# Cleary bikes



## jrogs (Sep 2, 2012)

Hey everyone. I was wondering if anyone has ordered a bike from them and received it? I ordered my July 9th and was suppose to get it early August and still have not received it. I am just wondering if I am getting jerked around. Thanks


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## b.r.h. (May 3, 2007)

I haven't ordered, but I did email a question and received a same-day response. Have you spoken with anybody there? Keep us updated, because I'm very interested in their bikes.


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## jrogs (Sep 2, 2012)

Yeah. I have spoken to them almost weekly and there is always a reason I have not gotten it. They seem to be nice but it is just getting old to not have the bike


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## jrogs (Sep 2, 2012)

I finally got it. It is pretty awesome.


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## b.r.h. (May 3, 2007)

Nice! Perhaps you could post a review for us here. There's a thousand pages on the Banshee, I'd be interested to hear about Cleary.


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## chris87114 (Mar 26, 2004)

Ya. Any info about / pictures of the bike would be great. What model did you get? How tall is you child? What is their inseam? What do you think of the bike's quality? Anything you don't like about it? Cleary is on my short list for my soon to be 4 yr old.


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## jrogs (Sep 2, 2012)

The bike is very nice. It is light. The brakes take a little bit to get them adjusted well. The saddle is very nice. He can comfortably reach the brake levers. The internal cable roughing is super fun. He loves that it is like dad's bike. He is 3'6" tall. We went with the hedgehog. I don't know his inseam. The saddle height is adjustable like most bikes so measuring his inseam seems unnecessary. He loves it and it is way lighter than the trek he had before. Dealing with Cleary bikes was super easy. The delay in getting the bike was due to circumstances out of their control. I personally spoke to the owner several times. The bike is quality and beautiful. I am he are very happy with this purchase.


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## jrogs (Sep 2, 2012)




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## chris87114 (Mar 26, 2004)

Thanks for the inputs. My son is a little shorter than yours and I was thinking of going with the hedgehog. How much lower could your son lower the seat? Basically I'm trying to figure out if it will be too big or fit as I hope and think it would.


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## jrogs (Sep 2, 2012)

It does go down a little bit more. The crank arms are not very long so for him we actually have the seat a little low so he can feel more comfortable when he need to put his foot down.


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## AGarcia (Feb 20, 2012)

I picked up a Cleary Owl for my son. I ordered it on a Monday and it arrived on Wednesday. My son loves it. He immediately got comfortable with it and has figured out the hand brakes nicely. He can climb and jump curbs pretty nicely 

One mod I made was switching from the set back seatpost to a zero set back seatpost. The setback post had him stretching a little too far from the saddle to the bars.








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## oren_hershco (Mar 11, 2006)

jrogs said:


>


Hi jrogs (and everyone else who may answer),

My son now rides a Specialized Hotrock "12, and I'm trying to decide about the next bike. I have some questions, mainly about the Hedghog vs Spawn Banshee which I guess you also considered:

1. The Spawn seems to have significantly shorter chainstays. Short chainstays usually mean a better handling bike (the price, I guess, is stability). Did you consider this? 
I would think with the Spawn it would be much easier to lift the front wheel, when encountering an obstacle or a sidewalk.

2. What type of crankset does the Hedghog have? Would you be able to switch chainrings if you like? The Spawn has a 4-bolt, 64mm BCD crank, which let you install 24, 26 or 28t chainrings.

3. What is the handlebar diameter? Is it the standard MTB size of 31.8mm? I'm asking this to figure out if I'll be able to replace it to something slightly taller when the boy grows.

Oren


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## Markhpnc (May 5, 2011)

*Cleary Bikes 20" Owl*

Bump! Anyone else tried a Cleary? Long term reviews? I'm looking at the 20" Owl for my niece. I like the simplicity of the singlespeed and price at $335 as opposed to the geared Islebikes and the $750 Spawn Savage :eekster:

Owl - Cleary Blue - 20" Singlespeed | Cleary Bikes

Specs | Cleary Bikes

mtbr editorial review: Cleary Bikes Owl ? 20? kid?s mountain bike - Mtbr.com

My younger nephew has the Spawn Banshee and it's awesome but small for a 16" and way too small for my niece.

I've also looked at some 18" bmx bikes but most are a bit heavy with hi-ten steel or chromo frames, u-brakes instead of Vs and no front brake of course. Out of these this Cult 18" and DK Sprinter Jr 20" both with alloy frames look good for price and weight. But still u-brake on the Cult and no front brake on either.

Cult Juvenile 18 Inch 2015 BMX Bike - Crucial BMX Shop in Bristol: 01173079096

DK Bicycles | SPRINTER JR.

Could the Cleary Owl be the winner here???

PS
The Spawn Kotori DJ singlespeed for 20" or 24" is gonna be the bomb this summer when released! But ~$400 frameset or $1000 complete is out of reach for this application :nonod:


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


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## XJaredX (Apr 17, 2006)

I almost got a Cleary but I went with the Trek Superfly 20 because my son wanted a bike with multiple gears. The Cleary is by far the best price vs quality option in a singlespeed 20", though. See post #21 here if you are interested. It's a stellar value for a multi-geared bike.

Before I got the Trek, I did exchange a few emails with the owner of Cleary, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him. Depending on what my daughter does as she gets older, I'm going to be considering Cleary if we can't use my son's hand-me-downs.

Someone mentioned chainstay length: on a kid's bike, it isn't super necessary to have short stays. Longer stays will be more stable, our Spawn does have short stays and I guess if my son was into hucking and stuff it would help, but he is very earth-bound.


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## Spectre (Jan 23, 2004)

XJaredX said:


> I almost got a Cleary but I went with the Trek Superfly 20 because my son wanted a bike with multiple gears.


I'm curious as to how many kids that fit on a 20" kids bike want gears. I'm guessing that at age 7 or 8 gears become important, but not so much before that age.


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## stom_m3 (Jun 28, 2011)

Spectre said:


> I'm curious as to how many kids that fit on a 20" kids bike want gears. I'm guessing that at age 7 or 8 gears become important, but not so much before that age.


They can but it just takes a little training. Here's my son at 6 yrs old riding a 1x8.


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## XJaredX (Apr 17, 2006)

It really depends. My son started riding without training wheels at 3, at 4 he got a single speed Spawn and by 5 he had recognized the benefits of multiple gears. Where we ride, the 7 speeds enable him to get up hills he couldn't before.

If we lived in like Florida or something he'd be rocking a single speed.

The other thing is, he's no superkid pro rider, he's just a kid who learned a little earlier than most, and he likes machinery so that made him want multiple gears. He isn't perfect with always being in the right gear but he is getting better. I usually give him pointers like based on how fast we're going or if a hill is coming up, etc. Stuff like "shift into 2 before this hill!" as I watch his cadence.

Example: in this pic he's the kid with the Cutters jersey. The kid two back from him is potentially a stronger rider, they ride together a lot, but his gearing on his Specialized 20" single speed was not ideal for this little loop. We did a pre ride and picked the best gear for my son to stay in, it was kinda like a pump track with some obstacles, and he got 2nd out of about 12 kids.


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## Markhpnc (May 5, 2011)

I'm dang close to this same boat for my about to be 8yo niece. Any updates on what you went with? Her 6yo brother is on the 16" Spawn Banshee and it is almost too small for him already.


Markhpnc said:


> Bump! Anyone else tried a Cleary? Long term reviews? I'm looking at the 20" Owl for my niece. I like the simplicity of the singlespeed and price at $335 as opposed to the geared Islebikes and the $750 Spawn Savage :eekster:
> 
> Owl - Cleary Blue - 20" Singlespeed | Cleary Bikes
> 
> ...


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## Ltdan12a (Jun 15, 2012)

Just picked up a Cleary Owl for my 6 year old, and I'm beyond impressed with the quality of the bike- I shopped it against Trek, Haro, and Specialized, and every time the Cleary just stood out above the rest when it came to the little details.


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## B.A.R.K. (Oct 17, 2007)

I agree. Almost 18 months on his Hedgehog and my son loves it.








The new Cleary Riser Handlebar is a great improvement over the stock flat bar. The extra width, rise, and back sweep provided an instant improvement in the way my little man handles his bike.


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## Ltdan12a (Jun 15, 2012)

B.A.R.K. said:


> I agree. Almost 18 months on his Hedgehog and my son loves it.
> View attachment 1058668
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tip! Ordered!!!


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

Spectre said:


> I'm curious as to how many kids that fit on a 20" kids bike want gears. I'm guessing that at age 7 or 8 gears become important, but not so much before that age.


I'd look at it the other way ... not trying to be smart but through experience.
My kid had a horrible steel thing (weighed a ton) with tiny wheels and stabilisers and showed little interest in cycling (retrospectively perhaps due to the bike).

Sometime before his 6th birthday (he's a year ahead in school so was seeing other kids with bikes) I told him if he rode without stabilisers I'd get him a "proper bike".

Less than 2 minutes after taking off the stabilisers (he was pretty accomplished on a scooter - doing all sorts of tricks so had very good balance) he was riding.

I got him a 20er which he only just fit. Luckily I did go for gears.
A couple of weeks later (after a few local runs) we went our first "real ride" - 10 miles on the flat (canal towpath) .... and I arranged his mum to pick us up ... from a nice pub that does food. I'd budgeted 2+ hours to arrive but it took 1hr-1hr15 (partly me missing some of the parts you have to leave the track).

He then declared he was riding back (another 10 miles, this time 40-45 minutes - I didn't actually time) but we must have been maintaining a good 15 mph average and he was using the gears extensively. (It's slightly downhill as there are a few locks but it can only be 50-100' over 10 miles)
Obviously, if he didn't have gears he wouldn't have used them.

Next we went offroad non-technical. Again I'd arranged Mum to pick us up... and we did a descent of about 600m and 5-6 miles. Again he cycled back with total climb well over 1000m and 7-8 miles (of which he pushed in a few places) (For any UK people Newlands Corner to Guildford and back)

*After this we ditched the 28T for a 34T*

Since then he spent 9 month riding single track. Impossible* without gears. 
(there are some superfit adults ride fixies...but they can't ride the more technical climbs as they just stall on tree roots etc.)

After only 9 months he had grown enough to just get on a 24er. (still not 6 1/2 and 1m23cm) or 4' and change...

*He still has a lot of room on his 20er....at least another year I'd guess* and the reason for the 24 was largely Airforks as he's riding technical reds aggressively. He's also passing many (not superfit) adults on climbs and learned to let them get out of the way on downhill. (This is probably like the trails you have around Issaquah)

Next week we are doing the Hope Valley UK (on the 24er)....This will be full on AM (Possibly close to if you went over to Hope in BC) though I've tried to tailor a route a bit and provide some bailout options but it will be repeated 1000'+ climbs and 20+ miles ... so he's getting a 40T expander as his current 30T/36T combo is likely not enough.

He's still not even close to being 7.... ^ and still loads of room on his 20er

So .... it obviously depends where you live ... and that also determines what you ride. A HUGE driver for me is traffic (or lack of) and living where we do he could manage a single speed if the roads/bike paths were safer. To some extent we are driven offroad ... but that does bring gears more as a necessity than luxury.


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## Trekkie8 (Jan 21, 2016)

Yep, here also a 6yo that uses his shifter really well, last summer we went to Müllerthal in Luxembourg and at the end of the trip there was a 24° climb on really bad cobblestones. He managed to get up whereas some adults had to step off. I never had to tell him to shift, he searches his own perfect gear(with some mistakes offcourse, he is only 6)


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## comphynum (Aug 14, 2012)

B.A.R.K. said:


> I agree. Almost 18 months on his Hedgehog and my son loves it.
> View attachment 1058668
> 
> 
> ...


Do you find the gearing to be ok? I have read some concerns about not being able to get going fast enough on flat land?


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## comphynum (Aug 14, 2012)

jrogs said:


> The bike is very nice. It is light. The brakes take a little bit to get them adjusted well. The saddle is very nice. He can comfortably reach the brake levers. The internal cable roughing is super fun. He loves that it is like dad's bike. He is 3'6" tall. We went with the hedgehog. I don't know his inseam. The saddle height is adjustable like most bikes so measuring his inseam seems unnecessary. He loves it and it is way lighter than the trek he had before. Dealing with Cleary bikes was super easy. The delay in getting the bike was due to circumstances out of their control. I personally spoke to the owner several times. The bike is quality and beautiful. I am he are very happy with this purchase.


How do you like the gearing? I have read some concerns about the low gearing and not being able to generate enough speed on flat ground.


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## TeamMuddySprocket (Nov 8, 2012)

Hello Cleary bike owners, 

I am considering a Cleary Owl for my 7.5 yr old daughter and had a few questions. I see alot of people out there have their 5-6 year olds on these, and although she is a little older, she is on the smaller side for her age. She is a tad under 48" with a 21" inseam. My question is would this bike be a good fit for, and is it modifiable with taller handle bars as she grows the next few years ala a BMX style bike? I like the fact that the bike is quite light as she doesn't have the strongest legs.

For comparison, the best fit she has had is on a Cannondale Trail 20 SS. I do have another kid 6yrs behind her so I am planning on handing the new bike down when she outgrows it/ kid 2 is ready for 20" wheels, but would like her to get as much out of her next bike as possible.

Thanks for your help !


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## Ltdan12a (Jun 15, 2012)

The closest bike I found "fit" wise to the Owl was the Trek Superfly 20- But componenets where definitely a downgrade compared to the Cleary. Find your local trek dealer and put her on one of those to see how she fits


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## nefariousvw (Jan 29, 2015)

My daughter is in the same boat; 7.5yrs old and on the shorter side and the Owl fits her perfectly. Based on Cleary's recommendations your daughter is at the bottom end of their inseam recommendation so she should fit it just fine. I wouldn't suggest changing bars to try to get more use out of it. By the time she's outgrown the bike she'll likely be ready for gears so just upgrade her to the Meerkat and hold on to the Owl until the younger one is ready.


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