of NX crank that is installed on the bike first. It comes in a couple varieties. From your pics I could not see the crank clearly but your frame is BSA, which is a plus (standard english threaded). The crank however looks like a square taper, which is wacky. NX cranks come in GXP or BB30 for retail, which are both holllow, but yours has a bolt on the DS crank. They don't sell a square taper NX crank so it could be an OEM special? Or it could be a silver bolted BB30 crank in a BSA frame but that is doubtful (no conversion cups in your pic)? Take some close up pics so we can see it. Also, an easy way to tell if its square taper is by the crank bolts, it will have the same bolt on both sides. On the GXP type, it will be hollow on the DS and a black 8mm bolt on the NDS, and BB30 is the opposite of GXP.
> 
> Dude, there is something whacked about Commencal's specs. It lists the BB as a GXP XR, ie, an external cup BSA unit. But your pictures shows a BB that doesn't look like a GXP XR is installed. Maybe its just the pics, I dunno?


Thanks for the input. Took some photos. Maybe I need to measure tomorrow or is it a coincidence that there is a 155 stamped on the inner crank arm?


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

klauss said:


> Thanks for the input. Took some photos. Maybe I need to measure tomorrow or is it a coincidence that there is a 155 stamped on the inner crank arm?


That should indicate they are 155mm and that seems reasonable for the angled photo (last one) but in the earlier side on photo side from previous post on they look longer that 155mm.

Seems like GXP (but given the possibility of OEM) but the real question is maybe a photo from the drive side where it should be hollow.


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## GSJ1973 (May 8, 2011)

svinyard said:


> Impressive BB knowledge Smoke. Glad someone can make sense of this stuff!


Yes, good eye for sure! Doesn't look like a typical 2-piece NX crank with JIS style bolts like that. Curious what the BCD says stamped on the chainring as well.

This past years Commencal bikes looked really sharp. 2019's are a bit too hipster (for me) with their tan sidewalls and sand colored frames.


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## thesmokingman (Jan 17, 2009)

klauss said:


> Thanks for the input. Took some photos. Maybe I need to measure tomorrow or is it a coincidence that there is a 155 stamped on the inner crank arm?
> 
> View attachment 1219230


I'd measure it just to be sure. From the pic above the crank looks to be strangely a square taper NX 155mm crankset. It's a shame they didn't go with the standard GXP, external cups but regardless they are 155mm so you don't have to replace them.


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## klauss (Oct 20, 2015)

Yesh the spec sheet for the bike says 165 mm

here are some additional photos


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## thesmokingman (Jan 17, 2009)

klauss said:


> Yesh the spec sheet for the bike says 165 mm


The specs are also incorrect about the crank spindle type and BB. It's a positive that its a 155mm crank, but its a big negative that its square taper. Below it says GXP XR BB which would also imply a GXP crankset, however that is all square taper. To be fair though for what you get on the bike, it makes perfect sense that they have to trim the fat somewhere else.

BOTTOM BRACKET SRAM GXP XR
CRANKSET SRAM NX X-Sync, 30T, 165 mm


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## oboy-oboy (Mar 24, 2010)

Thanks for the Commencal info! Super helpful.

I'm looking at the next bike for soon-to-be-nine year old. He's been on a Isla 24" w/ upgraded tires, and is outriding it--but he can crush climbs on it that have other kids pushing, thanks to it's ~21lb weight. 

He's ~54 inches, so based on the above the 27.5 Commencal will be too big for a while--which is a bummer since I really like the spec and a "trail hardtail" is pretty ideal for his style, and the trails we typically hit. 

I'm looking at the usual suspects, primarily the Spawn YJ 26" though, as the TC Timber 26 is out of budget, and the Pineridge isn't quite right on the angles (though I'm sure it's a fantastic bike).

Drawn towards the 26" bikes, since they will last him longer, bti am considering picking up a Diamondback Sync'r 24 (on sale or through a friend's deal) and upgrading a few things. 

Cleary Scout 26 is a killer value, but pretty heavy. I've spent hours looking at all this, liek many of you, so any added thoughts are welcome. Mostly about the "tweener" size he's at where he could easily ride a bigger frame 24" for 2-3 more years, or get onto a 26" and have the benefits of more travel, better rollover, etc. Though, also, a little more weight.


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## SactoGeoff (Aug 11, 2017)

Order a Pineridge with a longer travel fork. They'll do it if you call and ask. You just pay the upcharge for the fork. Like a 100mm a 120 shortened to 110. "angles problem" solved. They'll even put on more aggressive tires if you wish.

Also, that Jr Commencal would work for a 54" kid. One of my friends' son rides that frame and wins XC on it. He's 53" Of course the bike is 20lbs and far from stock. But still.

The YJ 26" is probably your best bet overall. For something to ride straight out of the box. Although, you will probably spend some $$ making it lighter. Same goes for the Commencal or the Cleary. But the YJ will be a better base to start from.


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## oboy-oboy (Mar 24, 2010)

SactoGeoff said:


> Order a Pineridge with a longer travel fork. They'll do it if you call and ask. You just pay the upcharge for the fork. Like a 100mm a 120 shortened to 110. "angles problem" solved. They'll even put on more aggressive tires if you wish.
> 
> Also, that Jr Commencal would work for a 54" kid. One of my friends' son rides that frame and wins XC on it. He's 53" Of course the bike is 20lbs and far from stock. But still.
> 
> The YJ 26" is probably your best bet overall. For something to ride straight out of the box. Although, you will probably spend some $$ making it lighter. Same goes for the Commencal or the Cleary. But the YJ will be a better base to start from.


Thanks! I read your Spawn YJ 24 review and appreciate the detail there.

The spec for the price on the Commencal seems awfully good--Recon fork, the right size crank, and a dropper post--relative to the YJ 26. The whole 165 crank thing (and with a 34T on the 26!) is super annoying to me, but I have to get over it.

Seems like the Meta Jr. could last a pretty long time too...


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