# Commencal Ramones 16



## CaRaBeeN (Mar 24, 2012)

RAMONES 16 NEON YELLOW 2014

I really liked this bike for my 4 years old.
He's currently on 12" Scott Voltage Walker (balance bike), which he doesn't want to change 

However, what leads me thinking weight. I think they're on the heavy side.
I wish it would be around 15lb like SC Banshee.

Anyone have this bike?Opinions?Weight if possible?


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## blades2000 (Jan 2, 2012)

I don't have the bike but In the specs it says weight 9.7 which must be kg so around 21lb. 
If I had to guess there is weight to be saved in the tyres as Vee rubber are often heavy.


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## CaRaBeeN (Mar 24, 2012)

I wonder if it's possible to reduce weight around 15lb.
By changing tires and cranks-seatpost-seat maybe?


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## CJH (Apr 21, 2004)

CaRaBeeN said:


> Opinions?


Looks like it has a high bottom bracket. I looked up the geometry and it has the bottom bracket height listed as +26mm. I'm pretty sure that's really the bottom bracket drop, which means the center of the BB is above the centerline between the hubs.

My boys Hotrock 16 has zero or possibly even negative bottom bracket drop, which I think helps young kids just learning to ride.

However, high bottom brackets have their place and might be a good fit for your son and the type of riding he'll do.


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## CaRaBeeN (Mar 24, 2012)

Looks like they've changed geometry this year.
As they state now BB drop is +0.0mm
Besides top tube is longer 364mm vs 385mm

Seat-seatpost-stem seems changed too.
Also tires are Kenda now. Received new fancy decals.
To be honest, for me this is the best looking 16" bike.
I still doubt if it's weight reduced around 15-16lb.

New link for 2015:
Ramones 16 | Commencal Kids 2015

2015:








2014:


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## tkavan01 (Jun 1, 2004)

I have a 2014 Ramones 20, I'm very disappointed with it, originally it was supposed to have a 2 speed auto hub, but the one I received did not, instead it came with a single speed hub which won't work for my 5 year old in the hills. Commercal has ignored my attempts to contact them. At the price point they are selling it at I highly advise going with the spawn products, my son had a banshee and it was amazing, really wish I had waited for savage but we would of lost a ton of riding time...


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## Vorar (Oct 23, 2010)

tkavan01 said:


> I have a 2014 Ramones 20, I'm very disappointed with it, originally it was supposed to have a 2 speed auto hub, but the one I received did not, instead it came with a single speed hub which won't work for my 5 year old in the hills. Commercal has ignored my attempts to contact them. At the price point they are selling it at I highly advise going with the spawn products, my son had a banshee and it was amazing, really wish I had waited for savage but we would of lost a ton of riding time...


I could not disagree more. My 6 year old has a Commencal Ramones 20 and my 4 year old has a Spawn Banshee. If anything I have been disappointed with the Banshee. The Commencal has been Rad! The build quality and geometry is freaking great. In fact my son and I just returned from a two day trip to Whistler Bike park. He rode Crank it up and Blue Velvet all day, both days. Check out the Sticky'ed photo thread at the top of this section to see the photo I posted of him riding the wood work there. The only thing I would change would be a much nicer fork, but carbon bars helped lighten it up in front. TIP: call Commencal's USA distributed to get a better deal. The Ramones 20 retails for around $920 I got his for $750 including tax and shipping. All that being said, 19lbs is way to heavy for spendy 16". Instead of the 16 Ramones or Spawn Banshee I would get the Redline Pitboss if I could do it over. Lighter and better geometry. Missing the front brake I thought would be very important, but my son never uses the front brake on his. Banshee. Things I didn't like about the Banshee: Really small for a 16" much smaller than a 16 Hotrock. Wonky geometry. Seat post to big for frame so gets stuck. Tires are shitty street tires. (seat post issue and tires now fixed I believe ) Full size brake levers.


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## CaRaBeeN (Mar 24, 2012)

They will have new US website soon, maybe there will be better support.

On the other hand I've sent e-mail to them asking what will be weight, got an answer quickly that new bike will be 8,5kg (18,7lb)
I believe there's still room to loose weight on some parts
I think I will buy this bike


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## tkavan01 (Jun 1, 2004)

Vorar said:


> I could not disagree more. My 6 year old has a Commencal Ramones 20 and my 4 year old has a Spawn Banshee. If anything I have been disappointed with the Banshee. The Commencal has been Rad! The build quality and geometry is freaking great. In fact my son and I just returned from a two day trip to Whistler Bike park. He rode Crank it up and Blue Velvet all day, both days. Check out the Sticky'ed photo thread at the top of this section to see the photo I posted of him riding the wood work there. The only thing I would change would be a much nicer fork, but carbon bars helped lighten it up in front. TIP: call Commencal's USA distributed to get a better deal. The Ramones 20 retails for around $920 I got his for $750 including tax and shipping. All that being said, 19lbs is way to heavy for spendy 16". Instead of the 16 Ramones or Spawn Banshee I would get the Redline Pitboss if I could do it over. Lighter and better geometry. Missing the front brake I thought would be very important, but my son never uses the front brake on his. Banshee. Things I didn't like about the Banshee: Really small for a 16" much smaller than a 16 Hotrock. Wonky geometry. Seat post to big for frame so gets stuck. Tires are shitty street tires. (seat post issue and tires now fixed I believe ) Full size brake levers.


Really small for a 16 inch bike is the point, getting larger tires makes riding dirt so much easier! I did buy the bike through commencal down in vegas, but didn't get any deal other then not having the parts advertised... my daughter will be getting a savage when she graduates up from the banshee and I'll get another banshee for the twins...


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## Raivyn (Oct 10, 2012)

I'm kinda thinking the same thing in terms of weight savings...trying to decide between the 14" and the 16" really....


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## Adh007 (Mar 30, 2009)

I just got one of the new ones in for my daughter's Christmas present and promptly gave it a paint and decal job. I'm very impressed with the bike: freewheel, good brakes, 3 piece crank, real seatpost. Nitpicks: the fork is a heavy pig compared to the frame. They could drop a load of weight there. Also all the bearings were way overloaded and pretty much bone dry. Headset, both wheels, and bottom bracket. Disassembly, grease, and proper tensioning is mandatory.

I can't wait to get her on it. She rips on her hotrock 12.


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## ProjectMayhem (Aug 23, 2013)

That's gorgeous!


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## taletotell (Mar 3, 2009)

Beautiful and all good info.


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## bald dirt bag (Feb 9, 2014)

You might look at the BMX offerings out there, Dans comp has a lot of examples to look at. Many are just like the big boy stuff just Mini or micro, even S&M and FBM are offering 16" bikes these days.


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## griffter18 (Jul 3, 2009)

Nice paint job but I wouldnt of done it to a new bike as it blows the warrenty.


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## Adh007 (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm thinking the look on her face come Christmas morning should be worth a voided warranty.


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## tomson75 (May 25, 2014)

Beautiful bike…my 3 year old just got his Ramones 16 for Christmas this morning. He's absolutely in love with it. It feels heavier than I expected for the price, but I haven't had the opportunity to weigh it yet.


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## taletotell (Mar 3, 2009)

My girls are pretty excited about their Cleary hedgehogs. Of course we got our first snow of the winter so they couldn't test them out. They are light and well designed. I do wish we had the nice fat tyres the Ramones have.


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## tomson75 (May 25, 2014)

So i threw the Ramones 16 on a scale this morning, and it read 18.2lbs. I used a floor scale and rested the rear wheel on the scale while I balanced the bike, so it probably isn't the most accurate reading...but it probably gives a decent ballpark figure. 

His also has some pretty heavy mini free agent pedals on there, FWIW.


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## CaRaBeeN (Mar 24, 2012)

I think you can hold the bike with you while you are on the scale,
Than you can reduce your actual weight


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## tomson75 (May 25, 2014)

CaRaBeeN said:


> I think you can hold the bike with you while you are on the scale,
> Than you can reduce your actual weight


Ahhh yes&#8230;perhaps I would've thought of that after the haze of the Christmas festivities wore off&#8230;.

I did it this way and it read 18lbs even.

He's 3 1/2, and is able to pull the bike up and maneuver it without too much effort, but I think dropping a pound or so would be very beneficial. Not sure where to start...


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## CaRaBeeN (Mar 24, 2012)

I see now on their website, they list weight as 8 kg / 17,64 lbs
I agree it would be nice to drop weight around 15-16 lbs..


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## griffter18 (Jul 3, 2009)

Switch to kighter tyres
Run tyres ghetto tubeless
Use lighter weight bars
Look at bottom braket and crank.

Ths should get you within target but youd have to weigh up cost.


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

I'd like to hear impressions from those of you that have had the Ramones 16 for a while. I was leaning towards the Cleary, but it seems to be a much bigger frame. My son wouldn't fit the Hedgehog for another year or two, but he is ready for the Ramones now. Is the weight much of an issue? How are the rest of the parts?


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## comphynum (Aug 14, 2012)

b.r.h. said:


> I'd like to hear impressions from those of you that have had the Ramones 16 for a while. I was leaning towards the Cleary, but it seems to be a much bigger frame. My son wouldn't fit the Hedgehog for another year or two, but he is ready for the Ramones now. Is the weight much of an issue? How are the rest of the parts?


Also interested to know....and how high is the bottom bracket?


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## mossterioso (Sep 5, 2009)

Vorar said:


> Instead of the 16 Ramones or Spawn Banshee I would get the Redline Pitboss if I could do it over. Lighter and better geometry.


I went this route, I bought a pitboss when my son was 4. I had to change out the cranks for something shorter, I ended up putting a Sinz 110mm crank on there and it was perfect for his size. Fast forward to age 6, and I got him the the Commencal Meta HT20 which has been great for trail riding and he is starting to get a grip on shifting. The pitboss was getting small for him so I put the original cranks back on and I put taller wider bars on it and now he has a sweet little BMX bike that he rides all the time at our local skate park. Now he's got his Mountain trail shredder and a BMX bike that he is learning all the freestyle stuff real easy because of the smaller wheels. Lets face it most of the time when I see kids riding I notice that the wheels of the bike are just too big. It is typical in BMX to ride 16 inch wheels until you are 10, so I just plan on changing cranks and bars and keeping him on the smaller wheels as long as possible. Not that I think BMX is the end all, it's just most of the guys who ride or have riddden BMX have mad bike handling skills, which is what I ultimately want to see for my son. Here is a picture of the two bikes, notice that the bars on the BMX bike are a bit taller than the mountain bike, but they are the same width at about 23.5 inches, which is nice for going back and forth on bikes. Also check out the BB height, the BMX bike is a bit taller there as well.


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